{Audiobook} {New Adult} Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

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.


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Labels: audiobooks, contemporary, easy, indies, new adult, penguin, reviews, tammara webber, tough subject