I received this book via NetGalley and the author to give an honest review.

 

You know right from the start I was into the book though I kept wondering what is this moment of impact? We enter the lives of seven people who have never met each other before but yet all their lives will entwine on one fateful day. 

This book to me felt like a destiny book, by that I mean it was destiny for them to be in that place at that time because things for them come to light. We have a husband who will lose it all. a young woman who will find a long lost relative, a man who will lose the love of his life (let me tell you now the whole scene with the hospital and the church had me bawling).  A mother who is in a depression but still fights on for her children, a young man who cares for his mother so much that he will do an unthinkable crime. A father who is famous but maybe not for long, last but not least a man who will feel the world and the sorrow on his shoulders. 

Each of these people will have have a new life because of this incident and it was amazing to see how they each adapted to their new life that they were given.

I really liked all the characters but I think the one I felt the most for minus Harper's story was Enrique. You could just feel the way he felt within the story and I wanted to just hug him through the pages and tell him it is okay. You don't have to have this burden anymore. 

 I will tell you this though please make sure when you start a new chapter you actually pay attention as a new chapter is a new character. 

Overall this book was a good one for me I truly enjoyed how we not only got the background of the characters but it was all woven together wonderfully.

 

Outside is scary, inside is terrifying.

Collin Fitzpatrick did NOT have an easy life. Controlled by a fanatically religious mother, the missing locks on his bathroom and bedroom doors were just some of the small things that had a lasting effect on him. Being gay wasn't remotely up for discussion in his family. Even the thought of being intimate with a guy was completely out of the question. Consequently, Collin is living his life with an unhealthy amount of guilt, shame and anxiety mixed in, and the big crush he has on his straight college roommate, Tanner, doesn't help one bit. Quite the opposite, because after listening to Tannner banging his friend with benefits the whole semester, the one night he gets caught staring? Turns out Tanner isn't as straight as Collin thought he was, and his undesirable thoughts aren't as impossible as he was hoping.

This book surprised me a little. The writing was good, even though some of the dialogue and inner musings seemed a bit forced at times. But it didn't bother me too much. I had more problems with the fact that Tanner slept with his roommate while Collin was right there. I don't care if he thought his roommate was asleep or not. You just don't DO stuff like that. Especially not when you allegedly have a huge crush on the other person sleeping in the bed right beside your own. Just no.

Other than that I enjoyed the story. Collin never had it easy with his family, therefore never really accepted himself or at least got comfortable with his own body. His anxiety and shame burden him in almost every situation, his fear of discovery is almost all-consuming. No wonder that this kind of angst influences the bloossoming relationship with Tanner greatly, and not exactly in a good way.

This was a good, short gfy-ofy story, even though I got a tiny bit annoyed with the "near-death/severe-situation-changed-everything" plotline. It's not a bad formula, but it's been done more times than anyone can count, which si why more often than not it lost its' shine. I can understand it, I can read it and somewhat enjoy it, but in the end, I wish the characters could grow, change and make decisions without life-altering events forcing their hand. But I know that's me, so other readers might not be bothered by it.

All in all a good start of a series and I picked up the second installment out of pure curiosity right after I finished this one.

 

 

 

Order Moment of Impact by Lisa Mondello

 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1LWyHie

BN: http://bit.ly/1JDJnlG

iBooks: http://apple.co/1M3xwPQ

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1SsyCs8

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1IbiD9U

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From New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Mondello...a new adult and college series called the Summer House Series.

 

MOMENT OF IMPACT  (The Summer House Series #2)

 

Do you remember that moment when you wanted time to stand still? When you could anticipate the train wreck ahead but had no way to stop it? Or stop the desire you had in your heart to protect the person you loved?

 

To Lily Carlson, running toward the oncoming train was better than being suffocated by her parents' goals and strict regime. While they wanted her to spend her days taking summer classes and then go to Harvard, all Lily wanted to do was dance and spend a summer on Nantucket Island living in The Bluffs, the name of the summer cottage she was renting with three other girls. She wanted to experience everything she'd missed. No curfews. No hitting the books and missing out on parties and meeting hot guys. She was finally free to be herself. And then she saw the man staring at her as she walked along the water's edge to work. She'd been dancing and it was clear he liked watching her dance. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she couldn't stop herself from seeking him out only to discover that he was a drug she couldn't resist...and everything her parents feared.

