REVIEW: MAVERICK BY ANNA CRUISE

Kellen Handler is in deep.

Ever since he can remember, he’s wanted to be a professional surfer. And he made it, rising to the top of the ranks, traveling the world and riding every break he’s ever dreamed of. His good looks and reputation for living on the edge—both in and out of the water—have made him an international superstar. But when his best friend dies in a tragic accident, Kellen wipes out big time, spiraling so badly that everything he’s worked for starts to disintegrate.

Tour officials scramble to do damage control and demand he work with a public relations company to clean up his bad boy image. It doesn't help that the person assigned to him, Gina Bellori, has her own demons associated with the surfing world. 

Against her better judgement Gina accepts the job and concentrates on repairing Kellen's tattered reputation, despite his protests and despite the pain it causes her. With her past colliding with her present—and Kellen in the thick of it—she begins to realize that some secrets can't stay hidden. 

And suddenly, Kellen Handler is no longer worried about losing his career.

He's more worried about losing his heart.

Published May 21st 2013 by Mission Bay Publishing

Where to Find Maverick:

Goodreads | Amazon

Where to Find Anna Cruise:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter

Our Review: 

Maverick is my kryptonite for a book. We have a tortured bad boy surfer who is messing up his reputation and spot on the pro tour with women and booze. Then we have PR person Gina who is sent in to help fix his reputation, and of course the sparks fly. Gina though has an interesting past herself, so things don't go quite like I thought they were going to. 

Oh, me too Courtney. Me too. Hot surfer boy? Strong, smart, sassy female? I'm all in. 

The setting of SoCal was also a major plus for me. It is my all time favorite place that I have visited, and if I could talk my husband into moving out there I so would in a heartbeat. Alas, that hasn't happened yet. Huntington Beach *sigh* all the way down toward San Diego *sigh again* are absolutely beautiful, so I loved all of the references to those and the beaches and waves. I also watched Chasing Mavericks not long before I read this, so I definitely was loving all of the Maverick references and surfing! I've never been to California but it's on my list of places to go and I cannot wait to see the West Coast. Cannot wait!

Poor Kellen. He lost his best friend surfing and the rest of the world is expecting him to be over it by now. It has only been six months and he does have obligations to fill, but give the guy a break! That being said...he is making some bad alcohol influenced choices going home with some nasty women...ick! He and Gina definitely do not want the same things so that was an interesting aspect of the story, because usually it is the guy who is being standoffish with the girls advances. We have a little bit of gender role reversal here, which is nice because guys can't always get what they want, too, ya know! 

Yes, it was nice to see a guy actually express his neediness and desire for once. But I hated to see him in pain and to feel so guilty for something that he had no control over. And then when he finally opens up to Gina and she bails on him...well I was no longer thrilled with her character. She does redeem herself and they are able to move forward but only after a seriously bad altercation between Gina and a scum-of-the earth jerk. 

My star rating was boosted because while this was a romantic story, it was much more about each of them dealing with their grief together than it was about steaming up the pages. For Gina's side of the story, we got teeny tidbits throughout and her losses were completely different yet so horrifying. Sorry, can't tell you why...but if I was in that situation I don't think I would have been able to deal quite as well as her! 

Yeah, Gina and Kellen both have some serious losses to overcome. I think that's why the work so well--they truly understand trying to live through (or just exist) through the emotional pain caused by loss and grief and guilt and blame.

Again, I definitely wanted more, more, more before the end...but for those of you who are looking for a stand alone novel, wrapped up by the end...here you go! I really enjoyed it! We always want more. Hahaha. This was a very enjoyable and quick read--another great summer beach read for sure!

Courtney: 5 Stars
Shelley: 4 Stars

WHAT WE'RE UP TO WEDNESDAY

What a week in reading and one clicking our bank accounts to death! There were some fantastic deals and great freebies over the weekend and I'm surprised we didn't break the one click button with the purchases we made. We have a lot of reading to look forward to, Courtney!

This week I found myself staying up until 1,2, and even 3 am while reading. It was great and exhausting and now my poor brain thinks that is the norm. When school starts back, I will probably go into shock. *Pouts* Our summer of leisure and staying up all night is nearing a close! Gah! Day jobs can suck it! Here are some of the things that kept me up this week:

The Game Changer by J. Sterling--the follow up to The Perfect Game--a sweet and quick ending to the story of Jack and Cassie. Then I was easily sucked in to This Man Confessed; I think this was the book that

kept me up until 3 am...I just could not stop. I had to know how it ended. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the books in this series and book 3 was not a disappointment--the epilogue was great. The book had all of the crazy control freak ways of Jesse, a stronger Ava, and all of the Brit humor that I adore about this series. Saving Wishes by G.J. Walker-Smith was up next and by the halfway mark I knew I would be up late, again!, because I just had to know what was going to happen. Courtney and I squeezed in a day for Losing Hope and after I had about a million sad moments in the first two chapters, I quickly zoomed through the rest of this companion novel. It was so well done and another great read. Maverick by Anna Cruise was something that Courtney recommended and I thoroughly enjoyed the story of our surfer boy, Kellen, and his PR girl, Gina. It's the perfect beach read--quick to read, highly enjoyable, and contains no cliffhangers! !!Perfect for those looking for that elusive stand alone novel!! Loved it! My final read, so far this week, was Fading by E.K. Blair. This novel was intense and emotional and gratifying. It's not a light, happy, funny read; it tackles some very serious emotional issues. I'm glad I picked it up and would recommend it to anyone who wants something with less steam and more depth. There will be 2 companion novels in this series and I look forward to reading those when they come out. 


In the upcoming week we have another boatload of good reads to tackle like: The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown, and the new Jessica Park one: Left Drowning...and I'm sure a bunch of other surprises along the way. I heart Jessica Park (Flat Out Love, anybody?) and looking at this cover...I am sensing some emotional angst! Can't. Wait.

So, one would think that since my book intake ratio is not equal to how quick I can read one that I too would quit buying more! But...with a long holiday weekend there were sssooooo many good deals. When our favorite blogs put together a list putting all those deals in one place, and my one-click trigger finger is happy....well....yeah, it was bad!!! Really, really, really bad! My husband would die of heart failure if he knew bad! *Points finger at Shelley* I blame her! Check out Maryse's Book Blog for some amazing lists! They are perfect...almost as bad as Rock Stars of Romance on my bank account! 

So..what I've been doing! That girl up there! Yeah, you..Shel..got me hooked on the This Man series by Jodi Ellen Malpas...I am already into 40% of the third book (Writing this Tuesday PM :P and I started the first book on Saturday! And they are looonnnggg! But me being the lover of details and more, more, more...this makes me excited! Book 3 is the longest yet...and yes, they're still behaving like psychos....not joking...so of course it is a trainwreck but I can't jump off! And that is sort of all I have been doing....I love series' that are 1) ALL already out! I may have missed the boat, but I can read one right after another without having to wait, and 2) I love being sucked into a world of crazy that defies logical reason and love finding out what happens next piece by piece.

(P.S. We may or may not be speaking in random British slang now...I almost used the word daft in conversation today. I've no idea where that came from, and totally love it. I did use tart in a review to describe this evil beotch.... :-D Bring on the British authors, babe...I need more! :D )