Review: One Small Thing by Erin Watt

One Small Thing by Erin Watt 

Release Date: June 26, 2018 

Publisher: Harlequin Teen 

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance 

Source: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

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Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Her parents try to lock her down, believing they can keep her safe by monitoring her every move. When Beth sneaks out to a party one night and meets the new guy in town, Chase, she’s thrilled to make a secret friend. It seems a small thing, just for her.

Only Beth doesn’t know how big her secret really is…

Fresh out of juvie and determined to start his life over, Chase has demons to face and much to atone for, including his part in the night Beth’s sister died. Beth, who has more reason than anyone to despise him, is willing to give him a second chance. A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for senior year, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings get.

Now Beth has a choice to make—follow the rules, or risk tearing everything apart…again. 

Review: 

Erin Watt has quickly become one of my go to authors over the past year. The Royals series filled the Sea Breeze/Rosemary Beach sized gap in my life while While It's Real proved so much sweetness and so many "aww!" moments that I'm still thinking about it more than a year later. Therefore, when I heard about One Small Thing it instantly sky rocketed to the top of my TBR pile. 

The result? I liked One Small Thing. It was romantic and addicting. I had no problem get lost within the world Erin Watt presented for a few hours. However, here's the thing: it just didn't live up to the greatness that was When It's Real. Maybe I had too high expectations but I expected more. 

One Small Thing focuses on Beth and Chase. 

Ever since her sister died Beth has been the good girl, the perfect daughter. The only problem? She's sick of her parents's constant pressure and worries. She wants to be free again, free to make her own choices and live her life the way she wants. My heart broke for Beth. It's hard enough to deal with the loss of a loved one, but to then have your parents completely shut down and lose all common sense, that's even worse. I couldn't believe the ridiculous rules they had for and how they expected her to just stay with them for the rest of her life. I get that they cared, that they wanted her to be safe, but sometimes less is more. I found Beth to be likable. I understood her need to break free and let loose. I feel like anyone would in her position. I also respected her willingness to give people a second chance. Not everyone would've given Chase the time of day, but Beth wasn't everyone. I loved seeing her form a connection with him. 

Chase, on the other hand, is just trying to get by. He regrets what happened that night every single day of his life, but now that he's out, he's just trying to get his diploma and leave. My heart broke for Chase as well. It was easy to see that he had paid the ultimate price for what happened that night, and I could see why he would want to move on. He was a good kid who just made an incredible bad decision. What I loved the most about Chase, however, was how much good was still within him. Some people in his position would've become different people: closed off, anger, resentful, but Chase still felt the need to reach out, to make connections, no matter how much his head was telling him no. Chase was my favorite part of the book. He was so sweet, so adorable, so perfect yet imperfect at the same time. 

One Small Thing's plot primarily involves the developing romance between Chase and Beth as well as the drama that results from Chase's reappearance in town.  The romance between Chase and Beth was sweet; however, I wish there was more to it. It felt rushed at times, and while I admit that there was a connection between them, it still would've been nice to seen more moments between the two of them. Chase's reappearance in town, on the other hand, kept me on my toes, as it brought about drama as well as big revelations. Leave it to Erin Watt to have a big twist up her sleeve...I saw it coming but at the same time I couldn't believe what I was reading. 

The main thing that brought this book down to three stars is what I hinted to above: I wanted more. Sometimes this book felt way too fast. Yes, Erin finished out all the story lines and provided conclusions, but at a rapid speed. I wish there had been more development, more scenes, especially at the end. I felt that it concluded rather abruptly and I think the book would've benefited from what happened after, seeing some pieces put together more closely. 

In all, One Small Thing is a romantic and heartwarming book, perfect for the summer. I probably would've loved it more had I not read When It's Real first, but regardless Erin Watt is still one of my favorite authors, and I can't wait to see what's next.  

3 stars!!

Review: Fallen Heir (The Royals, #4) by Erin Watt

Summary/Cover Image from Author's Website: 

These Royals will ruin you.

Easton Royal has it all: looks, money, intelligence. His goal in life is to have as much fun as possible. He never thinks about the consequences because he doesn’t have to.

Until Hartley Wright appears, shaking up his easy life. She’s the one girl who’s said no, despite being attracted to him. Easton can’t figure her out and that makes her all the more irresistible.

Hartley doesn’t want him. She says he needs to grow up.

She might be right.

Rivals. Rules. Regrets. For the first time in Easton’s life, wearing a Royal crown isn’t enough. He’s about to learn that the higher you start, the harder you fall.

Review:

After devouring the first three Royals books this summer, I was beyond ecstatic to receive an ARC of the highly anticipated forth book Fallen Heir. I was excited to see Easton finally get his own story, and even more importantly, his chance to find "the one." The result? I wasn't disappointed one bit!

Easton Royal lives a good life; however, he's also bored. He's especially bored of the typical Astor Park Prep girl. So when Ms. Mann, his young, attractive new calculus teacher, shows interest in him, he's beyond willing to go down that slippery slope. However, as most forbidden things go, Easton lands himself in more trouble than pleasure with his after class randevu with Ms. Mann. Caught in the act by Hartley Wright, Easton is left with one huge problem, one that Ms. Mann urges him to fix. Hartley is more than willing to overlook what she saw. She doesn't want any problems, especially with someone like Easton Royal. However, Easton is intrigued by Hartley, especially by the fact that she refuses to give him the time of day...no girl has ever done that before. So Easton vows to get to know Hartley while Hartley vows to stay clear of Easton's path; however, the more Hartley resists, the harder Easton tries....

Over the course of the first three Royals books I feel in love with Easton's character. I always find his constant problem of putting his foot in mouth hilarious as well as oddly charming. I also admire his loyalty and dedication to the people he loves...sometimes he's not very good at showing it but he always pulls through at the end.

Seeing his POV first hand in Fallen Heir allowed for his character truly grow and develop. To be honest, I didn't always love him. Sometimes I just wanted to reach through the pages and punch him. He was occasionally egocentric, vastly rash, and incredibly bold. He made the worst decisions at times. However, I felt like that made him more real in my eyes, and I liked that he wasn't perfect, that he didn't always say or do the right thing. It was especially interesting to see him struggle with addiction in this novel more so than what previous books had addressed in the past. He was the prime example of a troubled hero, and over the course of this book, I became fully dedicated to seeing his path of redemption to the end, especially when he did incredibly caring and thoughtful things for Hartley.

Hartley is similar to Ella in many ways. She's resilient and sassy. She knows what she wants, and she knows what path will get her there. She's had a rough life, but she hasn't let her stop doing what the right thing. From the first page, I liked Hartley. I loved that she was the first person to really tell Easton no, to push him to be the better person, the better friend and maybe even the better boyfriend. She was a tough cookie, and I'm sure many readers will come to like her as much as Ella.

The plot in this one was addictive as Erin Watt's past books (seriously, it's getting to the point where I think they could rewrite the dictionary and still find a way to make it juicy). Through Hartley's family drama there's a big mystery introduced, one that is consistently developed over the course of the book. I don't want to say too much about it; however, I will say it included lots of good twists and turns, and while I could figure out some of it, other parts left me fully shocked. I also enjoyed seeing Hartley and Easton's relationship develop over the course of the book. I found it sort of refreshing to see them as friends for the majority of the book. It added a good "will-they-or-won't-they" component  to the story. I will admit, though, I didn't find Hartley and Easton's relationship as hot and steamy as Reed and Ella's, but there's still more books for me to feel that area grow. I also enjoyed catching up with past characters in this one. It was fun to see how everything was doing and how much certain things had changed since Twisted Palace.

Addictive, romantic, and suspenseful, Fallen Heir is sure to make Roayls fans incredibly happy, especially ones like me who've been dying for Easton's story!

BUT.....word of warning....the ending is INSANE. Seriously, your jaw is going to drop, and you're going to be screaming for the next one.

So with that the countdown for Cracked Kingdom begins!

Grade: A- 

Fallen Heir (The Royals, #4) is now out! 

Source: ARC provided by authors/publicist 

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Review: When It's Real by Erin Watt

Summary/Cover Image form Publisher's Website:

Wealth, fame and a real-life romance she never expected—seventeen-year-old Vaughn Bennett lands it all when she agrees to become a pop star's fake girlfriend in this smart, utterly addictive novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author duo Erin Watt

Under ordinary circumstances, Oakley Ford and Vaughn Bennett would never even cross paths.

There's nothing ordinary about Oakley. This bad-boy pop star's got Grammy Awards, millions of fangirls and a reputation as a restless, too-charming troublemaker. But with his home life disintegrating, his music well suddenly running dry and the tabloids having a field day over his outrageous exploits, Oakley needs to show the world he's settling down—and who better to help him than Vaughn, a part-time waitress trying to help her family get by? The very definition of ordinary.

Posing as his girlfriend, Vaughn will overhaul Oakley's image from troublemaker to serious artist. In return for enough money to put her brothers through college, she can endure outlandish Hollywood parties and carefully orchestrated Twitter exchanges. She'll fool the paparazzi and the groupies. She might even start fooling herself a little.

Because when ordinary rules no longer apply, there's no telling what your heart will do…

Review:

Oh Erin Watt...you've done it again! 

After devouring the first three books in the Royals series (you can find my review for Paper Princess, book 1, here), I was in Royals withdrawal. Meanwhile, When It's Real, Erin Watt's standalone YA contemporary, was getting rave reviews so I thought that maybe, just maybe, this book could hold me over until Fallen Heir. Plus, I'm a sucker for any type of fame related book. Cases in point: Janette Rallison's My Double Life and Abbi Glines' Breathe. Luckily, When It's Real was everything I had hopped it would be and much, much more!

When It's Real is told in the alternating perspectives of Vaughn, the girl-next-door, and Oakley, a grammy-winning, multimillionaire signer. From the start Vaughn was incredibly likable. I could relate to her unwillingness to stir the pot. I also admired how much she sacrificed to help out her big sister and little brothers - not everyone her age would do that. Most importantly, she was sassy with a capital S, and it's no secret that I love sassy characters (I'm also sassy so I can relate.). She always had a great retort for everything Oak had to say, especially in the first half the story, and some of it had me laughing out loud. She constantly managed to bring him down to Earth, one of the few people who actually could. At first, I wasn't Oak's biggest fan. He was kind-off a jerk, but as the story continued and he began to become more humanlike and less godlike, I liked him more and more. At his core, Oak is just the standard jilted musician, craving normality and meaningful relationships, and really who wouldn't if they were in his shoes. It doesn't matter how much money you have, if you're not happy then you're missing part of yourself.

The plot of this followed the standard ro-com: boy meets girl, boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl eventually start to fall for each other, unwillingly and willingly. While I knew how this was going to end from the start, I still loved every single minute of it. I loved seeing the relationship between Vaughn and Oak develop, as not only did it cause for a lot of swooning on my part, but I also loved the character development that came from it. Vaughn and Oak grew a lot of the course of the book, and by the end, it was awesome to see how far they came. Additionally, I loved the pieces about Oak's writer's block, Vaughn's relationship issues, and Vaughn's sister and Oak's bodyguard's slightly forbidden romance. All these subplots caused me to race through this book, and I loved the occasional twist and turn that came up.

Erin Watt's writing in this was on point. I could see definite improvement from the Royals series. She did a great job of fleshing out the characters as well as making the POVs of Vaughn and Oak flow seamlessly. As I've said before in other reviews, multiple POV books don't always work for me, but in this one, it worked incredibly well. Without seeing both sides of the story, I don't think When It's Real would have been the same.

