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Showing posts with label Twelve Beats in a Bar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twelve Beats in a Bar. Show all posts

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Review: A Different Kind of Fine (Twelve Beats an a Bar #1.5) by KK Hendin

Synopsis

 Happily Ever After is never as easy as it seems…

Hayley’s finally come back to Texas, and seeing her is everything Nate dreamed it would be. But three years apart means that everything has changed between them, and all the things that broke them up in high school have come back to haunt them.

Nate’s barely recovered from the explosion that lost his leg, part of his eyesight, and his entire squad. Being able to spend a week back in Leland was supposed to help him recover, yet all it has done is make everything worse. Everything still seems like a threat, nothing is safe, and Nate’s nightmares are only getting worse. His survivor’s guilt is crippling him, and ruining his relationship with Hayley. He loves her more than anything, but she deserves more than a broken man slowly losing his mind.

Being with Nate again is all Hayley’s wanted for the past three years. But reality isn’t exactly like her dreams. Nate’s fighting demons he brought home with him from Afghanistan, and Hayley’s scared that she’s not enough to help him fight them. When an unexpected ice storm and road trip stumble into their Christmas plans, Hayley and Nate are both forced to face their pasts and the unknown future.

It’s a love story that has spanned four years, over seven thousand miles, and countless YouTube videos, and it all boils down to a seven hour road trip.



My Review

ARC given in exchange for an honest review. 

 Yes! This is what I wanted in the first book! Lots of Hayley and Nate in the present! I am a sucker for a good reunion.

This book basically picks up where "Come Back to Texas" left off. Hayley and Nate have reunited and they are spending time together. Nate only has a week before he has to return to rehab so they are trying to make the most of their time together. Unfortunately, the past is still hanging over them and they need to deal with it.

They both are carrying around A LOT of guilt about how they ended things almost 4 years ago. Hayley feels guilty for the way she left Nate and Nate feels guilty for treating her the way her did. And neither of them are ready to talk about it. They have just reunited and the last thing they want to do is talk about the past. 

 Also, Nate has Post-traumatic stress disorder. He is having frequent nightmares and flashbacks about the explosion. He was the only one of his squad to survive so he is carrying around a lot of survivor's guilt. Not to mention Nate still has A LOT of rehab to go through, so these two have a long road ahead of them. As much as he tries to push Hayley away, she is in it for the long haul and wants to make it work. 

In this book, the two of them go on a road trip to bring Nate back to rehab. While he drove himself home, there is no way he can drive himself back, so Hayley volunteers to do it. I think the road trip was exactly what they needed. While the trip wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, it allowed them to fall back into their comfortable relationship. They have these funny, nonsense conversations about random topics just like they did back in high school. It was nice to see the old Hayley and Nate, even it was just for a little bit. 

 There are some very tense moments on the trip, but they work through it together. I loved that it's clear the two of them are committed to working things out, as hard as it may be. Hayley and Nate's story is far from over and I hope that we get another book about these two. The author's next book is about Hayley's college friend Olivia, so hopefully we will get a little insight into how they are doing. I just really want them to get their HEA.

Amazon buy link: http://amzn.com/B00Q2DIMZE



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

KK Hendin’s real life ambition is to become a pink fluffy unicorn who dances with rainbows. But the schooling for that is all sorts of complicated, so until that gets sorted out, she’ll just write. Preferably things with angst and love. And things that require chocolate. She’s the author of the NA contemporaries HEART BREATHS and ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG.

THIS MUCH SPACE is the second book in her new series, TWELVE BEATS IN A BAR.

KK spends way too much time on Twitter (where she can be found as @kkhendin), and rambles on occasion over at www.kkhendinwrites.blogspot.com.
AUTHOR LINKS: 

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Friday, February 27, 2015

Review: Come Back to Texas (Twelve Beats an a Bar #1) by KK Hendin

Synopsis 

Everyone thought we’d be the ones who made it through high school. The ones who’d get married and stay married forever. The example of how young love can work.

We thought so, too.

Too bad life had other plans.

