Friday, May 24, 2013

Emancipating Andie by Priscilla Glenn ~ review & Giveaway

Source: Received eBook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review

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Book Description:

Ever since the one time Andie Weber threw caution to the wind - and paid the price for it - she’s learned that it’s safer and smarter to live life playing by the rules. Now she’s got a great apartment, a steady job, and a wonderful boyfriend in Colin; he’s sweet, stable, and essentially perfect – except maybe for the fact that his best friend is Chase.

Chase McGuire lives his carefree, unstructured life strictly for himself. Dripping sarcasm and oozing wit, he refuses to censor his feelings or opinions for anyone, making no apologies for either and wearing his abrasiveness like a badge of honor. No one has ever gotten under Andie’s skin the way Chase does – and vice versa.

So when Andie and Chase find themselves forced to take a two-day road trip together, they are already dreading an inevitable all-out war. But as the trip progresses, and the undeniable friction that has always defined their relationship slowly begins to wear away their preconceived notions of each other, Andie and Chase discover they both have a lot to learn about life, courage, happiness, and the age-old battle between logic and love.


My Thoughts:




4 stars - Smiled and laughed through so much of this book

As I was reading the ending of this book, I realized that there was this huge smile plastered to my face and that it had been there a lot for this book.  Love that.

Can I just say that this is not a cheating book.  Some may be concerned about reading it, thinking its about cheating.  It's not.  There is no Andie and Chase while Andie is taken.  I never felt like they were doing anything wrong.  Chase fought his feeling for Andie to the bitter end.  Andie sorted her feeling until she was positive.  There was no cheating.  That doesn't mean there wasn't pain.  There was.  There was also some male responding to that pain.  But that is to be expected when two guys love the same girl.

So, I'm starting with Colin.  Yes, Colin.  He's not right for Andie.  She thinks he is because her mother raised her to love with her head and not her heart.  Safe choices save you pain.  Colin is safe.  He's a good guy who loves Andie.  But he doesn't understand her.  He doesn't inspire her.  He doesn't make her heart pound and her blood race.  He deserves better.  So does she.

Then there is Chase.  He's everything that Andie doesn't like.  He's spontaneous and a risk taker.  He says what he thinks without the filter.  His past has taught him to makes the choices that make him happy.  And he has a way of thinking that gives Andie pause.  She has this impression of him that's not quite accurate.  Their first encounter was less than positive.  It takes a bit but finally Chase breaks through that impression and she discovers just how much more there is to him.

Andie is shaped by an experience when she was fourteen and her mother telling her to love with her head.  She's safe.  She follows the rules.  She plans.  She organizes. But somewhere along the way she started living on autopilot.  Chase turns that off and she starts to live again.  Shocked and overwhelmed by those feelings, it takes her a while to come to terms with how he makes her feel.  And the story gives her that time.  I really appreciated that about this book.  The story develops slowly, not in a dragging kinda a way but in a "this is how life works" kinda way.  It made things more real for me.

One of the best parts of this book is the way it makes you think.  Both Andie and Chase have very strong ideas about things but as they spend time together they offer each other a different way to see those things.  Both of them make each other really think.  They make me think too.  I really enjoyed that about this story.

The pages flew by and I read this in a couple of days.  I really enjoyed it overall.  If you like the contemporary romance with some yummy steam and smiles mixed in, then this is a good choice.  AND it's currently on SALE!





About the author:

Priscilla Glenn lives in New York with her husband and three children. She has been teaching English Language Arts at the middle and high school levels for the past eleven years while moonlighting as a writer, mommy, coach, student, and professional laundry-doer.

If you catch her when she's feeling sophisticated, she'll tell you her favorite things are great books and good wine. In the moments in between, she'll admit her love for anything Ben and Jerry's, UFC fights, and Robert Pattinson.

Emancipating Andie is Glenn’s second novel. She is also the author of the contemporary romance/young adult crossover, Back to You.


****Giveaway****

2 print copies of Emancipating Andie
US/Canada Only


a Rafflecopter giveaway

13 comments:

  1. Great review!! This sounds like a fantastic book. I think I would really like it.

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  2. I loved Priscilla`s first novel Back to you so I am looking forward reading this also.Love it when there is great life messegge. Thanks for the review!

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  3. I really enjoyed this one too. I loved Chase.

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  4. It sounds like a good book. Thanks for having the giveaway.

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  5. Great review. I will definitely check this one out. I'm also glad to hear it's not a book about cheating. I'm not against an author using cheating in a book - I firmly believe we don't control where the story takes us and cheating might happen - but it's nice to see that she kept the romance clean.

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  6. Great review! I was like you when I finished this book, a big smile!

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  7. Great review and giveaway. The book sounds sweet. <3

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  8. Your review was great and painted an awesome picture of the book. I like that you clarified the "no cheating" thing. Great job!

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  9. So glad you stressed the "no cheating" aspect of the story. I would hate for someone to miss this story b/c of that. What a gorgeous story. Great review!

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  10. Thanks for the opportunity to win!

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  11. Thank you for reviewing this, I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it or not, your review helped! I added this to my TBR list!

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  12. Makes want to read it even more now!

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