*Follow the Tour*
Author: S. L. Scott
Release date: June 10, 2013
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tour organized by: AToMR Tours
Source: eArc received from author through AToMR tours for honest review
Books Links: Goodreads
I grab her exploring finger just as it reaches my happy trail—a trail that if I let her wander down further will lead us to do things we can’t take back. Things like three-word phrases being confessed that would end me if I was rejected. Things like selfishly wanting to own her body and doing things to her that would make my fantasies blush. And things like making her promises too soon that won’t do either of us any good. She makes me want a future that’s not possible, and one I don’t deserve.
Listening to my ego got me into this situation. Will listening to my heart get me out?
I was immediately drawn to the cover of this book and really, really wanted to read it. But, I must start by saying, honestly, the first 10ish% was waayyy rough for me. I was in a text frenzy with some serious misgivings of where this could go. Well, how do we get 4 stars to the deal? It went from cliche to awesome, that's how.
Funny that you mention that first 10%. I was very skeptical at first. Granted...I'm a little older and married and way out of practice with the whole young, college girl dating scene-- but these were some of my first thoughts: "Wait?! She just saw him making out with another girl and she's going to flirt with him?"... "And now she's getting in the car with him??!!" ..."Wait she's SLEEPING with him?!!" ...and minutes later..."Now she feels some sort of connection to the professed one night stand?!!" So, you can imagine that I wasn't very confident that I could hang with this story. But I did and I have to give it admit that I'm now eager to see where the story goes next. Court, get us started with a little about Mallory our female lead....
Mallory gets away from her real life by moving for the summer to Hawaii with her cousin. We never really know the specifics in what she is running away from, but we get the idea that it's a romance gone bad. So, she is pretty bitter and not looking to meet anyone in paradise. That lasts for 0.2 seconds, when she sees Evan in the airport as soon as she gets off the plane. Her major attitude about his recreational activities and views on love were what gave me the most trouble, especially since she goes home with him anyways. I thought a lot..c'mon Mallory...don't be a walking contradiction, it's not attractive. But then, the story really gets going and more characters are involved and I couldn't stop reading.
Yep, Courtney, you're right. She does seem to be a little contradictory and we get hints dropped along the way about why Mallory is in Hawaii but never any real back story. What is established, though, is that she's seeking a change of scenery (and gosh--I wish I could have Hawaii as my change of scenery) and boy does she get that with Evan, Noah, and all of her new friends and experiences. I can totally appreciate that idea of wanting a fresh start, I think we've probably all wanted that at some point, and so Mallory tries to embrace this summer vacation as a way to acquire that fresh start. Her main problem, though, is that rather than date and relax and just have fun she gets hooked up with Evan and gets herself into something serious pretty darn quick. Speaking of Evan...
There is an a lot more to Evan than he wants anyone to know. I didn't want to like that overly cocky guy at first who thought at 21 he knew what every woman in the world wants...but when he starts being all vulnerable and shook up by how things go with Mallory my hard heart cracked open. I too think there is way more to his reputation than just being the love 'em and leave 'em type. There are many could be scenarios that had me concocting all sorts of theories, most of them not even good ones, as to what could have happened in the past and who was involved. For now, though I shall keep my focus on something involving him and Noah and maybe a girl.
As intrigued as I am about Mallory, I'm even more curious about Evan. There seems to be a lot of drama going on with him and we don't know much about it other than he has a mostly undeserved bad reputation. What we do know is that he's smart, comes from a wealthy family, has a great sister and group of friends, and a bitch for a mom. More than that though, we know that he absolutely has no ability to resist Mallory. He's drawn to her to the point of stalkerish behavior and I'd be disturbed by that more if he wasn't so vulnerable and insecure with his feelings around her. As with Mallory's quick descent in to falling for him, I find it a little hard to believe that he falls for her so quickly too but I just went with it. I suggest you do too.
Normally at this juncture we'd go into more detail about the other characters like Noah, Sunny, Zach, Murphy, Kate, and Johnny but honestly this is not their story. It seems like they exist at this point to either support or refute stories about Evan or to try to steer Mallory in one direction or another. This isn't a bad thing and they are fun characters but they function more to help things along not to cause too many obstacles...Mallory and Evan seem to do that just fine all on their own.
I hadn't even thought of the secondary characters this way, but you are so right. I thought they were interesting and great, but their actual stories mostly do center around Evan and Mallory and keeping their drama at bay. We get teeny snippets of the others journey to happiness, but a lot of their purpose seems to be giving the two who can't get their crap together, ever, advice. I think Kate was by far the frontrunner as one of my favorite characters, so I hope that we see a lot more of her in the next book.
I, too, liked Kate. For once a good family member!I hope we see more of her...and more of the sand and surf in Hawaii. I'm a little obsessed with Hawaii and surfing (even though I have never been their or surfed!) and it was a happy surprise to see this as the setting. I loved the surfing scenes and that the location played a prominent role in this story.
