Stir Me Up by Sabrina Elkins
Kindle Edition, 268 pages
Published October 1st 2013 by HarlequinTEEN
Age Group: New Adult
Source: eARC from Publisher
Summary:
Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She’ll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father’s French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami’s family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.
Julian’s all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami’s starting to feel. And Cami can’t stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He’s got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated….
Stir Me Up turned out to be a pleasant surprise. When I started reading Stir Me Up I was a little skeptical that I would grow to love Julian. He was just so rude to everyone, and he took longer to grow on me than most main chracters, but I ended up LOVING him, so it all worked out. Once I started liking him, the book became so much more intriguing and interesting for me. Stir Me Up turned out to be a really nice love story.
I really loved Cami. She is sweet, but she has a little temper on her. I liked the combination of nice thoughtful Cami having a feisty side. And Julian seemed to bring out the feistiness in her even more. Food was flying all over the place in this book. Cami wants to be a chef so she is always experimenting with recipes. Her father is a french chef and he was so hard on Cami. He wasn’t very open with her and even though you could tell that he loved her, he wouldn’t compliment her food. He wasn’t very encouraging of her passion and I just felt bad for her. Julian wasn’t very nice to her either for a good portion of the story, and while Estella was always nice to Cami, she seemed to blame Cami for all of the fights between her and Julian, which I didn’t think seemed fair. I know that Julian had it very rough overseas and that he lost a leg and was having a tough time recovering but he was just mean sometimes. But like I said, he eventually comes around and Cami really gets to know him. That’s when the magic of Stir Me Up starts to happen. With Cami and Julian. They are electric together.
I think I would have liked Julian more if I had been able to get inside his head. At a few points in the story, I kept thinking that I would have enjoyed seeing his point of view as well. Cami tells the whole story, but I think I would have understood Julian much better, and much sooner, if I saw his view as well. I loved Julian’s plan at the end of the story. Cami graduated from high school and she was deciding what she was going to be doing for the next year, and so was Julian, but he didn’t want either of them to share their plans with the other person. He wanted them each to do what was best for them. And what they each decided to do was my favorite part of the book. It was just so sweet!
Stir Me Up turned out to be a great romance. I enjoyed seeing Cami and Julian help each other become better people. They just accepted each other and each grew in the process. Stir Me Up is a book that took some warming up for me, but once I really got into it, it became a great story.
SABRINA ELKINS, author of STIR ME UP, has also worked as a journalist, movie copywriter and prep cook. She grew up in Vermont, graduated from USC, and now lives in Southern California with her husband and three kids.
Sabrina loves hearing from fans and encourages you to visit her website, sabrinaelkins.com, and find her on Twitter @sabrina_elkins,Facebook, and at Goodreads.
Joyous Reads
I love me a soldier boy! 🙂 This book sounds fun even with your initial problem with Julian. Thanks for the honesty!
kimbacaffeinate
I really wish this was dual pov’s, I am really addicted to those of late, it helps me relate especially to the bad boys!
Candace
It sounds like this would benefit from switching back and forth between the POV’s. I don’t think I’ve heard much about this but it’s good to hear that Julian shapes up and grows on you!
Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings
I know what you mean about dual narratives. I find that I am always wanting them.
Tonya Henderson
I always go back and forth on the dual POV. But usually, I prefer both. 🙂
This one sounds really cute and sweet though.
Great review 🙂