Title: Out of Line (Out of Line #1)Author: Jen Mclaughlin (aka Diane Alberts)
Published: September 1st 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*
Desperate to break free…
I've spent my entire life under my father’s thumb, but now I'm finally free to make my own choices. When my roommate dragged me to my first college party, I met Finn Coram and my life turned inside out. He knows how to break the rules and is everything I never knew I wanted. A Marine by day and surfer by night, he pushes me away even as our attraction brings us closer. Now I am finally free to do whatever I want. I know what I want. I choose Finn.
Trying to play by the rules...
I always follow orders. My job, my life, depends on it. I thought this job would be easy, all the rules were made crystal clear, but when I met Carrie Wallington, everything got muddy. She's a rule I know I shouldn't break, but damn if I don’t inch closer to the breaking point each time I see her. I’m ready to step out of line. And even worse? I’m living a lie. They say the truth will set you free, but in my case…
The truth will cost me everything.
When I
first saw this book as an option for review, I jumped into action and requested
immediately. The cover is awesome, the blurb sounded good and what more could I have wished for to allure me in? Exactly! So I hopped on the review tour and was
super excited to give this New Adult novel a try. I’m sure you’re all here to
see what I thought, so I won’t waste your time any longer, let’s get down to
business.
"I was done fighting her. From now on, I would fight for her."
The story. Carrie is a very privileged young woman what
with being the daughter of a senator. She has a reputation and an image to live
up to and when she sets off to college, it’s the tiny bit of freedom she has
been craving for forever. There she meets Finn, a free-spirited marine, and she
has the choice—to overcome her issues of trust and have the time of her life
with someone who may be the one or sail on a sinking ship to loneliness.
My thoughts. Look, as you gathered from my updates, me and
Carrie didn’t get off to a good start. She said something in the first chapter
that rubbed me the wrong way and I truly thought she’d be one of those
extremely annoying main characters who’d constantly annoy the jazz out of me.
Lucky for her, she was able to somewhat redeem herself as the novel progressed. Since we
have a dual point of view, we know from early on who Finn is and if you’ve seen
and enjoyed Chasing Liberty starring Mandy Moore, you’ll probably want to watch it again sometime by the time
you’re finished with this pretty. Just as Mandy's character, Carrie grows tremendously throughout the novel. Same goes for First Daughter starring Katie Holmes.
Finn was a great character to spend time with. He was wicked, smexy, laid-back and fun, but strict when it came to his job. I’d like to make a comment about something related to him: I want to study like that. Any chance Finn would want to do some cramming and reward me whenever I get a correct answer? I’m totally up for that *insert innocent face* Whaaat? Can you blame me? I don’t think so. That was… *ahem* nice *ahem* to read about.
Finn was a great character to spend time with. He was wicked, smexy, laid-back and fun, but strict when it came to his job. I’d like to make a comment about something related to him: I want to study like that. Any chance Finn would want to do some cramming and reward me whenever I get a correct answer? I’m totally up for that *insert innocent face* Whaaat? Can you blame me? I don’t think so. That was… *ahem* nice *ahem* to read about.
I liked the
parts where Finn taught Carrie how to surf the best. Also, the smexy was hot in
this book, let’s be honest. When Carrie found out what Finn was hiding from
her, I understood her anger and frustration. It was hard to watch it all
unravel since we know how Finn truly feels, but Carrie with all her trust
issues thanks to her parents had a hard time seeing through all the lies and
realizing that Finn did love her. I had a tough time with one thing though: I
didn’t understand how much time had passed between certain scenes hence me thinking
some things happened faster than they were supposed to happen.
The plot is
pretty much predictable from the start and offers nothing new. However, I found
it to be a like a great beach vacation read or suitable if you’re having hard
time letting go of summer, for instance. The ocean scenes made me want to experience some hot sunshine and nice, cool water for a while longer. I’m more than sure that people will
love this book, I just wanted something different in addition to all that we
got, because there are lots of similar books out there and it needs to stand
out with something. I think people who loved Lengths by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt would find this
enjoyable.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Meet the author
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Giveaway
The rest of the tour can be followed by clicking on the tour banner below.
