Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Self-Published
May 25, 2012
Synopsis:
When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, stalked by her ex’s frat brother, and failing a class for the first time in her life.
Her econ professor gives her an email address for Landon, the class tutor, who shows her that she’s still the same intelligent girl she’s always been. As Jacqueline becomes interested in more from her tutor than a better grade, his teasing responses make the feeling seem mutual. There’s just one problem—their only interactions are through email.
Meanwhile, a guy in her econ class proves his worth the first night she meets him. Nothing like her popular ex or her brainy tutor, Lucas sits on the back row, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. At a downtown club, he disappears after several dances that leave her on fire. When he asks if he can sketch her, alone in her room, she agrees—hoping for more.
Then Jacqueline discovers a withheld connection between her supportive tutor and her seductive classmate, her ex comes back into the picture, and her stalker escalates his attention by spreading rumors that they’ve hooked up. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.
Author Recommendation: Mature Young Adults (language, drinking, sexual situations)
I'm not really sure where I came across Easy by Tammara Webber, but for some reason I went straight to Amazon and bought the Kindle version. One night I decided I needed something different to read. I'd just finished City of Lost Souls, Until I Die and Fifty Shades of Grey so I opted for a self-published book and Tammara Webber did not disappoint. This book is getting 5 stars all across the blogosphere. If you haven't read it or if your looking for something different, I highly recommend Easy!
Easy tells the story of a young woman who followed her high school boyfriend to college and ends up getting her heart torn into to shreds. Little did she know, another hottie had already noticed her, though his interest was unbeknownst to Jacqueline.
Jackie changed everything for Kennedy: Her name, her major, her ultimate career choice. Kennedy's family expected him to do big things and politics seemed to be where his interests lie. Jackie missed the subtle signs that everything might not be perfect in paradise until Kennedy dumped her, basically admitting to wanting to test the waters and check out the other fish in the sea, so to speak.
After the break up, Jackie decides she no longer wants to go by the cute nickname Kennedy had insisted on calling her and goes back to her given name - Jacqueline. Sadly, things don't go exactly the way Jacqueline hopes they will. After attending a Frat party on Halloween, she's attacked by one of her ex's frat brothers and would have been raped if Lucas hadn't happened to be close by.
After the attack, Erin, Jacqueline's roommate, decides that Jacqueline needs her very own bad-boy, so together they set up Operation Bad Boy Phase, or OBBP for short. The interaction between Lucas, said bad boy, and Jacqueline left me wanting more, more, more. But the flirtatious and revealing emails between Landon and Jacqueline had me laughing and squirming.
Now, there's plenty more I can tell you about Easy but I don't want to get all spoilery. Ms. Webber's writing is flawless and her characters are multi-faceted and will draw you into their world from the first page. I love that Tammara tackles not just one, but several controversial and potentially heart-breaking subjects in one book. And she does it so tastefully.
Jacqueline is a strong character who has to make multiple difficult decisions. Lucas is the bad-boy every girl wishes she had. And Landon is Jacqueline's anonymous tutor to whom she spills her heart to via email. Kennedy's a typical boy who only realizes what he had once it's gone. As for Erin, she's the supportive best friend and no-nonsense roommate. She is Jacqueline's rock.
Honestly, I think ALL girls should read Easy. The book addresses the realities of living on a college campus and the complications of such. Not everything's easy, but in certain situations there is a right and wrong answer. Sometimes doing the right thing is met with resistance and leaves the person involved feeling even more vulnerable than he/she did before. Webber's way of addressing these things felt realistic and never forced.
