{Blog Tour} One & Only by Viv Daniels: Review + Giveaway

Title: One & Only
Author: Viv Daniels (aka Diana Peterfreund)
Series: Canton, book #1
Publisher: indie/self-pubbed
Publication Date: November 8, 2013
Source: author provided for review
Purchase: Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

One night they can't forget...

Tess McMann lives her life according to the secrets she's sworn to keep: the father who won't acknowledge her, the sister who doesn't know she exists, and the mother who's content playing mistress to a prominent businessman. When she meets the distractingly cute Dylan Kingsley at a prestigious summer program and falls in love, Tess allows herself to imagine a life beyond these secrets. But when summer ends, so does their relationship -- Dylan heads off to Canton College while Tess enrolls at the state university.

One love they can't ignore...

Two years later, a scholarship brings Tess to Canton and back into Dylan's life. Their attraction is as strong as ever, but Dylan has a girlfriend…who also happens to be Tess's legitimate half-sister. Tess refuses to follow in her mother's footsteps, which leaves her only one choice: break the rules she’s always followed, or allow Dylan to slip away for a second time.

...And only one chance to get things right.

Are you wary of most new adult novels and the usual emphasis they place on "damaged" characters or virginal characters who are simply trying to get that first time out of the way?  Yeah...me, too.  And so, it's with some trepidation that I admit I would have completely passed over this novel had it not been for my awesome reading buddy Emily.  She clued me into the fact that this new adult story was actually written by the awesome Diana Peterfreund, under her psuedonym.

The fact that One & Only was written by one of my favorite authors was definitely a point in the book's favor, but the selling point was when I actually took the time to read the premise of this novel.  Falling in love as teenagers is one thing -- often a fleeting one -- but finding each other years later means there really was a connection, often one that's hard to deny.

And, boy, does Tess do a lot of that.  She denies knowing who her father is.  She denies herself dreams of attending Canton College.  She denies her initial attraction to Dylan and later her very real feelings for him. Tess is used to not getting what she wants, but when an opportunity arises that she just cannot say no to, she gives in, feeling reckless and daring, knowing what her father will say when he finds out.  I have to be honest, I was fearful of his reaction, too, but this was something that Tess had to do, no matter the consequences. To always live in hiding, in the shadows, and putting aside what matters to you is no kind of existence, and I was glad to see Tess finally take a stand, even if it could have cost her everything.

Dylan was the epitome of the "good guy".  In the beginning, he was just a cute, nerdy boy who fell for a girl who couldn't give him what he was looking for.  When we meet him again, he's still that guy, but he's slightly more worldly and a lot more wary of Tess.  For like, ten minutes.  It's obvious that there are some seriously unresolved feelings between these two, and becoming lab partners once again while at Canton proves to be difficult.  But what I loved about these two was that they had frank discussions about everything.  Granted, there are just some things that Tess can't break the silence about, but for the most part, Tess and Dylan participate in open and honest conversations about their feelings and their future and everything in between.  I despise the use of miscommunication to further drama and cause conflict in a storyline, so it was invigorating to see this story head in the opposite direction.

You know to expect a love triangle in this story based on that summary, but it's not as bad as all that. Actually, I thought the way that the characters handled their mutual feelings and avoided hurting the third party at all costs was rather admirable.  In fact, and despite the circumstances, I found that the characters were rather likable all the way around, which I honestly was not expecting coming into this story.  Tess and Dylan are brilliant and kind of amazing; Hannah -- Tess' half-sister -- isn't nearly the snobby, stereotypical sorority-type girl I was expecting; and Tess' mother is just a woman who fell for the wrong man.  The only person in this story without a redeeming quality is actually the man who caused this whole mess in the first place.

It was so refreshing to see such an original plot in a new adult novel.  But that shouldn't be all that surprising, considering Peterfreund is the queen of originality...and that she was writing "new adult" before it was even coined with that somewhat obnoxious term.  This story portrays a realistic college experience, with all of the ups and downs that come along with it, and I was equally as enamored with the romance as I was with the family aspect, which I was worried would be a little heavy-handed and contrived.  But it all meshed well and culminated in a very cute story.  I can't wait to pick up Hannah's story in the companion novel!

About the author:

Viv Daniels writes love stories for the young and young at heart. Like many of her characters, she met her husband in college, and knows all the ins and outs of navigating that kind of relationship — from how to date when you’re both flat broke to how to fit two people in narrow dorm room bed.

Her favorite new adult authors include Tammara Weber, J. Lynn, and Cora Carmack.

Viv can usually be found on her Facebook page or Twitter feed, chatting with readers about her favorite New Adult fiction, or sharing pictures of cute boys.

Viv Daniels is the pseudonym of Diana Peterfreund.

Find Viv:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Both the tour-wide giveaway and the swag pack giveaway are sponsored by the author.  Prizes will be sent out by the author at the conclusion of the tour.

tour-wide giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

swag pack giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck & happy reading!