Book Review: Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughlin ( + Giveaway)

At First Sight: 10 Years ago, Liam Westbury was poised to be the next big thing to break into college football. He was good, he was a the right school and everyone - family, friends and his whole hometown of Beaumont - expected him to join the NFL sooner rather than later, and live the All-American Dream.

No one expected this more than Liam's girlfriend Josie, whom he loved with all his heart.

But then something changed and Liam decided that football wasn't really what he wanted to do, so he quit school, broke up with Josie and left... to become a rockstar, breaking both Josie's heart and his own in the process.

Now, he's music is a huge success but not a day goes by where he doesn't wonder if he made the right choice after all. With tragedy forcing his hand, he has to go to where everything started, and maybe he'll get some answers.

Tragedy is the foremost thing on Josie's mind as she preps for the funeral of a close friend, but in the back of her mind she's wondering if this, finally, will be the reason that makes him come back. Not that she wants to see him, she has moved on with her life, her business and her family... but do you ever really get over the person you loved the most?

Second Glance: Believe it or not, I'm being super vague here regarding the summary of Forever My Girl, because there are somethings that just aren't hinted at in the official blurb and I don't want spoil anything for anyone.

But I must say that the official summary only touches on the very surface of what the story was about - it was pretty surprising that way, mostly because part of me thought that Forever My Girl was going to go into this "New Adult*"-ish thing similar to Where She Went, but it wasn't even close (other than the fact that both Liam and WSW's Adam are both successful musicians).

Forever My Girl goes more the traditional, contemporary romance route and I for one was very happy about it. The story is soap-opera-y** and fun, fluffy and easy to read. I quite enjoyed it all in all though there were points went it went a little in circles, but I didn't mind - the story is in the neighborhood of 250 pages and it moves at a brisk pace, so even when things stalled a little, it didn't last for long.

Plus, I really liked Liam and Josie and their friends, sometimes I felt like they could have been developed a little bit more but they were likable and they mostly made sense. I'm roughly they age now and they totally made sense to me both back when they were 18 (and made lots of mistakes) and now when they are trying to make things right. 

Bottom Line: The long and short of it is that I like Forever My Girl, it has the breezy, chick-lit feel to it that makes for quick read, but it also has all the fun of a contemporary romance***. Wasn't totally perfect for me, but I definitely want to keep on reading both this author and this series****

Forever My Girl - Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

* I still don't suscribe to this New Adult thing, hence "quote marks"
** Mean this in the best possible way, I love soap-opera-y books.
*** Pretty tame sex-scenes, btw.
**** Forever My Girl launches the Beaumont Series, with a the novella My Everything (which I'll be reviewing on the 16th) coming out soon, and a third book planned for September 2013.

This review is part of the My Everything Book Tour.
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