Review: Before You by Lisa Cardiff

Let me start off by saying that Before You by Lisa Cardiff had almost every single box checked for me before I ever started this book. Hot Cover-Check. Rockstar-Check. New Adult Genre-Check. Love triangle with plenty of angst-Check. But when it came to the actual story here, I had some issues with this one. This one should have been an absolute home run for me, but unfortunately it just wasn't able to fulfill all my expectations and fell short.

Aubrey and Camden have been best friends since they were ten, and have been dating for the last six years. They have been forced to have a long distance relationship while Camden is in LA trying to get his bad off the ground and Aubrey finished school to pursue a career in art back in Colorado. When Aubrey finished her masters degree she agreed to spend a month in LA with Camden and couldn't be more excited to finally spend some time with him. Upon arriving in LA, Aubrey meets the lead singer of the band and instantly feels attracted to him. As Aubrey is continually ignored by Cam and is left by herself more and more, she strikes up a friendship with Jax. As the distance between Cam and Aubrey gets wider, the feelings between Aubrey and Jax continue to grow. Aubrey isn't willing to let her relationship with Cam go easily though after he and his family have been there for her for so long despite how he has been treating her. Aubrey also isn't willing to let it go when Jax is known to never stick with any girl for long or do anything serious. But when Aubrey finds out that Cam has been keeping secrets from her, she can't help but wonder if it is time to move on. Could Jax be the right one for her, and is he willing to risk everything including the future of the band to be with her?

I absolutely loved Jax and hated Cam. They were so different and honestly I just couldn't figure out how Jax was friends with Cam after everything and why he continued to allow things to continue the way they were. Jax was sweet and sexy and really caring and thoughtful. He was known to be a player, but honestly he was honest with the girls and he was less of a player than Cam was. You could tell what a great guy Jax was and that despite his feelings for Aubrey, he really did try to stay away from her as anything other than a friend. He was always there for her and he was so supportive of her in everything that she did. I loved seeing him get to know Aubrey and it was great to see him just spending time with her and also teaching her new things. I could not stand Cam. He was selfish and cowardly and absolutely disgusting. He was the exact kind of guy that thinks he can have his cake and eat it too, and he did not even think that he was doing anything wrong. He would justify everything and make excuses, and then would be an absolute jerk when Aubrey would be upset that he had blown her off again. I just hated him all around, and honestly I have no idea how he would even redeem himself after this story. Aubrey was hard to like at times. She was weak and oblivious. She didn't see anything going on right under her nose, and if that wasn't bad enough she also wouldn't break up with Cam even for what she did know was going on. He treated her horribly and that was without her even knowing about him cheating on her repeatedly. I just didn't understand why she was willing to continue in such a horrible relationship when she had such a great guy right in front of her. I did have times that I liked her and it was nice to see her stand up for herself eventually. She just had such great chemistry with Jax, and they were building such a strong connection that it drove me nuts waiting for her to realize it.

Overall, I think that this story had a lot of promise and it had good moments. I wish that things would have happened sooner though, and I was waiting for Aubrey to wake up. She and Jax were so great together and I felt like it took too long to get there. At that point I hated Cam, was starting to really dislike Aubrey and felt like Jax should have moved on. I really loved Jax though, and I am glad that he got his HEA. He definitely deserved it and I really was happy for him. I think that this book had a lot of back and forth that could have been resolved much earlier. It would have been nice to see more of Jax and Aubrey together rather than so much of her hot and cold relationship with Cam. Cam didn't deserve to be her friend let alone her boyfriend. I think if you are looking for a NA read with a sexy and sweet rockstar, you might give this one a shot. I honestly don't know that Cam can redeem himself after this story, but I am interested to see him try. I will read the next book in this series though, Redeeming You, to see if he can turn his life around and be the guy that once was so great with Aubrey.

**Review Copy Provided by Author**

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Feature and Giveaway: Chasing Forever by Lisa Cardiff

Regan Pierce’s life is finally on right path . . .

She’s on track to graduate at the top of her class. She’s just been offered a summer associate position with one of the largest law firms in San Francisco. She’s in control of her future and the painful secrets of her past are long forgotten.

Her life is perfect . . . until Lucas Evanston, sexy former college baseball star turned lawyer extraordinaire, her boss for the summer, walks back into her life.

Six years ago, Lucas thought he’d met the woman of his dreams. Regan was everything he never knew he wanted until he ruined it all and left her broken and unable to trust.

Just like six years ago, the chemistry between them is as explosive as it is unexpected, but Regan wants nothing to do with the man who turned her life upside down and trampled her heart.

Lucas has other plans. Regan owns him, heart, body and soul and he’ll do whatever it takes to win the heart of the woman who haunts his dreams.

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ARC Review: Chasing Forever by Lisa Cardiff

Chasing Forever is the first book that I have read by Lisa Cardiff, and I found it to be enjoyable. I liked the characters and the story. I am a fan of second chance romance stories, and this one was entertaining and kept me interested. I did have a few things that kept me from rating this one higher, but overall this was a good story.

Regan Pierce is in law school and is starting her summer associate position with one of the best law firms in San Francisco. When she shows up to meet her mentor for the summer, she finds none other than Lucas Evanston the guy who humiliated her and broke her heart in college. Forced to work together, she makes an uneasy truce with him to try and keep things professional and to never bring up the past. But soon, their attraction and feelings from long ago are more than either of them can fight. Can Regan protect her heart and keep Lucas at arms length? Or will Lucas find a way to get Regan to give him a second chance and a shot at a future together?

I liked Lucas, but I didn't always understand him. I honestly still have no idea why he did what he did, and why he never spoke up and told Regan the whole story. It doesn't really make sense to me, and I have no idea what he was thinking. He was sexy though, and determined. I loved that he was so dedicated to getting Regan to change her mind about him and give him a chance. He was relentless, and I liked that he pursued her though everything. I also thought that he had some really sweet moments, and that he never forgot a single thing about her. He remembered all of her favorites and he even saved something from the first time that he met her and never went without it. Regan was easy to want to root for, but at times she also made it really hard to like her. She forgave Lucas really easily and yet then she would throw it back in his face at times. She also never gave him the chance to explain things and jumped to conclusions really easily. I kept wanting to smack her upside the head and tell her to just listen for once. I do understand that she had been hurt and had a lot of pain from everything that had happened, but you can't agree to give someone a shot one second and then constantly assume and judge the next second. It was a bit of whiplash, and even Lucas said as much in the story. I did think that they had great chemistry, and once they finally went there things were steamy between them.

I think that this was a good story, and I do think that Lucas and Regan were great together. I think that they fit well and you could feel the attraction between them. But I also feel like their past was dropped way too quickly and that their feelings were rushed. I wanted to see more of them working towards a future, and I felt like things were just resolved a bit too easily. I think that the past and everything that had happened between them was a bit anticlimactic for the reader because the characters just seemed to sort of brush it under the rug. I couldn't quite get behind the relationship because of how things were handled. I also felt like even though I hated Olivia, that she was pretty much a non-factor in this story. For being the villain and the one that we are supposed to hate, she had a fairly small part in the story, and was too easily vanquished. I was happy enough with the ending, but I do feel like we could have been given a bit more. I hope that in the next book things are a bit more resolved, because to me their story just felt unfinished. I do think that Regan and Lucas's story is one that a lot of romance fans will enjoy, and I am interested to read the next book in the series and see what else Lisa Cardiff has planned next.

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

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