Lost and Found by Nicole Williams

Rowen doesn't care what other people think about her. She doesn't care when mothers move their kids away from her on the street, or when people mutter, "Freak," as they take in her punk clothes. She's been on her own her entire life, with an absentee mother who couldn't care less and a father she doesn't even know the name of. The last stop she has to make on her way to college is a summer at Willow Springs Ranch, in Montana. What she doesn't expect to find is unconditional love and a family like she's only dreamed could exist. A summer of love, loss and acceptance, a summer that will change Rowen forever.

"We all want to open up to someone, Rowen. The hard part is finding someone we trust enough to open up to. That person we're not afraid to let into the darkest parts of our world."

Rowen was a great main character. We know she's had a rough past, but it isn't until the end of the book that her mystery is really revealed. While it's entirely possible to guess the big reveal, there are aspects of it that make it an original plot twist, and that much more tragic. She really doesn't let what people say to her get under her skin, and has lots of witty comebacks herself. Despite her damaged exterior and history of making bad decisions, she's real enough of a person to really like and relate to.

"I wasn't living with just the nicest family in existence; they were probably descendants of Aristotle."

The Walkers were a fantastic family, and have been born and raised in Montana, not far from the truth when it comes to how ranch families are. They have a great dynamic and their interactions always aid to the plot, they're not just filler. How they accept Rowen into their lives and family is wonderful, and every conversation with Rose left me beaming at me Kindle like a complete fool.

'"I will rise, but I do not shine," I croaked as I stood. "Even if I did, I sure as heck wouldn't this early."'

The ranch living was quite accurate, though an aspect that was never approached in this book is the farming. Most ranch families also have a subsistence farm that the women take care of while the men are out with the cattle. When you live that far from town, you can't drive in every time you run out of lettuce. Before I go any further I must put in however, that I think Ms. Williams chose the wrong side of the state. I live thirty minutes from a ranch called Willow Springs, and I live in the third largest town in Montana. We're not huge, but it's a college town and definitely not the stick that she was describing. Western Montana is dead set in the Rocky Mountains, the plains are out east, where most of the ranches and farms are. But other than that little location hiccup, I applaud the new territory.

'"Check those pancakes. I think they're smoking." His dimples set into his cheeks. "What can I say? I have that effect on things."

Jesse deserves to have that cocky attitude, and boy did I enjoy it. He's not a troubled bad boy who lashes out at people–that's Rowen's job. He's a boy with a dark past who overcame it to become a better person, and man was that a great change of pace. He's funny, smart, witty and kind. Men can't get much better than that. He sees in Rowen the girl she tries to hide from everyone else, and doesn't for a moment think that she's just a screw-up girl with no future. This isn't an abusive relationship, as many YA novels these days are. They are one hundred percent good for each other, and that's a breath of fresh air if I ever took one.

'"We don't deserve anything, Rowen. We don't deserve punishment, we don't deserve happiness, life owes us nothing. Realize that." His voice wasn't gentle anymore; it was as strong as I'd ever heard it. "So we have to take what we want because life sure as shit isn't going to freely hand it over." He kissed the skin just above my collar bone. "And I want you."' 

This book will drop some doozies on you, but it doesn't seem like it's trying too hard. It's just chalk full of wisdom that I'm highly tempted to paint in calligraphy on my wall. This isn't a heartbreaker, it's a book that will leave you grinning from ear to ear and completely satisfied once you put it down. There's a second book, but it's not a cliffhanger ending. It's bright, happy and resolves all the main conflicts. In fact, it's so great I'm scared of what the second might do to my heart.

So read on fellow Nicole Williams fans, and embrace the cowboy you never knew you wanted.

Five Stars

Rosalie Williams

Lost and Found on Goodreads

 

 

 

Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

Emma is invisible. Okay, not really, but sometimes she wishes she could be. All she wants is to keep her head down and disappear until she graduates high school and can escape the ruthlessness of her aunt. Ever since her mother dropped her off at the front door four years earlier, Emma has been struggling to breathe in the house, around her so called family, she can barely make it day to day.

This is a dark book. It addresses the very serious issue of child abuse, and to be honest it was fantastic. At what I believe to be around 400+ pages, it's long, but I wouldn't give up a page of it. The length enables true character and relationship development, something that is often missing in so many YA books these days.

