will – Z. Elizabeth

This Girl (#3) – Colleen Hoover

Posted on May 11, 2013May 10, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.

In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from his point of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series

5/5 Stars

My review of SLAMMED
My review of P.O.R

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My Review

“So you keep your ocean, I’ll take the Lake”

Layken and Will have stood the test of time. They have overcome scenarios that no one would even want to be in but their love has come out the other side stronger than ever. Now on their honeymoon, Lake wants to know everything about Will, about his past and about theirs. Although Will would prefer not to rehash these painful memories, he cant resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to tell the story, his side of the story from his parents death to the very part of their marriage.

Will reveals intimate thoughts and feelings, retelling good and bad parts and sharing confessions that Lake never knew from the time they both first met.

So join Will and fall back in love with his versions of events.

I’d like to first start off and say, if you haven’t read Slammed and Point of Retreat yet…HOLY CRAP get to Amazon, 1-Click or order the book and get this series in your life right now. You will love every single character in this book; they will evoke all sorts of emotions from you, from tears, to laughter, to smiles to anger, you name it, this book has it. But it also makes you fall in love. Fall in love with the journey that all the characters go through – In both books now. You see that love and family and friendship can survive anything when you have each other to get you through painful and also happy scenarios.

Colleen Hoover is a god and This Girl is the perfect book to end the Slammed series. It isn’t just a rehash of Slammed and P.O.R in his point of view, oh no. We get the scenes which we loved and disliked (disliked in a good way because they were so sad to read) and we also get to see Lake’s reactions in the present time when Will finishes his versions of events as well as a special epilogue!!

Normally I would sum up what happens in the book, but if you read my reviews of Slammed and P.O.R then you will get the jist of what This Girl is about, but there are new events, events that weren’t in Slammed because it was Layken’s POV, events that will tear at your heart, make you catch your breath, make you cry; just have that pounding in your heart for Will. There are new slams, and by god are they powerful. They captured my attention, had me sitting up straight. They conveyed so much depth; you couldn’t help but reread them.

This Girl had me hooked. I was going to wait to read it, but my fingers kept hovering over the title until I clicked on it. I couldn’t have cared less if I had a load of ARC’s to read; This Girl had to be read. I had to love Will even more, I had to know his versions of events, and I had to see how their story ended. It didn’t take me long to read because I couldn’t put it down.

Throughout the book, from Will’s POV, you really see how much pain he has gone through. From losing his parents, to having to give up the girl he loves – Lake. You can see how much he loves Layken from the beginning. From the very first moment he set eyes on her. He was completely hooked and it killed him so much to find out she was his student. Killed him that he has to try and stay away from her even though all he wanted to do was be with her; to have found this girl, to have fallen in love and not be able to be with her.

God the emotion you feel coming from Will and Lake in these scenes really hit you. You feel the pain and heartbreak and the anger from both of them that they can’t be together, that they have to try and stay away, act like they don’t know one another. My heart was hurting so much.

Throughout the stories, you will see every emotion pour not just from Will, but from yourself as well. Will bears his heart and soul into this book, and when telling Lake – from losing his family, to the Slam poetry, this all comes from his heart. You will melt, you will sigh, you will want to give him a massive hug. Seriously, you will be a wreck reading his POV.

What I also loved was how close Gavin and Will are. You never really see their friendship until Will and Layken are ‘figured’ out and are together, but it was brilliant to see that Gavin and Will were close. BFF’s ;). We never really got to see anyone be on Will’s side, to talk to him and keep him in line. Tell him what he is doing wrong. I really like Gavin and he was there from the very start when Will took Lake on the first date and he’s there until the very end too!

Now, what I loved was the epilogue. I was laughing at Gavin’s reaction, crying at Kel – the sweetest little man even – or should I say teenager? And crying at Will and Lake. It was the perfect way to end the Slammed series and it was so nice to see everyone get their happily ever after. They all truly deserved it after all the things that had been through and to be together, still so close and so happy; it was the greatest ending that could have been – especially with the last slam poem at the end. Oh. Floods. Of. Tears!

I don’t really want to say a lot about This Girl, but I beg you to read this series. You get added bonus scenes in This Girl, you get to see Will and Lake on their honeymoon, being all cute and you get to see them in the future, in the epilogue. I cannot express how much I love this series. How much emotion has gone through me with these books and how much I will cherish these characters and their journeys.

