Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Easy

Author: Tammara Webber
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release Date: November 6, 2012
Pages: 310
Source: Library
Rating: 5 out of 5

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex’s frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night – but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he’s hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy. – GoodRead

I went through this little phase at the beginning of 2013 where I read NA after NA after NA. Eventually, I got so bored with New Adult that I took a couple of months off of them, until now. Easy by Tammara Webber is a completely refreshing read, and whether it be because of my timing or not, I fell hard for this story.

I’m sure if I read Easy during that New Adult obsession phase, this book still would have stood out to me. Why? Because even though the plot is a bit typical (bad boy/good girl, dark past, etc.) in that eye-rolling way in this particular genre, Webber sprinkles in disparate elements here and there that really differentiates this one from all of the other stories. She does this so well that the classic NA storyline is slight and unimportant. Another minor factor that is insignificant to my feelings for this book (but notable) is the predictability of the story. I’m not going to mention what specifically is predictable– in case of spoilers– but it isn’t annoying. Again, Webber has the ability to keep the readers flipping pages.

The strong point in Easy has to be the diverse cast of characters. Our main character Jacqueline doesn’t necessarily start off as a weak character in the beginning, but she does grow significantly by the end. I loved watching her develop and learn from mistakes, as well as become a stronger woman. The love interest, Lucas, is to die for. Yes, I fell for the bad boy. But he’s not just a bad boy, he’s also protective, caring, artistic, and smart. I couldn’t have asked for a better love interest. Aside from the main characters, the side ones really contribute to the story in a great way as well. For example, Jacqueline’s best friend Erin and her enthusiasm, Jacqueline’s econ buddy Benji and his hilarity, and even Dr. Heller and his caring manner. Webber creates characters that are exquisitely real and palpable, for which I adored every single one.

Some other things that are greatly admirable in this novel are things like the romance, writing style, and “issue”. The romance is a slow one, and a heated one at that. In every scene where Jacqueline and Lucas were together, I couldn’t help but swoon and fan myself. I loved every minute of it! Webber’s writing style isn’t jaw-droppingly amazing, but I found it to be very suiting for this story (for some reason). As for the “issue”, the way the characters deal with it is respectable and helpful to readers.

If it isn’t obvious enough, Easy was a successful New Adult read for me. This story has some minor kinks, but I refutably overlooked them because of the endearingly realistic characters, the swoon-worthy romance, adequate writing style, and the twists in the plot. I can honestly say that Easy stands out in the New Adult genre. I’ll definitely be picking up Tammara Webbers old and upcoming books!