Tessa Teevan's Reviews > Emerge

Hovering between 2.5-3 stars. Loved Evan. Hated everything else.

First, I'd like to say that CLEARLY I'm in the minority on Goodreads, so don't just my take my word for it.

Locking myself in a closet and not coming out until I get a certain HEA in the next book.

Warning: My review may be seen as slightly spoilery because there's not really any way saying how I feel without possibly giving something away. So DO NOT READ if that'll bother you.





Laney and Evan have been friends for as long as they can remember, being as close as two people can be. So it's no surprise when during their senior year of high school they finally admit their feelings to each other. They spend their final summer together before they're headed off to separate colleges hours apart. Evan wants to stay together but Laney thinks its best to go their separate ways, unattached so that they won't hurt each other. Teenage girl logic at it's finest. Evan's resistant, but reluctantly agrees.

When Laney gets to Southern where she's playing softball on a scholarship, she becomes quick friends with her roommate, Bennett. One night during a Hall Crawl, they meet roommates Tate and Sawyer, and Tate's brother Dane. Dane and Laney instantly hit it off and it's not long before Dane's pursuing more than a friendship. As they spend more time together, Dane makes it clear that he has feelings for her. Laney's confused by her own feelings and she's consumed with guilt because even though she feels something for Dane, she still loves Evan. Who and how will she choose?
*****
To be quite honest, Emerge is a hard book for me to review upon immediate finish. This is the third book in a row that's ended in a different way than I wanted, so I'm having a really hard time staying objective. I'm a selfish reader, but I guess we can't win them all, right? I suppose it's realistic to not always get what the heart wants.

I fell totally, 100% head over heels for Evan in an instant. Everything about him screamed "ultimate book boyfriend" which made it that much harder for me to feel anything for Dane.

Dane, while sweet and sexy, just didn't do it for me. And maybe that's Evan's fault. If Evan had never made an appearance, I probably would've felt a bit more for Dane, but I just couldn't feel it. It bothered me that Dane wasn't very open with Laney even though she'd practically bared her soul to him. I didn't ever feel that their attraction was more than physical, especially when Laney knew nothing about Dane for almost the whole book. That bothered me. By looking at other reviews, I know I'm in the minority. Again, I think that's because I fell so hard for Evan that there could be no other for me. I felt like Laney set herself & Evan up to fail from the very beginning, so maybe she didn't love him the way that he truly deserved. That's just me.

All that being said, Emerge is a very well written book and I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it. In fact, it's pretty amazing that I was so upset with the outcome, but I can still say that I liked the book. That definitely says something about the author's ability. S.E. Hall has a very easy, flowing writing style and I could hardly put the book down. I'll be waiting on pins and needles for book 2 to come out.

ARC was kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.