Thursday, July 04, 2013

Review + Playlist: This Love by Nazarea Andrews

Posted by

Perfectly timed for summer, the This Love blog tour is dropping by today. This is a great summer romance for New Adult fans. Why don’t you have a look at my review, and then you can check out the playlist for the book to put you in the mood! 🙂

I received this book for free from Nazarea Andrews in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review + Playlist: This Love by Nazarea AndrewsThis Love by Nazarea Andrews
Series: University of Branton #1
on June 25th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, NA
Source: Nazarea Andrews
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

She wants a summer job and a ride to a wedding.

He wants an assistant and a distraction from the mess his life had become.

They didn't know they needed each other.

Avery Emili needs two grand. Two grand and a plane ticket--her sister is counting on her to get to Jamaica for her wedding. But the semester is over, and tutoring college freshman and high school students has dried up until the fall.

Atticus Grimes needs help--the messy split with his wife left the twenty-eight year old professor scrambling to keep things together as the semester winds down. Now he's got a research grant he has to actually do research for and all he wants to do is drown himself in a tall bottle of bourbon.

When Avery sees his ad for an assistant, all she's thinking is a summer job. But as they spend time together, in the office and out, both of them begin to realize something is there. Something that can't happen--he's a professor and she's a student. And both of them have histories, pasts that won’t let go. Can two broken people pulled apart by expectations find a way to be whole?

A perfect for summer read, This Love is a forbidden love story involving a student and a professor that you know is doomed before it begins, yet you keep hoping, denying the fact that the end of their crazy, sexy summer is coming.

The beginning of this book was a little rough for me and left me uncertain as to if I would enjoy it. The story is told through a dual POV that switches quite often and abruptly which can take a while to get used to. Eventually I did get into the flow of it, though, and stopped even noticing. Another worry was how fast it was going. I don’t mean the relationship itself as in insta-love, I mean the timeline passing by. In only the first 15%, weeks have passed while they meet, flirt, tease, make out, insist it can’t happen again, fight impulses, make out some more, become text buddies, etc. I felt like all of that was a big blur. Fortunately the book does slow to a steadier pace in the midst of their relationship, letting us savor the best part of their summer – which is also the part that bears the most emotion.

I was surprised by how emotionally connected I became to these characters and their relationship after that speedy start. It first gives the impression that the book stays on the surface of emotional impact with underdeveloped, but fun, characters — which can be ok for a light summer read. Instead, though, I found myself broken up over this doomed relationship of theirs and reveling in their happy moments. It became an up and down roller coaster ride with just the right amount of heart and tears. Both Avery and Atticus are likeable characters with problems and insecurities that are easy to relate to. The characters could use some tightening up, especially the secondary roles, but as the book focuses on the here and now it’s not a big deal that we don’t get a full three dimensional look at their individual lives.

Now, let’s fixate on Atticus a moment – not hard to do, believe me. This is the kind of love interest I wish all books would aim for, not the pompous jerks we often get. Don’t get me wrong, Atticus is not flawless, he’s got insecurities and fears of his own, and an ex wife who’s a total bag of farts. Most importantly, I love how deeply he cares for everyone in his life: his sister, his best friend, Avery. And how he loves without barriers. Another thing to note is how open they are with each other. They do keep some secrets about their past relationships at first – understandably – but we finally get a couple who communicate instead of assume and overreact. How refreshing! Level headed characters take the win! And just a heads up – this is a New Adult book with a mature, adult relationship, meaning there are (many and hot) graphic sex scenes.

This Love is a sweet, fun, and sexy beach read that I recommend to those who can’t get enough of forbidden romances!

4StarsXR
4 Hot Espressos

 

Playlist for This Love, by Nazarea Andrews



I write to music—a lot of music, and often times, Pandora channels keep me going while I’m drafting. But there are always a handful of songs that really stand out and remind me acutely of the characters and that list becomes my playlist.

Here is the playlist for This Love

Ours–Taylor Swift This is the theme song for the entire book, and where I found the title.
Skyscrapper–Demi loveatto. I loved the beauty and just general feeling of this song—it reminded me of Avery and I spent a lot of time listening to it when writing her point of view.
There Ain’t Nothing–Brooks and Dunn.  When I heard this song on my husband’s phone after writing Atticus, I knew it summed up everything he felt for Avery.
Fix a Heart–Demi lovato This is for both Atti and Avery, separately. Both have had their hearts broken, and it definitely speaks to that.
Summer Love– One Direction As This Love is a summer romance, it should be kinda obvious.
Springsteen–Eric Church It doesn’t speak to any particular scene or person, but it was played often and I loved it while writing.
Nobody Compares–One Direction How Atticus feels about Avery.

Should have Kissed You—Glorianna What Avery/Atticus feel most nights after work.


About the Author




Nazarea‘s Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog

 

The following two tabs change content below.
Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

Latest posts by Giselle (see all)

18 Responses to “Review + Playlist: This Love by Nazarea Andrews”

  1. Amy

    This sounds like the type of book I would love!! And yay for communication in the relationship!! I laughed out loud at bag of farts!! Great review babe!! I’m glad that you really enjoyed this one. Love the playlist too!!

  2. Jenea Whittington

    I think this sounds like a book that I would like. Avery and Atticus are a couple that I would be able to root for from the sounds of them both. Wonderful review.

  3. Aa'Ishah

    The opening of the book does sound worrying, but I’m glad it slows down and came to be something you really enjoyed! I love the sound of Avery and Atticus, and their open relationship. Wonderful review, Giselle, and thanks for sharing the playlist! 🙂

  4. Mary @ BookSwarm

    While I cringe a bit at a professor/student relationship, it sounds really fun — like a great summer read! I do love that Atticus and his sister are such good friends and that it’s shown throughout the story. Family in stories always gets me.

  5. Nick

    I’m glad to hear that as the book started to move ahead, you were immersed a lot more in the book than you initially were. I have to admit, I thought this would be a cutesy, summer romance kind of book, so I’m surprised to hear that it’s emotional as well. It’s out of my comfort zone for sure especially because the whole professor-student thing just creeps me out. Still, your description of the characters makes me want to read the book.
    Lovely review, Giselle! 🙂

    • Giselle

      You may be thinking of like.. high school prof/student. But the girl is in university. She’s early 20s and he’s 28 – not so creepy 🙂

    • Giselle

      I changed it way before anybody commented (and 2 hours before this comment’s timestamp) so I’m not sure why yours didn’t refresh. Weird.

  6. Megan K.

    Such a fun and sexy cover! Glad you enjoyed this, Giselle. I’m on the fence about New Adult, but it’s great that you gave this one four cups. And yes – I’m not the only one! Everywhere in NA it’s always bad boys with their freaking tattoos and brooding personalities and they can be such jerks sometimes that it’s getting old. Yay for a different and better love interest here, even if he does have an ex-wife and he’s a professor. I might check This Love out in the future. Great review!

  7. Jenni @ Alluring Reads

    This cover is awesome. I really like it! It’s so freaking bright and just makes me want to go to the beach (and I HATE the beach.) I’m happy to see that you became connecting to the characters, I was worried when you mentioned how fast it was going that you wouldn’t be able to make a connection but yay!

  8. Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader

    Hm, I’m not sure whether or not this is the right book for me. I think it would all depend on whether or not Atticus and Avery end up together in the end. I don’t see any point in investing myself in a relationship that is doomed from the outset.

    That said, I absolutely adore that cover! It just screams ‘summer’ and the colour palette is stunning.

  9. Alexa Y.

    This sounds like the perfect summer read! I definitely like the sound of this story, plus the choices for the soundtrack pretty much completely won me over too 🙂