Release Blitz, Review, and Giveaway: Two Roads: L.M. Augustine
Two Roads
L.M. Augustine
Category/Genre: New Adult Romance
The only person poetry-loving Cali Monroe hates more than herself is Logan Waters, the geeky kid who lives in the dorm building next to hers.
Ever since Cali's parents told her she would amount to nothing, she has felt entirely inadequate. Friendless and alone, she takes on the mean girl role in hopes it will make her feel better--and Logan serves as the perfect target. He infuriates her with his obnoxiously long lashes, his all too perfect dimpled smile, and his complete lack of personality outside of his intelligence. It doesn't hurt that he's part of the reason her brother is dead, either. So Cali hates him, and he returns the favor. Thus, their prank-filled, insult-driven rivalry is born, and torturing Logan quickly becomes the highlight of her life.
But when Cali's parents set them up on a blind date, she begins to realize Logan might not be as boring as she always thought. He shares her love of poetry, takes a sadistic pleasure in making fun of crepes, and he makes her blush when he calls her smile pretty.
And hey, maybe those long lashes of his aren't that obnoxious after all...
All along I've been searching, searching like everyone else, for a path to follow, for a place to start, for a way to be happy....One tragic event. Two lives derailed in two different directions. Cali and Logan are both hiding behind their public personas and mutual hate relationship to cover up their true feelings of loss, grief and guilt.
Once they were friends, but loss and distance tore them apart. When they end up at college together years later, they channel their strong feelings of guilt and pain into avoidance and sparring. They challenge each other and delight in aggravating and one-upping each other and playing pranks. Their non-friendship, in it's warped way, is one of the closest connections that Cali has. Logan can see behind her walls and layers into what lies beneath. Cali is not quite as observant. And it take a lot to break down to even begin to see that maybe they are not so different after all and there is a very thin line between love and hate.
Logan and I are rivals in every sends of the word. I hate him and he hates me and we both have an unspoken arrangement to make each other's lives as miserable as possible...As much as I hate to admit it, our rivalry is seriously entertaining. One person strikes, the other returns the blow. I'm the cat and he's the mouse, but unfortunately Mouse Boy knows how to put up a fight. And it makes things a hell of a lot more fun.
I loved Logan. He is not the typical book hero. He's a math Geek who can appreciate poetry and is proud of it. He is confident, cocky, sharp witted, intelligent, and determined. He knows what he wants, but just not how to deal with the consequences. He has deep seated emotions that he hides well. But he also has a poetic sense about him that makes him swoony and romantic.
Cali has serious issues with guilt, loss, trust, and her own self esteem. She knows what she wants to do with her life but has little support She feels deeply and hides behind her mean girl persona. He life was so devastated four years ago that she cannot seem to move on and be happy. She spends most of her time upset, sad, or challenging Logan so she can feel something. Poetry is what makes her tick, but it does not meet he parents' standards. But it is the one thing in her life that allows her to express her true self.
Everything is intense when it comes to Logan. Everything feels amplified. The hate, the confusion, the passion--all of it is so freaking strong. I loathe him, loathe how he succeeds everywhere I fail, loathe that he know how to get to me better than anyone else in the world, loathe that I need his rivalry as badly more than anything.
This book built slowly for me even though their interactions were funny and feisty. I enjoyed that, but I eventually started getting a little frustrated and wanted to kick them both into taking action faster and coming to a truce. I spent most of the book in anticipation...waiting to find out what happened, the reason why, and for Logan and Cali to call a truce and be truly honest. Their sparring was intense, funny, and interesting. Their pranks were over the top. There was tension, mystery, and hidden feelings. But I was dying for it all to finally truly blow up and get everything out in the open. And as it progressed, their strong feelings, tension, and chemistry were tangible. Once it was all laid bare and they stopped avoiding and faced the past, then they were able to look at their present and what they truly felt about it all. It was gut wrenching, painful, and poignant. Their feelings had been buried a long time, ran deep, and were intense. And their poetry could say what they had a hard time saying in person.
"There are not two roads when it comes to you; there is only the road that leads to your love."
"But all along, that was you, You were my path, you were my happiness. I guess sometimes in life, the things you need most can be right in front of you the whole goddamn time.
This is a book about a lost girl really struggling to follow her own path and not the one set by others. She had to face loss, the past, society's expectations, and her own feelings of self worth. And then figure out what she needed to do to be happy and move on. And a young man who had his own demons and feelings to deal with. They were tied together so tightly by their shared tragic past that it affected their present and future. It's a story of personal growth, forgiveness, healing and love. A journey where two roads converge and lead to love and redemption. It was unique, humorous, emotional, heartfelt, and uplifting.
Thanks to L.M. Augustine for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
L.M. Augustine is a YA romance author who is obsessed with writing about dorky teenagers, love, and happy endings. He currently lives in New England, where he spends far too much time reading books and screaming at his computer, and he believes that the solution to the world’s problems can be found in chocolate cake. Click To Subscribe is his first novel, but it won’t be his last.
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