Under the Influence

by L.B. Simmons

[whisperingchapters]

This 3.5 stars review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews
Under the Influence is a very emotional story with a second chances aspect to it that I enjoyed. I fell in love with the cover of this book and the blurb gave nothing away so I immediately wanted to read this one to know what it was about. I think it fell a bit flat for me but it was still a good read.

I identified a lot with Dalton seeing as he's someone who thinks so low of himself. I had read about male MC's who thought lowly of themselves but Dalton was another story completely. From a very young age, he got into the very bad crowd but he saw this group as family. He grew up doing very bad things and he thinks he doesn't deserve anything good in his life and he feels like he's hopeless and worthless. When he meets Spencer, he thinks he will never be good for her so he treats her good but from a distance. Spencer wants more with Dalton but she has never expressed those feelings towards him until both finally do and it is so beautiful how they had went from friends to lovers. Then comes the heartbreak part of the book and that was completely devastating. I felt it to my very core. But through this heartbreak, Spencer and Dalton grew and learned so much. I think it helped them become more mature and just grow.

The secondary characters like the best friends of Dalton and Spencer, Cassie and Rat were a great add to the story. Cassie was like a whole character on her own and I would totally love to read a book of her life. She has spunk, she knows what she wants and goes after it and she is hilarious. Rat was such an amazing friend and character. I really felt for him. There's someone else in the story whom I totally loved and he is in the police force. Kirk was always looking out for Dalton no matter the cost. He sometimes even treated him like his own kid. He was brilliant in the story.

If you want a book about heartbreaks, friends to lovers, with beautiful prose and an impacting story and second-chances, Under the Influence will hook you right in.

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews