Lovin' los libros

Make it Last (Bowler University #3)
    by: Megan Erickson

Publication Date: Jan. 6, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow Impulse
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided via Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 384 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

  
This series is by far one of my favorites in the New Adult age group. The books are fun, sweet, and realistic all at the same time and I've enjoyed getting to know and fall for the characters. Make it Last follows Cam, the sexy National Guard Latino, who we met in the previous books. The series steps away from Bowler U for this book and follows Cam back to his hometown, as he wants to be there to help his mom out. I'm such a sucker for second chance romances and I adored this one so much.

I love what a good guy Cam is. He chooses to come back home to help his mom, because it's the right thing to do. After raising him as a single parent, he wants to take care of her as she did for him. Even if that means going back to the place and be reminded of the girl that destroyed his heart and shattered their future plans together. Having assumed she moved on with her life and went her own way, he never expects to see Tate still working at the same diner she did when he left more than four years ago. It's a punch in the gut to see her again, still feeling the sting of her betrayal. He has no idea what Tate's life has been like since he left and how much his leaving killed her.

Tate never expected Camilo Ruiz to blow back into town again. They always had big plans to leave the wretched small town and while he was lucky enough to get out, circumstance forced her to stay. Tate loves her family and the news they received four years ago destroyed her dreams of a future with Cam. She doesn't resent them, but her life has not been easy, that's for sure. Now, Cam is back in all his sexy glory and the two attempt to begin a friendship.

Cam is still hurt by Tate's actions, but that doesn't stop him from being there for her when she needs him. Having once been a dear part of her family, he sees Tate struggling to keep control of her younger brother Jamie. At 17, Jamie is acting out and Cam is shocked at how different he is from the sweet 13 year old kid he once knew. Suddenly, Cam finds himself wanting to know just what is going on with Tate and what has happened while he has been gone.

I really enjoyed Cam and Tate's romance and how Erickson employed the use of a fictitious Sims like game called Utope to unite them. Through their avatars, they are able to express sentiments they haven't been able to convey aloud, so I thought it was cute how they slowly fell back into the life they might have once had. Things are not all as they seem when it comes to why Tate and Cam broke up, so watching them start again once the truth is revealed is really sweet and sexy.

While Cam and Tate may be reigniting their relationship, they do have their futures to think of. They both desperately want to make it work this time around, but Tate doesn't want Cam to sacrifice his dreams for her. She doesn't realize that she IS one of his dreams too and he isn't going to lose her again.

Sacrifice and family play such a huge role in this book and I really loved that. Seeing Jamie interact with Cam broke my heart, because he was really impacted after Tate and Cam broke up. Cam was a role model and an older brother to Jamie, and Cam leaving really hit him hard. So much changed at once for Tate's family and instead of letting Cam in, she pushed him away to cope, not wanting him to sacrifice his dreams for her.

There is this absolutely perfect scene at the end of the book that provides us with a reunion of our Bowler favorites and I was squealing because it was just too adorable. I also thought Cam and Tate's ending was perfect too. I love second chance romances because there's already so much history there between the characters and I love seeing their past unfold and how they came to be separated in the first place. Watching them find their way back to one another is also wonderful and I felt Erickson did a great job giving us Cam and Tate's story.