It’s butterflying amazing.

“You want to know my sweet?” I ask her.
She nods.
I kiss her on the forehead. “You. Always you.”

Colleen Hoover, New Adult, Romance

Point Of Retreat (Slammed #2) – Colleen Hoover

Posted on February 8, 2013February 8, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Hardships and heartache brought them together…now it will tear them apart.

Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will’s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkins.’

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My Review

Point of Retreat picks up from where Slammed ends. If you haven’t read Slammed, don’t read anymore of this review, as it will tell you what happens next in Lake and Will’s life.

After Julia’s death and the hardships to get to where they are now, Lake and Will are together, with nothing to keep them apart anymore. Lake and Will have proved that love can concur all, and they have waited so long to be together. The four of them are now a little family and although Julia is missed every day, they get by; with the love they have for each other.

But when someone from Will’s past emerges, she seems to do more damage than good and when Layken watches an interaction between Will and that person, it devastates her and leaves her questioning and doubting everything about their relationship.

With Lake heartbroken and not listening to a single word Will wants to say, it’s up to Will to prove just how much he loves this girl and how he can’t live without her. And with the help of his new neighbour, he’s determined to make Lake realize just how much he needs and loves her. Will he succeed in getting his soul mate back?

Colleen Hoover is perfection. Utter perfection. Oh Point of Retreat has my emotions all over the place. I was smiling, I was cursing, my heart fluttered, I was angry and I was in floods of tears. WHAT.A.SEQUEL! I couldn’t put this book down either. In Slammed, it’s about the forbidden relationship, the love but also about the loss of the one remaining parent between them both – Julia. Point of Retreat shows us the bind that both Will and Lake have, not only losing both parents, but having to bring up their respective brothers. But more than that, their love and connection that binds them together is also foremost in Point of Retreat too. Their determination to be together, to stand strong together and still try to be the young adults they are whilst helping each other find that balance between being parents and still acting their age.

With Julia’s death, Lake and Will have more in common, dealing with the heartbreak of another family member’s death, but could this be something that could tear them apart? Having so much in common? With them both attending college, yet on different days, Will encounters a blast from the past that he would rather forget about, but since she’s in his classes, he can’t.

Enter Vaughn, the ex-girlfriend who deserted him when he needed her the most. Deciding it’s probably best not to tell Lake about her being in his class, Vaughn wants Will back after coming to her senses and realizing she threw someone as amazing as Will away. But no matter what Will tells her, that he loves Lake, Vaughn hits him with a hard blow and asks him the question: What if he’s only with her because he knows how it feels and he feels sorry for her?

After a confrontation and witnessing something so heartbreaking, Lake takes that question and turns it into something that could ruin their relationship forever. Yes, they have the loss of parents, the bringing up their brothers in common but is that why he loves her? Lake is planted with doubts over his love and tells him he can have days, weeks, even months to think about why he loves her. Months? Like he needs months to tell her but if only she would listen and not block him out, then he could tell her how much she means to him. So what does a guy like Will do to prove him love? Slam Dunk with poetry of course!

But with their love back on track, something even worse is coming their way and now it involves everyone. It’s times like these where this small close family of friends need to stick together and pray that it will all be okay.

I felt every single emotion when this happened – around the 75% mark. Will was frightened, he was scared, he was tired of waiting, not knowing what was happening, but he had to be strong. I cried so much during these few chapters because I hated seeing Will hurting so badly and I just wanted to crawl into my kindle and give him a hug and console him. His love was so strong and powerful that he would do whatever it took to make sure Lake was okay.

Lake kind of annoyed me when she began questioning Wills love for her, but in a way, I could see where she was coming from. They had so much in common at such a young age, that it could be seen as just being together for the sake of this, but in Slammed, they overcame so many obstacles to be together and proved that even when they weren’t together, their love couldn’t be vanquished. I know that now Lake has had to grow up after losing her dad and now her mum, and with Will already knowing what it’s like, their love could be built on that foundation, but even when she’s not here, Mama Julia knows best and is still there in spirit and there with her advice and wisdom to guide both of them through the hard times they are both experiencing.

