Review: Fall with Me

Fall with Me by Julie Particka
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Week 6 of Shameless takes me out of my usual genre. So take my rating with a grain of salt. I rarely read new adult or young adult for a reason. It is because I don't like it. Still, I plowed forward with this book as I committed to read all the books I received at Shameless.

This story is about revenge, redemption and regret. I definitely can get behind these three themes. It is the execution of this story which dragged it a bit down for me. I am not fond of contrived conflict through willful miscommunication. The start of the story is straight forward with Jenna Brandt falling into the age old trap of best friend makes off with her boyfriend/fiance. Her self esteem already suffering, going home w/o a job and seeing a past crush who rejected her just piles on more self esteem issues.

Ms. Particka creates a very realistic response from Jenna. At that age still, the needs of trying to please a selfish boyfriend by sacrificing her own future is unfortunately valid and all too realistic. In my jaded old self, I wanted to yell at her... DON'T DO IT! And yet, in this book Jenna's journey ends with her still defining herself by the man she found and sacrificing her career. This is what doesn't work for me. Although to be fair, Ms. Particka ends the story before we learn what Jenna does with her career. Maybe she does find something in her podunk town that justifies the expensive college tuition she paid. (See my jaded sarcasm?)

Usually, a second chance romance is up my alley. This one was so-so for me. Sutton is the stereotypical out of control guy who went wild when he made some money. Being in the financial district, one's compass tends to get skewed. Whilst it isn't a complete hedonistic full on den of iniquity, the temptations to do drugs, drink and screw excessively and indiscriminately is high. Coming from a similar industry, I can relate. I get Sutton and I like that he's trying to change. His youth shows through in his irrational behaviours when he makes a promise to his sister that conflict with what he promised Jenna. I have one thing to say. "USE YOUR WORDS". Seriously, most of this conflict is a train wreck I can see miles away. For me, this is not enjoyable, even if I did end up liking the characters. Jenna is a bit naive and sweet. Sutton is a confused male who will one day learn the mysteries of a female. This sweet romance is recommended to readers who enjoy new adult with second change themes.