In all, When It's Real is basically the equivalent of an ice cream sundae, one from a side-of-the-road ice cream stand...you know the good stuff. Both start off super sweet, and as you go, you can't help but be hooked in by the deliciousness of it all, and by the end, you know you're full and satisfied but you're still craving more. When It's Real is absolutely adorable, and it proves to me that no matter what Erin Watt releases I'll be the first in line to read it!

Grade: A+

When It's Real (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads) is now out!

Source: Library

Review: Paper Princess (The Royals #1) by Erin Watt

Summary/Cover Image from Author's Website: 

From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep schools, one girl tries to stay true to herself.

These Royals will ruin you…

Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.

Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.

Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.

He might be right.

Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.

Review: 

When I first read the summary of this book, it reminded me vaguely of something I read a long, long time ago - Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys by Kate Brain. Just like Ella is sent to live with the Royal boys in the Paper Princess, Megan is sent to live with the McGowan boys. I love Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys - mostly because it was one of the first books that got me obsessed with the YA genre - and with that vague similarity, I added Paper Princess to my TBR pile. As it turns out, the similarities end there. Paper Princess is like Megan Meade's grown-up edgier, raunchier, with-a-bite cousin, and I loved every minute of it.

Ella hasn't had the easiest of lives, and the past year has been one of the worst. After losing her mom to cancer, moving cross-country, and restoring to questionable ways to make a living, Ella is just hoping she can survive until high school graduation. Ella just knows everything will be better if she has her high school diploma. At least then she has a shot at becoming someone with no worries. Everything changes, however, the moment Callum Royal walks into her life. An old friend of father's, Callum has become guardian of Ella. Ella is reluctant, but Callum strikes a deal: $10,000 dollars a month for every month she stays with him. Ella knows can't pass up a deal like that - it can pay for college!- so off she goes to the South with Callum, ready to get through the next two years as quickly as possible. The only problem? His five incredibly attractive but also incredibly protective sons want nothing more then to see Ella leave.

Ella is the stereotypical NA protagonist. She's had a hard life whilst holding on to just a tad bit of innocence and then she's thrown into a new life of riches. Ella wasn't the most deep or well developed of characters, but I still enjoyed reading her story. I found her POV to be interesting, and I enjoyed seeing her friendships with the boys as well as the girls at school grow and develop. I think one of my favorite parts of the book was her friendship with Val. Val was such a cool girl, and I'm really hoping one of these sequels will involve her story at some point. I had a love-hate relationship with the Royal boys in this. I couldn't believe how hard and nasty they were towards Ella - it was just horrible! But they all did begin to grow on me by the end. My feelings towards Reed, the love interest in this, were hot and cold. He's one of those typical bad boys who does horrible things but secretly deep down has some niceness to him. He did a lot of cruel, horrible things to Ella in the start, and while he did try to explain throughout why he was so cold, I was sometimes surprised to see how Ella forgave him so easily.

The plot in this was the typical rags-to-riches with some romance thrown in, and as I'm a sucker for those kind of books, I tore through this one easily. I really enjoyed the sub-plot involving Ella's dad. The authors managed to throw in some good twists, that really had me on the edge of my seat at times. I'm interested to see if more will be revealed about Ella's dad, stepmom, and the will in the next book. I feel like the stepmom isn't about to give up too easily... The romance in this was steamy with a capital S, and while I didn't always approve of Reed, watching Reed and Ella turn from enemies into friends and then something more was one of my favorite parts of the book.

Perfect for fans of Abbi Glines, Paper Princess reads like your favorite celebrity tabloid...a guilty pleasure that you can't put down! And with a cliffhanger as crazy as Paper Princess's was, I can't wait to read the next books.

Grade: B+ 

Paper Princess (Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble) is now out! 

Source: Library