I Want It That Way

by Ann Aguirre

Nadia Conrad has big dreams, and she's determined to make them come true

.But between maintaining her college scholarship and working at the local day care to support herself, dating's the last thing on her mind. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet irresistible guy in 1B...

Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a single dad too young has turned his life upside down.

Now, as he raises his four-year-old son

But one night, Nadia's and Ty's paths cross, and soon they can't stay away from each other. The timing is all wrong-but love happens when it happens. And you can't know what you truly need until you stand to lose it.....

Praise for Ann Aguirre

'A tender, sweet, and sexy story about how life-and falling in love-can never be planned.'-Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You

'I loved everything about this book... I just have two words: more please!'-New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack on I Want It That Way

• ISBN10: 1488708746
• ISBN13: 9781488708749
• Publish Date: 1 September 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: AU
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Mira
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 266
• Language: English

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

*Copy received for review

I have to admit, I was nervous to start this one. NA and I don't always get along. I find that while there are some really good ones out there, there are also a lot of books that just use sex and trite plotlines without any substance. This book is most assuredly the former.

When I first started reading, I still wasn't sure it was my "thing". I thought I knew the whole story, knew how it'd turn out, but pushed along anyway because the writing was good and I was entertained. I thought Nadia would be just a "typical" romance-story girl, and Ty your "typical" unavailable love interest. So wrong was I.

While it does have the sexiness and angst so widely seen in NA, it has so, so much more. I Want It That Way delves into love, friendships, family issues, trying to plan for a future, making tough life choices, and so much more. Even if you can't relate to the specific romance, there is such a wide variety of issues discussed that you can surely relate to someone or something. The fact that this is the start of a trilogy helps too, because as I read about the other roommates of 2B, I reminded myself that I am going to get a lot more of their stories, which was pretty great.

Truthfully, I didn't relate to Nadia. I was never her. She is hard-working, level headed, and confident being out on her own. She tries to hide her feelings, but she fights for what she really wants. Sure, she does have typical early-twenties reactions, but overall she is quite level headed. But I felt that she was realistic, and by no means perfect. Her character made sense, and the actions she took throughout the book felt very true. As for Ty, for most of the book I could not figure out why he couldn't be a dad in a relationship. I mean, people do it every day, right? That was irritating, until more of the story unfolded, and his views and perspectives started to make more sense. Also, a sidenote: I adored Sam, Ty's son.

The plot isn't just the romance, though of course that is a good chunk of it. No, it deals with each important area of Nadia's life: Her roommates/friends, her family, her school, job, and future aspirations. These topics all converge to paint a lovely picture of who Nadia is, and the struggles that we all face, especially in that stage of life.

Bottom Line: I am so glad that I gave this book a chance. The story was so multifaceted, and really quite lovely. This is my first book by Ann Aguirre, but it will be far from the last. I am definitely planning to read the rest of this series, and can't wait to dive into Lauren's story (she is the roommate that I most identified with, as she was uncertain of her life plans and struggled to find her niche) in As Long As You Love Me.

[Rowena]

What a cute book this turned out to be. I really enjoyed getting to know both Nadia and Ty and the chemistry between the two was such a treat to read. I'm going to dig right into the next book, LB and Rob's book and then I'm super thrilled that Max will be getting his own book as well since I went all kinds of soft on him in this book.

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of I Want It That Way from Harlequin via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

I Want It That Way is the most beautifully heartbreaking story I have read so far in 2014. I laughed, cried big, fat tears, cheered, and rooted for Nadia.

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

[Leah]

When I spotted Ann Aguirre's second 2B Trilogy novel on Netgalley, I may have let out a little squeal of excitement because the title is As Long As You Love Me, and unless you were born in the 2000s, you'll know that that's a Back Street Boys title. So I did a teensy bit of investigating and found out it was the second novel in the trilogy and all the books have BSB title - I Want It That Way, As Long As You Love Me, The Shape Of My Heart and my little heart was so excited. I loved the Back Street Boys when I was younger, I grew up with their music, so I just had to download the titles of the trilogy, so I did, and with the release date of I Want It That Way looming, I decided to give it a read.

New Adult is quickly becoming one of my favourite genres. Sure, people are annoyed because everyone and their mother seems to be writing New Adult fiction, but I see it as a good thing, because it means the genre is thriving. All the books aren't awesome but at least 90% of New Adult books that I've read are, and I Want It That Way is in that 90%. It had everything that I love about New Adult - a steamy romance, a solid friendship which is always a good basis for any relationship, and Nadia has a pretty sweet group of friends, who it was really great to get to know. I also loved that this wasn't your typical New Adult novel, and it was just about the boy and the girl. Nadia spends a lot of time either working and at school and it was nice to see that. She didn't spend all of her time doing other, more leisurely stuff, as some NA characters seem to do, with only little mentions of work/school/etc.

I always find I enjoy books better when the main characters become friends, before they become anything else. Sure, Nadia and Ty are intensely attracted to each other, literally the moment they meet (which sees Nadia trying to get a couch upstairs to her apartment, with her roomie Lauren, and failing and ripping her pants) but because of Ty's situation, with his son, Sam, he didn't want to just rush into something, when he couldn't offer a relationship, so he extended the friend branch, and Nadia took it, and I liked that. It meant they got to know each other super well before they did anything else, they got to hang out, both knowing there were boundaries to respect, but there was still that chemistry hanging over them the whole time that gave me butterflies, because it was hot and beautiful, and I don't think I've read a book with two people so perfect for each other, and with their heads both screwed on the right way. I appreciated that they both had jobs, they were both at school, and they were way more grown up than I expected, but I liked it.

I literally raced through I Want It That Way in one night, finishing up at midnight. It was that addictive, that enjoyable. It was so, so great to see two (young) adults in a matureish relationship. Yeah, there were boundaries, yeah, it likely wasn't going to last (SOB), but I liked that they both knew from day one what they were getting in to. (Not that it made it any less sad when the rug was pulled from under Nadia's feet, you understand.) But, actually I felt Aguirre handled the whole separation thing well. It was always inevitable (it is, in these books) and it didn't seem forced, or irritating, it just felt... right). It's a hard thing to get right, but Aguirre did that and I have huge respect for her for getting it right, because otherwise I'd be throwing my book at the wall (or, my Kindle). I was absolutely hooked on the story, and I enjoyed the friendships that Nadia shared - with Sam, Ty's kid who was the cutest; with her roomies Max, Angus and Lauren, although I didn't like how Lauren withdrew, and I'm still curious how Max got those bruises, which is never explained, but apart from that the novel was perfect and I really, really loved it. A stellar New adult novel, and I can't wait for As Long As You Love Me (lemme hear ya "I don't care who you are, where you're from, what you did, as looooooooooooong as you loooooove me...."). Honestly, these book titles are so addictive....

This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read