One Night by A.J. Pine (Only You #1)
Released: April 21, 2015
New Adult
Intermix
Reviewed by Mandi
Blurb: Twenty-one-year-old Jess used to have everything—a loyal best friend, a boyfriend she loved, and a future that was right on track. But in a single night, her whole world changed.
Now, Jess lives for the impersonal connection of drunken hook-ups and to-go coffee cups in the morning. All she needs is one night to pretend everything is fine…until she meets Adam.
Thanks to a sports injury, gorgeous, charming basketball star Adam Carson is stuck in physical therapy at the hospital where Jess interns—giving her the perfect opportunity to see his sweet, considerate nature and making her realize that maybe she does want something more.
But while Adam might be the best thing that’s happened to Jess in a long time, letting him past her carefully constructed walls means letting him know what happened…and why he’d never want her for more than one night.
Deny, deny, deny. That is pretty much the theme with the heroine, Jess in this book. She is in big denial about something that happened with her ex-boyfriend a year ago and she can’t face the future with another romantic committment. Instead she brings home random men to hold her in her bed at night, to keep the demons and nightmares away. Jess is a successful medical student on her way to get her doctorate in physical therapy. She is a new intern at the hospital, and her first patient is the sexy basketball star, Adam. With a hurt knee, Jess tests out her medical knowledge – and Adam puts on his charm and flirtation. They start a friendship, as Adam starts to pursue her. But Jess pushes back.
As I mentioned, Jess has issues. The reader knows that she had a very bad break-up with her ex, he basically abandoned her and is now dating her former best friend. You know there is probably something bigger to this break-up but Jess and the author are tight-lipped. Jess has extreme anxiety whenever Adam pushes her for something more. She is very fragile. Because we don’t know the extent of what happened between Jess and her ex, it’s hard to understand her pain and why she is so defensive. I wanted to feel for her, but she is hard to like. She is selfish – and while she fully admits this, that doesn’t mean that is a free pass for me to like her. I think her secret is held on to for way too long in the book.
I enjoyed her roommate, Zoe much more. Zoe calls Jess out on her stuff. She warns Jess to not lead Adam on, knowing Jess wants a companion, but not necessarily romance. She is a mystery, but a fun mystery. I appreciated her relationship with Jess. I found Jess was more honest with Zoe than she was with Adam. Although Jess still pushed Zoe away a bit, their relationship felt more real.
And then onto Adam. He is such a good guy with the patience of a saint. He tried his best to understand and to be there for Jess, even though she would never tell him what was truly going on. I liked him a lot.
This author has a nice voice and with a different heroine, I would have enjoyed this story much more. Jess was just too exhausting.
Grade: C
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