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). 

Rameau Reviews: Losing it - Cora Carmack

The premise of this novel is really promising: A chance encounter that leads to a taboo relationship between a theatre student and her professor. It’s a shame that it was wasted on such a poor story about a naive little girl and a man whose only charm was his British accent.

As the title says Losing It is about Bliss Edward’s quest to lose her virginity at twenty two and before she graduates from college. She’s supposedly held on to it this far because she’s a control freak and not at all attracted to all the wannabe actors in her theatre school. The control makes her a good stage manager but it doesn’t exactly hinder her acting either, which is just a blatant contradiction. The head of the department points this out to Bliss:

”You’ve always been a bit too in your head, I suppose. Controlled. Careful. Mechanical, might be the best word for it. But in those auditions—you were living in the moment. You were feeling instead of thinking. I saw shades of emotion in you—strength and vulnerability, desire and disgust, hope and shame—that were quite simply captivating. I don’t know what you’re doing or what you’ve done, but please continue. You’re much better when you make bold choices.”

So, we’re told in Bliss’ narration and with the voice of an authority that she was controlled and careful, but we’re never actually shown it. Bliss is way too comfortable in her small group of friends to classify as socially awkward. She is at best a naive little girl who hasn’t fully embraced the risks and rewards of being an adult. She’s afraid and that fear is what spurs her into drinking herself silly, ignoring a lovely boy flirting with her at the bar, and falling all over a stranger with A BRITISH ACCENT. (I’m just typing as it was in the book.)

Maybe I’m being a little cruel, but from the start Garrick Taylor’s defining characteristic is his British accent, and that’s really not enough for me. I have this vague impression that Garrick had his sweet moments and that he was patient with Bliss when she was freaking out over nothing, but those possible good guy moments were overshadowed by the lack of chemistry between the couple and the sexist red flags that would have had me and any other woman with a speck common sense run away from him.

Let’s not forget the most important part, the great illicit love affair that never was. Garrick is in the know from the start. He knows he’s a teacher and he knows he lives in an area close to the school where college students might live. And yet when Bliss confesses living practically next door, he follows her and would have sex with her, if she didn’t grab the nearest flimsy excuse and run away from her apartment and the naked boy in her bed.  

That’s another thing, Kelsey, a supposed friend of Bliss’—what ever happened to her?—repeatedly calls Garrick a boy before they learn that he’s their new professor. The cover shows a boy, and I’m supposed to believe Garrick is an adult, a man? Umm, okay?

When the truth about their power dynamics comes out in chapter seven, it’s only a momentary disruption. Garrick soon decides it’s not enough to keep him away from Bliss. Neither of them really acts like they’re doing something they’re not supposed to be doing, although Bliss occasionally thinks she shouldn’t. There isn’t any of that delicious angst of a forbidden love and sexual tension building up between the main couple the blurb promises, and all the emotional stress is reserved for Bliss’ relationship with her friend Cade, who is quite unnecessarily in love with her.

It says a lot about the romance when I’m ready to cheer for two other minor characters to win the wishy-washy girl rather than the apparent love interest. In two words: It sucks. This book’s only saving grace is that it’s not romanticising an abusive psychopath—that’s because it hardly romanticises anything—but unfortunately for Carmack that’s no longer enough to inflate the rating. 

P.S. I really didn’t like how the gay character was portrayed.

1 star

Series: N/A

Pages: 204 (ebook)

Publisher: HarperCollins

Imprint: William Morrow

ISBN: 0988393506

Published: October 12th 2012

Source: Bought