Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)

by Tammara Webber

[Leah]

If you’re a book lover you will know books fall under different categories, depending on what kind of books you read. Me, I’m a Chick Lit fan. Always have been, always will be. But there seems to be a new, cross-over genre trying to make its mark called New Adult, which is a cross between young adult and Chick Lit. I’m not a big fan of the term New Adult, I’ll be honest, I think it sounds a bit stupid and confusing (what’s a “new” adult?), but I’ll take it for now. So when I was offered one of the New Adult titles to review, which is this book I’m reviewing; Easy by Tammara Webber, I was intrigued. It promised that it wasn’t a Fifty-Shades-type book (proving that, once and for all, that dratted novel and all that is has brought may finally be on its way OUT), but that it was just a pure romance, and, well, I was sold.

I found Easy to be one of those novels I just loved. It had me hooked from the beginning, as we see Jacqueline leaving a Halloween party and being attacked by a fellow student, and we see Lucas saving her (swoon). It got right into the thick of the action, with no prelude to what was to come, it just came, if that makes sense. The novel manages to deal with a very sensitive subject in a very real way. How it doesn’t matter how safe you feel or how comfortable you are, an attacker can come from anywhere and can even be someone you know (which, I think, is way more scary than an unknown attacker). The thing is, the attack isn’t the be all and end all of the book. It’s a mega issue, but it’s dealt with without being overbearing. Jacqueline doesn’t let herself be the victim, and I loved that. She doesn’t let it eat her up or scare her away; instead, she gets in with her life in college as best she can and I loved that.

But what really, really, really made the book for me was Lucas. And Landon. Ohhhhhhh, I love a good sorta bad boy. Because, come on, Lucas wasn’t really a bad boy, was he? In fact he was lovely. I like anybody that saves a damsel in distress, and Lucas did that which just made me fall in love with him even more. He was swoon-worthy. The email exchanges between Jacqueline and Landon were just awesome, you could SEE the chemistry, even via email! I was just totally absorbed with the connection, the chemistry, the everything between Jacqueline and Lucas. It just blew me away. So often, when reading Chick Lit, the romance doesn’t come until the very end, and it’s always so frustrating to wait so long to get the goods. But with Easy, the romance was there on every page, even before they were together! It was aweeeeeesome.

I absolutely adored Easy. I think this New Adult genre could be a hit, and I’ll certainly be checking out Tammara Webber’s other novels, because man, can the girl write. And write well. I had no gripes with the novel, except for one tiny thing which is that I would have like Jacqueline to confront Lucas over his dual identity. I saw Jacqueline as a strong, confident girl, so I expected her to do that, which she didn’t which was a bit disappointing but bar that, I LOVED it. It kept me up reading past midnight because I just didn’t want to go to sleep without getting to the end (never mind the fact, I never wanted to get to the end, period). Easy had everything you could ever want from a novel – a serious bit dealt with brilliantly, fabulous characters (not only Lucas and Jacqueline, but Erin, Jacqueline’s best friend), brilliant chemistry/romance between the two leads (essential) and it just made me smile, despite the serious bits, despite what happens to Jacqueline (and not just once!!). I highly recommend the book, HIGHLY, because I LOVED it, and you will, too.