Review of Easy by Tammara Webber

A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. 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, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

This book, I totally took a chance on.  I saw it, read the back, and thought... why not?  Let's give it a shot.  It's only my second New Adult book I've read, and I must say... I love New Adult!!  I love Young Adult as well, but this is a new genre that I really do like!

In this book you meet Jacqueline, who has just been dumped by her boyfriend of three years.  She's leaving a Halloween party that she really didn't want to attend, when she's attacked by on her ex's frat brother.  It totally takes her by surprise because this guy has never shown any signs he's violent.  Just when she thinks he's going to succeed in raping her, he's forcefully taken off her by a guy she's never seen before.  This guy proceeds to beat the attacker up pretty bad, and takes Jacqueline home.  

That's the last you hear of this guy for the next few chapters, which I found a little annoying.  Because of the break up, she ends up missing two weeks of classes and is assigned a tutor to help catch up before the end of the semester.  She ends up seeing the guy who came to her aid in her class, his name is Lucas, and she's a little bit attracted to him.  He's mysterious and gorgeous and she finds out that he works at the Starbucks on campus.  

Her friends nominate him to be her next rebound to get over Kennedy the ex.  She feels uneasy about it, but goes along with it.  She wants to get to know him, and uses this excuse to do so.  She knows he sketches, as he's constantly sketching in his notebook during class.  She thinks he's a slacker at first, but realizes there is so much more to him then meets the eye.  Her attraction starts slowly, and gets deeper when he asks to sketch her in her dorm room.  

She's also conflicted because she's attracted to her tutor as well.  They've never met each other; just exchanged emails back and forth.  She plays the bass and tutors two kids, so is unable to go to the meetings.  She can't understand why all these girls are approaching him after class to talk to him.  She thinks nothing of it, and goes about her daily routine as always.  

When she goes to a lower floor in the dorm, she is cornered by the guy who attacked her after the party.  Terrified, she makes him believe that she's going to take him back to her room.  That's when she tells him to get lost in the middle of the hallway with witnesses.  Little does she now, he makes it seem like they had sex in the hallway before going to her bedroom for more.  This causes rumors to spread about her and this guy, which causes her ex to come to her with concern.  

I also loved her best friend Erin, who is there for her through it all.  She believes Jacqueline about the attempted attack, and pushes her to get closer to Lucas. 

Meanwhile, her relationship with Lucas is heating up.  She likes him a lot, but knows that he's hiding something.  She just doesn't know what.  When she finds out what happened to make him be the person he is, she's heartbroken for him.  She tries to be there for him, but he pushes her away at first when he finds out what she did to find out the information. 

It is as she's leaving his apartment, her attacker attempts to finish what he started to twice!  She and another girl have pressed charges against him, and he's angry and out for revenge.  Lucas comes to her aid again, and this time almost kills the guy for attacking her.  

I loved this story, but it started out a little slow for me.  I gave it four daisies, because I loved Lucas!!  Tattoos and all!!  He was so protective of Jacqueline, and loved her so deeply that it made me love him!  You know he's going to take care of her always.