Thursday, July 10, 2014

Harder (Caroline and West, #2) by Robin York ~ Review

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

In Robin York’s provocative new novel, two young ex-lovers find themselves together again in the shadow of tragedy—and an intense, undeniable attraction.

Caroline still dreams about West. His warm skin, his taut muscles, his hand sliding down her stomach. Then she wakes up and she’s back to reality: West is gone. And before he left, he broke her heart.

Then, out of the blue, West calls in crisis. A tragedy has hit his family—a family that’s already a fractured mess. Caroline knows what she has to do. Without discussion, without stopping to think, she’s on a plane, flying to his side to support him in any way he needs.

They’re together again, but things are totally different. West looks edgy, angry at the world. Caroline doesn’t fit in. She should be back in Iowa, finalizing her civil suit against the ex-boyfriend who posted their explicit pictures on a revenge porn website. But here she is. Deeply into West, wrapped up in him, in love with him. Still.

They fought the odds once. Losing each other was hard. But finding their way back to each other couldn’t be harder.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18630582-harder

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804177031http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harder-robin-york/1117057577

Review...

Yeah. So how do I explain this one. I LOVED book one.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18525821-deeper
Click image for Goodreads

I loved that it dealt with revenge sexting and the consequences.  I loved West and how he was there for Caroline.  Yeah, I could see he had his secrets and I was worried about him.  But they were good together.

I was crushed the way it ended and I NEEDED book two.

I thought I was prepared for West and his secrets.  Thought I could handle how broken he was.  Thought I could handle him being distant, discourage and depressed.  Yeah, maybe not.

He shocked me.  He ripped my heart out and shredded it.

I had to put the book aside for a while.

But here's the thing.  Caroline saw right through what he did.  Yeah, she was hurt but she didn't let it stop her.  She was stronger because of the pain she had been through with Nate last year. (In Deeper) She saw what she wanted and she didn't let the details get in the way.  Don't get me wrong, she hurt.  She had to deal with it.  But she loved West through it.

I decided that if Caroline wasn't going to give up on West, I couldn't either.  So I picked the book back up.  I'm glad I did.

The book was deep, real and demanded that you not let things get in the way of what you want.  What do you want?  West kept asking that question.

I kept thinking about THIS!




One of the lines in this song says "Lets not make it harder than it has to be".  And while the song is really talking about a break-up and this book certainly isn't, it's still the theme of this book.  Lets not make it harder than it has to be.

Check out these quotes...

Go after deep and make it deeper.
Accept that life is going to be hard--that everything worth having is worth fighting for--but don't f***ing make it harder than if has to be.
Don't put yourself in between the life you've got and the one you want.

~~~

It doesn't take anything special to fight back against the world and all the ways it wants to box you in, hold you down, limit you, and keep you from thriving.  You just have to know what it is you want to accomplish.  You have to know who you want to be with and what you'll give up to get them.

Totally the point of this book.

Yes, Caroline and West were hot together.  Yes, I was happy with the ending.  Yes, I still love West.  Yes, I'm proud of Caroline.  Yes, I'm so happy for Frankie.  Yes, you should read this one.  Yes, you need the first one first. Yes, you will need support to get through it.  I'm here.  I'm into virtual hand holding.   Don't let anything stop you from reading their story.  It's that important.






Robin York Bio:

Robin York grew up at a college, went to college, signed on for some more college, and then married a university professor. She still isn’t sure why it didn’t occur to her to write New Adult sooner. Writing as Ruthie Knox, she is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary romance, including RITA-finalists About Last Night and Room at the Inn. She moonlights as a mother, makes killer salted caramels, and sorts out thorny plot problems while running, hiking, or riding her bike.


2 comments:

  1. I love York's writing as Ruthie Knox, so I want to read this. I have to say, I'm a little scared now. lol

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  2. This sounds very interesting! I'd definitely have to look into it!

    I just started my book blog (http://bookcatpin.blogspot.ca/) and am very excited to meet some bloggers! Please come visit me if you have some time, thanks!!

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