Book Review: Lengths by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt

Lengths by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt
Genre: New Adult

Please Note: This is a review I've avoided for a long time. But I'm an honest person and believe all authors deserve to know what readers think about their novels.

Summary from Goodreads: 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? 

LENGTHS is a Contemporary New Adult Romance to be released August 2012

Review

I tried to like this book. Really I did. Won in a two book giveaway by another author who raved about the book, I decided to give it a chance. But it wasn't happening. From the start I thought it was so-so. The writing seemed somewhat poor and the story only moving me forward because I liked the first character introduced to me, Deo. Then Whit came in. This turned a so-so book into nails digging into my eyes torture. I have read other one star reviews at Goodreads and have seen that it's not just me who can't connect with or even like Whit's character. She's a true case study of what females try to avoid being and fiction wise a poorly developed character. I truly believe if she were developed better, seemed less cowardly and self-satisfying and the writing from her perspective didn't make Deo's into a piece from Mozart, there might have been a chance for this book to get a slightly better review. Alas that was not to be the case. Plus the typos didn't better it's chances. And before you think it's the sex and profanity that turned me off, no, it was a poorly done novel.

Deo is a sexy and funny guy. He has his problems but thankfully he's not some douche only trying to get into a girl's pants and leaving her the next day. He's witty, funny, lacks ambition, loves his mother and enjoys surfing and beautiful women. His mother is a free spirit and the grandfather is one of those secondary characters who steals the show. Seriously this man deserves his own little story. Then Deo meets Whit. Whit is a girl with issues and left me a woman who had issues with her. She uses all the negative things in her life as an excuse to not only do whatever she wants but to treat others in ways that sometimes is just downright wrong. The memory of Wakefield's death was turned into an excuse to live it up hard by sleeping with men and slinking out their room afterwards. Sorry but if someone used my death as a means to live it up by some of her methods, I'd materialize out of thin air and punch him/her in the face. I'd rather someone decide my death was a reason to get better sleep than some of the stuff she pulled. Also this demeanor completely clashed with the I'm a shy girl who's never seen the ocean before side of her. I am shy by nature and know shy people. Most aint pulling her shit. One moment where I think the authors actually did a good job with her character is the part where she shows Deo her bikini for the first time. Her shyness was palpable and so was his thoughts. It meshed well with the story that was being told and was unabashed in showing this was a New Adult novel not Young Adult. Sadly it eventually went right back to the writing that I just couldn't enjoy.

So in the end I have to say I didn't like this book. And I hated Whit. But Deo was cool and so were the other characters in his life. Not recommending this book to anyone but will digress that it's quite popular and if you still want to check it out, that's your choice. But buyer beware.

Rating: 1 Star