I am with you on an incredible love for a great setting, and Hawaii was a great setting. The locale, the sun, the views and all of their passion and time in paradise was a great package. S.L. Scott's ability to suck me in to this story and do a great job with building up to the next installment, but still not exactly ending on a cliffy has me crazy impressed!
I know that I didn't seem uber excited about this novel but I became more and more interested as I read. To me this first installment seems to be more about establishing the dynamic between Mallory and Evan because barely anything is revealed about who or what they are each running from. It's more about their struggle to find a peaceful coexistence between misreading each other and then making up and then beginning to settle in to their newfound relationship.
Totally! This to me is their little jaunt away from reality, and makes you wonder how they will survive in the real world in Colorado and New York and not in their paradise/save haven. This was about building them together without all of the outside factors (and, damn did they make that difficult!) So I cannot wait...and the way is so long...to find out what happens when the wave of reality crashes on them like a tsunami.
...And by now you know how I feel about a cliffhanger and it doesn't end in one....but that sneak peek at the end is just cruel. (KIDDING! SORT OF). We have to wait until September to see the why/how/what of the obvious drama that is shown in the sneak peek and are left to wonder how Mallory and Evan go from being wildly and forever in love to Noah suddenly comforting her. GAH! (GAH! is right! Holy..cow! He waited until the worst possible moment to say that!...Idiot!)
As intrigued as I am about Mallory, I'm even more curious about Evan. There seems to be a lot of drama going on with him and we don't know much about it other than he has a mostly undeserved bad reputation. What we do know is that he's smart, comes from a wealthy family, has a great sister and group of friends, and a bitch for a mom. More than that though, we know that he absolutely has no ability to resist Mallory. He's drawn to her to the point of stalkerish behavior and I'd be disturbed by that more if he wasn't so vulnerable and insecure with his feelings around her. As with Mallory's quick descent in to falling for him, I find it a little hard to believe that he falls for her so quickly too but I just went with it. I suggest you do too.
Normally at this juncture we'd go into more detail about the other characters like Noah, Sunny, Zach, Murphy, Kate, and Johnny but honestly this is not their story. It seems like they exist at this point to either support or refute stories about Evan or to try to steer Mallory in one direction or another. This isn't a bad thing and they are fun characters but they function more to help things along not to cause too many obstacles...Mallory and Evan seem to do that just fine all on their own.
I hadn't even thought of the secondary characters this way, but you are so right. I thought they were interesting and great, but their actual stories mostly do center around Evan and Mallory and keeping their drama at bay. We get teeny snippets of the others journey to happiness, but a lot of their purpose seems to be giving the two who can't get their crap together, ever, advice. I think Kate was by far the frontrunner as one of my favorite characters, so I hope that we see a lot more of her in the next book.
I am with you on an incredible love for a great setting, and Hawaii was a great setting. The locale, the sun, the views and all of their passion and time in paradise was a great package. S.L. Scott's ability to suck me in to this story and do a great job with building up to the next installment, but still not exactly ending on a cliffy has me crazy impressed!
Totally! This to me is their little jaunt away from reality, and makes you wonder how they will survive in the real world in Colorado and New York and not in their paradise/save haven. This was about building them together without all of the outside factors (and, damn did they make that difficult!) So I cannot wait...and the way is so long...to find out what happens when the wave of reality crashes on them like a tsunami.
...And by now you know how I feel about a cliffhanger and it doesn't end in one....but that sneak peek at the end is just cruel. (KIDDING! SORT OF). We have to wait until September to see the why/how/what of the obvious drama that is shown in the sneak peek and are left to wonder how Mallory and Evan go from being wildly and forever in love to Noah suddenly comforting her. GAH! (GAH! is right! Holy..cow! He waited until the worst possible moment to say that!...Idiot!)
Courtney: 4 Stars
Shelley: 3 1/2 Stars
About the Author
S.L. Scott has a degree in Journalism and is the author of the novels—Naturally, Charlie, and A Prior Engagement as well as several novellas, including Sleeping with Mr. Sexy and Morning Glory--all currently available on Amazon. Pursuing her passion for telling stories, she spends her days escaping into her characters, letting them lead her on their adventures. She is a Contributor to Huffington Post and writes for her own blog along with several other popular sites.
Travelling, music festivals, and surfing are a few of the hobbies she loves, but she doesn't get to enjoy on a regular basis. She has an obsession with movies, a varied taste in books, and collects Fitz & Floyd teapots. With a memory full of useless trivia facts, and a Keurig addiction, she loves a fun night in with her family as much as a loud night out with her friends.
Scott lives in the lively city of Austin with her husband, two young sons, and two Papillons, enjoying life in the beautiful hill country of Texas.
She welcomes your notes at sl@slscottauthor.com.
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