Easy - Tamara Webber

I’ve never been super into standalones, possibly because I strongly suspect I have some form of book separation anxiety, possibly because I enjoy having at least a trilogy-length of time to fully come to terms with leaving characters behind.

That being said, theres been a significant increase in the amount of standalones I've been reading lately :)

Synopsis from Goodreads

Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

A groundbreaking novel in the New Adult genre, Easy faces one girl's struggle to regain the trust she's lost, find the inner strength to fight back against an attacker, and accept the peace she finds in the arms of a secretive boy.

I liked:

• Normally the heroine tends to get on my nerves when the inevitable ‘boy rejects girl thinking he’s protecting her’ type thing happens and then the chick lead spends anywhere between 1 to 4 chapters being whiny and unreasonably stubborn/petty. I have to say, Jacqueline is way more mature than your average YA heroine. I approve!

• Addressed a sensitive issue in a mature way, without diminishing it’s severity. I’ve read a few books that throws some innuendos around and it’s never addressed further than that or it’s completely downplayed immediately after.

• The ‘bad boy’ wasn’t really a bad boy. I am positively overjoyed that more and more male leads are emerging that are hot and brainy and that don't come off as total douche bags immediately. Lucas has almost no tendency to psycho behavior except the initial 'I had to get to know you so I obsessively sought you out on campus' thing. No punching walls, breaking furniture, forbidding Jacqueline to see anyone, none of that 'you are mine and only mine' nonsense. Best of all, he didn't need our heroine to fix him. He wasn't broken or damaged beyond repair or going through a bizarre phase only to have Jacqueline make him see the light and change him for the better.

• The epilogue. Normally, Im not a fan. Often feels too forced and structured, but this epilogue wasn’t like multiple years in the future so there was none of the insta marriage, insta children with sentimental names nobody would give their children (Sorry JK Rowling). One of the most tolerable epilogues I've read!

• Banter. I love me some witty back and forths

I didn’t like:

• All Landon's secrets were divulged rather late. Infact, there was a section towards the middle that could’ve been completely cut out and the book would’ve been no worse off. Boo to ‘filler’ chapters!

Read if:

• You're tired of borderline psychotic male leads who would downright frighten you in real life.

• You love lead characters who don't need one another to fix themselves or complete their lives

• You like a good love story (obvs)

Overall a good read, twas sweet, interesting, funny and well worth the 6ish hours spent living in Jacqueline and Lucas’ world. :)