Surviving Adam Meade

by Shannon Klare

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Yep, I am writing this review with a few happy tears in my eyes, because Surviving Adam Meade did a great job of hitting me right in the feels.

Who?

• Claire, the coaches daughter and resident new girl, who was still trying to recover from a broken heart. Her goal was to get into the college of her choice and avoid boys, especially football players, at all costs.

• Adam, the quarterback and resident football hero, who shunned most attachments in order to focus on his goals - football, a championship, and college.

What?

Though they both wanted to keep it simple, neither Adam nor Claire were able to deny the crackling attraction, which existed between them. Would they be able to move beyond their past and forge a future? And would a future together be possible given their divergent paths?

Why?

This book grabbed me from the very beginning and never let go. I found myself totally captivated by Adam and Claire's story.

One of the very first things I noted, was how much I loved the banter. And I am not just talking about that, which occurred between Adam and Claire, but more like how all the characters interacted. There was a fun ease between them, which I really loved. When I was reading the exchanges between Claire and her family, I could almost hear my own dad's and sister's voices.

Claire was the character we knew a lot more about in the beginning. We didn't know all the details, but we knew she suffered a romantic loss, as well as a loss of her friends and her status due to her family's move, but Adam was more of a mystery. He was quite complex, and the details and depth of his character were slowly revealed, layer by layer. I won't pretend his story didn't break my heart, because it did. There were these little details Klare gave us, that had me thinking one way or the other, but the real story broke me even more.

Then we had Claire and Adam, who sort of made me nuts at times, but I still adored. There was tension between them immediately, and it was easy to see how this was moving from irritation to attraction. The push and pull kept me on edge, and I kept wondering when they would act on it. I loved every delicious second of it. I also liked the way they challenged each other, and there were so many times when they would insist the other tell them what they are thinking, so they could openly discuss things. People, that's how you make things work.

The drama came in the form of their pasts and their futures. Both Adam and Claire had sound arguments for why they did not want to become involved in any sort of relationship. They had these abandonment issues they were dealing with, plus they were getting ready to head off to college in a few short months. These fears and complications were very real, and I thought Klare tackled them well. She didn't make it easy, nor did she cop out.

There was this one scene, where Claire just let's everything go, and I just kept flashing back to that final scene from When Harry Met Sally, and the tears fell.

Overall

A fabulous hate-to-love romance, which had me laughing, smiling, and rooting for these two to follow their hearts, because sometimes you just know when you've met your match.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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