Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Frigid (#2)
Genre(s): Contemporary, Romance, New Adult
Publication Date: June 16, 2015
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Sometimes life leaves a mark… Most days, Andrea doesn’t know whether she wants to kiss Tanner or punch him in the gut. He is seriously hot, with legit bedroom eyes and that firefighter body of his, but he’s a major player, and they can’t get along for more than a handful of minutes.
Until now. Tanner knows he and Andrea have had an epic love/hate relationship for as long as he can remember, but he wants more love than hate from her. He wants her. Now. Tomorrow. But the more he gets to know her, the more it becomes obvious that Andrea has a problem. She’s teetering on the edge and every time he tries to catch her, she slips through his fingers.
Andrea’s life is spiraling out of control, and it doesn’t matter that Tanner wants to save her, because when everything falls apart and she’s speeding toward rock bottom, only she can save herself.
Sometimes life makes you work for that happily ever after…
I’m a pretty big fan of JLA but after reading a few of her books it became apparent that I’m only reading them for the romance, so her wide collection of Contemporary Romance was like hitting the jackpot.
The story is told from Andrea and Tanner’s POV and it’s quite clear in the beginning that they have a love/hate relationship. Andrea comes from a rich family and decides she would rather go into teaching instead of being plastic surgeons like her parents; she would much rather go out get drunk and have a good time. It’s obvious that Andrea has some issues and her addictive tendencies make normal situations much worse. Tanner was pretty much like all other JLA’s men: perfect, gorgeous, built like a brick house but unlike the other’s he was much more earnest, thoughtful, caring and mature.
The majority of the book consisted of these hot and cold moments; of course this is New Adult so there was more than a fair share of steamy and scorching romance scenes. While I enjoyed the romance there still seemed to be something missing, there just wasn’t much going on outside of Andrea and Tanner’s relationship and the hints being dropped over Andrea’s condition.
What I loved about the book were the hard-hitting moments and milestone revelations that Andrea went through. Well done to JLA for tackling issues such as mental illness, something you don’t usually read about in NA.
“You know, usually the people who smile the most and laugh the loudest are the ones who…suffer the most,”
This book sits somewhere between a 3-4 star rating, I’m still not completely decided. I would have liked to see more of the relationship between Andrea and Syd, they were supposed to be best friends but it was kind of hard to believe when they didn’t spend any time together and kept secrets from one another. Overall this was a great, quick read whilst covering a realistic look at mental illness and addiction.
I've found that JLA's new adult books are getting better and better, especially since they're dealing with bigger issues, like mental illness. We definitely need more of them!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Frigid yet, but once I get through that, I'll be onto this book too :)
Great review!
~Erika @ Books, Stars, Writing. And Everything In Between.
I liked Frigid, but the cover made this book seem like it would be an emotional read, so I've been avoiding it. Hopefully I'll be able to get to it soon. Great review.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like it was a promising book but that it didn't quite sell it for you and you needed to see a bit more between the characters when it came to the romance front as well. But great review nonetheless x
ReplyDeleteAlthough I love a good romance (like who doesn't right) anyway, might just pass on this one. I need more then 'just' romance to get me to buy and then read a book. Ugh thinking of which I still have books I haven't finished reading setting in my cupboard.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review love. I'm still amazed that you can still sit through all these good and bad books. I hope you don't spend lots of money one them.