ARC Review: True by Erin McCarthy

TRUE by Erin McCarthy

Pages: 238

Genre: New Adult

Publisher: Penguin Group (Intermix)

Amazon pre-order: True

Release date: 7^th May 2013

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

Review: 2 ½ out of 5 stars

I am a big fan of Erin McCarthy’s adult series, ‘Fast Track’ so I was more than eager to read True, her entry title into the New Adult genre.

True follows the story of 20 year-old Rory Macintosh who is extremely intelligent with hopes of going to med school to be a coroner, she is honest and logical and comes across as a down to earth, good girl but she is also seeking experiences that everyone else was already talking about such as smex.

When Rory’s dorm mates Kylie and Jessica find out she has never been with a guy, they with good intentions set out to hook her up with bad boy, smexy, tattooed Tyler Mann.

I was really put-off by this arrangement, purely for the fact that Tyler happened to be Jessica’s bed buddy – this just didn’t sit well with me at all, maybe I’m an old prude but potentially sharing a bed partner with someone my closest friend has recently been with just gives me the eeks.

Despite this aspect, Tyler wasn’t as bad as what we are led to believe, he was actually quite smart and noble with hopes of becoming an EMT to support his brothers; I liked his dedication and admired the fact he was working hard to achieve something not only for himself but also for his family since his drug addicted mother wasn’t doing it. His home life was really tough.

I didn’t mind the characters but I was dismayed by the reactions to a few incidents – Rory was blasé and seemed to just walk away from certain issues instead of confronting them – a good example was when she found out her friends had offered Tyler money to sleep with her, she went along with it rather than admit she knew what they had done, it made her seem weak whereas I would have been up in arms my closest friends would chose to do this, its insulting.

Another gripe I had was the dialogue – it seemed stilted and forced and didn’t flow well; I at times found myself cringing and would be embarrassed for these characters. It just came across as OTT.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately there was nothing unique and a few issues seemed to be created just to add additional angst and drama, it was too convenient. In saying this, there were a few aspects I did enjoy – Rory & Tyler’s aspirations, Rory’s father’s true to life reactions and the way the characters each supported one another.

At the end of this book we do get to read a snippet from the next book in the series which will be Jessica and Riley, Tyler’s brothers story – it has left me intrigued so I will be adding this to my TBR pile; I am still holding hope.

A copy of True was kindly provided to me by Netaglley/Penguin Group in exchange for my honest review.

Author bio: 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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