Like Candy by Debra Doxer Pages: 299
Published by Createspace Independent Pub on July 28, 2015
Series: Candy #1
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, contemporary, Suspense
Source: eARC from Author
Revenge is sweet, just like candy.
Candy Seaborne knows she’s badass. She takes after her father, an assassin and possibly a spy, although he won’t admit to either. She idolizes him. Her dream is to follow in his footsteps. But first, she has to finish high school.
Biding her time, waiting for real life to begin, Candy craves drama and isn’t above manufacturing some. If you’re a classmate who wronged her or a boyfriend who cheated, watch your back. She’s no pushover, and revenge may be her favorite pastime.
Jonah Bryson is the senior class heartthrob who breaks all the stereotypes. He’s a jock, but he isn’t the typical player. He’s moody and antisocial. No girl has gotten anywhere with him since his last girlfriend broke his heart.
Candy sees Jonah as a challenge and the perfect distraction. But she may be in over her head because unlike everyone else, Jonah isn’t buying her tough act. He sees the lost, lonely girl inside. He sees too much. When he looks at her that way, she wants to let her guard down and be vulnerable. But that’s the last thing she should do because her father’s world is spilling over into hers, and life is about to get real much sooner than Candy expected
I loved Like Candy! I have read Debra Doxer’s other books, and I really enjoyed them as well, so I expected to read a solidly good book with Like Candy. But revenge is normally not an instant love plot point for me, so I was unsure how much I was going to love this book. I know you are thinking, then why did you read it Michelle? Well, I will tell you. Debra’s writing is really great, and her last books were so powerful and wonderful that I just couldn’t pass this one up. And boy oh boy am I glad that I didn’t miss it. Because I think Like Candy is one of my top picks of 2015 so far! I loved that it was age appropriate for the young adult genre in the romance department, and I loved Candy and Jonah. That end though! Debra is clearly trying to kill me.
The summary for Like Candy makes revenge out to be a central theme of the story, but I didn’t really think it was. And that was totally fine with me. I thought when Candy moved back to her high school that she was going to have some grand scheme to get revenge on everyone (or certain people) but the story didn’t unfold that way at all. And I was really happy about that. Sure, there were revenge pranks pulled and one was even pretty serious, but they were sprinkled far apart in the story. The really focus was on Candy and Jonah. And what a focus they were. I loved that Jonah seemed to instantly see beyond the image that Candy was projecting for the world.
I need the second book so desperately because there are so many unanswered questions that I have now. And honestly for the first 3/4ths of the book, I didn’t even think I was going to have unanswered questions. Everything was progressing great, but then I started to see hints of another layer, and bam the end of the book happened (really the last 1/4th of the book) and I was left with my mouth agape. Those last few chapters put so much into question for me, and I was left going back through the story, trying to gather more hints. But all it did was bring up for unknowns. I need the next book, because I cannot wait to see where this story is going to go next.
Debra Doxer write really great characters, and really great stories that draw the reader in and doesn’t let go. I just love losing myself in her books. And the romance is wonderful in Like Candy too. If you have not read any of Debra’s books, you really should!
Like Candy by @DebraDoxer is one of @BookBriefs top picks for 2015! (so far) Check out her #review (& GC #Giveaway) to find out why Click To Tweet
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
kindlemom1
Glad you loved this one! It was a fun and different read for sure. I can’t wait to read book two, the ending was killer (no pun intended!). 😛
Giselle
Great review, Michelle! This sounds like a good read and realistic, too. I love it when you have a love interest that can see underneath the facade the characters put on. Jonah sounds like a great character overall!
Stormi
This sounds like an interesting read, it’s going on my list. 🙂 Great review!
Lekeisha
Gah! That ending killed me. I need the next book right now. Great review!
Yunnuen Glez
Michelle, thanks for this amazin giveaway! Love your review! 🙂