Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle
Published: 25 February 2012
Publisher: Self (Amazon Digital Services)
Series: Yes!
Price: $3.99

Synopsis: {via GoodReads}

A continuation of the novel, Thoughtless...

A lot can happen in a year. You grow, you change, you learn from your mistakes. And Kiera had made a lot of mistakes to learn from. But she had learned, and she was determined to never cause a man pain again, especially the amazing man who currently held her heart. But life offers new challenges for every relationship, and when Kiera’s love is put to the ultimate test, will it come out the other side unscathed?

Love is easy…trust is hard

Disclaimer:

**First, please, please don't read this review if you haven't read this book or Thoughtless, the first book in the series, it could contain spoilers. If you have read Thoughtless, please take a moment to read my review!**

Review:

Just like the first book, I loved this book. I think I may have actually loved it more than I did the first one. And just like the first one, Thoughtless, I couldn't put it down. The characters and settings are just as amazing this time, with one little twist: Keira and Kellan are apart for much of the book. I think that's the one thing I didn't so much care for. I wanted them to be together, but for this story it worked. Right now, I'm eagerly awaiting the third installment of this series, but there's no release date just yet. Serious bummer, especially since this book, and Thoughtless, came out at really close together.

The Characters:

I love almost all of them and thought Keira isn't as much of a basket case in this one, she still gets there. She's grown up through her experiences in Thoughtless and she handles situations, like Kellan leaving, with much more maturity than she did in Thoughtless.  Something I really liked was seeing the dynamic between her and Kellan. They really click and work together, though they have issues. We see her family much more, too, and learn some new things about Kellan and his family, so there's a good deal of character development, which is nice.

I think one of the only characters I didn't much care for in this one was Denny, which was really surprising give that I really, really liked and felt for him in Thoughtless. In this book, to me, he comes across a bit of an ass. He comes back to town and meets back up with Keira, and though they're friends he treats her a bit harshly. It's understandable, for himself, but that he'd try to protect himself considering she crushed his heart into dust in the first book, but he feeds into her fears in a way that makes him an ass. Every time she thinks Kellan's being unfaithful, Denny is right there to tell her that she's probably right. It's really nasty, in my opinion. And you know, he has no desire to be with her, he has is own girlfriend, Abby.  Very uncool, but it reinforced my love of Kellan.

The Plot:

The basic idea is that Keira and Kellan must learn to trust one another, now that they're together. The underlying assumption is that they have trust issues because of how they got together. Being apart compounds their issues big time. This set up makes for amazing drama and when they come back together the drama is only heightened. Again, there are moments when you want to smack the characters or yell at them to do anything but what they're doing, but that makes the plot more believable.  There's also a sub-plot with Keira's sister, Anna, and her sometimes-boyfriend, Griffin, that's really good.  Overall, the book has really good flow and a plot that works really well. Sometimes, it's difficult to for an author to make a plot that travels around to different locations work, but Stephens pulls it off beautifully.

The Verdict:

Rating: 5/5

Buy this book!  I loved it, it was amazing. Stephens knows what she's doing, she knows what readers want, and she truly seems to care about her characters. I cannot wait for the next book in this series and will likely read anything else Stephen's writes. She's won a fan in me for sure. If you read it, I hope you enjoyed it!

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle
Published: 18 December 2011
Publisher: Self (Amazon Digital Services)
Series: Yes!
Price: $3.99

Synopsis: {via GoodReads}

For almost two years now, Kiera's boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she's ever wanted: loving, tender and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together, Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university, everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart.

Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source – a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he's purely a friend that she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes...and none of them will ever be the same.

