Easy by Tammara Webber

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, stalked by her ex’s frat brother, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Her econ professor gives her an email address for Landon, the class tutor, who shows her that she’s still the same intelligent girl she’s always been. As Jacqueline becomes interested in more from her tutor than a better grade, his teasing responses make the feeling seem mutual. There’s just one problem—their only interactions are through email.

Meanwhile, a guy in her econ class proves his worth the first night she meets him. Nothing like her popular ex or her brainy tutor, Lucas sits on the back row, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. At a downtown club, he disappears after several dances that leave her on fire. When he asks if he can sketch her, alone in her room, she agrees—hoping for more.

Then Jacqueline discovers a withheld connection between her supportive tutor and her seductive classmate, her ex comes back into the picture, and her stalker escalates his attention by spreading rumors that they’ve hooked up. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

Author Recommendation: Mature Young Adults (language, drinking, sexual situations)

Let me start with a warning: SEE THIS (^^^^^^^^^^)?? She's not kidding. Is there sex in this? Yes. Is it slightly graphic? Yes! Is there a bit of strong language here and there? YES! Did I like this book anyway? Yes I did.

Once I got past the opening scene, I actually flew through this book. I read it in one sitting and couldn't put it down. As for the opening scene (spoiler alert!), you meet the main character Jacqueline (who is a sophomore in college) as she's leaving a Halloween frat party early. As she opens the door to get into her truck, someone comes up behind her, slams her facedown into the seat of her truck and tries to rape her. Luckily she is saved by someone, but it was still probably the hardest-to-read opening scene of a book I've ever come across.

Other than the rather shocking beginning, I actually really liked this book. I liked Jacqueline and her love interests. I had a really hard time deciding who I liked more- Landon or Lucas, but I came to a solid conclusion by the end of the book. I also liked that Jacqueline took self defense classes to learn how to protect herself. And come on, the lawnmower??? I laughed and cringed at the same time. I've thought a lot about learning self defense. I've never needed it, thank goodness, but you never know. There may be a time when I DO need it (knock on wood) and this motivated me even more to learn--even if it's just a little. I like the idea of a girl (woman) that can take care of herself. Overall, most of this book was pretty predictable, but there were at least one or two things that weren't, which was nice. 

On a side note: I didn't know this until recently, but apparently there isn't really a genre for Mature Young Adult books. I think they are sometimes a bit too much to be classified as YOUNG Adult, but would get lost and forgotten in the Adult Fiction genre. From what I've been told by the author of this book, Tammara Webber, some people are trying to push a "New Adult" genre for those college-set, in-between books. While I think the name is ridiculous, I most definitely think there should be some kind of classification YA and Adult. I think that since there is such a huge gray area between the two genres, some books that are inappropriate for teenagers are getting lumped into the YA section when they are way too mature for them. This book, for instance. I liked it, but I'm in my my mid-twenties! Would I recommend this to a friend my age? Yes, probably. Would I recommend it to a teenager? Heck freaking no! 

So I'm curious what your thoughts are about a "New Adult" genre? Do you think there should be one? Or do you think mature YA books should put in one category or the other? Curious to know your thoughts.

Happy Reading!