Book Review: Love Story, Jennifer Echols

Reading Level:      Young Adult 

Hardcover:           256 Pages 

Publisher:             S&S, July 19, 2011

Parasols:              4

I have been reading so much paranormal, dystopian and vampire books that I just wanted a simple, well written love story.  I read Not That Kind of Girl, and it left me wanting something different, something epic!  I went to the library and asked about an epic love story for young adult.  Nothing!  I didn't want any paranormal aspect to my love story.  I took it to Twitter.  Where people started recommending  all sorts of stories and authors.  My favorite was Mel, from He Followed Me Home, recommending Nicholas Sparks.  Um, yeah, NO!

Anyway, I'd heard people talking about the newest Jennifer Echols book, and I was interested in the premise.  Two people writing stories about each other.  What an interesting concept! I'd read Going Too Far and well, I liked it, I thought the writing was okay.  She could have taken the story further, but she held back.  Sometimes I think YA authors don't take enough chances with their story because they're afraid of the backlash, but we have some savvy teens and really, some young adults are in their twenties!

So back to the story.  Erin is going to school in NYC and she is taking a creative writing class because her goal is to become a romance novelist.  Her back story is this:  She comes from a very wealthy family in Kentucky that specializes in race horses.  She should be heiress to the farm, but when she decides that she does not want to specialize in business as her grandmother wants her to, she is left penniless and at the mercy of scholarships and a part-time job at a shabby coffee shop.

Hunter, Erin's stable boy from Kentucky, is also attending the same college, but he's been gifted with the horse farm, and all the money that comes with it.  In Erin's eyes, he stole her inheritance.  Hunter walks into her creative writing class looking to add it to his classes.  But you see, that day he walks in, the class is discussing Erin's story, which is about a heiress who is love with her stable boy.

Back and forth the stories fly and the classmates are reading deeper into the stories, but Hunter and Erin refuse to acknowledge their love for each other.  She's wounded and he's bitter.

I loved this story and could not get enough of it.  My only problem was that it was only 265 pages long!  So not exactly epic, but it was exactly what I was looking for.  I loved the stories and they are included in the book too, so you get an understanding of Hunter and Erin.  I really liked Hunter, because he was down-to-earth and charming, but not overly flirtatious with everyone.  He basically did everything he could to be with Erin.  There is a blip in the road that is kind of rushed over and didn't exactly make much sense, but I was still able to enjoy the story.  I highly recommend this light and breezy read!