Blog Tour: Everything Between Us by Mila Ferrera {Review+Giveaway}
Welcome to my stop on the Everything Between Us blog tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours!
You can view the full tour schedule HERE.
Everything Between Us
by: Mila Ferrera
Publication Date: Nov. 5, 2013
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by Xpresso Tours and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 271 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Daniel’s got everything figured out. He makes a good living as an artist ... mostly through offering "private shows" to the wives of local wealthy businessmen. He never stops playing the game and never lets anyone touch his heart. But when his current fling offers him a few hundred an hour for art lessons for her reclusive, college-dropout daughter, Daniel finds himself forgetting his own rules. The girl is rude. Insulting. Incredible.
And she sees straight through him.
Stella is hiding from the world, not because she wants to, but because crippling panic attacks await her every time she tries to live a normal life. She's determined to push everyone--including her handsome new art teacher—away. But Daniel makes it utterly impossible. The guy is irritating. Mocking. Magnetic.
And makes her want things she knows she can never have.
What starts as a battle of wills turns into passion, where giving in means facing the things that scare them most.
And she sees straight through him.
Stella is hiding from the world, not because she wants to, but because crippling panic attacks await her every time she tries to live a normal life. She's determined to push everyone--including her handsome new art teacher—away. But Daniel makes it utterly impossible. The guy is irritating. Mocking. Magnetic.
And makes her want things she knows she can never have.
What starts as a battle of wills turns into passion, where giving in means facing the things that scare them most.
My Review:
I have heard nothing but great things about Mila's books, so when I saw this tour opportunity arise, I couldn't resist signing up to see what all the buzz was about. And boy am I glad I did! (I'm even more excited because I have Spiral, another NA of hers sitting on my Kindle and I will be picking up Only Between Us very soon!) I am such a huge NA fan as most of you know and I have read quite a few, so I am especially appreciative of those who really go in a different direction and make their story unique for me. Everything Between Us does just that. It definitely won't be one I will be forgetting any time soon.
The story is told from both Daniel and Stella's POV's, which I of course, loved. I don't know that I would have been able to reconcile what Daniel did had we not gotten his point of view. Through his eyes we get to see his reasons behind the choices he made, but most importantly we get to see his struggle with his choices after meeting Stella. I really loved Daniel. At first I was afraid I wouldn't because I was a little disturbed by the fact that he was rather engaged with the future love interest's mother. Daniel is an artist, but he ends up making most of his money by keeping wealthy housewives
entertained. This is actually how he meets Stella. She is the daughter of one of the women he is having entanglements with and when he first meets her by accident while leaving, his curiosity has been piqued. I felt for Daniel. He does not let people see the real him and yet the more time he spends with Stella, as her mother has hired him to give her art lessons, the more she seems to see right through his façade and see him for who he really is. And that scares the shit out of him. He's so afraid of not being good enough and fears that he won't be good enough for Stella. Daniel is also a good person through and through. He loves his family and would do anything for them and I'm glad we got to see some of that interaction, especially with his mother. He wants to be there for Stella and help her fight through her anxiety, yet every time she pushes him away he takes it so personally and it really wounds him. He doesn't understand that it's not him, but that she wants to get better on her own and not use him as crutch. She wants to be strong with him, not because of him.
Oh, Stella. I cannot even fathom what she went through. She has hidden herself from the world- not by choice. She desperately longs to go out and have a normal life, yet her panic attacks stop her from venturing out and living her life like she should. She is miserable at home, but too afraid to go out. She is tired of her parents lecturing her about going back to school, as well as of her mother's threats to hospitalize her. She does not think very highly of Daniel when she first meets him. She knows what he's been doing with her mother and when he shows up for art lessons, she is quite resentful that he's there. However, Daniel keeps showing up and bit by bit she finds herself letting him in. The two certainly go back and forth in the beginning. Daniel showing up at her house while her parents are out of town and in the middle of a big storm is the turning point for them. They are forced to acknowledge their attraction for one another, but both are so ruled by their own insecurities that things get misconstrued and it's the things left unsaid that really threaten to shatter their newfound camaraderie apart. I am really proud of the decisions Stella made however when it came to her own recovery. It wasn't an easy road to take, but it was one she knew she had to travel if she wanted any kind of normal life or future with Daniel. That first initial step to stake her claim on him was absolutely awesome and I was so glad that he got the message of what she was trying to do despite what happened afterwards. Stella is inexperienced with men and Daniel sees that and his patience with her is really sweet. He knows he has to take things slow with her because he doesn't want to risk sending her into a panic attack. He is attentive, caring, and I seriously melted reading their scenes together.
