Monday, March 25, 2013

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Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Narrator:  Tara Sands
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: May 25, 2012
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.


My friend Jenn Renee kept telling me how awesome the audio for Easy was, and since I hadn't been able to make time for the ebook I purchased earlier last year, I decided that it was probably the only way I'd ever get to it.  Audiobook purchased, I was well on my way to seeing what all the fuss was over this book when it first released last year.

When I first started listening, I wasn't sure that I was going to like Tara Sands as the narrator.  There was a hard edge to her voice and she sounded a bit more mature than I pictured the main character.  However,  after listening for awhile and especially when it came to dialogue, it was a completely different story.  Her voice was that of a college sophomore, reliving the worst moments of her life for an audience of one.  I was as transfixed by her narration as I was by the story.
“As for being somewhere you're not supposed to be--maybe you're here for a reason, or there is no reason.”
This novel deals with some tough subject matter, and it left me feeling squicky at times.  It is an earnest depiction of a traumatic event and it might be too much for some.  It was for my sister, who attempted to listen along with me but gave up after the attack, which happens very early on in the story.  She likes gritty stories, but when it comes to trauma of a sexual nature, she draws the line.  In the past, I might have given up on this novel, as well, but time has taught me that sometimes you have to dust off the dirt to get to the beauty beneath.  The same is true of this book.  Get beyond the gritty, distressing events and you'll find a beautiful story at the heart of it.

Easy is a new adult romance novel.  Aside from the aforementioned traumatic events, the romantic entanglements are the focus of the story.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Lucas/Landon storyline, though I think it would be obvious to anyone with a pulse how it's going to play out.  Even Jacqueline reprimands herself for being so oblivious.  Still, it made for an entertaining story.
“I wanted to tell you that I just--I miss you. And maybe that sounds ridiculous--like we barely know each other, but between the emails and texts and... everything else, I felt like we did. Like we do. And I miss--I don't know how else to say it--I miss both of you.”
I may be late to the Easy bandwagon, but I'm glad I finally gave the book a chance.  I left my comfort-zone for this book, and it was well worth it.  I've heard great things about Tammara Webber's Between the Lines series, as well, and I hope to give those books a fair chance in the near future.  As luck would have it, those novels are available in audio, too, so maybe their chance will come sooner rather than later.


Rating:   photo 4-1.png

17 comments:

  1. Loved this book! I read her Between the Lines series first and loved it which made me want to read this. I do hate such traumatic events in books as I prefer upbeat but this one had such a great romance and all the issues were handled well.

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    1. I'm definitely going to be checking out Between the Lines soon. :)

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  2. awesome review. I am so happy you liked this book. It took a long while for this book to leave me. I couldn't help thinking about it. The storyline was easy for me to figure out... that was my only downside for the story... I think it was supposed to be easy for us readers. I am usually not a fan of the broken, but it got to me in this book. especially what we learn from the professor later on. It almost broke me. It felt like an honest book to me,the issues and the love story. so glad you liked it.

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    1. Thanks for recommending this one! It was honest and gritty but still funny at times. I really liked it!

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  3. I'm so happy you gave Easy a chance! Tammara is such a great writer. I have to say, that as much as I loved Easy, her Between the Lines series is even better, IMO.
    Great review, Jenn!

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    1. Hehe...I'm going to pick up the audio for those soon, I think. :)

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  4. I still haven't read this one, but I do own a copy! I can imagine that these type of stories may be hard to listen to, especially any sort of traumatic event. I'm glad you liked it though. Hopefully I can read it... someday. lol (It's on my TBR reading challenge so I better!)

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    1. I feel like I say that way too often. I hope you get to this one soon...and all those others you need to read! Lol.

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  5. I'm glad I gave this book a chance, too--I was surprised by how much I liked it. This is one of those books I imagine would be kind of hard to listen to on audio because of some of the scenes, but I'm glad you ended up liking the narrator--and the book!

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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    1. I was surprised, too, but I shouldn't have been, I guess. So many of my friends loved it.

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  6. I just read this book this past weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm glad we both gave it a chance!

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    1. Yay! Me, too! I need to stop judging a book before I've read it. ;)

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  7. MATURE! That's the word I was looking for!! I totally agree with your thoughts on the narrator. She just didn't fit my "Jacqueline, college student" image in my head. Otherwise, I really liked the story... no matter how gritty and hard to stomach it was. :)

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    1. Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that. I'm pretty sure I've heard her read other YA novels, but I don't think it bothered me then. I'll have to look into that. :P

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  8. I hear such great things about this book! Great review :)

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  9. I liked this book so i'm glad you liked it too :) good review.

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  10. It was heart wrenching & I find that those elements come through louder when listening to audio. It makes you feel like you are watching it yourself. I'll definitely be reading more Webber too.

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