And she of course, has something for every scenario and feeling both of them are going through, to prove that they can get through anything together. The lyrics, quotes and wisdom throughout the book gave it so much depth and meaning and each one integrated into the scene that was happening with grace and gave a whole lot of emotion back.

I loved the determination of Will to make everything right again with Lake, to prove that their relationship isn’t just based on the factors they have in common, that it runs much deeper than that – about the little things about Lake, her personality, their favourite band, the booth they shared their first Slam together. He poured his heart out during his Slam to win her back and prove that he was so in love with her; everything about her that who cares if they have deceased parents and brothers to look after, he loves her despite those factors.

Point of Retreat was in Will’s POV and I absolutely butterflying love it when authors write in the guys POV because so many are in the females’ that you have to guess their feelings and go off from what the girl is saying. HOLY SHIT! This book made me fall even more in love with this god of a man. I love that we got to see his true feelings, his emotions, his love and his fears come through. He wasn’t a guy afraid to show anything, he bared his soul, and of course, his soul is also bared through his poetry which is why he is so passionate about it. Can’t wait to read the third book which will also be in Will’s POV 😀 WOOP WOOP!

Gavin and Eddie are heavily involved within this book and I love them as much as I did in Slammed, as are my favourite boys Kel and Caulder who are now 11. Oh my boys are growing up! But two new characters in the form of Shelly and Kiersten, the new neighbours are brought into the book.

Oh Kiersten! She’s the boy’s age but well old before her time. I loved her wisdom and advice, which she had obviously inherited from her amazing mother Shelly. She and the boys are really close and they protected and stuck up for her when things in school weren’t going too well, but she never once had a sad smile on her face, she was always happy and always happy to help, much the same as Shelly who was like the adopted mum to Will, Caulder, Lake and Kel. She was there with advice and medicine when they all got ill. It was great to see that even though Julia had gone, they had Shelly to go to.

This close knit family of friends were always there for one another, through thick and thin and you could see how much they loved one another and would help out whenever they could.

I can’t say how much I love this series and Colleen Hoover. This series is perfection. Its powerful, its full of love, its full of amazing poetry and quotes that integrate within the situations at hand and it’s about finding that one person who will own your heart forever, even though the hardships and it’s about loss. I can’t wait to read Slammed from Will’s POV now when it’s out later this year. I can’t get enough of Colleen’s writing. She has be hooked from the beginning, the book begging me to keep going until the end and not stopping till I’ve finished. Read Slammed and then this book – you will not be disappointed and I assure you, you will fall in love with Will and Lake and everyone else involved in this series! I butterflying LOVE IT.

Colleen Hoover, New Adult, Romance

Slammed (#1) – Colleen Hoover

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she’s losing hope.
Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.
Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.

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My Review

Three days ago, I was devastated, bitter, and hopeless. Today I woke up feeling happy for the first time in months.

After the sudden death of her father, 18 year old Layken is quite literally forced to be the rock in her family, for her mother and 9 year old brother. With her mother selling their house in Texas, they are uprooted from the house they have lived in all their life, to a smaller house in Michigan and Lake is not happy to be leaving at all. She’s still processing the death of her father, but she needs to act strong for everyone else.

What she didn’t expect to find upon her arrival was a very attractive neighbour in the form of Will Cooper. 21 years old, has a passion for slam poetry and has captured Lake’s attention, much as she has captured his. Within days, they are spending time together and have formed in intense emotional connection, leaving Lake with a feeling that maybe, just maybe she will be okay living here. But after a heart-stopping first date, Monday morning rolls around and shocks them both with the realization of what cannot happen between them both.

Daily encounters are painful, and with both their brothers becoming best friends and spending every second together, it’s becoming harder to keep a balance of being ‘just friends’ to staying away from one another when their feelings for each other keep pulling them back together, no matter how much they try to keep them at bay from the outside world.

I have to admit, I’m not one for poetry. It never has captured my attention and I just hated reading/writing it in school, but Colleen Hoover is the one exception! I have never heard of Slam Poetry but by gosh, the way Will describes how much it means to him plus his Slam poems really had me hooked on his every word, much like it did with Layken. Once I finished the book (1am UK time), I laid in bed, thinking of my own poem – it wasn’t very good, so I think I’ll let Will stick to the writing and performing it, he seems to know much better than me.

