Friday, January 31, 2014

Review & Dream Cast: Deeper by Robin York

Posted by

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

Review & Dream Cast: Deeper by Robin YorkDeeper by Robin York
Series: Caroline and West #1
Published by Bantam on January 28th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Source: Random House
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.

They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

A slow budding romance, loads of chemistry, and highly character driven; Deeper has a lot to offer. Revenge porn is something that happens all too often, and unfortunately continues to be legal in most States. Finding those sex pictures of herself after a break-up was only the beginning of a very long, very dark chapter in Caroline’s life. Not only is she plagued with the knowledge of everyone having seen her during such an intimate act, she’s ashamed, haunted by the voices of the men who call her vile names, describe the repulsive things they’d do to her in comments, making her wary of anyone that looks her way. This is not something that ever goes away.

Deeper is not a fast paced read. It’s a slow character-oriented story that begins with Caroline living through an incredibly difficult time, building up to her realizing who’s truly to blame despite all the fingers pointing at her. I truly admire her for learning to be above it all. Even though there is a guy involved in her getting her strength back, it’s done in a way that had me happy she found someone to see her for who she was, not who she thought she had become. Sometimes, you just need to be nudged by the right person.

West and Caroline aren’t instant lovers, though. Quite the opposite actually. West being so driven to give his sister a nice life made him reluctant to let someone into his own. He could not allow anyone to disrupt the road he was on. This doesn’t mean there was no immediate chemistry. From the start, their attraction is like a character in itself. Their ignoring it just makes it all the more infuriating, albeit in a good way. I loved their banter and fun-loving relationship; they’re so different from each other, yet fit so right together. The time spent at the bakery just keeping each other company might be “boring” to some, but I loved the whole atmosphere and it’s where we see them connect beyond attraction. The cast of mutual friends become a group that makes this story even more character driven. They all help get Caroline through this. Each one adds to the depth to this novel.

I already mentioned it’s not a fast paced read. Some parts in the middle did drag a bit where I wished it would have moved along faster, but overall I’m satisfied with the lack of urgency this plot has. The ending is one that leaves a lot of open roads, especially from West’s perspective. If this was a stand-alone, I would say the story was left incomplete, but seeing as it’s the first in its series this is clearly not the end. All in all, we’ve got a fantastic mix of humor, romance, friendship, and conflict with an important message touching on the often misplaced blame of online attacks. It’s an eye opener, and I hope it opens yours, too!

four-stars


Dream Cast, by Robin York



Hello, Xpresso Readers!

Thanks for inviting me to share my dream cast for Deeper, my debut new adult novel. It was fun finding just the right faces for my characters.

Img1

First up, I picked Nicholas Hoult for the novel’s hero, West. Hoult can look a lot of different ways depending on how his hair is, how he’s dressed, etc., and not all of them remind me of West, but he’s got the eyebrows and the interesting face, and he’s very West-like in these photos.


Img2









And who’s a better heroine for Hoult than Teresa Palmer? No one, that’s what I say. But the Teresa Palmer who looks like my heroine, Caroline, isn’t the glamorous blond one. Caroline’s not even blond, actually. (I kind of doubt Palmer is, either.) The Palmer I love is the more natural, messy one, as in these pictures.Perfect, right?


Img3

Now, just for fun, here’s our supporting cast. West’s best friend, Krishna, played by Rajiv Surendra.


Img4









And Caroline’s best friend, Bridget, played by this adorable redhead whose name I can’t find, but put her in track pants and she is perfect.


There you have it!


This post is part of the Deeper blog tour.


DividerXR1

Giveaway

Thanks to Random House Publishing and Robin York, you can enter to win a signed copy of Deeper!


  • Open internationally
  • Giveaway is set and managed by author/tour host, not Xpresso Reads
  • Use the Rafflecopter below to enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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)

13 Responses to “Review & Dream Cast: Deeper by Robin York”

  1. Connie T

    “When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.” That line right there has intrigue, & appeal

  2. Tina

    Hmmmm. Well. Nicholas Hoult is beautiful and amazing and now that I have him stuck in my head as this character I feel like I need to read it, haha. It sounds alright. I feel like I’ve read a bunch of books recently that are similar to this (Easy was the first one that came to mind) so I’m not sure I’d read it just yet. I’m happy there is a slow build, though. Good review!

  3. Eileen @ Singing and Reading in the Rain

    I really like the dream cast choices! From the description of the characters and the pictures, it looks like they really fit. Also, I’m glad that this book was slow-paced without dragging too much in parts. West and Caroline’s relationship also sounds great and like one that’s worth reading about, fantastic review, Giselle! <33

  4. Nick @ Nick's Book Blog

    I don’t know much about revenge porn, but I love these NA books that address real life issues. I need to give this one a shot. I hadn’t heard of this before today, so thanks for sharing your review, Giselle.
    I already love the sound of West and Caroline’s romance.
    Lovely review.

  5. Melliane

    wow a slow romance? that’s something really rare! And now I’m curious. It sounds like a nice story and I confess I was curious because I just love the cover. So the giveaway is perfect thank you!

  6. Pili

    This sounds like a very interesting book and not your usual run-of-the-mill romance! If even with a bit of dragging middle part it got 4 expressos, it is good!
    Great review, Giselle!

  7. Wendy Darling

    I liked hearing that this is slower-paced and character-driven. There have been a number of revenge porn books recently, but I like that this sounds like a different take on it.

    This wasn’t high on my radar, so thanks for the review, Giselle!

  8. Sofía Armella

    I’m in love with that cover! I mean, LOOK THAT COVER! It’s amazing. Beautiful. Perfect. I’m looking for a romance… a deep romance. Okay, I’m kidding! I just wanna read it!