 

Gus Jennings knew that he was every parent's worst nightmare. He hadn't exactly lived his life on the right side of the law. He had his reasons, not that anyone understood them. There had never been anyone in his life who believed in him enough to care. He needed to spend a month working landscaping on Nantucket Island and keep himself clean or face the harsh consequences. He knew when he saw the beautiful Lily Carlson dancing down the beach on her way to work that he should just turn his head and forget her. But Lily was irresistible, and she'd made it clear that she wanted him. He only hoped that he could get close enough to touch her, to be with her, without his past coming back and destroying her future.

 

Moment of Impact is a new adult & college romance novel with steamy sexual situations that are not suited for people under 18.

 

Moment of Impact by Lisa Mondello

 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1LWyHie

BN: http://bit.ly/1JDJnlG

iBooks: http://apple.co/1M3xwPQ

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1SsyCs8

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1IbiD9U

ARe: http://bit.ly/1DZ1xbv

It all began with the first sentence:

I didn't mean to see Tanner D'Amico's cock. I really didn't.

You just CAN'T do that to a girl! Lucky for me, estrogens protected my heart. Thank you, estrogens. Never leave me, please.

I knew I wanted the book just by the looks. It's just that, I fell in love with the cover. And call me crazy, but I always thought this was a story in the 50s. Maybe that vintage sort of picture, maybe the James Dean looks, maybe the John Travolta's toupee. I just, plain and simple, assumed this was a Grease kind of movie, without the musical part. Even more, the position in which the model is reminds me of that of an American football player. These little details are messing with my mind.





You see it, right? RIGHT? Don't tell me he is not James Dean!

Weird as it is, I continue picturing this as a Grease movie, even with all the laptops, tablets and mobile phones. I just can't get rid of that image. And it doesn't matter, as this story has that reminiscence of antiquity. For starters, Collin is a closet case and has a 100% certainty that his mother would disown him if she found out her younger son is gay. Collin's family is Catholic and a very religious one. But it's not only Catholic, but intolerant with demonstrations of sex and even masturbations in the house.



It's here when I stop and laugh a little. Why, aren't there any devoted Protestant families who disown their children? How come that every religious parent who despises his gay son is Catholic? Isn't there any Islamic person who does the same? Or Jewish? Or Protestant? Or Orthodox? It's very easy and well-used the plot of intolerance due to religious matters, and it sounds like too much of a coincidence that, if the person is pious and intolerant, he or she usually practices the Catholicism. Are these books written by Protestant people? I want to look further for the reasons of this fashion. I also can say I'm a little disappointed that the author fell for that cheap excuse to create a drama.

We only have Collin's POV, so Tanner remains a mystery. Sometimes too much of one. Tanner's role is less explored but the sense of dissatisfaction is not only due to the lack of his perspective. Tanner should have been more than the confident, cocky and teasing guy. He deserves more development and depth, as he was portrayed in a mostly superficial fashion. I hope that this shallow feeling I have about him is fixed during the following books.

The story is sexy and there is chemistry in their interactions. It's a insta-lust and almost a insta-love, if not for the fact that their friendship began two years before page one and they became roommates shortly afterwards, until they finally decided to risk it to get more. And yes, they do get it indeed! Collin is unexperienced in gay sex and shy at his participation in it. I liked the part when Tanner suggests he uses his account in a porn website to see if Collin would ask to do any of the creative ways two boys can have sex. I think it's very original and funny.



I thought the title of the book was one of those names you use to baptize something because they sound cool. But in fact it holds a particular meaning. I liked the final twists of the story, when Collin panics after Tanner kisses him in the theatre and flees which results in their first real argument. And of course, when Tanner decides to give him time to "think bout it" so of course Collin panics more and realizes he can lose everything that makes him happy. Then the meeting and the accident, the "moment of impact" was the icing on the cake. I'm fond of angst and although here there was a light version of it I liked it and it had an aim: it served to consolidate their feelings and to give name to what they are to each other... at last.

I liked this story... I liked Tanner and Collin.

Loved the "roommates becoming lovers"!

Not much going on in this story other than Collin coming to grip with his sexuality.
Coming from a Catholic home, it was difficult for Collin to be comfortable with his own body.
Tanner was good for him and showed him it was okay to have these desires.

"There's nothing to fix. I'm gay, not broken. And I am in love with Tanner"

Although I've been warned for the sequel that "There's gray-area cheating here", I'll probaby will read it because I sure want to know more about Tanner and Colin.