I say this with a lot of book that everyone on my Twitter timeline tweets about, but WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS?! This is the second book I’ve read of Colleen’s and I was as much captivated by Slammed as I was with Hopeless. For avid readers of my reviews, you will know that I LOVE to read forbidden relationships and the forbidden factor of the whole relationship when they both eventfully find out who each other are. And Slammed, in no way, disappointed me.

Lake was super close to her dad, so when he died it was like her whole world fell apart. But she knew she had to be there for her mother and brother, to help them through the heartache too. I think that was one of the reasons she was so resilient in her life. On moving day, she meets her neighbours across the road, Will and his little brother Caulder, who instantly seems to become best friends with her brother Kel.

Upon meeting Will it was love at first sight – for both of them. Will asks Lake on a date, but it’s unlike any date she’s ever been on. They don’t indulge in the obvious ‘do you have a cat etc’ questions and he’s not about to take her to dinner either. Oh no, his plans involved Slamming and Slamming good!

Lake becomes absorbed in the Slam poetry, finding it powerful to hear and she begs Will to do one of his. He obliges and Lake just can’t seem to get enough of this guy. He’s something completely different and she’s fallen. But everything changes on that Monday morning, and her heartbreak over the realisation of who he is has not only shock her, but also Will. What is going to happen?

Will had had to grow up faster in his 21 years of life. He looks after his 9 year old brother Caulder, works his ass off to make sure he can pay his bills, put food on the table and make sure Caulder is okay. They have been through so much in their young lives that they only have each other now. He’s been closed off for years, but something sparks inside of him when he spots his new neighbour and he just has to know who she is.

Will knows this girl has awoken something in him and so he asks Lake out on a date. Of course, Will is different to every other guy and takes her to a club where he recites Slam poetry. Watching Lake’s reaction to the words people are expressing on stage, he’s falling that bit more for her over the fact she’s so affected by it.

Happiness being together has consumed both of them, even if they haven’t known each other long, but when he sees her Monday morning, he’s broken, he doesn’t know why this has happened, and no matter how much he wants Lake, he knows he can’t have her now. Not when it could affect his job and Caulder, who he has to put first.

Although both of them know they can’t be together, no matter how much it hurts seeing each other day in and day out, as well as having brothers who spend every spare minute together, they try to reach a middle ground where they try to be ‘friends’ because of their brothers but it’s getting harder and harder everyday to push their feelings away and act civil. They have to overcome many obstacles throughout the book, and you really do root for them to be together – they belong together. Everyone knows they belong together.

You go through all the emotions too; the fun times, the heartbreak, the tears. It broke my heart that Lake was hurting over knowing that she couldn’t have Will. She literally became obsessed with watching him come home from school, just so she could see a glimpse of him every night. But with so many factors standing in their way, and at times I did get annoyed at Will. Lake was doing so well trying to stay away and Will would just pull her right back in and made her start all over. I became obsessed to get to the end, hoping it was happy one, but although it was, in a way, I still had tears flowing down my face. It really is such a powerful book!

All the secondary characters in my eyes weren’t that. They were as much as the story as Will and Lake were. I loved Eddie from the beginning. She was a very bubbly person who embraced Lake on her first day and adopted her into her small group. You find out about Eddie’s past and you come to see that now, where she is, is where she should be. She keeps Lake grounded when everything is going to pot and she really is the best friend Lake could have in her life.

Julia, Lake and Kel’s mother was a wise one. She moves them to Michigan because ‘they have no money’ but Julia is hiding something from her children, which you will find out and it will leave you heartbroken over her news. She really has some great words of wisdom for every character, and she adopts Caulder and Will into their life, which in turn, she treats them both like her own. She forces Lake is ‘man up’ and do the right thing regarding Will, which includes a stage and her poem and you can really see how much Julia is respected in every characters life. Regardless of her secret, she really was a breath of fresh air.

There are way too many parts of the book to choose from as a favourite, but one that sticks out is at the start of the book, when Lake finds a hairclip from her childhood that her dad gave her. Although it’s dusty and mucky, it holds so many memories of her dad that she just can’t leave it behind in Texas and it means so much to her, even if she doesn’t use it again, she knows that it’s ‘magic’ to her.

