My Book Boyfriend is hosted by Missie at the Unread Reader. Read all about it here.
This week I find myself swooning (again) for Hunter Allen from Jennifer Echols's Love Story.
Sigh. YOU GUYS, I cannot say enough how much I absolutely adore the concept of this book:
For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?
Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.
Sigh. YOU GUYS, I cannot say enough how much I absolutely adore the concept of this book:
For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?
Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.
Oh, my goodness, I don't know how she does it but Jennifer Echols just does such a fantastic job at creating these complex and thoroughly addicting-to-read-about relationships!
But enough about the book---let me tell you about Hunter!
He is...
- originally from New York but only has a faint accent when saying words like coffee
- worked as a stableboy at Erin's grandmother's horse farm
- blonde-haired and intensely blue-eyed---"My God--Hunter's body. Are those muscles from being a stable boy?"
- really smart--"like a fox"--likes to test people and be in control
- good at hiding his emotions
- really protective of Erin
argh! You ever feel like no matter what you say, you're not really doing somebody/something justice? That's exactly how I feel describing Hunter! Hopefully, these quotes will convince you just how amazing he is :)
“Hit him."
"Don't make her do that," Hunter told Tommy. "She'll break her hand.”
"I don't want to hear it," Hunter interrupted him. "Mrs. Blackwell wanted to see her and I didn't know how else to get her on the airplane. Around here I could have slung her over my shoulder, but they frown on that in New York."
"We were already in school by then. Your friends had made fun of me. I was twelve. My higher brain functions weren't fully developed. I was so in love with you."
"Don't make her do that," Hunter told Tommy. "She'll break her hand.”
"I don't want to hear it," Hunter interrupted him. "Mrs. Blackwell wanted to see her and I didn't know how else to get her on the airplane. Around here I could have slung her over my shoulder, but they frown on that in New York."
"We were already in school by then. Your friends had made fun of me. I was twelve. My higher brain functions weren't fully developed. I was so in love with you."
“I love you.”
I stared stupidly at him. Was he joking again, reciting another line from my story? I didn’t remember writing this.
He leaned in and kissed me. I didn’t respond for a few seconds. My mind lagged behind what my body was feeling.
“Say it,” he whispered against my lips. “I know this is hard for you. Tell me.”
“I love you.” Hearing my own words, I gasped at the rush of emotion.
He put his hands on either side of my jaw and took my mouth with his.
I stared stupidly at him. Was he joking again, reciting another line from my story? I didn’t remember writing this.
He leaned in and kissed me. I didn’t respond for a few seconds. My mind lagged behind what my body was feeling.
“Say it,” he whispered against my lips. “I know this is hard for you. Tell me.”
“I love you.” Hearing my own words, I gasped at the rush of emotion.
He put his hands on either side of my jaw and took my mouth with his.
Really protective.... often one of the "good" qualities that you list. Excuse me? Feminine movement please!
ReplyDeleteI still need to read this book! But woohoo it looks wooow! I need to read it soon! :) ;)
ReplyDeleteooooh! Is that Max Irons? So cute. And that last scene, I swooned all over myself. :)
ReplyDeleteI love Jennifer Echols! I haven't read this, but Hunter sounds adorable. Wonderful pictures!
ReplyDeleteThe structure and premise were very ambitious but the elements did not come together at all. The book felt off kilter and out of sorts, and schizophrenic that midway through, the novel realized it had bitten more than it could chew so it bunched up one contrived epiphany after another.
ReplyDeleteGranted that Echols is a talented writer, most of her work are too conceptually ambitious for their own good, and often fail to realize the ambitions they were first conceived.
I actually felt that way when I finished Love Story. I adored the premise but thought that the execution definitely could have been better.
Delete~Sigh. I think I wanted to like the book a lot more than I actually did. Which tends to be the case with most of Echols's books.