Too Fast

by Alexia Haynes

[KitsuneBae]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

This review is also posted on Thoughts and Pens.

After getting disillusioned from her previous relationships and trying to juggle between two jobs and school, 20-year old Savannah decided to engage in a one-night stand instead of committing herself to a relationship. Despite her penchant for skinny, artsy and disenchanted boys, she found herself hooking up with someone so opposite. Luke was a gorgeous hunk with a mysterious past.

Though Savannah’s initial plan was to chuck Luke after their one night tumble in bed, she discovered herself extending the one night contract to a month. And before she realized it, she was drawn to Luke more than she was able to accept.

Over the years, I’ve had my fair share of reading N/A books. But with the sudden rise of popularity in Y/A books, I decided to join the bandwagon. Reading N/A books have become a rare occasion for me but these past few days, I felt the need to make a break from the Y/A addiction. And so, I proceeded to NG and randomly picked a title and this was it.

I admit that the story was kind of clichéd but my curiosity on how the author will deliver it sold me out. And I wasn’t disappointed. Yes, the story might be predictable but it was light and had a lot of funny and giggle moments albeit the steamy sex scenes. The sex was sweet and kind of direct to the point. Not lengthy but it managed to get the feeling across without drowning me from too much libido. And the romance (excluding the sex part) wasn’t cheesy and wohoo, no love triangles.

Even better was the author’s effort in creating a good background story for each of the main character. Savannah was burdened with two jobs, college life and her mother’s fussiness. While Luke was troubled with raising his sister the best way he can while trying to make a better woman of his mentally ill mother. This has in a way teased my thoughts: How will our two leading characters get past those obstacles without transforming into stereotype hormone-driven individuals who’ll throw all logic out of the window in a heartbeat? I was quite glad that it didn’t turn out that way and the conflict was resolved as a win-win for both parties.

All throughout the story, Savannah and Luke maintained a likeable attitude even if they were so into each other. Like you know, they just can’t sit still without groping the other one. But despite that, their resolve to better their lives remained the number one priority. Savannah did an awesome job in not wallowing in self-pity or moaning about how Luke ditched her. Instead she gets on with life even if the pain is hurting her. Thank goodness, no Anastasia Steele or Bella Swan repeats. And Luke…ahh… underneath the hunkness is a heart of gold. He’s sexy and certainly adept in pleasuring a woman in bed and most of all, the big brother whom you can trust and rely on. He f—cks hard but he can really be fussy as a mother and doesn’t do bullshits when it comes to the people he loves. And that’s kind of an amusing combination for someone so macho. I also liked how the secondary characters were crafted; they were simply flawed, cool and authentic.

I was actually planning to give this book a four but I felt that it lacked a thing or two. There wasn’t too much action and Savannah’s cool friends were kind of left out. Like Sophie, the bestfriend. She was mentioned in the first chapters of the book, I was beginning to like her and then for some reason, the darkness swallowed her. And then at the end, I was kind of: “Huh? I thought you were dead!” Also, the since-time-immemorial-issue between Luke and his mother was resolved abruptly and it didn't sit right. I mean, it was a very deep issue and I was hoping that the author would give it the time and space it deserved. That’s all.

Anyway, if you want to read anything light and sweet without burying your nose in endless pages of ink, then this book is recommended.