Believe
(True Believers, #3)
By: Erin McCarthy
Publisher: Penguin Group
Release Date: Jan. 21, 2014
Genre: New Adult Contemp. Romance
Rating:
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…
Due to a mistake Robin made while she was black-out-drunk, she’s hated herself ever since. She’s gone from the outgoing party girl to the wear baggy clothes and stay in type. So when she gains the attention of her roommate’s boyfriends cousin who was just released from jail, the last thing she wants to do is start a relationship. However, she finds a kinship in him. Like herself, he’s lost and trying to start his life over as well.
I’ve never read any of Erin’s work before and was really looking forward to diving into this even though it was the 3rd book in a series. I mean, cmon, we’re talking about a guy who’s just been released from prison. I don’t think the hero in any of my books has a record. So I was pretty interested to see what this book had to offer.
This story was entertaining but unfortunately fell into the new adult mold. Aside from the whole prison thing, I didn’t really feel like this was an original story. The characters instantly fall in love. Drama arises. Then they live happily ever after. The beginning of the story when the two first start hanging out but lost interest about half way through. The author tried bringing up Phoenix’s time in prison with some guy who he used to know on the inside but it fell flat for me. It seemed out of the blue and didn’t really tie in with the story.
I liked that the author gave the characters self-redemption. She allowed them both to heal from their past and move on. However, this story just didn’t work for me in the end. It started out strong but soon turned into a bad boy with anger issues who falls in love for the first time with a girl he barely knows.
“Life is like waiting in line at the grocery store. You wait, you slowly move forward, you pay the price, then you exit unsatisfied and broke.” -Phoenix
Great review. Well at least you liked some of it. For me I could not get into this series. I read an ARC copy of True (True Believers #1) and did not like it. For me it was the way the author dealt with or the lack of dealing with real issues and The insta love does ruin a lot of books for me. Another popular series that I am not feeling it.
This was the first book of her’s that I’ve read. I’m not a fan at all of insta-love. Maybe insta “finding my mate” with shifter novels but not insta love.