Isn;t She Lovely By Lauren Layne

A Review By Wendy

4 College Tested, Real Life Experienced, Well Learned Stars 

****

When I read, I can only bring my life experience to each book and figure it out from there. I did not have the live on college experience with all of the frat parties or keg deals. I did not have that continued stuff you experience in high school of clicks, bullies and outsider-ship.... I had very different experiences and those are subjects for another time.... 

But I did have life experiences of trying to fit in... of trying to be something that wasn't quite me... and I can tell you.... to live like that is not easy... so....

In this story we meet Stephanie, a young adult who has experienced a lot; her mother died of Cancer; she has already had a traumatic love experience and she feels betrayed by her father. Her best defense for all of this was to recreate herself into this sarcastic, cynical, resilient Goth creature. Her armor consisted of Black clothes, combat boots and Kohl rimed piercing blue eyes to match her dark hair. What she couldn't hide with all that self inflected armor was the outrageously smokin' hot body with a set of girls which made men walk into walls....

She is an NYU Film student and is running late for the first class of the summer session... distracted she slams into a wall of Preppy muscle... broad shoulders, arms of steel and decked out in every top label... his hair perfect and white teeth blinding. She sees Ethan as a creature lost from his perfect upper echelon world and wonders why he is even on this part of campus.

Ethan has his own stuff he is running from... yes, he is born to the "Top Drawer" with all things already planned out for him... and in the past he was all too happy to just do what was expected of him... but he too has experienced life changing events concerning his family and past girlfriend... he too is questioning and wanting maybe more.... more than being "the Man" with his Bros... More than being the perfect fit into his daddy's business and more than being the guy who gets which ever girl he wants.... 

So, during this meeting, they both banter back and forth with cutting remarks and then end up in the same film class. Of Course, they also end up having to do the class project together too.

This tale was delightful from the beginning set up through all of the classic scenes to the ending of self realizations for the both of them. There was real sexual chemistry, concern for one another and no instalove... it was more of a gradual sharing of experiences and letting the other in which felt perfectly believable for these characters for me.

There was also quite a bit of depth in all of the experiences these characters carried causing their barriers...  it was a continual example of how actions from others can impact those close to them so dramatically... 
Parents need to be more aware.... partners need to be more careful in decisions made or circumstances allowed... people need to think of what their actions will result in and who ultimately will feel the pain.

This was an excellent read... easy enjoyable and I will be looking for this author again... because her voice is worth hearing... and you don't need to be in college to enjoy it.

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

About Lauren Layne

Lauren Layne writes contemporary romance for Grand Central Publishing (Forever Yours) and Random House (Loveswept).
After dabbling in an e-commerce career in Seattle and Southern California, Lauren moved to New York City where she now writes full time.
Lauren graduated from Santa Clara University with B.S. in Political Science that she has yet to put to good use. She lives with her husband and plus-sized Pomeranian in a tiny Manhattan studio.