Welcome to my stop in the Beside Your Heart by Mary Whitney Blog Tour, hosted by Debra at Book Enthusiast Promotions :D! You can read my review, read an excerpt, and enter the giveaway at the bottom of my post. Don't forget to follow the blog tour for more excerpts, reviews, author interviews, and much more HERE :D!
Title: Beside Your Heart
Author: Mary Whitney
Series: Beside Your Heart #1
Publication Date: June 17, 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Source: e-arc was provided by author for the blog tour in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.
Synopsis:
"It's an emotional story that will take the reader back to those feelings that made the late teen years such a powerful time."
Late one night Nicki Johnson plays with emotional fire and Googles her high school love, only to find his name splashed across the British gossip columns. Back in his native England, Adam Kincaid is successful and dating a woman from an aristocratic family like his own. With a career in politics, Nicki’s no slouch, but she knows Adam is living a world away from her life.
Yet there was a time he was no farther than the next locker. Nicki will never forget their year together in high school—the year of her sister’s death, the year her mother checked out. Adam helped Nicki through suffocating grief, and she led him through a coming of age. Was it just high school, or was it something more?
Late one night Nicki Johnson plays with emotional fire and Googles her high school love, only to find his name splashed across the British gossip columns. Back in his native England, Adam Kincaid is successful and dating a woman from an aristocratic family like his own. With a career in politics, Nicki’s no slouch, but she knows Adam is living a world away from her life.
Yet there was a time he was no farther than the next locker. Nicki will never forget their year together in high school—the year of her sister’s death, the year her mother checked out. Adam helped Nicki through suffocating grief, and she led him through a coming of age. Was it just high school, or was it something more?
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My Thoughts:
Time passed, but I really wasn't doing anything to pass the time.
Beside Your Heart by Mary Whitney was a great beginning to a series :D! The story was different from what I have been reading so far, and I enjoyed every part of it. It is a coming of age story with a little tragedy in it. The bridge between YA and NA is really emerged into Beside Your Heart. What do I mean by this? It feels like you are reading a YA book from chapter one, but then it emerges into NA territory with the sexual scenes. Of course the Prologue and Epilogue are in the NA age category. Now, one thing I have to mention that really stood out to me was how Mary started the Prologue in Nicki's POV, and ended the Epilogue in Adam's POV :).
The other two stages were depression and acceptance, and I was stuck somewhere between the two of those.
I have to say that right from the start I was touched by Nicki's character. Nicki experiences a tragic accident that leaves her permanently scared, and without her sister. Right from the beginning of the story Nicki is suffering from a great loss, and doesn't know how to be open about the accident with others. Of course this changes once she meets Adam :). Like I said at the beginning, I just loved Nicki's character, because Mary Whitney made her a lovable character. What did I love about Nicki's character? I loved that she is strong about her sister's loss and with everything that is thrown in her path. I am not saying that she doesn't get hurt or suffer about it, but she is always able to get out of the gutter. Her character doesn't really mature much, because she has always been matured. Does her character develop? I really don't see much of a character development, but she does learn how to be open about her sister's loss. I am really hoping to see something more out of Nicki's character in the second book :).
I thought about Adam--- the big change in my life in the last month.
What can I say about Adam's character? My god, this boy seriously frustrated the hell out of me. I mean it is not his fault that he keeps leaving for vacations and that he has to leave by New Years. But still it just got on my nerves that for a moment he thought that it didn't really matter to Nicki. The poor girl has already suffered the loss of her sister, and her comes this amazing guy that makes her happy and he has to leave her? Yup, didn't really love that at all. I'm not saying that I didn't like his character, because I did. I liked that he is able to help Nicki release all of the hurt she has been feeling with her sister's loss, and that he makes her happy. He does have sweet gestures towards her. I believe that Mary Whitney gives us a glimpse to Adam's true emotions, thoughts, and feelings in the Epilogue :). So I am really hoping to get to read from Adam's POV in the second book (not saying it will happen, but would love to hear a little more from Adam's POV).
Everything in my life felt easier with Adam...
I like Nicki and Adam as a couple, and their relationship is both hot and sweet. What I love about Adam in their relationship is that he is always there for Nicki. He listens to her when she is pouring her heart out to him. I also love that Adam makes Nicki confident about her scars, because he loves her the way she is. Nicki also supports Adam in their relationship, because she supports the fact that he will have to leave her and they might not see each other again. I know a lot of girls would be moping around or pretty pissed off about the whole situation. Nicki is different, because she learns to accept this and is always there for Adam. So Nicki and Adam's relationship is really that they are always supporting one another, and loving each other to the fullest :).
