Easy: Review + Giveaway!

Easy
Tammara Webber
310 pages
Releases: November 6, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Source: the publisher
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Jacqueline is nineteen years old and has just been dumped by her high school boyfriend, whom she followed to college.  When she's attacked outside a fraternity Halloween party, she's saved by an attractive guy she's never noticed before, but now she's noticing him everywhere.  They're immediately attracted, but Lucas has a secret past he's not sure he wants to share...

Gah!  Easy totally got me out of a little reading slump I've been in for a few weeks.  I absolutely loved everything about it, including the fact that I was hooked by page one and stayed up until two a.m. before I had to put it down more than halfway through.  I eagerly finished it up after work yesterday.

The book starts with an attack outside of a fraternity Halloween party.  I barely knew Jacqueline at that point, but for some reason (probably the nature of the attack) I really felt afraid for her.  When Lucas saves her I breathed a huge sigh of relief and remained on the edge of my seat for the remainder of the novel for two reasons.  First, Lucas and Jacqueline have this intense chemistry together and I couldn't get enough of it.  Second, her attacker isn't done just because Lucas punched him in the face.  That part of the plot was heartbreaking and I was really waiting for things to turn right.

Yes, Jacqueline is saved by a man at the beginning of the book, but that doesn't mean she's a weak female character.  In fact, the by the end of the book she's holding her own, kicking ass and taking names.  I was really proud of how her character grew through the novel.

There are a couple twists in Easy.  The first one I caught on to right away and couldn't believe Jacqueline didn't.  The second one twist, regrading Lucas, was definitely less obvious but really explained why Lucas was the way he was as a person.

Now, I do want to mention that Easy is from the emerging genre "New Adult," which falls somewhere between YA and adult novels.  The characters in Easy faced the same coming of age issues characters in YA novels often do, but Jacqueline's problems were a little more serious and she and her friends acted their ages, which means there's sex and alcohol in Easy.  That doesn't bother me at all, but I thought I'd mention it for those of you who prefer to avoid those subjects.  This was the first New Adult novel I've read and if others in the genre are anything like Easy, I'm totally on board.  If you aren't opposed to adult themes, I highly suggest you give this one a try.

Five stars!  This book was amazing and I didn't want to put it down.  Easy is a standalone and I'm a little devastated there won't be a sequel just because I loved the characters so much.  I will definitely be checking out the author's other works.

And now's your chance to win!  Berkley Trade has graciously offered up a copy of Easy to one of my followers, so enter via the Rafflecopter below!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway