Book Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Rescued by a stranger.

Haunted by a secret

Sometimes, love isn't easy…

Such is the synopsis given by Goodreads, and it's an accurate summation. After rescuing her from nearly being raped in a fraternity parking lot, Lucas and Jacqueline begin a long and sometimes difficult journey toward trust, healing, and love.

I really liked this book, and I think it's a great example of what the New Adult genre is bringing to the market place. It's sexy, sweet, touching, and gives a true depiction of college life. The book and I didn't get along the entire journey, but by the end, I was sold.

First, like I said before, this book had a truly compelling and realistic view of college life. I felt like these characters were living on my campus and taking the same classes I was (though I would LOVE to have had a professor as forgiving as their Econ professor). All of the characters act like they're in college. Sometimes, it read a bit more like YA than NA, but having just graduated from college within the past couple of years, I find that reasonable. I think we all still act like we're in high school sometimes, even if it's been only a year, six years, or twenty years. High School Persists!

I liked the relationship between Jacqueline and Lucas. It felt mostly organic (though some of the scenes seemed rushed into). The heat of their encounters radiated off the page. Even the scenes where they were only kissing had me sweating! They had definite chemistry and I wanted more and more. I was BEGGING them to get it on already! And the scenes where we find out that alluded to secret, had me near tears. They are an excellent couple and they kept me rooting for them.

For the most part, Webber did an excellent job handling the rape topic. Mostly. For about the last two-thirds of the novel. This is why the book lost a point for me. At first, I was disappointed. Jacqueline didn't seem to be handling her attempted rape at all. It was as though it never even happened, just something the author threw in to get Jacqueline and Lucas to interact. But then, about a third of the way in, she begins to move back to Jacqueline's encounters with Buck, her attempted rapist, and she begins to really deal with what happened. At that point, I really got into the book. Once Webber came back around to it, she handled it with sensitivity, strength, and seriousness, and very realistically. I loved the scene when Jacqueline and Mindi are discussing with the sorority officers about what to do about testifying against Buck and President Katie says "You know what looks bad? A bunch of girls who don't support each other when a guy pulls some shit like this... That dickwad hurt two people at this table. And you're worried about who'll look bad if they tell? Screw that... Are we sisters or not?"

Now THAT is SISTERHOOD!

Overall: hot romance, realistic setting, belated but good topic handling. I would recommend this one, but I'm only giving it a 4 espresso shot rating.