Blog Tour: Joint Review / Excerpt / GIVEAWAY - SUBJECT TO CHANGE by Alessandra Thomas

SYNOPSIS

Joey made her dad a deathbed promise that she would become a doctor, and dedicate herself to fighting the very cancer that took his life. There’s just one problem -three years into her pre-med classes, she’s struggling to stay on top of the curve, let alone prove she’s dazzling enough to earn a spot in an Ivy League medical school. In a Hail Mary move, she throws a basic Business 101 class into her semester schedule, banking on a perfect score to boost her GPA.

That is, until she’s paired for a final project with Hawk, the bartending, motorbike-riding, gorgeously bedheaded loser who falls asleep in class and communicates in one-word sentences.

Hawk does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, which sets Joey on edge – in every possible way. As they get to know each other, her urge to scream at him is curbed only by her fantasies of tearing his clothes off. Soon those fantasies become reality, and Joey realizes Hawk makes her feel more fully herself than any of the rich boys her mother and sorority sisters approve of.

But the promise to her father hangs over her head, and the harder Joey tries to succeed in her chosen career, the faster everything falls into a hopeless tailspin of bad grades, broken promises and guilt. It doesn’t help to have Hawk sitting like a devil on her shoulder, insisting she should be free to live however she wants to live - like he does.
The only thing Joey knows is that her neatly organized life is crushing her - and Hawk’s bad attitude might be the only thing that can save her.

PURCHASE LINKS: AMAZON / B&N

PEPPER & MICHELLE’S JOINT REVIEW

PEPPER: I just have to say that I effing loved this book. It ended too soon for me, and I want more of Hawk and Joey. Love, love, love. I just wanted to do this the whole time I was reading:

MICHELLE: Right?! So my first thought when I was done was that the description of the book just did not fit for me. I really enjoyed this book. But Hawk to me was not “the devil sitting on her shoulder telling her to live free.” In fact, I think Joey being with Hawk wasn’t the reason she changed. Her need to change was happening before Hawk came in the picture. And she made major life choice changes all on her own. I think the reason that description bothered me was because I really liked Joey. I thought from the description that she would be weak to Hawk’s alpha ways, but she was a tough cookie. She’s like:

She was constantly standing up to that mean Doctor at the hospital and doing her own thing that made her happy.

PEPPER: Well, I don’t think I paid that much attention to the description, but I totally agree with you. Joey was way over it before Hawk was involved. However, I do think he inspired her and pushed her a little more to explore other avenues than she would have done herself. And I also don’t think Hawk was too much “alpha”. Like he was super broody and pissed off which made him kind of a dick, but he really didn’t say how things were going to go. I felt like they melded together very well.

MICHELLE: They were so great together, right? So let’s talk about Dr. Bitchface- hated her. My brother is a pediatric oncologist and I have never once heard him say that the key to success is to not get attached. They are children- even when they are as old as 17 or 18- and they need doctors that are not just smart and capable but loving. What a crock that woman was. Ugh. And I am so glad that Joey learned that there was a way to help kids but be happy doing it because there are lots of ways to do that. But not all pediatric oncologists are terrible like that doctor.

PEPPER: Seriously, that Doc was an asshole. I also hated her. I mean, I get that in some work circumstances you have to detach a little, but this is fucking life and death. I just couldn’t believe some of the shit that she did. I was so glad that Joey did what she did with the Doc, but I wish it would have been much harsher. Kind of like:

MICHELLE: For real!- I thought Joey was great. There were times it was obvious she was young and sometimes made decisions someone her age would make but I liked her all the way through. The whole note in the mailbox thing- I’m pretty sure I’ve done that.

PEPPER: Yes, agreed. I loved her. I loved that she was a sorority beotch that fell for someone as gritty as Hawk. It made their love story so much sweeter.

MICHELLE: AND, Hawk was of course sexy and amazing and made your heart weep. As we got to know him better, I just wanted to hug him. Like tackle cuddle.

He’s been through some shit and he’s just working so hard and I just adore him. He just has so much to deal with and I get that it weighs on him. All my sympathy goes to him. Even when they have their big moment where all their differences really come out, I can’t help but be totally team Hawk because he’s just suffered a lot and I get him and I feel for him.

PEPPER: I loved Hawk from the second he walked into Joey’s life. I don’t know what it is about him. And I so want his own book with his POV. SO BAD!! I don’t usually feel this way. But he is so complex and I want more. I loved everything about him. Loved after the first time they hooked up, it was awkward and she gets up to go to the bathroom and this happens: His eyebrows furrowed, and his fingers wrapped around mine, tight and full. “Don’t leave yet. Stay, okay?” GAH. Wanted. To. Die. Kind of like:

You have this dude who is so full of angst and puts up this “fuck off” energy. And she rocked his world. And he admitted it. God I loved that part.

