Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Goodreads Summary:

A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

Publication Date: May 25, 2012

I had moderate expectation with this book. I've been in a bit of a slump lately with contemporary romances. Books that everyone and their mother seem to love I either did not finish or was kind of meh over it. I was surprised in so many ways by this beautiful book. Totally worth the hype.

I was drawn in from the beginning. Jacqueline felt very real to me. Although her decisions weren't always the best, they felt very honest to me. How often do we hear of girls who go without reporting a rape or a sexual assault? Not only was this book about a budding romance, but female empowerment as Jacqueline learns how to fight back.

Lucas was amazing. He was the perfect male lead: hot, protective and mysterious. Although some romantic leads come off as one dimensional, I loved how the author gave him so much depth. Like Jacqueline, I wanted to learn more about him and why he seemed to keep her at arm's length. Every love scene they had together was smoldering and I felt their relationship developed at a good pace. Everything about it felt very real.

The secondary characters were all great additions to the novel. The villain Buck was truly repulsive and I couldn't wait for him to get his face rearranged. Jacqueline's ex Kennedy was also gross and I felt bad that she had followed such a loser to college. Erin was an awesome friend and roommate to Jacqueline. I loved their girl power scenes together, especially during the self defense classes.

For the first 3/4 of the book, it was a solid 4-4.5 rating. I loved it, but I felt there was a lot of predictability within the plot. Then, I read the last quarter. I am so not a crier when I read and honestly can't remember the last time I cried reading a book. But this book had me sobbing. Then, it had me swooning. And finally cheering. Absolutely amazing!

If you want a contemporary romance with depth, read this book!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this novel for review!