Daniel and Stella are both come to a crossroads. Stella has to take control of her own recovery and no one can do it but her. She wants to be independent and not have anyone to fall back on. She is determined to fight through so she can obtain the end results she wants. It's not just her own recovery she's fighting to take control of- but her life. She can let her parents also continue to dictate her life or she can take a stand. Daniel must decide if pursuing a relationship with Stella is the best course of action. Yet before he can, he has to acknowledge his own self-worth and decide if Stella is worth waiting for and if he can continue with just working as an artist and not pimping himself out to desperate housewives.
I really loved reading about Caleb and Romy and I can't wait to read their story in Only Between Us. They were great friends to both Daniel and Stella and I'm glad Ferrera included them in this book. I couldn't stand Stella's mother, Liza, for obvious reasons. She was controlling and manipulative of both Daniel and Stella and I was ready for both of them to say the hell with her.
This book was so much more than I thought it would be. We see two people's journeys to finding themselves as well as their own inner strength to fight for what they want and make their future their own.
About Mila Ferrera:
Mila Ferrera lives in New England, where she has a family and a job and does various normal, everyday things, all while plotting novels in her head. She has a passion for writing new adult/adult romance featuring psychological twists and tortured heroes. Her own psychology internship involved plenty of consultation, but alas, no sexy Swedish doctors, and her decision to make one up is what sparked her self-publishing adventures. She's the author of SPIRAL (available now), ONLY BETWEEN US (9/3/13), and EVERYTHING BETWEEN US (11/5/13).
Giveaway:
16 comments
I can't wait to read one of Mila's books! I have Spiral on my kindle too, this one sounds great. Anything that breathes a bit of life into the same ol' NA theme is always promising! I love duel POV's too so excited that this one is done well. Great review love
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm excited for Spiral! I can't wait to find some down time from review books!
DeleteThis book sounds great. You sold me when you said it is a different take on NA. I love seeing different types of stories within the normally cliched genre. Awesome review!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it girlie! I also was so relieved at a fresh storyline!
DeleteI am going to have to put this one on my list... I always want different things from NA. This sounds like a really great read and if you loved it I probably will too!
ReplyDelete:D Wooo! I'm so excited you're going through 'you' books now! I can't wait to find out about all these you've put on your TBR but haven't gotten to b/c of review books!
DeleteGreat review girl! I really liked the uniqueness of this one too. I couldn't even imagine what Stella went through and it really tore me apart to see her anguish. I definitely agree that we needed Daniel's POV to like him. I also loved how much he supported Stella and how much Stella called him out and made him open up. I bought Only Between Us and can't wait to read!
ReplyDeleteThanks Chels! I need to buy Only Between Us because I am excited to see Romy and Caleb's story! Daniel's support was precious and I loved him despite the rather unseemly opening.
DeleteStella sounds like such a sympathetic character. Her fear is heartbreaking and I really enjoy books with psychological issues like this. It sounds like it has a great romance, too! :) Great review, Jessica!
ReplyDeleteThanks Giselle! This was a great tour opportunity!
DeleteAwesome! I love the premise for this, and it seems to have been well-executed.
ReplyDeleteI have my fingers crossed that I win!
:D I definitely think you'll enjoy this one girl!
DeleteGreat review :3 This looks so amazing...I can only hope that when I read this I'll love it as much as you!
ReplyDeleteHappy reading
Jackie
http://nobentspines.blogspot.com/
Thanks girlie! I hope you like it also!
DeleteFantastic review, Jessica! You sold me!! This is going on my reading list! Thank you for sharing and for the giveaway. Happy reading, lovely xo
ReplyDeleteThanks Michele! I hope it doesn't disappoint when you get to it!
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.