This Beautiful Thing (Young Love, #1) by Amanda Heath

Book Description:

Teagan Harper doesn’t have much experience with guys. Her twin brothers have made sure of that. Until one night at a college party she gives them the slip, finding herself in the arms of the most amazing guy she has ever met. Now she's on a mission to find him since she ran from his bed. And forgot to ask his name...

Declan Sage has had control over his entire life. But that is all about to change when the girl who ran out of his bed turns his life upside down. She is about to throw that control out the window. But he’s pretty sure that’s a good thing seeing as she stole his heart...**THIS IS A CONTEMPORARY NEW ADULT NOVEL NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE UNDER 17 FOR SEXUAL CONTENT AND LANGUAGE.

3.75 stars for keeping me interested even though I had a lot of issues with it...

This book is not at all what I thought it would be. Unfortunately, that is not a good thing. First, I apparently have the unedited version which is in serious need of repair. Second, at this point my biggest issue is the dialogue. Specifically, the guys. They sound like girls. No joke. There's a conversation between the main guy Declan and his bff, who also happens to be the LL's brother, Jaden, and for a second I thought it was Teagan and her roommate Grace talking. I'm serious. No offense, but this author did not in any way capture the manliness of two college football players talking man talk.

“Declan, I have known you a long time and not once have you expressed any kind of feeling that wasn't just what you wanted me to see. I can tell you’re uncomfortable talking about them and that’s cool. I just want you to know that I’m here for you,” he laughs under his breath and continues, “I know that is cheesy or whatever, but you are so controlled all the time that you aren't real with me a lot of the time. I know you have your brother but maybe you need someone outside of your family that knows about your parents to talk to. My family is crazy, too, and I know it can get overwhelming. Look, what I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to hide things from me. I care about you, you’re my bro. I’m a real friend to you, man. I don’t judge and I won’t put you down,” he finishes and gives me a pointed look.

At this point I was wondering if they had balls or a vajaja.... Just sayin.

On to the next issue. The cheese factor. Now, I'm all for romance and guys actually saying sweet things to the girls and not being total D-Bags but come on.

Teagan looked so beautiful last night. With her curly black hair wild and down, she looked like a goddess come to Earth to steal my mortality. If she is, then it is all hers. I wonder when I became such a pansy. I never used to think this way about girls. I don’t think I ever took Claire on such a romantic date as I did Teagan last night. I’m starting to think maybe who I was before I met Teagan was just a façade.

Another example

"I’m not in love, you dork, I just like her... a lot. She’s so beautiful and you can tell that she doesn't know it. When she looks at me it’s like I’m the only person in the world. She makes these sexy little moans while were making out.”

Yes it's nice but this isn't the only time this happens. I'm feeling very

And



And then, back to the girl *ahem* s'cuse me, guy talk, Here's a convo between the same girls *ahem* dudes talking about girls. Now I'm no guy, but I'm pretty sure this type of talk would get them kicked out of the Man Club:

“Sup, dude?” He asks when I step out of the bathroom. “Not much, just getting ready for a date.” I wave my hand in the direction of my desk chair as an invitation for him to sit down. “Shit, I’m sorry. I’ll say what I need to say and get out of your hair,” he states as he sits down in the chair. “I’m in need of some advice.” “Okay, so, there’s this girl. I’m no good with girls, so I have no idea what to say to her and I really like her. I’m just stuck. God, I’m sorry. Now, I’m babbling.”

Yeah, I think I made my point on that one.

I'll admit, I'm bi-polar on this one. While it may sound like I'm bashing this book, I'd like to clarify that I don't hate it. It has me cracking up in between gagging and the story line between Declan and Teagan (which I love the names of the characters btw) is actually a really good one. There's also her overprotective family who are great and then there's Declan's crazy psycho bitch of an ex-girlfriend to contend with. Also the waiting to see just how big it's gonna blow up in their faces when her brother(s) find out who she's dating. It's a great thing to anticipate. But the things that irk me are kinda big. Like how they talk like they have never met a contraction before and that's quite bothersome. I hate reading that in books. Especially college age characters that would NEVER talk like that IRL .

Then all of a sudden I'm like: Omg what the fuck! This book just did a complete 180!! First it's all hearts and gagging flowers then it's all serious face and tears. For a second there I though I had wasted all this time and wasn't getting my HEA! But luckily things came back around! So while there was a lot of 'issues' in this book for me, I did mostly enjoy it. The love story between Teagan and Declan was sweet, if not sickeningly so at times. They ended up going through something pretty traumatic* which caused the riff but were able to come back and make things right. There was a really great ending here that actually made up for a lot of the irritating factors. Except one thing. The side story of Jaden, Grace and Caden. I was really hoping to see the conclusion of that and was pissed that I didn't get to... Until I realized they're getting their own book! And yes, I will be reading it as soon as it's released! (Don't give me that look ) But still... Um, how the hell can the author keep us in suspense on secondary characters? Not cool man, not cool.

*I was gonna put this spoiler in the text above where it would make more sense but I felt the need to warn that A) it may be a touchy subject for some people (miscarriage) and B) it will give away part of the story twist** Ok all this time I have been goin on and on about how the guys in this book are more like girls and haven't really touched on Teagan. After her miscarriage she is a total bitch to Declan. I mean, he just finds out that the girl he loves lost their baby and she's yelling at him telling him she wants nothing to do with him like its his fault! Hello bitchy! You are the one who snuck in his room to seduce him when he told you he wasn't ready yet. (I know... he's a girl remember) Then they spend four months apart. I get she's dealing with a very traumatic loss but it irked me she never once stopped to consider what he might also be going through. ** I would also just like to say that I have never experienced this in my life and I thank God for that, and there is no way I can even imagine the pain such a loss is for a woman so I hope that my comments above do not offend any one who has had to deal with this in their life. If so I do apologize, as I meant no offense*

But on a lighter note, here's one of my favorite lines:
Declan: "God, I sound like a damn chick." <-- class="separator" data-blogger-escaped-a="" data-blogger-escaped-actually="" data-blogger-escaped-also="" data-blogger-escaped-am="" data-blogger-escaped-at="" data-blogger-escaped-author="" data-blogger-escaped-available.="" data-blogger-escaped-book.="" data-blogger-escaped-day="" data-blogger-escaped-div="" data-blogger-escaped-do="" data-blogger-escaped-end="" data-blogger-escaped-entertaining="" data-blogger-escaped-glad="" data-blogger-escaped-happy="" data-blogger-escaped-has="" data-blogger-escaped-i="" data-blogger-escaped-intended="" data-blogger-escaped-it.="" data-blogger-escaped-it="" data-blogger-escaped-m="" data-blogger-escaped-not="" data-blogger-escaped-of="" data-blogger-escaped-or="" data-blogger-escaped-re-edited="" data-blogger-escaped-read="" data-blogger-escaped-saw="" data-blogger-escaped-she="" data-blogger-escaped-that="" data-blogger-escaped-the="" data-blogger-escaped-this="" data-blogger-escaped-version="" data-blogger-escaped-very="" data-blogger-escaped-was="" data-blogger-escaped-way="" data-blogger-escaped-whether="" data-blogger-escaped-why="" data-blogger-escaped-yes="" data-blogger-escaped-you="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">