Well you just named two things that I hate in NA novels. First is predictability, I mean I don't mind when I can guess some things but still I need some things to surprise me. Another is annoying female characters - honestly sometimes when I read NA books I ask my self do women really do this? Anyhow I'm glad that at least male character was great. Great review Siiri :)
ReplyDeleteI read Andrea's review today and she said something about predictability being consoling and fun at times. I think it works for some things like I know Richelle Mead's characters always have a HEA etc, but as for now, I'm so over these predictable New Adult contemporaries that are just the same thing over and over again. This one did have nice moments though and I enjoyed it, but there were a few issues with the lack of refreshing ideas that made this a 3 star read for me. Seeing the ratings on GR and Amazon though, I don't doubt this book will do very well.
Deleteawesome
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! Love you too, little sister!
DeletePsst, Siiri. You have a typo in the title of this post.
ReplyDeleteOh what a shame when the blurb and cover look so awesome and the book doesn't quite match what you requested :(.
I'm curious to know what Carrie said in that first chapter... It's good that she redeemed herself later, though I imagine there was still that taint on the book. Oooh, lookatchu and your movie references. I am a total pop culture fail so I haven't seen either of the movies you listed, but I am super impressed by your references :D.
Hahahahhaa. What kind of "studying" does Finn do, hmmm? Sounds like he'd know how to make you feel less stressed out about everything as it is now. ;)
Surfing!!! I always wanted to learn how. And I can imagine that those suits might lead to smexy times. Ahhh, the hidden secret for emotional tension. BLAAAH *mentally deducts ponts*. Ooh, and passage of time was hard to decipher? That's a pet peeve of mine too, and strange given the romantic tension aspect of it all.
Honestly most romance plots seem predictable to me :P but a beach vacation read sounds great - probably goes well with the ocean scenes and surfing. Glad it wasn't too terrible for you & I hope your next read - go Lola! - works out better :).
Thanks! Typos in the headings are the worst and thanks so much for pointing it out:)
DeleteLOL. I can write it to you sometime if you want, it's just one sentence/paragraph that made me squirm and almost shut the book and never to pick it up again. I pushed through that need though and I found this enjoyable at the end of the day.
Ha, well, I'll let that to your imagination;) It's very, very.. mmmmmmmmm:)
Me too! I wish I was an Aussie sometimes or lived in California etc since they get to surf and there isn't much wheather or waves to do that here. I'd love to try it someday though.
Lola is working it right now!!! I didn't love Anna's story at first (now that I think back to it, I actually quite liked it O.o wth lol) but Lola is in a whole different league!
Well now I'm REALLY curious about this new approach to studying. ;) I do like the sound of this wicked, smexy, laid-back and fun Finn. It's like you threw in all the words that you knew would make me sit up and listen! :P It's a shame that the passage of time felt a bit off though - I had that issue with one of my latest reads. Despite it being predictable, I'm glad you enjoyed it overall. Lovely review, Siiri!
ReplyDeleteI'm so curious as to what Carrie said. It sounds like it might have affected your reading experience a bit.
ReplyDeleteI've heard so much about this Finn guy. I must meet him in his smexy self.
And now I want to know how you want him to reward him! ;)
It's a shame that this was a predictable book, but I think it's a trend in NA now.
I'm still looking forward to it.
Great review, Siiri! :)
This sounds like a really fun read Siiri! Especially a certain studying scene *adopts your innocent face* YES PLEASE TO FINN BEING A STUDY PARTNER:) I'm glad Carrie redeemed herself a bit after the rocky start, now I'm curious as to what she said in the beginning that didn't go over so well. Guess I'll have to read and find out! Wonderful review my friend:)
ReplyDeleteGood review. New to me but sounds interesting. Thanks for the honesty :)
ReplyDeleteYep, sometimes I find predictability to be consoling. Other times it makes me rage like a dragon. lol
ReplyDeleteI love this line: "I was done fighting her. From now on, I would fight for her." A lot.
And I love what you said about studying with Finn!
I think I would probably like this one, the premise is one I typically enjoy. Thanks for the review, Siiri!
Finn sounds like a great character that I would fall for.
ReplyDeleteFinn sounds delightful, but Carrie might spoil the story to the point that I wouldn't enjoy it. I have a low tolerance for annoying female characters, lately. Wonderful review, Siiri. :)
ReplyDeleteSiiri this book sounds like such a great read, and just when I was thinking that I needed to move away from NA books you have me wanting to dive right back in again! I like that Claire was able to win you over as the story progressed, I think I would have found her initial character annoying too. Finn sounds absolutely gorgeous and the perfect study partner ;). Also books with gorgeous settings are always winners for me! Great review hun! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it in the end. It looks like this is one of the most read books in last week or so. I'm seeing it everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Siiri.
Glass @ Way Too Hot Books