Nicki still felt something, and that alone was enough.
Beside Your Heart by Mary Whitney was an enjoyable read and a great start to a series! The story is different from what I have read and I just grew attached to Nicki's character. I finished Beside Your Heart in three days (was also reading another book), because it is a really fast paced read. I just have one little complain for Mary Whitney. Did you really had to end it that way?!?!?!? Why did you just have to leave their story like that! I am really looking forward to reading the second book in the Beside Your Heart series :D!
Final Verdict: 4 Stars
EXCERPT:
We said our goodbyes, and Adam guided me to his black Honda. My stomach did flip-flops. This had been a very bad idea. Lisa was right. This was not good for me.Adam opened my door, and I grasped for a way out. “You don’t even know where I live. It could be really out of your way in BFE.”
“BFE? Where is that?”
“It’s just a more polite way of saying Bum Fuck Egypt.”
“Of saying what?” He laughed.
“Oh, uh, Bum Fuck Egypt. It’s kind of an American saying for the middle of nowhere.”
Closing his eyes for a moment, he shook his head and grinned. “Bum. Fuck. Egypt. So you fuck someone in the bum in Egypt and that means the middle of nowhere?”
“In the bum?”
“Bum. It’s another word for arse.”
“I never really thought of it as being someone’s ass before.” I giggled. “You might be right, though. I thought it was more like you were a bum and fuck was short for fucking, as in ‘fucking Egypt.’ Does that make sense?”
“The whole thing doesn’t make sense, but it’s funny.” He leaned against the car door with the same look in his eye as when we’d talked about sexual frustration in class that other day. “You know, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard an American girl say fuck.”
I was in an eye-lock with him, biting my tongue. I bet Meredith liked to have sex all the time, but she’d never say fuck. “It’s not very ladylike,” I said.
“But you’re not bothered.”
“Well, I try not to say it.”
“Of course, but you don’t seem to bother much about what people think of you.”
I looked down, wondering if that was true, and the scar on my arm caught my eye. It was a perfect example. With all that I’d gone through, I didn’t fucking care. I shrugged. “Unless they’re my friends or family, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t.” He rested his chin on the door as he studied my face. I felt like I was being appraised again. With him being British and all, I wondered if he thought I should be more proper. Maybe that’s why he liked Meredith. A moment passed, and his voice brightened again. “You just said you lived by the school. So do I. Your home can’t be that far away.”
Excerpt 5 (Reading Past My Bedtime; Wine Relaxation and my Kindle)
Damn. He really was cute. His hair was longer and a little scraggly, and his clothes were more rumpled than Adam’s. If he didn’t have an English accent, he would have looked like a surfer boy. Plus he was nice. I wondered if Adam had said anything to him about me. Regardless, I thought I’d be nice back.
“Well, Adam and I have two classes together. You’re about to be taught economics by the soccer coach. If you’re lucky, you might learn how to balance a checkbook. English is at the end of the day. You’ll hear about Puritans there.”
“The Puritans? Weren’t they Englishmen who came to America? They were oppressed in England because of their religion.”
“That’s right.” I held his gaze. He was definitely older and confident, and I was pretty sure that if Rachel saw me talking to him, she would be pissed if I didn’t flirt a little. I leaned against my locker and said, “Religious oppression. Sexual repression. That pretty much sums up the pilgrims.”
“Sexual repression?” Raising his eyebrows, David smirked. “The last class sounds interesting. Why were the pilgrims repressed when it came to shagging?”
“A strict moral code leading to scandalous affairs.”
“Really? I like the last part.”
I tried to keep my eyes from bugging out. I bet you do, I thought. Time to tone things down, so I said, “The affairs just lead to self-mutilation. Reverend Dimmesdale deals with his by burning a big letter A for adultery into his chest.” I looked over at Adam, who gave a nervous laugh. I guess he didn’t like hearing about Dimmesdale again.
David turned his body so it was toward me, and he crossed his arms, settling into our conversation. His voice got a little lower and kind of sexy. “That part doesn’t sound like much fun to me. What do you think?”
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