Sunday, June 8, 2014

Review Only: You Make Me by Erin McCarthy




The guy she wants…

Growing up on the coast of Maine with a revolving door of foster siblings, Caitlyn Michaud spent one intense and passionate year falling in love with her foster brother, Heath. Then he left without a word. The betrayal devastated Caitlyn and made her vow to forget the compelling bad boy. But forgetting his sensual touch and their deep all-consuming friendship is easier said than done.

Isn’t the guy she needs…

Determined to move on, in college Caitlyn has risen above her small town impoverished roots and has joined a sorority, reinvented her appearance, and landed the right boyfriend. Pre-law major and frat president, Ethan, is thoughtful and always laughing, and he makes her feel happy, calm. He also gives her the social acceptance she craves. 

But the perfect world she tried so hard to attain is ripped apart when Heath appears one night out of nowhere. Caitlyn remembers all the reasons why she loves him, even if they don’t make sense to anyone but her. Out of the military, Heath is as brooding and intense as ever, and he is determined not only to win her back, but to exact revenge on everyone who kept him from her…

And when one love allows her to breathe, but the other feels as essential to her life as air, how does she choose between them?






Who do you become when you’ve lost sight of who you are?
I read this book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down and I had to finish it! It was well written and had great character development. Everything they went through was believable and realistic. The yearning, love, confusion, excitement, resentment, understanding, and jealousy. I think that You Make Me had just about every emotion. The entire story is told from Caitlyn's POV. There is a love triangle but no actual cheating.
Heath said he would never leave me. He promised that nothing, no one, would ever come between us. Yet they were promises that were broken. And lies he told me.
Caitlyn appears to have it all together. She is a successful student, VP of her sorority, and has the campus' most desired man as her loving devoted boyfriend, Ethan. But none of the people know that Cat is hiding who she really is. How she really grew up. Where she comes from. Who she used to be.
On the night Ethan gets down on one knee in front of all of their friends, she is the happiest women in the world, but then she sees Heath over Ethan's shoulder and everything starts to fall apart. She was finally happy - or she thought she was.
I was starting to feel the way I did when he piled the blankets high on top of us in his bed- weighted down. Smothered... I could feel the tension growing, spreading, and I waited, trying not to wince, for the windshield to shatter and us to have a huge fight.
She was in love with two men. And both men were in love with her. One was safe and the 'smart' choice and the other was volatile and passionate. They both have their attributes and faults but each one knows a different Caitlyn/Cat. With one man, she can be herself and she doesn't have to hide anything because he already knows all of her stories. The other, she is guarded and feels as if she needs to hide who she really is. When she is with Ethan, all she wants is Ethan. When she is with Heath, all she wants is Heath. She needs to make a choice. Ethan is standing there waiting for her and Heath came back for her. What will she do? Who will she choose?
"... I came for you, you know. It’s the only reason I’m here.”
It was the right answer. But I wouldn’t have expected it to be as painful as it was. It hit me like a fist in my chest, leaving me breathless. I suddenly wanted to cry. It wasn’t fair that he was there and yet I couldn’t have him. Because there was no question that I wanted him. I had always wanted him. I didn’t remember time before wanting him. But I wanted Ethan too...
 
I love to read a good love triangle and this book did not disappoint! I am completely team Heath! He is just so yummy and sexy and ruff around the edges! I look forward to reading the next book in the series!

5 stars




Erin McCarthy wove an intricate story of a young love, filled with heartbreak, longing and misunderstandings that drew you into the plot and made you yearn for a happily ever after.  I would give this book 4 stars and suggest that you read it for yourself! 

Cat fell deeply in love at a young age after a chance circumstance brought Heath into her life.  A love so deep for her that it withstood years apart and even though she moved on, never really left the depths of her heart, even after not seeing him for four years and never understanding the reasons why he left her without a goodbye or an explanation.  A now junior in college, she became the girl she thought she should be, sophisticated, classy, agreeable Caitlyn, a girl looking for a stable, safe future that she believed she found in the arms of Ethan.  It's not until Heath reappears in her life at the most inopportune moment, that the life she created for herself begins to crumble, making her question everything that she has done since Heath left their home.  I didn't want to like Heath at first, because I felt for Cat, she lost the love of her life at a young age and struggled to put it behind her and moved on with her life.  I thought how was it fair that he came back and expected her to fall into his arms without question.  But once the truths of the earlier years begin to emerge and the author gives you glimpses of their life together on the island, that you start to root for him and Cat to be together.  I did feel bad for Ethan, he wasn't by any means a bad guy at all, he just fell for the image of a girl that Cat never really was.

I did have one issue with the plot of the book.  I felt the building of what was coming and turned every page to find out who she would choose, who she would want to be with forever.  But the end wrapped up to quickly for me, it almost felt a little rushed and then it was over and I was left wondering.  Even with that being said, I would recommend this book to other to read.

One of my favorite lines:
Heath~ "You're vulnerable. I could take you, but then I would own you because I made it happen. And what I love that most about you is your spirit, your independence. Your will. Taking you would be like trying to grab a wave and hold onto it...it's impossible."







USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy sold her first book in 2002 and has since written almost fifty novels and novellas in teen fiction, new adult, and adult romance. Erin has a special weakness for New Orleans, tattoos, high-heeled boots, beaches and martinis. She lives in Ohio with her family, two grumpy cats and a socially awkward dog.