Mishel Reviews: Deeper - Robin York

Mishel reviews

Series or Stand Alone: Caroline and West, book one

Release Date:  January 2014 

Publisher: Bantam

Pages:  400

Author Site:   http://www.robinyork.com/

My Rating: 4.75/5 

Source: NetGalley

Cover: The cover model is pretty but that’s really the only thing…I like that it’s simple and it goes well with book two’s (HARDER) cover!!

In this New Adult debut by Robin York, a college student is attacked online and must restore her name—and stay clear of a guy who’s wrong for her, but feels so right.

When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.

They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

Review:

While I get the idea of the new emerging genre of New Adult I really don’t feel it’s all that necessary. I like to read any kind of book that sounds good whether it be fantasy, romance, horror, suspense, etc. Differentiating between adult, young adult, and now, new adult feels like a waste of time. But I get the need to micro-manage and to sub-genre genres. I get that. I have my weird quirks too. So I’ll go along with it and read what I like in whatever genre, sub-genre, or categorical scheme to get me to buy more books =D So with that said  Deeper is my first dip in the New Adult pool. I’m amazed by how much I liked it. There was sexy times a plenty, a super hot bad boy who is secretly a pretty charming and caring man, a smart and very likeable heroine, a lot of different issues to contemplate and discuss…basically Deeper is a keeper on my bookshelf.

Law school bound Caroline recently breaks up with her longtime boyfriend, Nick, of three years. Soon after the breakup she discovers a set of sexually explicit photos posted all over the internet. Hmm I wonder whodunit? Now before I could even start to contemplate blaming Caroline for her part in the picture taking she surprised me by accepting her responsibility. I was kind of half-expecting her to be all “woe is me” and “I can’t believe this happened!! *sob sob*”… but yeah I didn’t get any of that. She knew she shouldn’t have let Nick take those pictures. But she never dreamed they’d be blasted over the web or ever used against her. No one ever dreams of that, well not anyone I know at least. 

Despite having a big “SLUT” sticker on her forehead Caroline doesn’t roll over and die or go crawl in a hole to disappear. Like I said, she really surprised me by taking control and trying to do what she thought was best to remedy the situation. I honestly would have been a very “woe is me” kind of heroine in a very dramatic fashion. The repercussions can truly be devastating and just imagining myself in Caroline’s situation makes me shudder. And while I respect the hell out of Caroline for putting her brave face on, I must say she did create some unnecessary drama for herself. Bullying sucks no matter what age you are but fighting back can really do wonders. I wish she would have stood up for herself a little more and asked for help rather than trying to bury it under the rug and wish it all away. Ain’t gonna happen honey! Sometimes you can’t let what others think get in the way of your life. Especially when Caroline didn’t do anything wrong but take sexy pictures for her boyfriend. 

Now I read the blurb before I requested the book on Netgalley, okay okay maybe I skimmed it. (oh and by the way, this book was formatted just fine! Thank goodness, Thank Netgalley!) But I had no idea that the story was going to take off into this passionate affair with my new fictional boyfriend. I mean really, I didn’t prepare myself!  To Caroline, West is like this tempting, beautiful to look at but don’t even think about touching (or talking to) creature. Even before Caroline’s picture scandal and her breakup with Nick, West was someone that very much interested her. His allure was almost tangible but Caroline was too afraid to be anything but the good girl she’s always been. But when West steps further into her life by beating Nick up, she has no choice but to acknowledge her growing attraction to someone she’s hardly spoken to. 

One of my favorite parts of the story is West’s point of view and his story. I absolutely loved the fact that the author chose to tell the story in alternating perspectives. Without West’s thoughts I don’t think the book would have had such an impact on me. West is not a true bad boy. He grew up struggling to get by with his younger sister and mother. And his mother has had a very devastating and consuming love affair with West’s father all his life. West has had to step in as a brother, son, and father-figure all at young ages. He’s had to grow up fast and use whatever was in reach to get by, including his own body.  I did become attached to Caroline and the fact that she came out of her shell with West. She learns how to survive, how to grow, and how to let go of what’s safe all the while teaching West about what it means to be truly cared for and loved. The two of them are explosive when they come together. Which brings me to my next favorite part of the story – the sexy times!! HOT, steamy, and extremely well written - I loved the sexy times shared between Caroline and West. Even with blunt and abrasive language I still found the scenes to be some of the best sex scenes I’ve ever read!

I am sort of just blown away at how much this story has to offer: amazing sex scenes, nicely written secondary characters, and a number of issues that will resonate with many different readers. And I actually felt pretty content with the ending. I would have definitely wanted another book if the author didn’t already have Harder (July,2014) coming out. However the ending was enough for me. I cried, my heart was aching, but I was content with using my imagination to put the pieces together for myself. But I’m not complaining with the fact that there will be another book. I’d like to fast forward time so I can read it now! But to me the ending wasn’t a cliffhanger. Anywho, I really liked Deeper! I liked it so much I pre-ordered a paperback copy of it and the next book so they’ll have permanent homes on my bookshelf. So would I buy it? Heck yes, I already did =P I’m actually looking forward to reading the author’s other books under her real name (Ruthie Knox).