I am a horrible person. I suppose that I should feel guilty about taking so much energy to rant about the horrible sh*t that went down in book 1 and book 2, when I'm about to majorly drop the ball on reviewing this book, which I actually did like.

It's not even that pointing out frustrations is more fun (oh who am I kidding; it can be), it's just that I still haven't had the time and/or desire to want to review much lately - even for books that made me happy. 

The lead female actually used her brain more than once. I know! I couldn't believe it either, after being so disappointed with Marie and Sophie in previous books. Em was a little bit stronger, a little bit tougher, and a little bit sassier.She also knew when to walk the hell away from a situation that wasn't good for her. *applause*

Hunter wasn't a role model, and that was okay for this particular story. Even with the continuation of the kidnapping plot (which I am thoroughly sick of in MC books), I felt like we got to see an admittedly damaged man come into his own in a way which felt somewhat believable. Hunter had issues, but he KNEW he had issues. He KNEW he was a stalker. He KNEW that he had to get Em off the crazy train. How much better would most super-heavy-drama books be if the screwed up characters actually took some responsibility for their shit? 

I loved watching Hunter grow. I loved watching Hunter's buried sensitive side come out. 

There was some great sexual tension, and much of it was fueled by Em. She already knew what being in the lifestyle meant and what the sacrifices would be, which made her acceptance of everything easier to digest than it had been with Marie and Sophie, who had gone along for the ride far too easily for my preference. 

I know a lot of people didn't like this book as much as the first two, but I felt the writing and characters were stronger on every level. I would rather read something that makes sense and has true character development over reading something that has no entertainment value outside of a drama/shock factor. At least this time, I didn't feel like I was being lead around through a mad house only for the purpose of waiting for a halfway decent sex scene. 

The bantering humor was a welcome addition. The sex wasn't as mind blowing as I would have liked, but the chemistry and timing was excellent, so the balance worked for me. 

My only gripe : I was very put off by the author note at the end, almost "apologizing" for the NA character ages. I agree that NA has a bit of a stigma right now, but don't justify writing what what you want to write. It only fuels the stereotype of certain things being lesser than others. While I do feel that there's a lot of crap NA out there right now, it has not ONE thing to do with character ages, and more to do with cliched and bad writing. If your book is good, it's good, regardless of character age. If the fans can't see that, shake it off and continue writing your next adult book. Please don't make explanations for what you want to do. *soapbox off*

I'm really looking forward to Picnic's book!

I'm not sure what happened. I read Vain 2 or 3 weeks ago (don't even remember now) and UHHHHH...didn't review the thing?

I'm sure that I have quotes marked in my copy, but the distance of time has me super lazy to care enough to go pull them up.

Condensed Review Version : 

The cons -

Simplistic writing
Some minimal editing issues
Cringe-worthy start (almost DNF'ed) for the first few chapters (but I get the point the author was trying to make, so it's forgivable)
A character who unbelievably changed overnight (would have liked to have seen a slower change) from spoiled rich brat to empathetic, hard working, mature woman

The pros -

Very readable
Tugs at the heartstrings
AWESOME, strong, HUMBLE, caring, male lead
Attention brought to a part of the world that westerners could stand to learn more about

The second half of this book was a powerhouse of emotion. Seeing a materialistic girl become a person who cared about orphans whose lives were ravaged by war and genocide took the typical YA/NA contemporary standard and threw it out the window. 

While not perfect in execution, this story got the focus off of generic teen problems and took the reader to another place entirely. Even with the hiccups, I have to credit an A for effort. 

I ended up being the person in a group buddy read who liked the book, instead of being the person who hated the book.

Quick story rundown : A college age girl is forced to keep her identity a secret because her father has another family somewhere out there. The guy she loved and lost (and hopes to love again) is now involved with someone else who has the potential to ruin the secret.

What does it say about me when others are hating the main character and I'm thinking that I was a lot like her at that age? Does that make me unlikable? Hah. Who knows?

Apparently, I had questionable morals and ethics as a young person. I would have gone for what I wanted too, and probably been even more ruthless about it. 

The only thing that pissed me off about the story was Tess's motivation to keep quiet for so long. I would have blown everyone's secrets out of the water at the start of the book - because I'm ruthless like that.

Hey, it wasn't a great book or anything, but I thought the story was okay enough. It sucked less hard than most of the recent NA contemps I've read. If you hate most NA contemps, it's probably a crapshoot whether you'll like this or not. I see that a few trusted reviewers have rated One & Only higher than the average NA, so there's obviously something here which might appeal to people who are wary to read the category. If you like NA contemps, then I'd consider adding this book to your list, because I do think it's better than a lot of the standard offerings in the category at the moment. 

Buddy Read with my friends at To Be Decided.