Without You

"<strong>Kind of ridiculous </strong><br/><br/>First of all, the blurb is a lie. It leads you to believe that Katie will be torn between Brody and a famous star, but that's not even close to being accurate. Hate it when they do that. <br/><br/>This author made some really weird, borderline creepy, decisions. Katie is 32, but won't stop calling her dad, "daddy". Ew. Brody won't stop winking or wiggling his eyebrows. During their first kiss, Brody goes out of his way to let us know that he doesn't care at all about consent in that moment. The author could of just made it a moment of passion, but the fact that she has Brody acknowledge that he didn't consent and then tell us that it would be "impossible" for him to stop anyways is really weird. Apparently this author doesn't care much for the me too movement. <br/><br/>Most of the book is spent trying to convince you that Brody is the greatest man to ever live. It felt like every few pages one of those guys from an infomercial would pop up and say "...but, wait! There's more!". Brody is the best looking guy ever. He saves kittens and helps ex cons get on their feet. He's the greatest mechanic ever. He can renovate an entire house. He's a world class chef. He's unrivaled in between the sheets. He's adored by everyone. Yada Yada Yada. I couldn't stop rolling my eyes every time Katie would gush over him. Repeatedly telling us that he was chiseled by God himself. Ugh. All that time building Brady up, but I'm not buying him being a good guy. He's actually really mean and vindictive. He crashes his ex's wedding reception and tries to ruin it. Not because he misses her or wants her back. Which means that he simply did it because he's petty and cruel. He treats his mom like absolute garbage. He goes crazy and starts slamming chairs when he remembers Katie was upset about something 15 years earlier. Seriously, his insane behavior in that scene was laugh out loud absurd. <br/><br/>Katie is possibly the most naive, clueless leading lady I've ever read. She doesn't understand how giving a guy a massage could lead to him being aroused. It takes about 3 pages of Chase trying to get her to understand before it finally dawns on her. Apparently she's never seen an adult video. She also doesn't think a guy who has asked her out multiple times and only had a 30 minute massage would have any ulterior motives when he offers her a job as his personal masseuse on a world tour. Yeah, nothing suspicious there. The author bends over backward in the epilogue to make Katie as dumb and clueless as can possibly be. Somehow in this tiny little town, Brody and Chad manage to build an entire health and wellness center from the ground up without her ever catching up. Truly so stupid. <br/><br/>Ultimately the author just tried to hard to get Brady over and Katie suffered because of it. She was a weak character who existed seemingly just to worship Brody. I thought the ending might redeem it with the job offer from Chase, but rather than flesh out the angst of that possibility, the author just veers off into bizarro world and gives us a less intriguing and underwhelming issue for them. Ultimately, I would say pass, but I know the people who give out 5 star ratings like they're M&M's will claim to love Brody and this book. Don't believe the hype."

"I liked the repeating themes of loss and comfort in this book. It’s real and it’s raw and very emotional!"