Rachel Van Dyken

The second book in this iBooks exclusive series picks off exactly where the first book ended. My heart hurt for both of these characters. There was such a lack of trust, and not just on Ray's part but also on Marlon's. I finally started to see some of the trademark RVD humor and antics coming out with the interactions between the secondary characters.

This book still has some back and forth with the feelings and I hope that gets squared away in the conclusion. It also ends on a cliffhanger which I wasn't expecting. There are still some things that are at play here that I do not quite not what to do with or if they were even needed to enhance the story but I shall see.
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Even though I generally read my books through the Kindle apps on my iPad, I often forget that I have actual iBooks to read too. This was one of those stories that I was quick to purchase but forgot I owned because I was waiting for all the stories to come out and that this was exclusive to iBooks. I have just now finally sat down to read them all after getting an ARC from NetGalley and then realizing that I already owned the series.

I am a little disappointed in myself because this was a very cute story. This first part was filled with all the angst of Ray and Marlon hating each other because of the past even though they really loved each other. two former high school kids who were definitely opposite in every way. My heart hurt for them both.

This book ended on a cliffhanger. Talk about ending at the climax (pun intended). I was missing some of the usual humor that RVD is known for because the friendships that were forming were very reminiscent of the Consequences series which is one of my favorites of this author. Looking forward to how this continues in the next book.… (more)

3.75 stars

I am mixed in this review. While I loved the story it seemed rushed or forced at parts. Forced confrontations that didn't feel as if they would have ever been said or portrayed the way they were seemed to be the norm here. While it was a grand gesture it just didn't seem genuine. In my opinion, Ray's parent storyline could have just been done at a certain point so I was at a loss there. I am also at a loss as to why Jackson's sister even needed to have been mentioned, at least in regards to Marlon, if it wasn't going to be elaborated on.

Yet, I did appreciate how it ended. I would have liked to see more about the side characters of where they were etc at the end since they had been such a huge part of the story.

All in all, this series was not quite what I normally the quality that I associate with RVD work. BUT, considering she is pretty epic I still enjoyed it.… (more)