Release Day Post and Reviews: Shatter: Erin McCarthy
Shatter (True Believers #4)
From the USA Today bestselling author of True, Sweet, andBelieve comes a tantalizing New Adult novel about finding love in the most unexpected ways…
Kylie Warner prides herself on being optimistic, but after finding her best friend in bed with her boyfriend and flunking chemistry, her upbeat attitude has taken a dive. Even an impromptu hook-up with her sexy new chemistry tutor only brightens her mood slightly. After all, it’s not like she’ll ever see the tattooed scholar again…
While he’s a whiz at complex equations, Jonathon Kadisch has trouble when it comes to figuring out women. So when Kylie tells him that she’s pregnant after their night of passion, he’s at a complete loss. He’s prepared to be a good father—unlike his own deadbeat dad—but he’s less prepared to fall for the genuine and alluring blonde bearing his child.
With emotions running high, Kylie wonders if Jonathon’s devotion is out of growing love or looming obligation. And when heartbreak threatens to tear them apart, Jonathon will have to fight for the only girl who’s ever made him feel whole…
They say opposites attract? Kylie Warner and Jonathan (Darwin) Kadisch are the perfect example. He is an introvert to Kylie’s definite extrovert. He is a brilliant chemist, while she struggle to pass basic chemistry. She is beautiful, while he has a nerdy streak. Everything about them screams differences, but those differences are, at times, exactly what attracts them together.
Kylie has some insecurities she is working through. After having her (now-)ex-boyfriend cheat on her with her best friend, Kylie is struggling to focus. Her grades have slipped, as has her self-confidence. But she also has a supportive family, a great group of friends, and the help of a chemistry tutor to turn her grade around.
Jonathon’s intelligence is obvious, and though it brings in moments of insecurity for Kylie, I never doubt for a moment that he is both brilliant and personable. He is such a closet romantic too, a bit uncharacteristic for a “nerd” character, but that bit about him just endeared him to me even more. He was that perfect mix of genius and gentleman, but with a quiet demeanor.
The challenges they faced were unlike any others in this series before. Not only was Kylie still dealing with the betrayal from when her best friend slept with her boyfriend, but suddenly she was dealing with an unexpected pregnancy from her chemistry tutor. Based on how that initial night of sex went, I found it a little hard to believe she would have come up pregnant, but it wasn’t difficult to suspend disbelief for that single plot aspect.
The science jokes, the bump in vocabulary, and the closet romance made this book for me. It was like reading a less technical episode of The Big Bang Theory, with the personalities there without the complicated theories and equations (because let’s face it, most people who love that show don’t really understand the physics they throw out like addition -- myself included).
At the end of Shatter, I was feeling warm fuzzies with a silly grin on my face. Kylie and Jonathon were perfect for each other in an opposites attract kind of way. Despite the bumps in their road, this was an easy read with low angst/emotional turmoil. I loved that both characters were always (or nearly almost) straightforward with each other, forgoing games for communication and while it wasn’t a smooth road, neither was it over-dramatic.
I had so much fun reading this book. No, Kylie and Jonathon didn’t have the smoothest road, but they also knew they were attracted to each other and didn’t fight it terribly hard. They had a few bumps along the way, or rather mountains to climb, but the way they each stuck true to themselves as individuals while they found themselves as a couple was refreshing and perfect. This was an easier read than some of the other books in the series, but I found it just as entertaining and satisfying in the end.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Kylie was devastated by the betrayal of her best friend and now ex-boyfriend, Nate. So she is now living alone away from her former roommates, so the previously social girl is now miserable without the noise and social interaction she is used to. She is usually the happy high energy optimistic girl but now she is sad, lonely, can't focus.
When Kylie needed a chemistry tutor, she got a little more than she bargained for with Jonathon aka Darwin...and one night changed everything.
When Kylie needed a chemistry tutor, she got a little more than she bargained for with Jonathon aka Darwin...and one night changed everything.
