Rock and a Hard Place by Angie Stanton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
Libby’s life was perfect.
Then it wasn’t.
Libby is basically dumped in the small town of Rockville, Wisconsin with her Aunt when her father decides that he’s so overwhelmed with grief over the loss of their family that he just can’t take care of her now.
Over the months she hasn’t lost hope that her father will come for her, so she rides out the abuse her Aunt throws her way. While drawing in a small glen off the highway she encounters Peter Jamieson. With no clue who he is, she treats him as if he were just some random person. And he likes it. See, Peter is part of the Jamieson Brothers. Lead singer to be exact and they’ve been touring and doing interviews with no end in sight. Don’t get me wrong, he’s dedicated to his career but he is tired of never having a moment to himself.
Libby offers him that little piece of solitude he’s been looking for and their connection is instant.
But Peter can’t stay, and Libby has to go back to the school where everyone knows who she is and what her story is.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book because I hadn’t really seen anything about it prior to picking it up at ALA. I was pleasantly surprised at the story within.
While predictable and certainly cheesy at points, I found myself interested in Libby’s story and for the most part, especially towards the end, I enjoyed her characterization. In the beginning I wasn’t sold on her. I found myself giving her dirty looks, telling her to be stronger and demand things… and then she did and I was ecstatic. I really liked the journey she had in this story as well. It certainly wasn’t an easy one, but she never gave up and that was admirable.
Peter was just as wonderful. I liked him… but I didn’t love him. I think part of that stems from a certain situation with his brother and it just felt like he sort of let him and his father steamroll him in everything. I was disappointed that he wasn’t stronger and didn’t demand certain things. And that whole fiasco with his brother had me fuming. I can’t imagine how he was able to be near him afterwards with the way he betrayed him.
In the end though, I was a bit disappointed that we never got any kind of resolution with her father. Where the hell has he been? Why doesn’t he come back and HOLY SELFISH – we truly don’t get any kind of resolution to that part of her story, and what the hell man.
Overall, I enjoyed this and will be looking forward to the next in this series. If you’re looking for a teen romance that shows that despite our circumstances we are what we make of ourselves, you’ll really want to pick this one up.
Thanks to Harpercollins for the advance copy for review.
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