Lengths

A day late, but here as promised!

Okay. Let me be a girl for just a second… Oh man, oh man, ohmanohmanohman.
Alright. Got that out of my system.

First, I need to give a shout out to Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt. I’ve read other books of theirs, and LOVED them. So please check them out. They are bow-worthy writers in this amazingly rich Indie industry. Second, I must thank them for this Absolute Piece of Genius, I believe this book to be.

Alright, enough groveling.

Amazon Summary

Nineteen-year-old Whit Conrad leaves her conservative Pennsylvania home for sunny California, looking for independence, a fresh start, and a place to stash her grief. She promptly finds a job at a tattoo parlor, a craptastic first apartment, and one friend—Ryan—who is a little less friend, a little more benefits.

Deo Beckett is a soulful surfer with a passion for tattoos and beautiful women. On the eve of his twenty-second birthday, he finds himself living with his grandfather, recently unemployed, and seriously adrift. He doesn’t know much about what he wants out of life, but he does know his current situation isn't cutting it.

When Deo meets Whit, she’s all sexy makeup and fierce, smart-ass fun. It doesn’t take him long to see past her tough shell. And when he gets a good look at what's under all the superficial stuff that usually gets his attention, it leaves Deo wondering if there might be more to life than living fast and free.

Too bad Whit has a past she doesn't plan on sharing—no matter how hot Deo is. She might want him, but she knows better than to let her guard down.

Deo falls for Whit, and falls hard. But everything about her, down to that mysterious tattoo and the way she thrashes in her sleep, tells him that the girl he loves is hiding something. And the more he pushes for answers, the more Whit pulls away.

Having your guard up is one thing, but are the lengths Whit goes to to protect her secret worth throwing away the second chance she has at happiness with Deo?

Hummuna hummuna… Hummuna.

From the get-go, Lengths had me, but it wasn’t like a kick-in-the-stomach or a vise-to-the-heart kind of had me, it was more like a hot sexy bug crawling up my leg, burrowing into my skin, eating its way to my brain… Okay, maybe this direction isn’t so appealing. Simply put, it was a slow burn, but like on a California brush fire scale. This book was H-O-T. HOT! And the best part was, the intimate stuff didn’t come until about halfway through the story.

Deo. Sigh. He could be put into words, but I’d much rather pinch his rock-hard surfing non-existent love handles. He was juicy. Aside from that, he was sweet, real, and honest to a hilarious fault. His huge blunders only managed to make him more lovable, and the lengths (get it? ha) he goes through for Whit are seriously love-him-for-life material.

            One of Deo’s best lines:

                       

            Whit looks like an angel when she sleeps. She’s all sweet, full lips, long, curly eyelashes, and a tumble of sleek, dark hair against the pillow.

          She also kicks like a mule, snores like a bear, sweats like a hog, and steals the covers like a fat, menacing caterpillar about to cocoon herself before her metamorphosis.

Bwahahahaha! I think I almost peed my pants when I read this line.

Whit was a strange blend of controlled and crazy, but also severely broken, vulnerable, and more guarded than the President of the United States walking into an open ring of terrorists. This girl had it all when it came to issues. Yet she also had this inner glow that only Deo managed to coax out. I have to say, though, when her secret finally came out, I did feel like I’d gotten a Whit-sized stiletto to the gut.

I loved her. I loved him. And nearly every supporting character had the ability to make me bust out laughing or glaze my eyes with tears. From the slightly nutty/hippy mother, to the crotchety but endearing grandfather to the calm, cool, eclectic tattoo artist to the loyal and sincere best friend, I fell for them all. Such a rare quality in a supporting cast.

I couldn’t really tell you how the pacing was, because the story was so scrumptiously good, I found myself rereading whole paragraphs over and over, so it took me a little longer to read this one than it should have, but I enjoyed every little delectable word, period, comma, quotation mark… I can only imagine how much fun these two authors had writing this thing. It must’ve included many caffeine-induced slaphappy all-nighters of email tag and digital high-fives.

Clearly, I loved this story.

And just so everyone knows, it is a Contemporary New Adult Romance (I love that New Adult is becoming a category!).

Score: Can you give a story 5+ stars? It’s my review so I can do whatever I want ;)

Level of enjoyment: The answer is obvious.

Recommend to friends: Um, hello… Whoever has eyes (and by that, I mean eyes for Deo), should read this.

Will I read it again: Okay, have you seen When Harry Met Sally? If you haven’t, youtube the restaurant scene. I think that sums it up.