Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)

by Tammara Webber

[Cocktails and Books]

Jacqueline finds herself unsure of her next steps when her high school boyfriend (and reason for her to be at the college she's at) dumps her because he wants to explore other girls, days shy of their three year anniversary. What she doesn't expect is to be attacked by a fraternity brother of her ex's or to have a dark knight save her.

While Jacqueline struggles to come to grips with what happened to her, she finds herself having to catch up in her Econ class, the only class she signed up for with her ex and the one that threatens her GPA after their break up. She embarks on an email relationship with her tutor, Landon. After a rough start, she begin to find an inexplicable draw to him. He seems to be able to see a part of her that shouldn't be possible through email communication. But Jacqueline is further confused when she finds herself unable to keep her eyes off Lucas, the boy who sits in the back of her Econ lecture hall. She recognizes him as her dark knight and can't help but be captivated by the quiet, sexy, confusing man.

This was one of those books I'm glad I picked up. I figured it would be a quick book with some teenage angst. I love it when a book proves me wrong, in a good way.

We got the teenage angst part out right away, since Jacqueline's boyfriend, Kennedy, decides to dump her. She closed into herself, skipping the class they shared and then discovered her circle of friends was significantly reduced because of the breakup. But that is where the teenage drama that I was expecting ended.

Jacqueline must deal with not only the emotional upheaval of her break up, but also the attack and the subsequent run-ins with her attacker. She keeps a lot to herself in the beginning and I think a lot of that was because she didn't know where she fit in now that she was no longer "Kennedy's girlfriend". But as Jacqueline steps outside that label (reclaiming her name was the first step in that process) she finds out who her true friends are, as well as discovering some new ones. But none of that holds a candle to what she finds in Lucas.

Lucas is a man with his own set of issues. They've molded him into who he is today and made him more sympathetic to what Jacqueline is going through. He has a way of knowing exactly what Jacqueline needs and his actions work toward rebuilding her trust in herself. But we soon discover that while Lucas may have a way in helping Jacqueline move on, she has also made it possible for Lucas to believe in his own happiness again.

A surprisingly read from an author that was not known to me, but one I will definitely be looking for in the future.