Emma is a great main character. For the first time in my life–or at least in a long time–the heroine didn't bother me. She's smart, strong, and a grounded person, and her reactions to things are perfect, so great I wish I could be more like her. When she's first being pulled into the social realm she navigates it with her sharp personality easily, and it's great to see her remain strong under the watchful eyes of her peers.

The storyline is interesting, and not once did I get bored. The scenes are fun and exciting, and you never know what's going to happen next. Emma is a kind person, but she doesn't let anyone walk all over her the way a lot of book girls do these days.

Emma and Evan's relationship is one of the best I've read. He isn't in any way abusive, he's just a nice guy that recognizes something in her. They start out as friends–though he wants to be more–and they develop a real connection, this ain't no love at first sight nonsense. Their time together is funny and really sweet, so when the plot twist strikes a little more than halfway through the book, I warn you–brace yourself!

I'm not certain whether or not this is a self-published indie series, and if it is, the editing is fantastic. I did not find one mistake, and that hasn't happened in what feels like forever. This book is the quality that all authors should strive for, indie or otherwise.

The one thing that could have been done a bit better was the actual abuse. While her aunt was clearly cruel and it was sickening to read what she does to Emma, there was something lacking. A big part of abuse in households is often the psychological aspect of the terrorization. That wasn't addressed here as much as the physical part was, and I wish that had been dealt with, because while bruises heal, the psychological warfare is permanently scarring.

A dark story about a girl lost, only to be found by a boy she never thought even knew her name, Reason to Breathe is a breath of fresh air. Get out of that self-published reading slump, hike up your adult pants, and settling in for a stay-up-all-night read.

Five Stars

Rosalie Williams

Reason to Breathe on Goodreads

Crash by Nicole Williams

After her family is uprooted by a tragedy, Lucy is off to a new school, in a new town, and all she wants to do is dance. Until she meets Jude. Resident bad boy, everyone has already written Jude off as a waste of space, but Lucy sees something more in him, and she's not about to give up on him like everyone else.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster. The writing is witty and funny, and I did laugh out loud like an idiot multiple times. But then it's also heartbreaking and sad and I broke down in tears at least twice. I'll admit that I stayed up until four in the morning reading this, and it tore me apart. So for those of you looking for a light read, don't pick up this book.

My first impressions of Lucy were pretty good. She saw a hot guy, and wanted his attention, so she got it. But when he opened his mouth and was a jerk, she decided it wasn't worth it. Unlike a lot of YA novels these days she didn't put up with his abuse, and seriously brushed him off. I liked that a lot. Further on in the book she also didn't cave. That's the thing, she's ridiculously stubborn. Sometimes I liked that, sometimes I didn't. By the end of the book I was pretty fed up with Lucy. She let Jude walk away too many times, and she didn't listen to him when he spoke. She has some major trust issues, and it bothered me that she never got over them.

"You can't be friends with the person you were meant to spend you life with."

Jude was funny but really sexy. However, I never got the really bad side to his character. Sure he gets angry at the drop of a hat, but he's never malicious. On the other hand, he actually was a bad boy, which was refreshing from all those bad boy wannabes that are in literature these days!

Something about Lucy's and Jude's relationship is extremely emotional and intense. Every word and action is carefully choreographed to draw you in and make you fall so deeply in love with them you feel like your heart is being ripped out. There are some really swoon-worthy scenes in this book, and it made me madder than hell that Lucy couldn't get over herself and just trust Jude.

"You didn't make me a better person, because no one can do that. You made me want to be a better person."

The only thing I really didn't like about this book, other than sometimes Lucy, was how much time it skipped. At the beginning it wasn't that bad, but then at the end the book just skips the entire school year and goes to graduation, and then it goes from graduation to the beginning of college. I hate it when main characters are away from each other like that, and the time skips just seemed like a cop out to me. I didn't like that Jude ignored her, and I didn't like that she let Jude walk away, and never tried to talk to him. This is what kept this book from five stars and my favorites shelf.

Although I may be bitter from the first two chapters of the second book (which by the way I'm not liking very much so far), this book really digressed from beginning to end for me. I wish it hadn't, because initially I really liked Lucy, and I loved her and Jude's relationship.

I hope that this series doesn't rip my heart out, because something I'm realizing about contemporary books these days, is that the authors love a tragedy.

Four Stars

Rosalie Williams

Crash on Goodreads