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Monday, October 6, 2014

Blog Tour, Review, & Giveaway! As Long As You Love Me by Ann Aguirre! 5 Stars!!



As Long As You Love Me

By Ann Aguirre
#2 in the 2B Trilogy
Publication Date: September 30, 2014
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance


Summary 

Most people dream about getting out of Sharon, Nebraska, but after three years away, Lauren Barrett is coming home. There are the justifications she gives to everyone else—missing her family, losing her college scholarship. And then there’s the reason Lauren can’t admit to anyone: Rob Conrad, her best friend’s older brother.

Football prowess and jaw-dropping good looks made Rob a star in high school. Out in the real world, his job and his relationships are going nowhere. He can’t pinpoint exactly what’s missing until Lauren comes back to town, bringing old feelings and new dreams with her. But he’s the guy that women love and leave—not the one who makes them think of forever.

Though she’s terrified of opening up, Lauren’s ready to take that chance. Because the only thing more important than figuring out where you truly belong is finding the person you were meant to be with.

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Read the First Chapter HERE!

Review

This books is AMAZING!!

Ann Aguirre had me completely hooked by the first page. Lauren and Rob quickly became favorite characters for me. The best part about them? They were real.
Often in romance novels, one or more of the main characters have superficial flaws. No one is perfect and therefore neither can their characters be. Then there is the other extreme, characters so flawed that the reader has a hard time finding redemption for them at the end of the book. Lauren and Rob felt like the couple next door. The ones who dealt with everyday issues on the outside, just like me. However, through the book, I was given a glimpse into their private struggles and the certain knowledge that again, like me, they faced fears and trials that would seem simple or trivial to others around them.
Lauren is the ultimate computer nerd. She would spend her life alone in her room, coding and gaming, if the world would let her. Yet, she has spent years cultivating an image of the partying H.S student, and then coed. To the world around her, she is carefree, the life of the party, and happy to be where she is. But, it’s all a façade. In reality, she I slowly breaking under the strain of being someone she is not. She loathes crowds, to the point of panic attacks, has trust/daddy issues, and hates being away from home. Eventually, Lauren drops out of school and returns to her comfort zone. I just need to stop here for one moment and also commend Ms. Aguirre on the way she handled the “dating” situation with Lauren’s mom. It was so refreshing to read a book where none of the book’s “conflict” is stemmed from daughter/mom’s boyfriend tension. Anyway, Lauren eventually reconnects with her best friend’s brother, Rob, whom she has been crushing on since she was a middle schooler.
Rob is gorgeous. In H.S. he was the superstar football that every girl wanted to date. He was labeled a stereotypical sexy but empty-headed, jock. He is forever being talked down to, and never even given a chance to prove himself. Now, don’t get me wrong, Rob isn’t a braniac. However, he is smart in the ways that truly count, and if people would give him a chance, he would most likely rise above their expectations. He is viewed as a gorgeous shell. Man candy. This is where Ms. Aguirre took a rare turn in the character. So often in books, the jock, no matter how smart or unintelligent, is cocky, revered, and floats through life on his looks and star status. However, Rob has been so underestimated and so devalued, that he has lost all confidence in himself. He has accepted that he will never really make anything of himself, and that he will never get his HEA because he is the “for now” guy, not the “forever” guy.
When these two collide, they find solace in each other. Lauren sees the greatness in Rob and she desperately wants him to see himself through her eyes and show the world that they are wrong about him. Rob sees the comfort and understanding that Lauren needs, someone who will not ask her to step beyond her boundaries, and accepts her as she is.
They begin to find that beautiful love story that we all look for in a romance. There is steamy passion, humor and wit, character growth, and so much more that kept me riveted to the pages. But, in order for the characters to be real, the world does not send them happily off into the sunset. Rob and Lauren eventually realize that while they are a safe haven for each other, they are also the emergency brake that keeps their lives from moving forward. They need to break free and find their own way in order to walk the paths of their future together. The thing is, they don’t just up and decide its “all good” one day. They have to get help and go through a healing process. This is what makes this book so REAL.
This story was just beautiful. I am a sappy romantic and there were definitely parts where the author had me melting into a gooey puddle. Rob has enough confidence to bring some Alpha to the relationship and it is hot! Then on the other end of the spectrum, she had me tearing up at the pain from the inevitable choices that they are forced to make.

This book is so far past 5 stars, it’s headed for another  galaxy. I can’t wait for the next book in the series! 

giveaway



Other Books in the 2B Trilogy:




About Ann Aguirre:

Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.


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