"he was gorgeous and being close to him made my heart beat faster than an 8-cylinder engine. That wasn't enough to start anything. Not that I wanted to. I hated him. Didn't I?"
I knew I would enjoy this book on some level (seriously my romance lovers, look at the cover!), but I liked it a lot more than I expected. I thought both Devon and Olivia had a lot of depth, and I sort of wanted everything for both of them.
"'I'm not a mystery, Seamus. I'm an open book.' I leaned in to make sure he heard me. 'You just don't know how to read yet.'"
My undergraduate degree is in chemical engineering (c/o '94), so I related to a lot of Olivia's issues associated with being a female in such a male dominated field. I guess I thought things should have changed a lot more for women at this point, but nonetheless, I understood her frustrations with respect to that. When I was relating to her, I had an immense amount of empathy for her. As you learn more and more about her back story, you start to understand why Olivia behaves the way she does. This knowledge did not only prompt me to empathize with Olivia, it made me admire all she had accomplished and the woman that she had become.
"I'm not a player, Olivia. Because when there's someone I want, I'm not just in it for an inning. I'm there for the entire game."
Devon was pretty awesome, not going to lie. He had his cocky-jock moments, but we saw a lot more of his compassionate, sensitive side. He worked really hard to try and win Olivia's heart, and I cannot say I didn't enjoy watching this whole romance play out. I became deeply saddened when they hit rough patches, because I knew these two belonged together, and I needed them to be together. (Yeah, there was drama, but every romance needs drama.)
"My heart slammed against my ribs as if they were a prison and Devon was my freedom."
I also really liked Olivia's family. She was the only female in a family of 7 -- that's a lot of boys, but she had a special bond with them, and I loved going home with her. There is this one part, after a very terrible day, that Olivia returns home, and her dad has this heart-to-heart with her. Well, it just about made my heart explode. It was such a beautiful moment, and I was elated to see this side of Olivia's family.
Overall: A great NA romance that was fun, but also heartfelt.
**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may change upon publication.
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