Anything More Than Now is my first book from Rebecca Paula. It is the second book in her Sutton College series, though each book is about a different couple and is said to be a standalone story. Unfortunately this book was not at all like I had been expecting, and I just couldn't get into it like I had hoped I would be able to. I gave this one a shot after putting it down and walking away a few times, but at 35% I am throwing in the towel.
The writing style here is part of my problem. While I believe that the story itself has promise, I found the execution lacking. This book was all over the place, and I honestly was constantly trying to figure out what was going on or if I had missed anything. At times it felt like words were missing, or the story would jump around in time or place as well as from one point of view to another. I just couldn't keep track of everything and there were often times no explanation between the jumps. The reader was left to try and figure it out on their own with no clues at all. I also thought that there were a ton of characters and things going on in the story, but little information was given. It was almost as if the reader should already know the background when it was never given. Part of that could be because I haven't read the first in the series, but if this book is intended to be a standalone there should have been more information given for those who hadn't read the previous story.
It was also hard to reconcile the characters from the Prologue to the characters in the following chapters. I understand that there was a jump in time and that things had changed, yet the characters seemed to have huge personality shifts that weren't explained at all. Maybe that was explained after the 35% mark, but I just couldn't figure out how these two had gone from friendly and Noah wanting to ask Reagan out (before his friend moved first) to Noah and Reagan constantly fighting and pretty much hating one another. It didn't make any sense to me, especially since she had dated his best friend for awhile. If anything I would have expected them to become closer (since they both had attraction to the other and seemed to want something with each other) rather than being at each other's throats. All of that along with how confusing and disjointed this story was, and I just couldn't continue. There wasn't anything holding my interest, and I just grew tired of trying to figure out what was going on. Reagan was abrasive and came off as cold and bitchy. Noah had turned from slightly awkward but likable to a bit of a jerk. I found him calling Reagan "four eyes" to be insulting rather than endearing. I also wasn't really feeling the connection or chemistry between these two, probably because of how they treated one another.
I think that there are NA fans out there that might like this book, and I think that if people can stick with it that the story might actually be a good one. Unfortunately I just couldn't get over all of those things and find the will to finish. I think the pacing and characters as well as the author's writing style just don't work for me personally. But while it didn't work for me, if this book sounds like something you might like then you should definitely give it a go.
**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**
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