Review: Easy

Easy

Author: Tammara Webber
Pages: 310
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Source: Gifted

Description from Goodreads:
Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

First Sentence: "I had never noticed Lucas before that night."

Review:

Because of my immense hatred for the term "new adult," I really did not have any plans to read this, though I did put on my GR to-read shelf for what that's worth. However, Jenni of Alluring Reads read this very recently and praised it to the skies, which prompted a Twitter discussion. Both Jenni and Steph of Cuddlebuggery insisted that I should read this book, but, because of a recently instated book-buying ban, I doubted that would happen anytime soon. At the book club's white elephant party, I "stole" a gift that included the paperback of Easy. Let's just say that I will definitely listen when Jenni and Steph tell me to read things.

First off, the writing in Easy was amazing across the board. I have no complaints about this book being so immensely popular. Webber knows what she's doing and I can only hope that having been picked up by Penguin will make all of her books easier to get a hold of for people like me who do not like to buy ebooks. In case the fact that this used to be self-published worries you, do not be worries, because this has been both well-written and well-edited. Oh, also, can I say how incredibly thrilled I am that the email and text conversations in this book did not involve any text speak?

Initially, Jacqueline frustrated me. Her newly ex-boyfriend, Kennedy, was so obviously an awful human being. Their relationship reminds me in every way of that of Elle Woods and her high school boyfriend in the movie Legally Blonde. A handsome, preppy guy heading for a sleazy career (lawyer/politician) dumps his beautiful, devoted girlfriend so that he can sleep around in college. On the plus side, that's better than cheating, but I had no patience for Kennedy whatsoever and could not fathom why Jacqueline stayed with him.

Thankfully, Jacqueline proves herself again and again. After the dumping, Jacqueline reverts to using her full name in place of the nickname "Jackie" that he gave her, a reference to the president he was named for and his wife (UGH, seriously, why did she not know he was awful before?). When he inevitably comes crawling back, Jacqueline's much more mature about it than I could ever be, remaining civil but consistent in her lack of interest. Heck yes, girl!

As is pretty well known by this point, Easy begins with an attempted rape, and that is a main theme throughout the book. Another reason I struggled with Jacqueline as a heroine at first was that she did not report the guy. However, I know that's completely realistic behavior. Thankfully, with the help of her completely supportive BFF, Erin (who I totally loved btw), Jacqueline manages to take charge of herself, finding new mental and physical strength. I loved that. Also, though there's a depiction of the dark side of the Greek system on college campuses, Webber does not malign it entirely. She kept everything fair, and I appreciate that, even though I'm one heck of a GDI and want nothing to do with frat guys myself.

Please, please, please do not judge the romance in this book off of the blurb. The whole bit about how "He watched her, but never knew her" sounds creepy as hell, and, seriously, Lucas is not like that. He was in her class, so he would watch her there, the way people do when they're bored during a lecture. Since she was cute and smart, he would take note if he saw her on campus. This is completely normal and non-stalkerish behavior, okay? Lucas is not that guy; he does nothing a normal college student wouldn't do in the course of an attraction.

Obviously, I love Lucas or I would not feel the need to defend his honor thus. He's just a great guy. He does do a couple of questionable things, but, honestly, I'm glad about those because they made him real. Otherwise, he would have been in manicpixiedreamboy territory. He's got some darkness and makes stupid decisions sometimes, which is much better than if he were purely perfect. As with all the best heroes, he empowers Jacqueline, and helps her to be better in every way. Plus, he does not pressure for sex at all. Speaking of sex, wow. Webber can write a sizzling scene. Much as I love YA, I do get to missing a well done sex scene, and Easy definitely scratched that itch.

In case you didn't figure this out by now, I ended up loving this book, so much so that I devoured it in a matter of hours. I only hope I can figure out how to get my hands on her Between the Lines series soon.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: This is a text conversation between Jacqueline and Erin:

"Erin: Talking to Chaz. May be late. You ok?
 Me: I'm good. YOU ok?
 Erin: Confused. Maybe I'd feel better if I just kicked him.
 Me: NUTSACK!!!!!!!!!
 Erin: Exactly."