Lost and Found (Lost & Found, #1)

by Nicole Williams

From New York Times & USATODAY Bestselling Author Nicole Williams, a story about a troubled girl, a good guy, and one summer that will forever change them both.

There’s complicated. And there’s Rowen Sterling.

After numbing pain for the past five years with boys, alcohol, and all-around apathy, she finds herself on a Greyhound bus to nowhere Montana the summer after she graduates high school. Her mom agreed to front the bill to Rowen’s dream art school only if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble at Willow Springs Ranch. Cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn for a couple dozen ranch hands and mucking out horse stalls are the last things in the world Rowen wants to spend her summer doing.

Until Jesse Walker saunters into her life wearing a pair of painted-on jeans, a cowboy hat, and a grin that makes something in her chest she’d thought was frozen go boom-boom. Jesse’s like no one else, and certainly nothing like her. He’s the bright and shiny to her dark and jaded.

Rowen knows there’s no happily-ever-after for the golden boy and the rebel girl—happily-right-now is a stretch—so she tries to forget and ignore the boy who makes her feel things she’s not sure she’s ready to feel. But the more she pushes him away, the closer he seems to get. The more she convinces herself she doesn’t care, the harder she falls.

When her dark secrets refuse to stay locked behind the walls she’s kept up for years, Rowen realizes it’s not just everyone else she needs to be honest with. It’s herself.


*Recommended for mature readers due to moderate language and sexuality. *

• ISBN10: 1484148037
• ISBN13: 9781484148037
• Publish Date: 7 May 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 360
• Language: English

Reviews

[nitzan_schwarz]

3.5 stars
I lowered half a star for how Rowen kept going back to the same issue, having a "epiphany" and deciding she was over it and theeeen, back to the same pattern. I'm not saying the issue isn't big, but it could've stretched the whole book without always moving past it and then oops no I'm not past it.

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2013/09/lost-and-found-by-nicole-williams.html
Lost And Found was a pleasant surprise, I expected it to follow the usual young / new adult template, and it did to a certain extent. The broken girl, her handsome young savior, the potential love triangle, but the difference was the likability of the characters. Jesse was simply lovely. He wasn't a masculine, chest beating protagonist, but the strong, silent type. It was a refreshing change.

There is no definitive ending, which will frustrate some. I'm assuming it will make us more eager to begin on the second book in the Lost and Found series. I liked it, but didn't love it. Perhaps I'm just over the new adult book craze.

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

3.5 Stars

For the most part, I really liked Lost and Found, but I wasn't quite as crazy about it as I hoped I'd be. I loved the romance, Jesse was freaking amazing, the setting was great, but I did have a couple problems with it that kept me from giving the book a higher rating.

I absolutely adored the western cowboy setting! I'm a bit of a country girl at heart. I literally wanted to slip into the story. I wanted to go horseback riding in Montana (which I've actually done and is so much fun), live in Rose's house, and wear cowboy boots!

I thought Jesse was an AWESOME love interest. He might be one of my all time favourites. I adored the Crash series, but I have to say it was nice to have a sweet, "good boy" love interest for once. Jesse was just a nice guy. He was never a dick, he never got pissed.. he was just sweet and I loved that. That made it so easy to fall head over heels for Jesse! Also, the whole cowboy thing? Totally hot!

I think my problems with the book came in two forms. First: Rowen. Rowen wasn't always the most likable character. She had an attitude like, "I'm a problem child and hurt people around me so I don't deserve a good guy." I hate it when people are like that. Why think about whether or not you deserve someone if you both want to be together? It just drives me nuts!

"Stop playing the victim and live your live."
—Rose

I LOVED Rose for telling off Rowen like this. She took the words right out of my mouth!

And I hated that Rowen was even tempted by Garth. Garth is a total dickface "bad boy" who just likes to make notches on his bedpost, and Rowen knows that. She knows that, looks at him, and thinks, "He's going to hurt me; he's just my type." UGGGGHHH!! How can you even be tempted by a dick like Garth when hot, sweet Jesse is standing right next to him? Also I thought it was obvious what happened between Garth, Jesse, and Josie, but for some reason that was a big mystery to Rowen until it was spelled out for her.

Garth infuriated me, but a thrill of excitement rushed through me at the same time.

Troubled and mysterious was my Kryptonite. My Achilles' heel. My weak spot. My speciality.

"It's always no until it's yes. And I've never met a no I couldn't turn into a yes."
—Garth

*gag*

And secondly, a lot of the dialogue felt scripted. Don't get me wrong, I loved both Jesse and Rose (his mom). Jesse was hot, sexy, and so freaking sweet. And Rose was such an awesome mother figure. But, I felt like they were both constantly spouting words of wisdom. While that's nice and all, I just feel like no one constantly talks like that. It seemed so unnatural. I can understand saying a quotable word of wisdom once in a while, but in practically every conversation? That doesn't really happen.

"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.
—Jesse

"Your past is your past. Leave it there. Get on with the future part, honey."
—Rose

"This summer isn't your chance to prove yourself to your mom. [..] This summer is your chance to prove yourself to you.
—Rose

There were just sooooo many sentences like that. It felt like they were reading from a book of inspirational life quotes or something.

But despite those gripes, I did really enjoy the story! Lost and Found was so easy and quick to read; I breezed right through it! The story moves quickly and stays interesting. I thought the end was a little anticlimactic though. I know the book is a series, but the way it ended almost made me feel like it cut off before the real ending. I just wasn't totally pleased with how things turned out. But I'll definitely be reading the next book!

[Cocktails and Books]

I loved the Crash series, so I was eager to read this book and if Nicole Williams would be able to create a hero / heroine that I loved as much as Jude and Lucy. I loved Jesse, the cowboy who wore painted on jeans 2 sizes to small and Rowen, the smartass outcast trying to find a way to fit in. The push and pull between these two drew me into the story and had me wondering just what sweet as can be Jesse saw in Rowen. But he was able to do the one thing no one else could, which was see past the walls Rowen had built to the girl who just wanted to be loved.

It was hard to put this one down and I'm glad I have Near and Far (book 2) ready for me, because I need to know what's next for the city girl and the country boy.