4.5 stars“What if I ask you to give me everything Shaw, what if I want it all? Won’t that make me just like the rest of them?”
“No because you don’t have to ask for anything, all of it is already yours. You’re the only one I ever wanted to give it to.”
What a beautiful, heartwarming and incredible read! I loved every second of it.
Casting:
Rule
Shaw
Shaw has always had a thing for Rule, in fact, since the second she laid eyes on him, she’s know he was the one for her. Shaw knows that they couldn’t have been more different; he’s a bad boy covered in tattoos, piercings and has a wild attitude and she’s a rich, straight A pre-med student. But the heart wants what the heart wants.
Rule hasn’t given Shaw–his dead brother’s girlfriend– a time of day and won’t start any time soon. She’s a straight-laced princess and he just doesn’t live by those rules.
"I know who and what I am, Shaw, and I don’t make any apologies for it.”
But everything changes one drunken night…
One of my absolute favorite things about this book was how realistic it was. Nothing was overdone or dramatic and it made me connect to the story right from the beginning.
Shaw was a great character. She was very strong and independent yet vulnerable at the same time. I liked that she always threw things back at Rule. She didn’t cower in fear at what he threw at her but instead, met him head on and put him in his place.
I also respected that she didn’t try to hide Rule because of how different he was, but was proud that they were together. It was a nice change from the predicable ‘lets sneak around because you aren’t accepted in my social circles’ crap.
I know deep down he’s a good guy, he just buries it under so much bullshit it can me hard to find.
It was also really entertaining to see Rule get over all his preconceived notions of Shaw. He thought she was a stuck-up princess and she proved him completely wrong.
Rule had imperfections that made him a very interesting character.
I wallowed in superficial relationships so no one could get close to me, no one could judge me and find me lacking. I sought out girls that were easy, that had zero expectation beyond what I offered, a good time and a few mindless minutes of release but I never had a girlfriend, never let anyone all the way in because I was scared I wouldn't be good enough once they got down to the core of who I was.
I loved that when he made mistakes, he owned up to them and tried to find ways to work past them. Aside from that, he also grew as a person. He accepted love into his life instead of trying to live alone forever.
Rule was complicated, he was brash, mouthy, careless, thoughtless, and often cranky and generally an insufferable pain in the ass but when he chose to be he was also charming and funny, artistically brilliant and more than not the most interesting person in the room and I had been head over heels in love with both sides of him since I was thirteen years old.
Throughout Rule we learn a lot about both, Shaw and Rule’s, past. Shaw comes from cold, status and money- hungry parents that didn’t care about anything except what she could bring to the family.
Rule had a loving family but always felt like the odd one out. With brothers who always met their parents’ expectations, he didn’t know where he fit in.
There was always a little part of him that just wanted his parents approval, that wanted to stop being beaten down because of who he chose to be.
“I need to know you’re at the end of the tunnel when everything goes black.”
Once Shaw and Rule’s relationship started, I was ecstatic. Despite all their differences, they fit so well together. They had their fights and disagreements like all couples but for the most part, they were a great team. Shaw helped him see that he didn’t need to be alone and that sometimes,
Everything started out slowly and they just let things unfold at their own pace but their love was beautiful and passionate.
When they could finally admit to themselves that this was the real deal, everything fell into place perfectly. They were made for each other.
“She has always thought that you were worthy and in need of love even when you did your absolute best to convince the rest of the world that you weren’t interested in being loved.”
Now, one of the biggest problems I had was the editing. Everybody had been commenting on it, but I’m not one to nitpick so I thought ‘if it’s a good story I’ll barely even notice the mistakes’. Wrong. There was an excessive amount of errors. And it wasn’t a little in the beginning or a little towards the end. It was sprinkled throughout the whole entire book. It was practically painful seeing the lack of editing.
The lack of correct grammar and spelling are, however, my only complaints. Everything else was absolutely amazing.
Favorite quote:
"Here's my heart Shaw. You have it in your hands and I promise you're the first and last person to ever touch it. You need to be careful with it because it's far more fragile than I ever thought and if you try and give it back I'm not taking it."
