Such a Rush by
Jennifer Echols
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
Hardcover, 320 pages
Expected publication: July 10th 2012 by MTV Books
Synopsis From Goodreads:
A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.
High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.
But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business — until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers — and the consequences could be deadly.
My Thoughts:
I LOVE THIS BOOK! I
really love this book. Jennifer Echols has done it again with Such A Rush. It is so well written and is overflowing with drama and romance and features amazing characters that you can't help but love. Sorry if this is too gushy, but I am a huge fan of this book.
The protagonist, Leah, is smart and spunky and full of snark and humor despite her crappy home life. She has basically been on her own most of her life because her mother is a flake and is usually gone with her current boyfriend, leaving Leah to take care of herself. They move around a lot. They run from one town escaping old boyfriends and landlords, and follow the new boyfriend to a new town. And they always end up in the run down trailer parks that are inevitably next to the airport. Being so near the airport and airplanes really inspires Leah's dreams of escaping her miserable life and leaving everything behind by becoming a pilot. She gets an office job at the airport to help pay the rent so she has a place to live (so she can stay in one place long enough to matter). Then she gets up the nerve to approach Mr. Hall for flying lessons. He sees something in her that makes him want to give her a chance. I really loved Mr. Hall and the father/daughter type relationship he had with Leah. Of course, this close relationship doesn't please Mr. Hall's 3 sons. They live with their mother and only come to visit on holidays and summer break. They aren't close with their dad, but they don't want anyone else getting close to him either, especially not a girl that they assume is taking advantage. The boys are very antagonistic towards Leah when they come to visit. Despite this, Leah develops a crush on Grayson.
When Mr. Hall dies and his twin sons, Alec and Grayson, take over his banner flying business, Leah feels her dreams of escaping and her attempt at independence slipping away from her. She was supposed to continue flying for Mr. Hall while she went to community college and then on to a college with a flight school so she could get her airline pilot's license. She assumes the twins won't want her around anymore, but then Grayson surprises her by blackmailing her into working for them over spring break. Leah and Grayson spend a lot of time in each others company and get to know each other a lot better. Leah works her butt off to earn the brother's respect, which is very important to her.
Grayson really frustrated me. As a reader, I want to like the potential love interest, but Grayson made it so darn hard at first. One minute he's sweet and charming, and the next he's acting like an ass. He ran so hot and cold that I was confused about my feelings for him, much like Leah was. But once I got to know him better, I really did love him since he's a bit deeper than what he lets on. And the motivation behind him acting the way he does was really heartbreaking. He hides his emotions behind those damn aviator sunglasses, so it's difficult to get a read on him. It's one of my favorite things about Grayson. Well, that and his fist clenching. Those moments really got to me.
The chemistry between Leah and Grayson is just amazing. Their relationship was not all fluffy and light, and some of their confrontations are downright hot. And the sexual tension is off the charts. Leah and Grayson are both such complex and wonderful characters, and they have so much development in this story. It was truly fascinating watching them evolve.
I positively adored this book. It has tons of drama and angst, along with sexy, sweet (and yummy!) boys that will knock your socks off! I really loved all the airplane and flying scenes. I know Ms. Echols did a ton of research for this story and it really shows. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good contemporary with a really hot, yet sweet, romance. Such A Rush is definitely for older teens due to mature situations.
ARC provided by author - Thank you so much!!
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