Jessica Park, Left Drowning

College senior Blythe McGuire has recently suffered the loss of both her parents in a tragic house fire. Numbed by her grief, she has basically stopped going to classes, and she drowns her sorrows in alcohol and partying. But when she meets gorgeous fellow senior Chris Shepherd, she begins to feel a part of herself coming to life again. She immediately feels a strong physical attraction to him — an attraction he seems to reciprocate — but he tells her right away that he’s not looking for a relationship. Nevertheless, Blythe continues to spend time with him and his siblings, who soon become her best friends. The Shepherds shower her with love and acceptance, and she eventually begins to deal with her grief and guilt over her parents’ death. But it soon becomes apparent that Chris is also dealing with traumatic experiences from his past, and in fighting his own internal battles, he pushes Blythe further and further away.

I really enjoyed Jessica Park’s novel Flat-Out Love, so I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed. I liked Flat-Out Love for the realistic central characters and the slow-burning romance, but this book has two-dimensional protagonists who fall in “love” instantaneously. I can’t stand it when fictional characters fall in love for no other reason than because it’s destiny, but that’s essentially what happens in this book. Other than that and their shared lust for each other, I have no idea what their supposed love is based on. And unfortunately, the entire book rests on the romance; if that doesn’t work for you, there’s nothing else to hold your attention. Moreover, I wasn’t a fan of the explicit sex scenes in this book — and there are a lot of them. Overall, I wanted to like this book, but I ended up with pretty much the opposite experience. I’m definitely getting rid of my copy!