Review:

A quick admission right out of the gate: I loved this book. That said, I didn't love it from the first words. Frankly, when I started it I thought it was long winded and wordy. I don't particularly care for long winded, or wordy, and kept wondering when something that mattered would happen. Thankfully, I kept turning the pages and before long, I couldn't put the book down. When she got to Kellan, I was sold. I fell completely and totally in love with him. By the time the book was over, I was glad that Stephens had somewhat dragged her feet in the beginning because I didn't want it to end... ever. To this moment, as I type this, I still don't. So I read it's sequel, Effortless (which I'll review next time), and am eagerly (if impatiently) waiting for the third book in the series.

The Characters:

What I enjoyed most about Kiera, Kellan, Denny and the crew is that they're very realistic. They make choices that make you slap your head and scream, "Why did you have to do that?!" but they're choices that real people make. Keira is young and vulnerable. She's not mature enough to be in a long term committed relationship and, at the point in their lives when the book is occurring, neither is Denny. Kellan is, like many of the popular male leads, somewhat broken. He suffers the pain of a terrible childhood and is scarred, he can't have/sustain relationships and, until he meets Keira, he doesn't really want to. They're realistic to a fault and, I think I loved Kellan so much because he somewhat reminds me of my own husband--strangely true.

Though I've read reviews that suggest that Keira is wishy-washy and I don't agree. I think she's confused and doesn't know how to handle herself under pressure. She's 21 years old, she's not the most mature creature on the planet, but she does her best and her reactions to thinks are remarkably like what a 21 year old might do. I return to what I said earlier, all of these characters are remarkably lifelike.

The Plot:

Overall, the plot was quite good. Stephens takes some turns you wouldn't expect, rendering this novel much more about the journey than the destination. What I mean is, we all sort of know how contemporary romance will pan out because it's a familiar formula to any romance reader. Heck, it's familiar even to people who've never read a romance novel in their lives--thank you romantic comedies! However, Stephens makes sure the journey to that familiar ending is filled with twists and turns you can't see coming. Her characters act outside the formula and by the time the books almost done you're wondering if she might pull a Fifty Shades, break the rules, and deny us our happy ending. For a very character driven story, the plot works beautifully!

The Verdict:

Rating: 5/5

At this point I would normally discuss issues with the book, but I'm going to skip that portion of the review and jump right to the verdict. The only real issue I saw with this book is the slow start, but by the end, that wasn't an issue at all.  Above all, this book has climbed right to the top of my list of favorites this summer and made itself cozy there. I can't seem to kick the characters out of my head, where they've taken up residence. I cannot wait for the third book, which I know I'll love. There's still no prospective release date, but I'm optimistic that she won't keep me waiting forever.

If you're a romance fan, I highly recommend this book. I loved the story, I loved the characters, and I loved that the author self-published it. I'm finding that self-published novels are getting better and better and, as a writer, I really love that!

If you've read Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James, then you likely know where this is going. I finished them a while back, though I've only gotten up a review for Fifty Shades and not the the other two (yet), and have been suffering the kind of withdrawals that come from the sudden realization that something you loved, despite yourself, is done. It happens to me every time I read a really good book, sometimes more than others, and this is no exception. In fact, this time it's worse. This time I miss the characters and, occasionally, find myself wondering how they're making it. Crazy, but true. They're fictional, but that doesn't make me love them any less. What's crazy is that before Fifty, I never read contemporary romance, though I've always enjoyed Regency and historical romance, and erotica. EL James has opened me up to a whole new genre and I'm loving it!

So, when I came across Girly Obsessions post about what to read if you were going through Fifty Shades withdrawals, I set about finding and reading nearly all of them. Without those neat girls at Girly Obsessions, I might still be in a funk about Fifty Shades, and because of them, I'm in a whole new one--I'll explain that later when I review Thoughtless & Effortless by S.C. Stephens!

In honor of that, over the next week I'll be posting reviews for some of the books I've been reading to fill the void finishing Fifty Shades has left in my book-loving soul!  Here they are:

• Bared to You by Sylvia Day
• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• Thoughtless & Effortless by S.C. Stephens
• Love Unscripted by Tina Reber
• Slave & Need by Sherri Hayes