Review: Effortless by S.C. Stephens

Book Description: 

A continuation of the novel, Thoughtless...

A lot can happen in a year. You grow, you change, you learn from your mistakes. And Kiera had made a lot of mistakes to learn from. But she had learned, and she was determined to never cause a man pain again, especially the amazing man who currently held her heart. But life offers new challenges for every relationship, and when Kiera’s love is put to the ultimate test, will it come out the other side unscathed?

Love is easy…trust is hard.

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Time to be honest…I didn’t want to read this book. There I said it. I didn’t want to. I read Thoughtless because a friend kept badgering me to, and while it was enjoyable, it was also torture. I don’t always enjoy reading books that are torture. But, I did enjoy Thoughtless (I ended up giving it 4 stars) and agreed (albeit reluctantly) to read Effortless.

Then I started a phase of Rock Stars…and the same friend struck while I’m on this Rock Star kick to get me to read Effortless. And I was still reluctant. I enjoyed Kellan in the first book, but I wasn’t looking forward to Kiera in the second book. I didn’t think I could take another book of her indecisiveness.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a more mature Kiera. Yes, she still made mistakes, and there were a few heart stopping moments that were filled with emotion and angst but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Thoughtless. At one point I was begging my friend for spoilers because I was at a frustrating point (filled with angst) and I wanted to throw my Kindle across the room. I received the answers (and reassurance) I was looking for and continued on the Kellan and Kiera journey.

Kellan remained the romantic and nearly perfect boyfriend. [I particularly loved all the notes he left for Kiera. That was the sweetest thing ever! He made his fair share of mistakes in the book, but he’s a favorite hero of mine.

I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on Denny. He was the bane of my existence in Thoughtless, and I was not pleased to see him make a comeback in this book…no matter how small a part (and I’m not going to say how much of a roll he played), but even phone calls between him and Kiera and/or Kellan was too much for me.

When I started this book, I had forgotten how annoying Griffin could be. I didn’t expect it to happen, but he did grow on me at the end. His actions at the end of the book were what did it for me. I can’t hate a guy that reacted the way he did to the news he was given. He’s still mildly annoying, but I can now forgive him for that.

I loved catching up with the D-Bags (and just let me say…I really hate that name) and all of their girlfriends.

No doubt, I will end up reading book three in this series, but honestly…I don’t see anything left in their story to tell. I was happy with the ending of this book. Part of me would love to avoid book three and pretend that it doesn’t exist, but I’ll end up reading it just because I’m glutton for punishment I can’t resist Kellan Kyle.

Every time Kiera talked about Kellan performing, this is what I see: click here and here.

My review can also be found on Goodreads.