I Want It That Way

by Ann Aguirre

[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