Oh book, I wanted to like you so badly. For the most part I did. But honestly, the parts I enjoyed most were the parts not focusing on the romance which is generally bad news for a romance book.
Don't get me wrong, this is no Beautiful Disaster. Lucas is a nice enough love interest and the conflicts they have aren't entirely stupid. But I still couldn't shake the feeling there was something unsettling about their relationship. Maybe it's best if I sum it up for you...
1) Lucas notices Jacqueline while she's still with her boyfriend, falls for her from afar
2) Lucas notices they've broken up and semi-stalks her in a way which isn't full-blown stalking but is still uncomfortably close to it
3) Lucas saves Jacqueline from getting sexually assaulted
4) Lucas gets assigned as her tutor, doesn't admit it's him and starts flirting with her via email
5) Lucas also starts flirting with her in their real-life interactions
6) They predictably get together, blah blah blah
Look, I totally get the 'falling for someone who's taken' thing. But the fact he seeks her out the second she doesn't have a boyfriend anymore coupled with him rescuing her from a sexual assault and then romancing her is...not okay. I like him as a character and I think they could have worked as a couple but the timing and psychology behind it is all wrong.
Moving on from that though, I did enjoy this book. It handles sexual assault reasonably well (certainly better than a lot of other romance books) and while Jacqueline is a bit dim about her attacker, she doesn't fall into the complete idiot territory. I found the other characters likeable (especially Erin) and on the whole, this is a good book. It's just a shame I couldn't get behind the main romance in it 100%.
Overall Score:
.5
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