Publication date: June 6th 2013
by Sapphire Star Publishing
Genre: New Adult Romance
Synopsis:
Long- Gracie has just finished her freshman year of college in Memphis when she takes a job at a local pizza joint in her home town of McKenzie, Tennessee. She is the epitome of innocence when she meets Noah. Noah is unabashedly handsome, intriguingly reckless and just cocky enough to be sexy. Gracie’s instincts tell her to stay far away from him and based on the stories she hears from her co-workers he leaves broken hearts in his wake. But still, she can’t explain her fascination with him.
Noah puts aside his bad boy ways when what he thought was a summer crush has him unexpectedly falling in love. But soon after Gracie transfers to UT Knoxville to be with Noah, their unexpected love becomes riddled with anger, deceit and humiliation.
Jake, Noah’s former roommate and Gracie’s best friend, can no longer be a bystander. Gracie’s world falls out from beneath her and when she breaks she turns to Jake for strength. As Jake talks her through a decision she’s not yet strong enough to make, together they uncover a truth so ugly neither of them is prepared for its fallout. Will Jake pull her to the surface or is Gracie Jordan finally In Too Deep?
In too Deep is such an emotional book. It deals with some pretty tough and serious topics, but man oh man does it do so in such a phenomenal way. I completely fell in love with this book. Gracie came to life for me almost instantly. And even though there were a few times I wanted to shake her, she was stronger than even I gave her credit for. I really loved reading her story. It was beautiful, in a raw and very very real way.
Unfortunately, the story that Gracie goes through is an all too common one. We got to see first hand the struggle that she faced with Noah. On one hand, she didn’t want to let him hurt her anymore and she saw that maybe he wasn’t as changed and reformed as she thought he was, but on the other hand she does love him and he does always say all the right things to make her want to give him. A few times throughout the book, I even caught myself wanting to believe him, and I was completely surprised. I think that is a testament to Michelle Kemper Brownlow’s amazing writing more than anything else, because normally I would say kick him to the curb and don’t look back. But that is the wonderful thing about In too Deep. It kind of grays and blurs all of the lines. You feel like you are in Gracie’s shoes and at times you are just as confused about what she should do as she is. She really surprised me with her strength. At first, I pegged her to be kind of a weakling. One of those girls that guys could easily mold and oppress, but then you get to know her and you can see that is not who she is at all. Sure, there were times when I wanted to slap some sense into her and times where I just couldn’t stand the decisions she made, but it just made her a more three dimensional character. And we got to see her thought process throughout everything, which just makes you fall in love with her even more. I loved how personal the writing seemed.
I think you can see it coming that I love Jake. He is just sweet and dependable and totally nice. I just want to hug him and smell him. (is that weird?) Gracie deserves someone nice like him. In Too Deep is an emotional journey that I wasn’t expecting to be so incredible. I expected to like the book, even love it, but I didn’t expect to be as touched as I was by it. This book really spoke to me because it seemed so real. I could just picture this happening at any university, with any group of people. I loved how gritty and real In too Deep was. This is a book that I would confidently recommend to any fan of contemporary, realistic fiction, young adult, new adult, romance…I think you get the idea.
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| 4/5 Gavels |
Michelle Kemper Brownlow has been a storyteller her entire life. Her debut was on the high school cheerleading bus granting requests to re-tell her most embarrassing moments for a gaggle of hysterical squadmates.
Earning her Bachelor’s degree from Penn State University in Art Education and then marrying her very own “Jake,” she moved to Binghamton, NY where she taught high school. After having two children she quit work and finished her Master’s degree in Elementary Education at Binghamton University.
The Brownlow family of four moved to Michelle’s hometown of Morgantown, PA while the children were still quite young. A few years after moving, her family grew by one when they welcomed a baby into their home through the gift of adoption. The family still resides in PA, just miles from where that high school cheer bus was parked.
Michelle has been an artist for as long as she can remember, always choosing pencils and crayons over toys and puzzles. As a freelance illustrator, her simple characters play the starring roles in numerous emergent reader books published by Reading Reading Books.
“Writing is my way of making sense of the world. When I give my characters life on the pages I write, it frees up space in my mind to welcome in new stories that are begging to be told,” says Brownlow
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read IN TOO DEEP and write this beautiful review!I really LOVED your take on the book! Hope I can WOW you with the sequel as well! 🙂