Title: “Crash Into You”
Author: Katie McGarry
Release Date: November 26th, 2013
How I got My Copy: I got an E-Copy for review from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
The Re-Cap (Courtesy of GoodReads)
From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane
The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that’s who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers…and she’s just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can’t get him out of her mind.
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.
But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they’ll go to save each other.
What I thought:
I can only start off as fair warning that I am a huge fan of Katie McGarry’s writing. Every store she writes, just seems to catch me in a different place. This book was no different. I actually applied for an ARC copy and was turned down – then I reapplied and made sure to include the links to my other reviews – and then about 2 weeks ago I got a notification that I got the copy.. Awesome! To say this made my day is an understatement. So – what does an obsessive reader do? I quit everything else I was reading, started this and finished it within 1 day – YES it was that good! Ok, so now I’m mostly over my swooning – let’s hear what I thought of the story.
I want to start with Isiah – and how much I really loved his character in the other books, so loyal and honest. I was super excited to see him get his own story finally. Saying that, seeing more into his story was a little heart breaking – what a hard life he had growing up. What I can say without question is that Isiah is a survivor – He never let himself be a victim and I loved that strength. Meeting his Mom in this book was both sobering and.. I think in the end healing for him and I loved seeing that. I also really enjoyed seeing the characters from the other stories reappear – espeically Noah and Echo (these guys have a very special place in my heart!) and seeing them still happy made me even more happy! Throughout the story, I loved watching the relationship between Rachel and Isiah growing, seeing them get closer despite all of their differences – and seeing them overcome the stereotypes that would have kept them apart. The journey all around for Isiah was a great one, it was real and it built like a real relationship. I love that McGarry always portrays such real, rounded characters – they are believeable and people you could be friends with should they really exist outside of the pages – and these characters and story are no exception.
Now on to Rachel.. In the begining, the word I thought about the most for her was naive. I felt for her with her home life and the pressure her sister’s passing put on her and how it affected her whole mental being, it literally had me in tears within the first few pages. I cannot imagine having to live under that type of stress or expectation – and Wow, again McGarry wrote this so well. When Rachel does to the drag strip, and Isiah sees her and refers to her as an Angel I think I swooned over the Moon! From the first moments, their connection crackled. I love that even though McGarry includes the physical aspects, she doesn’t force more than would be appropriate – it’s always so tasteful and within the context of the story and the characters. In this case, seeing Isiah be so gentle with her and just… wanting to take care of her when no one else in her life thought of her first — Swoon! Now of course they get in trouble together – we had to have a story line, but I loved it. I loved the bad boy racing and seeing Rachel open up to a world outside of everything she knows. Seeing her learn to trust Isiah and open up was beautiful. I loved seeing her tough side come out and see her want to defend Isiah too. Really, I just fell in love with both of these characters hands down.
The Romance… How could I not write about the romance?? SWOON city! In every book, I always enjoy seeing how McGarry builds the romance based on the characters in the story – so it always fits them to a tee and does not feel fake, forced, or out of place. That is a huge talent she has as a writer and a story teller. Rachel and Isiah were characters I wanted to see together from the first moment. The book had twists and turns and even though they may have fought it in the begining, both so unsure of trusting someone else like that and letting them in, seeing it happen was amazing. I for one could not put it down – I read this one night sitting on my couch without any stopping – and it’s been a long time since I’ve been this intuned with a story. The story is full of real love, real swoon, not fake and false things that no person in real life would do – these characters are the type of people you meet everyday and that is why I really love McGarry’s writing. Reading this story to me, shows that there is true love out there – and it does’nt have to always be hearts and flowers to be real – it can just be REAL.
My Take-Away:
If you’re not sure yet how I feel I will tell you now – GET THIS! READ THIS! If you love romance, a bad boy, some drama, and then some twists and turns – then this book is for you. McGarry did it again with this story and now I cannot wait for what will come next – soon hopefully?? I am really excited I got to read and review this book for my site and honored that I get to put the word out about this story – and I hope all of you will check it out. I will post the amazon link to buy the book below.. You could be reading this in mere minutes on your E-Reader device – so check it out! If you don’t trust me wholly, check out the other reviews, because I’ve looked and I see all her other fans who love this as much as I do. Isiah and Rachel had a story that really shows the best people can bring out in each other, a story that showed that true love can conquer all in a “Say Anything” type of way – a love that can go beyond societal lines.. Their love is the kind of love I have and I hope everyone else can find too. So, get the book and check it out – you will not be sorry!
Quotes I Adored:
“You can ignore me, Rachel, and you can try to treat me as a friend, but none of that will erase the fact that I think about kissing you every second I’m awake and dream at night of my hands on your body. And it sure as hell won’t erase that I’m terrified by how much I like you.”
“Maybe this is what happens when you fall in love. On the outside a lighter is nothing amazing, but it holds all the ingredients that can create something wonderful. With a few pushes in the right direction, you can inspire something so brilliant that it pushes back the darkness.”
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Well readers – I’ll leave you with that – I hope you enjoyed and will check the book out!!
Happy Reading!
Kelley
Book Girl From South Carolina 