Friday 26 September 2014

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Lisa Burnstein's "Again."

The Hopeless Romantics Book Blog are pleased to be a part of the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Lisa Burnstein's "Again." 


Synopsis:

How far would you go for a second chance?

Eleven years after flunking out of college, Kate has finally hit rock-bottom. Losing her job and boyfriend in one drunken night, she’s determined to fix her life by going back to the moment when she let partying and sex take over. And do things right this time. At twenty-nine, she heads back to freshman year of college, with a catch.

Pretending she's nineteen with a new roommate and full class schedule is easy. When she meets her shy, sexy and seven-years-younger RA, Carter, following her self-imposed sobriety and celibacy rules is proving to be anything but.

A senior enduring years of regret, Carter is more than ready to graduate. He’s anxious to move on from the party his freshman year where he witnessed his frat brothers about to commit a sexual assault. Instead of doing the right thing and stepping in, he looked the other way and left. His guilt has made for a lonely four years.

When he meets the new freshman on his floor, spunky and confident Kate, he wonders if his time as an outcast has finally come to an end.

Kate and Carter’s growing friendship and undeniable attraction make it harder to hide the demons from their respective pasts. But when their secrets are finally revealed, will their chance at starting over together still be there?

Review-Jo Rushton

"Again" was a sweet and romantic story that had that feel good factor in abundance, leaving me with a big, cheesy grin on my face. 

Getting closer to her thirtieth birthday Kate began to reevaluate her life and decided it was time for a re-do. Things had not gone to plan for her over the years and changes needed to made. She wanted a second chance and came up with a plan to return to college posing as a nineteen year old freshman. How difficult could it be to go back to college, get a degree and score a brilliant job? Kate's mission was to do all this whilst avoiding the usual student party lifestyle. No alcohol, no drugs and no men!! 

This was only choice. It was to start over where I fucked up and flunked out last time, 
or give up. I had giving up to look forward to once I hit forty. 
It was time to make college-take-two my bitch.

Surely, now that Kate was older it would be easy for her to shun these temptations. Yeah right!!! This girl had a battle on her hands, especially when it came to the "no fraternizing with opposite sex" rule  because on her first day of college she met Carter. 

I absolutely loved Kate and Carter. They were both such likable characters. When I read about Kate's life I totally understood her need for change but was pretending to be nineteen again a bit drastic? Maybe, but it sounded like a fun thing to do. However, living a lie was not that fun and I wondered how long she could keep up her new life without being discovered. 

While I was still lying to everyone else, lying to carter filled me with revulsion. 
He was too good to lie to.

Carter was just adorable. I loved everything about him. When I first met him, it was clear that he was hiding something, something that consumed his life. As the story progressed and I learnt about the event that changed Carter's life, my heart went out to him. Here was a man who was wrecked with guilt. He was struggling to move on and live a normal life after everything that had happened to him. He needed help and he also needed some happiness in his life. 

Was three years of loneliness enough of a punishment to finally 
allow myself to touch someone like Kate?

Kate and Carter were instantly attracted to each other and they got on like a house on fire. They had a spark but getting into a relationship was something that they both wanted to avoid. Despite this they were perfect for each other and they were happy together and it wasn't long before love blossomed between them. But what about their secrets? I found myself dreading the moment that everything came out in the wash because I didn't want their beautiful relationship to end.

We were all we could hold onto in this whole world. 
I was strong enough to hold her and she seemed strong enough to hold me right back.

"Again" reminded me a little of the Drew Barrymore film, "Never Been Kissed". I found it was such an intriguing story and I quickly became absorbed and it remained that way throughout. The writing was good with a huge twist that I was not expecting and left me totally shocked! The book was written from both characters POV, making it easier for me to connect with each of them and allowing me the opportunity to know how both characters truly felt about each other. 

We were entwined like vines, like roots, like the two of us were both halves 
of a wishbone that would never be broken, the wish already granted. 

As well as Kate and Carter's romance I also loved reading about Kate's return to college. I found myself becoming really interested in how she dealt with college life now she was ten years older than she was the first time around. 

I am new to Lisa Burstein's work and I was truly impressed. I'm sure I will be reading more books from this author in the future. 

"Out of everyone on this campus, how did the two biggest liars find each other?" 

"Maybe because we're finally ready to start telling the truth." 

"Again" gets 4.5 romantic hearts from me!

Author Bio:

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University. She is the author of Pretty Amy, The Next Forever, Dear Cassie, Sneaking Candy and The Possibility of Us. As well as a contributor to the essay collection, Break These Rules: 35 YA Authors On Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself. Again is her self-publishing debut. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.

Author Links:


Follow Lisa on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaBurstein



Giveaway: Gift cards, books 

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