Reading Write Now: Panic by JA Huss with Giveaway

Blurb

Rook is chasing her dream—film school and a chance at a life beyond the one she ran from six months ago. But before she can become the girl she wants to be, she must deal with the girl she left behind.

Ronin is also chasing his dream—a family of his own and a life away from erotic modeling. And he too, has a past he’s trying to forget. A past that makes Rook question everything about their life together.

Lies, secrets, and shocking truths will rock the foundation Rook and Ronin have built. Can they put the past behind them and move forward together? Or is this just another too good to be true relationship that will crash and burn in the end?

Review

So I have a confession to make… I have come into this series at Book 3. I signed on for this tour thinking I had all the time in the world to read Book 1 Tragic and Book 2 Manic before reading Panic. Well the best laid plans turned to shit, and I had to jump straight in at Panic!

So my review will be in essence about the quality of this book as a standalone. That is not really fair to JA Huss, but it is all I can base it on, and that is my bad.

Panic focuses on Rook, Ronin, Ford and Spencer, all characters with pasts and idiosyncrasies that get somewhat explained, but I think I was still missing some bits thanks to my poor background prep.

This story is filled with drama, revelations, and had me intrigued. By 10% in, I was screaming at myself for not having read books 1 & 2, and they are definitely on my TBR in the not too distant future.

I really enjoyed JA Huss’ writing style, and tone. The twists this story took had me second guessing my initial preconceived notions. I don’t recommend reading this as a standalone, because It means significant gaps in Rook’s relationships with all of the players – but considering this – this story still read very well, even if I didn’t have the background.

The characters are likeable, in their broken/arrogant way, and you can’t help but feel what Rook feels about the guys. I am really keen to read more about Ford, as he is the character that got to me the most in this story – I wonder if I would have felt the same had I read Tragic and Manic?

However, I did find there were gaps in the story, and information sharing – this could have possibly been my fault and not the authors – I will hold that thought until I read the rest of the series. I also found that the plot build of this story was quite intense and dramatic, but then the resolution seemed almost anticlimactic, so much so that I thought there must be another book to come. This disappointed me a little bit – I spent all this time trying to connect with the characters who I had not met before (I know – my bad, right?) invested in them, and then it was over…. Or so it seems!

As a standalone I would give Panic 3 ½ hearts – but I just know had I read the two previous books it would all have made much more sense, and grabbed me – so on that basis I am giving Panic 4 hearts, I really enjoyed it!

About the Author

JA Huss is a SF and new adult romance junkie, has a love-hate relationship with the bad boys, and likes to write new adult books about people with real problems. She lives with her family on a small acreage farm in Colorado and has two donkeys named Paris and Nicole. Before writing fiction, she authored almost two hundred science workbooks and always has at least three works in progress. Her first new adult romance is called TRAGIC.