Publishing Date: June 16th, 2015
Page Count: 238
Source: BEA 2015
Format: Paperback ARC
Description from Goodreads.com:
Sometimes life leaves a mark…
Most days, Andrea doesn’t know whether she wants to kiss Tanner or punch him in the gut. He is seriously hot, with legit bedroom eyes and that firefighter body of his, but he’s a major player, and they can’t get along for more than a handful of minutes. Until now.
Tanner knows he and Andrea have had an epic love/hate relationship for as long as he can remember, but he wants more love than hate from her. He wants her. Now. Tomorrow. But the more he gets to know her, the more it becomes obvious that Andrea has a problem. She’s teetering on the edge and every time he tries to catch her, she slips through his fingers.
Andrea’s life is spiraling out of control, and it doesn’t matter that Tanner wants to save her, because when everything falls apart and she’s speeding toward rock bottom, only she can save herself.
Sometimes life makes you work for that happily ever after…
Review:
Scorched was a very nice story, but the one thing I loved about it was that it was so deep! This book talks about a lot of issues (such as alcoholism, mental health, and healthy relationships). It wasn't just another lovey-dovey story, it had some meat to it.
What I also really loved was that things got good, quick. The book starts right in the middle of the action. Andrea and Sydney are discussing a trip and a certain man (Tanner) when he walks in on Andrea talking about how annoying he is. If you know JLA's characters, you know just how snarky Andrea is bound to be and how cocky and sexy Tanner is.
The book starts out pretty normal. We know that Andrea has some issues she is dealing with, but the main focus is on Andrea and Tanners love/hate relationship. They all go away on a trip, totally normal, but then after...shit. hits. the. fan! Andrea starts having serious issues and she needs to deal with them immediately!
Scorched also features my absolutely favorite type of narration: alternating points of view! It felt very genuine and really added to the story. Both Andrea and Tanner are in their heads A LOT so, without both points of view, we might not know where they stood. There is mad tension between them both. They have known each other for awhile now, having mutual friends and going to the same college, but they have never really been cordial to one another. They always pick on each other and always push the insults to the limit, sometimes past the limit. What I really liked is that sometimes when books have these love/hate relationships they start from the beginning. We first meet the characters and they automatically have this rapport between each other. Scorched starts in the middle of their relationship, they've known each other for years, so it all feels more real and not insta-love/hate.
They also had a reason to be so mean to each other. Well, mostly Andrea does. When she was a freshman she had a class with Tanner and her roommate and some stuff went down. Now she hates him as much as she can. Tanner is mean to Andrea well, because she's mean to him. He only acts like a douche to Andrea.
The ending was great! Again, we are dealing with some serious topics in this book and the way JLA handles them is beautiful. It all felt so real. Real people, with real problems, don't brush them away for love and neither does Andrea. She has to find herself first before she can be with someone.
Overall:
I absolutely loved this! Scorched isn't just another cutesy NA Romance, it really has depth. We deal with some serious topics in this book and JLA handles them beautifully. I absolutely love that our main characters are super snarky and mean to each other. I also love that it's alternating POV. The ending was done very, very well and I love that the romance wasn't the sole focus. Andrea has serious issues and she actually deals with them instead of brushing them off. Very well done!
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 5/5
**The books cover, description, and info was all found on Goodreads. A link back has been provided. All other work and ideas are of my own creation. This book was received for free while attending Book Expo America 2015.**