MICHELLE: Yes! The chemistry between the two of them is nearly instant and super hot. Nothing wrong with any of the sexy parts. And even the angst between them is perfect.

And can we just talk about the Epilogue? I freakin’ loved it. I mean it didn’t take you way into the future but it was perfect. And had so much in it that I was happy to see that I just was on a high from it. Perfection.

PEPPER: Well, I loved the Epilogue, but my hell I want more of these two. I felt like it ended to quickly for me. And, speaking of the ending -ish, oh my hell, the way he apologized to her? Could. You. Die?! So sweet coming from the total hard ass that he tried to be. It was like:

MICHELLE: So perfect. I just loved Hawk. I didn’t realize this was a book two so I would like to go back and read book 1, especially because I think I would love Cat’s story - PICTURE PERFECT

PEPPER: I know!! I was kind of wondering throughout the book whether there was more to Cat and Nate’s story, so it’s good to know there really is!! And I can’t wait to go back and read that one.

Well, there you have it. We loved this book so much. Great story about change and finding one’s true self. So good!

EXCERPT

After grabbing a quick lunch from a food cart and sitting through a statistics recitation which, thankfully, did not break my head, I trudged to the library. I’d been planning on going home first to change so I could look halfway decent before meeting Hawk at eight — even though I didn’t know why I cared — but I had too much work to do and not an ounce of energy left in my body. The huge Temple sweatshirt, old yoga pants, and sneakers would have to be okay.

Not that Hawk would care what I looked like, anyway.

Not that I cared if he cared.

I gave my head a quick shake as I unloaded my bag onto my favorite table, right in view of the main entrance, and buckled down. It took two more cups of coffee from the cafe in the lobby and until the sun had well set outside, but I finally made it through the answers to six questions with all the right answers.

I checked my watch and saw that it was eight thirty at the same time that a growl ripped through my stomach.

Seriously? This asshole was going to be half an hour late to our first meeting?

I stood up in a huff to throw my books and laptop into my bag. Frickin’ fine. If he didn’t care, neither did I. I’d just get to class a little early tomorrow — even though I cringed at the thought of getting to there even earlier — and talk to Professor Simon about either changing partners or just doing this stupid thing myself. I’d be perfectly fine doing all the work, having the excuse to daydream about my future practice, and being 100 percent responsible for my own grade in an easy-as-pie general education class.

I threw on my puffy winter coat, slung my bag over my shoulder, and headed out. Right when I pushed through the heavy door that led outside, I smacked headfirst into someone else.

“Ow!” I cried. I really had to stop doing that.

I looked up and, once, again, my eyes met a pair of ice blue ones.

“Joey,” Hawk’s gruff voice said through clouds in the frigid air. “I know I’m late. I….”

I held up a hand, and he stopped mid-sentence.

“Whatever,” I said. “Your life is busy. I get it, okay? I’ll talk to Professor Simon tomorrow and get a new partner.”

I shouldered past him, trying to ignore the amazing cologne-of-boy smell that followed me. Why did a guy so infuriating have to smell so good? Not only that, but why did he always smell either really bad or really amazing?

“Hey, hey, hey! Josephine!” he called.

Something about the way he said my full name sent shivers down my spine and stopped me in my tracks.

I stood for a few seconds and let him catch up with me. Snow flurries whirled through the air, and the bitter cold surrounded me. But when Hawk reached me, I felt suddenly warmer. The soft glow of the street lamps cast his face in warm light, and for the first time, I noticed a feature other than that cool blue sparkle of his eyes. Several, actually. There was a hard line to his jaw that, when combined with his high cheekbones, was absolutely statuesque. A day’s worth of scruff stretched out along his face and perfectly matched the wild, dark brown mop on top of his head. His lips were full and warm, the breath coming from them seeming to heat the air an unusual amount, filling the space between us with fleeting white clouds of steam.

AUTHOR INFO

Alessandra Thomas is a New Adult writer who swears she was in her twenties yesterday. Since she’s not, she spends her time looking back on her college years fondly, and writing sexy stories about guys and girls falling in love and really living life for the first time. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a spoonful of ice cream in one hand and the newest New Adult release in the other.

CONTACT ALESSANDRA: GOODREADS / WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / TWITTER

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