Lovin' los libros

True (True Believers #1)
   by: Erin McCarthy

Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: InterMix
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC from NetGalley*
Page Count: 238 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 3/5 stars

This is a difficult review to write. I don't really know where to start, but here goes. Upon reading the first chapter we meet Rory, our protagonist, who is hanging out while her friends are getting laid. My first thought- Awkward! She is left alone with Grant, who she has a small crush on. He's cute, shy, and Rory thinks she can relate to him. However, Rory begins drinking and one thing leads to another. Grant is not the sweet, shy guy at all, but is a complete first class douche. He takes advantage of the fact that Rory is a little into him and the situation spirals out of control.

Tyler Mann intervenes, but I almost feel like he is a little too blasé about the whole thing. Sure, he gets a few punches in and tells Grant where to go, but something was just off for me. And her friends? Well, if I was in this situation (which I never would be, because my friends wouldn't leave me to fend for myself while they got laid!), but if I were- my friends would be LIT UP! That guy probably wouldn't live to tell about what he almost did. Rory's friends? "Omigosh, that sucks that almost happened! Let's talk about the fact that you're a virgin!" Hmph. They then make it their mission to get Rory laid. The lengths they go to and the way they handle it... why is she friends with these girls?!

Now getting past the initial irritation, we start to see Rory and Tyler become closer and begin tutoring each other. Tyler is good at Lit and Rory helps him with anatomy/physiology. Tyler reminds me a lot of Travis from Beautiful Disaster, and it's not just the tattoos or the bad boy persona. He does genuinely enjoy hanging out with Rory and getting to know her and he shows her a side of himself that others don't get to see. Tyler has a very troubling homelife and I admire Rory for not letting that deter her from getting close to him. She makes the decision to be with him, damned the implications, and I like that she got gutsy and stayed true to what she wanted. She fights for him and won't let him run away from difficult situations.

Watching Tyler interact with his brothers reminds me of Noah in Pushing The Limits. His family comes first and will do anything to make sure his brothers are taken care of. That won me over big time. This time, though, Tyler's mom is actually in the picture and she is a hot mess. You can tell Tyler and his older brother Riley have had to grow up way too fast in order to take care of their younger brothers when their mother has been too strung out to bother.

Back to Rory. She is innocent, sweet, but entirely too hard on herself. She has self-confidence issues and I hate that she thinks that Tyler would never be into her. He makes her realize how much she has going for her and shows her that she is special and has a lot to offer. In turn, she does the same for him- loves him, shows him that he's worth fighting for, and in the end it doesn't matter what other people think.

At first I found Tyler and Rory's relationship a bit unbelieveable, especially since he confesses he's been attracted to her for awhile. (So, explain to me again why you were having casual sex with her best friend? Stupid guys.) But, the more I read, the more I started to believe it.

These two definitely have their share of heartbreak in this story, and I felt the book ended a bit too soon, but I see that McCarthy will be writing a book about Jessica (one of Rory's friends) and Riley (Tyler's brother). I'm actually looking forward to that one because those two flat out hate each other and he teases and taunts her constantly. Those types of relationships are always fun to read. From the looks of it, we will also see Rory and Tyler in this next book too.

Overall, I thought it was a good read- despite my issues with the characterization.

*I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.*