Lovin' los libros

This Girl (Slammed #3)
   by: Colleen Hoover

Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 256 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 5/5 stars

                                                                  -goodreads.com description

First of all- I absolutely LOVED getting into Will's head. I know we had his POV in Point of Retreat, but this... this was just perfect. To say I was hesitant about this book is an understatement. I had recently read another book from the male POV (same story as before, just from the guy's perspective)and it fell short for me. Something was missing. I wanted so much more out of it that I didn't get until the epilogue of the novel.

Not this book. Will and Layken are on their honeymoon and Hoover has weaved that into retelling Slammed. We get so many new, fresh scenes with them on their honeymoon that I didn't feel like I was rereading the first book just from a different perspective. It was truly a completely new story, with him replaying his side of the story as to when they first met, etc. So, it absolutely worked for me.

We read so many stories where it's just one-sided and we never truly get a feel for the other character- what they're feeling, thinking, or how they're reacting to certain situations. I think this is one of the reasons that I really prefer dual POV's in my novels. I crave being inside both my protagonist's minds. It's almost as if I can really decide whether the other is feeling the same way because I have their thoughts to go off of.

Reading about how every choice and decision that shaped Will and Layken's relationship and seeing how much it affected him was what made this book great. I already knew the story, but going back and rereading it, my heart was broken all over again because you knew that he didn't want to make those choices and decisions, but he really had no choice- he had the responsibility of his younger brother, who absolutely had to come first, and he couldn't risk his security and well-being at the time to pursue a relationship with a student.

Again, we got so many new scenes from Will's flashbacks that it kept me completely engaged, because we learn things we never did before! Seeing Vaughn (Will's ex-girlfriend) break up with him, watching Will and Julia have some private conversations-- it satisfied a lot of questions that I had in the first book.

As the summary states, Will and Layken are on their honeymoon, and after a flashback we always go back to them and we see them hash out their thoughts about the scene together and talk about it. There is one point where Layken drove me a little crazy because I thought she was acting a bit immature after finding out some information from Will, but I was able to look past it. They are still young at this point, so it wasn't completely out of character for her to act a bit like a petulant child over finding out something that really bothered her. But, for pete's sake Layken! That boy loves you like there's no tomorrow! Why let a little something that happened in the past interrupt your present and your future?!

Hands down, Will Cooper is on my book boyfriend list. He's patient, loving, kind, responsible, and just an all around great guy. Everything he did was because he felt it was the right thing to do and had to sacrifice what he wanted to place the needs of his brother before him.

I will tell you after the honeymoon and flashbacks are over, we still get more from Hoover. I think she really ended Will and Layken's story perfectly, giving us readers enough to really satisfy us. Endings can be tricky to write, and this one? Perfection.