It’s been three years since Hayley and Nate broke each other’s hearts. Three years, and a lot has changed. Hayley’s a freshman in Bushwick University, and the only things keeping her sane are stress baking, and her a cappella group, Twelve Beats in a Bar.

Nate’s a Marine, stationed in Afghanistan. The only thing that’s keeping him sane is the last picture he has of him and Hayley, and the hope that maybe when the hell of deployment is over, he can find her again and apologize.

One explosion will change everything.

When a bomb kills all of Nate’s unit, leaving him missing a leg and eyesight in one eye, he’s sent back home to Texas. Texas, where he loved Hayley more than he could possibly imagine ever loving anyone else.

With seemingly endless amounts of free time and needing something to distract himself, Nate starts making YouTube videos, imploring Hayley to come back to him, and come back to Texas.

Hayley’s life is wrapped around the Beats, making sure she doesn’t flunk out of biology class, and babysitting Ohio’s smallest monster, Brandon. She doesn't want to admit it, but she misses Nate more than anything.

It’s too bad she doesn’t know just how much he misses her, too… 

My Review

ARC given in exchange for an honest review.

 I liked this book, but it took me a little while to get into it. It takes place in the present, but we are given flashbacks to tell us the story of how Nate and Hayley became a couple. So the story jumps around and at first it wasn't very obvious when we were getting a flashback. I found it to be a bit confusing, but once I caught on to how the author was using the flashback plot device the book because easier to read.
"Good luck not regretting the stupid shit you’ve done."
Those are the last words Hayley says to Nate. They dated when they were in high school, but broke up when he enlisted into the Marines. It was a very bad break up and they haven't spoken to each other since. It's almost 4 years later and Hayley is now a freshman in college. She is trying she is making a life for herself, but has never really gotten over Nate. Hayley has a supportive roommate and a fantastic group of friend, but she becomes increasingly distracted by thoughts of him and it begins to affect her everyday life.

Meanwhile, Nate has never gotten over Hayley. He frequently thinks of her while he is deployed and even keeps a picture of the two of them with him at all times. After he gets hurt, starts to make videos asking Hayley to "come back to Texas." He starts them as something to do because he is in the hospital and is bored out of his mind.  The videos become a kind of therapy for him and people start to watch them, like a lot of people. Nate also starts to get the people he knows and meets along the way to add in their two cents. 

Here's the thing...while I really liked the videos Nate made for Hayley, I just wish she had seen them sooner. And if they were such a hit on YouTube and according to Hayley's roommate, Facebook, why didn't they come into play sooner. Hayley told her friends about Nate so they could have easily put two and two together. Youths! Aren't they supposed to be good with this stuff?  It just kind of felt like a lost opportunity, but they ultimately served their purpose, so i guess that is something. 

 I really liked Nate and Hayley as a couple. The way they meet is cute and it isn't long until they are spending almost all of their time together. Despite Nate being a few years old than Hayley, the two of them have a great connection and are super comfortable with each other. They have a wonderful relationship, until they don't. After Nate's grandmother passes away things deteriorate quite rapidly. This leads to Hayley saying the quote above, the aforementioned bad break up and Nate leaving for the Marines.  Cut to the present and where the book starts. 

 I look forward to reading the companion novella to this one. I hope that Hayley and Nate are able to move forward and work out their issues. It's clear they still love each other and whether or not they will get back together will depend on a lot of things. They are both older and SO MUCH has happened while they were apart.  

 Amazon buy link: http://amzn.com/B00MT79B2A


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

KK Hendin’s real life ambition is to become a pink fluffy unicorn who dances with rainbows. But the schooling for that is all sorts of complicated, so until that gets sorted out, she’ll just write. Preferably things with angst and love. And things that require chocolate. She’s the author of the NA contemporaries HEART BREATHS and ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG.

THIS MUCH SPACE is the second book in her new series, TWELVE BEATS IN A BAR.

KK spends way too much time on Twitter (where she can be found as @kkhendin), and rambles on occasion over at www.kkhendinwrites.blogspot.com.
AUTHOR LINKS: 

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