Slammed is not just another fluffy book – it speaks to you through Slam poetry, which is so powerful that even as someone who hates poetry, become absorbed in each Slam poem that was expressed on the pages, through each character that got on stage and poured their heart out. It gives you wisdom, it gives you heartache and it gives you love. The power of the words, the poems, the advice and wisdom really stick with you after the finish the book. It kind of gives you hope that one day you will find someone like Will, who will be your own rock and soul mate.

I also have a new book boyfriend in the form of Mr Will Cooper and book little brothers in the form of Caulder and Kel – those two are so sweet, especially when they fell asleep together, with their hands in the shape of a gun. Oh adorable. They are the little troublemakers you definitely would want as your brothers.

If you were like me and either have this book on your kindle, sitting there for months or haven’t grabbed yourself a copy of Slammed (And Point of Retreat – which shall be read tonight) then GET IT NOW! Colleen Hoover drags you into the story until you just have to keep turning pages to know what is going to happen. It’s completely entrancing and I cannot wait to continue Will and Lake’s story in Point of Retreat!!

Romance, YA

When Summer Ends – Isabelle Rae

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Chloe Henderson has never been one to break the rules or push the boundaries… but during her summer break, she and her friends use fake IDs to sneak into a club. It’s there that she meets handsome and alluring bartender, Will Morris. The pair hit it off immediately, growing closer with every passing day. But as with every summer, it has to end sometime.

Chloe’s senior year approaches and there’s a shock in store when she returns to do her final year at school. Will is there too, but he’s not one of her fellow students…

A tale of forbidden love, broken hearts, friendship, and rivalry.

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My Review

As a Fan of Pretty Little Liars and a massive fan of Ezra and Aria – A teacher and pupil – i do, in fact, love the whole forbidden (thanks mum for the word) relationships. It’s a kind of thrill to read them as i would have never thought to get into a relationship with a teacher, let alone thought about it. But the way Ezra and Aria and Chloe and Will got together were similar and both guys didn’t know how old the other were until they inevitable happens and they become the girl’s teacher’s.

Chloe and Will meet in a bar, as she uses a fake ID to get in and he is a bartender. They hit it off immediately and spent every day together. Will (22) thought Chloe (17) was college age and never questioned it and Chloe thought Will was just a bartender. The more time they spent together, the more they seemed to fall for one another.

Meeting Will’s parents on the second day they knew each other, his parents and brother took an instant liking to her, so when the day of school came around, and everyone was on about the new maths teacher, it came as a massive shock for both Chloe and Will to find out she was a minor and in his maths class. So of course, Will has to break up with her.

Throughout her break up, so regularly went on ‘dates’ with Will’s brother Sam, much to Wills dismay. But Chloe finds a great friend in Sam throughout her heartbreak over Will and Sam knows that Will is feeling the same way.

Trying to make Will jealous, Chloe begins to go out her classmate Oliver, whom she has no feelings for and his possessiveness over the amount of boy friends she has pushes her over the limit especially as her ex- boyfriend turned best friend Nick, needs her during the time of year his mum died.

During the course of the book, Will and Chloe learn to be friends – I think I’d say, although the attraction for one another is still there and it all comes together when during one detention over Oliver fondling her on school property, Will buys her Malteasers and they both throw them in the air, trying to get them in their mouths. Because of this and trying to act normal around each other, when they go on a school trip paint balling, Chloe accidentally shoots Will on the shoulder when they are waiting to start, which makes me shot her on the bum.

She gets stranded from Nick during the game and Will finds her. They begin to talk and end up kissing, Will confessing his true feelings for Chloe and they get together once again.

Although they have to be super careful over their relationship, big trouble occurs for them both and Sam comes to the rescue, to solve the problem and sort it all out so his brother and Chloe don’t get in trouble.

I was actually on edge for most of the book, waiting for something extremely big to happen, which of course something did, but thanks to Sam it was all okay.

Although it’s a forbidden romance, you can’t help getting sucked in and I actually thought 5 years wasn’t that big a deal, as Will kept reminding her that she was a minor.

What he did for her 18^th though, super cute and I really want someone to do that for me.

The epilogue was a great way to end the book, especially the last sentence.

A definite recommendation for this book as it has everything. Fun characters, forbidden romance, heartache and big laughs. You will instantly fall in love with Will, Sam and Nick! I guarantee.