They seem like opposites. Jonathon is a highly intelligent, analytical, and rational thinker. He had a loving mom but was unlucky in the Dad department. They have good chemistry, but there are reasons that they should not pursue more.
Kylie is struggling in school, appears to be a bit of a "dumb blonde", but her natural personality is sweet, positive, compassionate, and nurturing. She has a supportive family and some good friends. She has been through a rough time leaving her in a more negative place with insecurities. And her life is about to change drastically again.
I really liked Jonathon. Sure he made a few questionable choices and put his foot in his mouth, but he really tried hard. His whole life changed too and he was trying to navigate it and deal with the changes, Kylie, and her issues.
And Kylie did have issues. She was very sensitive and had real insecurities. I understood some of her decisions, but sometimes she really frustrated me how she pushed him away and then would act like it was his fault. But I also understood her need for some space the time to find her own strength too.
Together they face challenges and eventually have to decide if they really want to be together for the right reasons or if they are together out of obligation, guilt, or because it is safe. There were some surprises and twists that added some interest.
I will admit that this was not my favorite one of the series for some reason. Maybe because it was not as dramatic or emotional even though there were some emotional topics in it. I liked the characters and the story, but just not as much as some of the others that had more sparring and tension. I enjoyed more with Rory, Tyler, Riley, Jessica, Easton, Jayden, Robin, and Phoenix from the other books, and even getting more closure with her ex-scumbag boyfriend, Nate. We got to see some more progression in all of their stories. These characters are definitely not perfect and they all have struggled, but they are supportive and devoted to each other like a family.
It was told in both points of view and I was really glad we we got to hear Jonathon's voice too. He was a bit of a different type of hero...nerdy, sweet, smart, but also sexy, tatted...like a good boy with an edge.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
TRUE (True Believers #1)
When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.
Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…
Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…
SWEET (True Believers #2)
Kim's 4 star review
Jessica Sweet thought going away to college would finally make her free of her parents’ constant judgments and insistence she play chastity club role model for their church events, but if anything, the freedom has made her realize she can’t go home and be a hypocrite anymore. Tired of dodging their questions, she stays at school over the summer and lands in an unexpected crash pad: Riley Mann’s house.
Sarcastic, cocky, and full of opinions, Riley is also sexy personified with tattoos and biceps earned from working as a roofer all day. Not the right guy for her even if Jessica was looking for a relationship, which she is definitely not. But Jessica knows that Riley hides the burden of having to raise his younger brothers behind that grin and as she helps him get his house in order for a custody hearing, they begin to fall hard for each other, and she is forced to question what she’s hiding herself.
Jessica has never had a problem getting naked with a guy, but when it comes to showing Riley how she truly feels inside, her fear of rejection may just ruin the best thing—the best guy—to ever happen to her…
BELIEVE (True Believers #3)
Our 4 star reviews
Robin used to be a party girl… until she got black out drunk and woke up in bed with her best friend's boyfriend. Now she's faced with being THAT girl, and couldn't be more disgusted with herself. She can't even tell her friends the reason for her sudden sobriety and she avoids everyone until she meets Phoenix—quiet, tattooed, and different in every way that's good and oh, so bad…
Phoenix is two days out of jail when he meets Robin at his cousin's house, and he knows that he has no business talking to her, but he's drawn to her quiet demeanor, sweet smile, and artistic talent. She doesn't care that he's done time, or that he only has five bucks to his name, and she supports his goal to be a tattoo artist.
But Phoenix knows Robin has a secret, and that it's a naïve dream to believe that his record won't catch up with them at some point. Though neither is prepared for the explosive result when the past collides with the present…
USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy sold her first book in 2002 and has since written almost fifty novels and novellas in teen fiction, new adult, and adult romance. Erin has a special weakness for New Orleans, tattoos, high-heeled boots, beaches and martinis. She lives in Ohio with her family, two grumpy cats and a socially awkward dog.
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