BLOG TOUR + REVIEW: FOUR YEARS LATER BY MONICA MURPHY

FOUR YEARS LATER Synopsis:

New Adult bestselling author Monica Murphy winds up her sensational series with this sexy story of two college kids with nothing in common but a bunch of baggage and a burning attraction.
Over. That about sums up everything in my life. Suspended from my college football team and forced to cut back my hours at The District bar because of my crappy grades, I can’t keep turning to my sister, Fable, and her pro-football playing husband, Drew, to bail me out. I just can’t seem to find my own way. Weed and sex are irresistible temptations—and it’s messed up that I secretly hand over money to our junkie mom. A tutor is the last thing I want right now—until I get a look at her.

Chelsea is not my type at all. She’s smart and totally shy. I’m pretty sure she’s even a virgin. But when she gives me the once over with those piercing blue eyes, I’m really over. But in a different way. I won’t deny her ass is killer, but it’s her brain and the way she seems to crave love—like no one’s ever given her any—that make me want her more than any girl I’ve ever met. But what would someone as seemingly together as her ever see in a screwed up guy like me?

OUR REVIEW:

We first met Owen in Fable's story and you almost had to know that things were going to be rough for him. He was so young and saw all the bad shit that was surrounding his mom. He wasn't old enough to escape or independent enough to think it out for himself..his mom screwed him and this becomes more and more evident as his story is told.

Yes, Owen was 14 when we met him in One Week Girlfriend. And that is an impressionable age anytime but especially when you're abandoned by a drug addict parent. Owen has come so far, but still has so very far to go with where his head is at in this story, and you'll see many times when you wish you could just wrangle him to hug or to choke and maybe make him see some sense!

Owen has effed up his life...just dicking around and not making good choices. In a last ditch effort to get him back on track, he's offered a tutor to help him focus and apply himself. Enter Chelsea, Owen's new tutor. She's smart. She follows the rules. She works hard. She has a 'plan'. She also has a few secrets.

Chelsea was a fun character. She's so innocent and for once that part wasn't too over the top, proving to me a virgin CAN be written well...her problems and how she reacted to them didn't always make sense to me, but when you find out what they are I would say we would probably all react differently.

It's through their initial meeting and subsequent interactions that we discover how deep their secrets run. How much are they willing to share and how far will they go to hide things to protect themselves and the things that have potential to hurt or ruin them? They have an interesting journey. They are starting in such different places and they have some similar bumps on their paths to finding their happily ever after.

Their journey is pretty real though. She's reacting to things and I wanted to say "who are you to judge, chica" but she's 18, and sheltered and completely different from jaded ole me so I had to give her a break. This fit her character and she really is a good fit for Owen...if you can get either one of them to not say or do something stupid for five seconds at a time!

There are some definite moments when my palm went to my forehead as I asked 'why?!!!'...but, truly, their journey was less angst filled than I imagined it would be..and for that I was happy.

I was overall very happy too. There were lots of mostly Fable and a little bit of Drew, and what is going on with him. The only complaint I have is there are some lines repeated over and over and over, almost to the point where I was raising a brow. I don't think they took away from the story, but they didn't add to it.

A great addition to this series!

Shelley: 4 Stars

Courtney: 4 stars

About Monica Murphy:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite. A wife and mother of three, she writes New Adult and contemporary romance for Bantam and Avon. She is the author of One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend.