Believe

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Believe

Believe

by: Erin McCarthy
My Rating: four-stars



Published by: Penguin Group (USA) on January 21st 2014
Genres: College Life, New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

ISBN: 0698148711

Pages: 232
Series: True Believers #3
Also by this author: True
Disclosure: I was invited by the publisher to read this title in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. I received no monetary compensation, and all comments are subjective and mine alone.
Content Warning: sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence make this title appropriate for readers 18 and over.



Synopsis

Robin used to be a party girl… until she got black out drunk and woke up in bed with her best friend's boyfriend. Now she's faced with being THAT girl, and couldn't be more disgusted with herself. She can't even tell her friends the reason for her sudden sobriety and she avoids everyone until she meets Phoenix—quiet, tattooed, and different in every way that's good and oh, so bad…

Phoenix is two days out of jail when he meets Robin at his cousin's house, and he knows that he has no business talking to her, but he's drawn to her quiet demeanor, sweet smile, and artistic talent. She doesn't care that he's done time, or that he only has five bucks to his name, and she supports his goal to be a tattoo artist.

But Phoenix knows Robin has a secret, and that it's a naïve dream to believe that his record won't catch up with them at some point. Though neither is prepared for the explosive result when the past collides with the present…






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“Believe” by Erin McCarthy is the third book in the True Believers Series. I read “True” which centered on Rory and Tyler’s story. Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to read the second book, “Sweet.”

 

I’m not sure how I feel about “Believe.” I have a lot of mixed feelings for many different reasons, just as I did with “True.” I didn’t particularly connect with the characters. Although they weren’t bad, I just found them incredibly repetitive in their internal monologue. And some things unbelievable (enter: Phoenix’s mom).

 

Robin is the good girl who falls for the bad guy…oh, wait, that is something that changed in this book. Robin isn’t the “good girl.” She’s actually the bad girl turned good after a night of debauchery and a huge mistake resulting from it. That was a nice change up, although certainly not the first time it’s been used. But she spends most of the book waxing morally about how horrible a person she is, and withdrawing from her friends, based on this one mistake she had while drunk off her ass. Yeah, yeah, we get it. You made a mistake. A BIG one. You feel bad. You should. But shit or get off the pot already. Either tell the parties involved and come clean or move on and learn to deal. Either way, hush!

 

Phoenix is the good guy to go with the bad girl…oh, wait. Nope. He’s the bad boy. So we get two “Bads” in this book. One word: “Yummy.” But not. Because neither of our “bad” boy or girl are particularly bad. It’s not that I wanted a Bonnie and Clyde story here, but some naughty bad girl/bad boy action (outside of the bedroom. Get your minds out of the gutter people!) would have been a lot more interesting. But it was not to be. Instead we get yet another character whose inner monologue goes on and on ad nauseam about how he doesn’t deserve Robin.

 

As for secondary characters, well, these series type books get a cheat on secondary characters. We already know them, presumably, from the other books in the series so the author doesn’t feel as though a lot of time is needed to frame and flesh them out. I guess in some ways this is true, except for those readers who pick up a book in the middle of the series thinking it’s a standalone. However, I would have liked more meat when it came to Phoenix’s mother and I have to call BS when it comes to her “instantaneous” turn around to Betty Cleaver at the end of the book. I just didn’t feel that. Although I liked the idea of it a lot, it needed to be handled a different way. An alcoholic, drug abuser, woman who habitually seeks out men who physically abuse her, isn’t going to walk into her kid’s life after twenty-one years of that type of behavior and have the mentality and guidance of Gandhi combined with Mother Teresa. Believe me. I know. I was a kid of one of these types of parents. Ain’t gonna happen. And if you’re reading this and thinking, “It did for me.” Well, you’re in the minority and I’m happy for you, truly, because it doesn’t happen to most of us.

 

Okay, now that you think I’ve ripped the book to shreds, you’ll be surprised to find that I didn’t think it was too bad. I read it over the course of two days, which is the norm for me. It certainly wasn’t one of those books “I couldn’t put down,” but it wasn’t a book I dreaded reading either.

 

Bottom line: I think the writing was done well. The story, while somewhat predictable and formulaic, was well thought out. I liked the author’s writing style. There were a few pacing issues for me and the two main characters tended to get on my nerves, but not to the point that I didn’t like them, but I didn’t relate to them either. I was neutral, neither rooting for nor against them and their relationship. I’m not sure this is a series I will seek out on my own. Both books I’ve read were the result of receiving ARCs from the publisher for review. If I’m not invited by the Penguin Group to review the next book in the series, “Shatter,” Riley’s story, I don’t think I’ll seek it out—unless I hear great things about it. But, if asked, I would happily review it.

About Erin McCarthy

USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy sold her first book in 2002 and has since written almost fifty novels and novellas in teen fiction, new adult, and adult romance. Erin has a special weakness for New Orleans, tattoos, high-heeled boots, beaches and martinis. She lives in Ohio with her family, two grumpy cats and a socially awkward dog.

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