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Review: Come Back to Me by Mila Gray

25 Jun 2014

Come Back to Me
by Mila Gray
Publisher: Pan Macmillan   
Release Date: June 19th, 2014  
Format: e-ARC 

 "Home on leave in sunny California, Marine and local lothario Kit Ryan finds himself dangerously drawn to his best friend's sister, Jessa - the one girl he can't have. 

 But Kit's not about to let a few obstacles stand in his way and soon Jessa's falling for his irresistible charms.

 What starts out as a summer romance of secret hook-ups and magical first times quickly develops into a passionate love affair that turns both their worlds upside down.

 When summer's over and it's time for Kit to redeploy, neither Kit nor Jessa are ready to say goodbye. Jessa's finally following her dreams and Kit's discovered there's someone he'd sacrifice everything for. 

 Jessa's prepared to wait for Kit no matter what. But when something more than distance and time rips them apart they're forced to decide whether what they have is really worth fighting for.

 A breathtaking, scorchingly hot story about love, friendship, family and finding your way back from the edge of heartbreak.


I’ve been a bit iffy about NA books lately, mainly because the majority of new ones are attempted carbon copies of the original titles released during the New Adult fever back in 2012. Once upon a time, I loved books about college students finding love, partying, and ultimately throughout their college life, discover who they truly want to be and what they want to do with their life but nowadays I feel that NA books have lost their purpose. The more recent ones I read went something along the lines of “Girl-meets-guy. Lust. Sex. Talk. Sex again. Drama. Sex again. Break up. Get back together andddd Sex again.” Basically I feel that just because the original ones had a few sex scenes, newer NA books are attempting to replicate this….by adding unnecessary sex scenes to spice up the story.  Obviously there are readers out there who enjoy this kind of plot, but for me? No…just no. 

It’s become increasingly difficult for me to find a decent NA book, and honestly, I’ve stopped searching. Come Back to Me is written by one of my most respected and adored authors of all time, so even though I was still dubious about the new NA titles, I jumped at the chance to read her newly released NA book because I had no doubt she would blow me away. Unfortunately….I was wrong.

Mila Gray (Sarah Alderson) remains one of my favourite authors, and I do love her writing style, but Come Back to Me did not stand out like I expected it to. Only the last quarter had substance and was worth reading, but the other ¾? A waste of my time. It followed the formula that I mentioned above, but in this case the guy and girl have known each other for years. As soon as they kissed for the first time, I suspected the story would spiral downhill from there.

And I was correct. For the first ¾, it was mainly Jessa and Kit making out anywhere and everywhere while hiding from Jessa’s overly protective brother and dad. Yeah…I don’t appreciate having to read 300 + pages of two people making out and/or having sex. There are better things to do in life.

Come Back to Me had the potential to be a fantastic book as Jessa learned to chase after her dreams, but if only the author didn’t make the book centre entirely on the romance! Jessa grew up around a man who was violent, with an uncontrollable temper. Everyday she would walk on eggshells around her father and scurry for shelter at the slightest indication of rage or annoyance on her father’s face.  Her whole life, she’s been submissive and acted the role of a “good daughter”, letting her father dictate her life and never once did she contradict him. However, the only time she can forget about her life, her fears, just everything, is when she’s on stage and acting. Chasing her dream to be an actress could have played a pivotal role in the story, and with Jessa and Kit’s developing romance intertwined, I think I would’ve liked it a lot more. Instead, Jessa’s dream to be an actress wasn’t even important enough to be labeled a “subplot”; it was simply thrown in there a few times, whenever the two weren’t making out.

Having said all that, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fall for Kit. He was charming, passionate, extremely swoon-worthy – basically my kind of guy. I did like him as a character, but it’s just a shame the book wasn’t my kind of book.


I personally won’t recommend this to anyone who wants to read a decent, well-structured, well-written and well-thought-out NA book but I suppose if you’re simply looking for a book with lots and lots of kissing and sex, then this is for you. I don’t think I’ll be back for more of Mila Gray’s NA books, but I will continue reading Sarah Alderson’s YA titles J
A massive thank you to Mila Gray for providing a copy of Come Back to Me for review! 


7 comments:

  1. I'm sorry that this book didn't work for you Shirley. I have always struggled with NA books too, I think the only one that I really really loved before this one was Laura Buzo's Holier Than Thou, so I definitely encourage you to give that book a try if you haven't already done so. Kit definitely won me over in this book too, Sarah certainly knows how to create swoon worthy guys! Fab review!

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  2. I'm wondering where all the good NA books have gone, too, because I know I've read some pretty decent ones, like Pushing the Limits and Dare You To by Katie McGarry, and then The Sea of Traquility by Katja Millay. Now it seems like everything's all bad boys and drama and instalove and ughhh, it's so frustrating! Disappointed that this book fell into that category, as well. :(

    I don't really have a problem with excessive kissing, but when it dominates the plot like this? Yeah... nope. And this sounds like your typical, cliche NA. Honestly, I was expecting better from Sarah Alderson as well, even though I haven't read anything by her yet (Hunting Lila sounds amazing, though).

    Sorry this didn't work out for you, Shirley, but I doubt I would've liked it much, too. Definitely staying far away from this book! Fab review as always :D

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  3. Oh such a shame, it sounds like this is pretty much a standard run of the mill college sex book that NA seems to have become. I do find the genre refreshing at times, but it sounds like most of it is just frustrating. Lovely review Shirley!

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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  4. Shirley - it's a shame that this fell so flat for you! :( I haven't read very much NA either - for the same reason you have; there's just really not much room for branching out in the genre, and most NA books tend to feel like they're carbon copies of other NA books. It's a shame that this felt so run-of-the-mill for you! :(

    I think this sounds like it would be too bombarded with romance for my tastes, so I think I'll give it a miss! Thanks for sharing, and, as always, BRILLIANT review! <3

    ~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf

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  5. I've enjoyed Sarah's YA books so I'm still willing to give this a try, but I do wonder if it'll work for me. I'm generally not a fan excessive sex and kissing, and I can only think of a few NA titles that have actually been enjoyable to read. It's good to know what to expect though, so thanks for the honest thoughts! Lovely review, Shirley. :)

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  6. I've never read a book by this author before, and I'm not a huge fan of over-sexualised NA books. Just...blergh! It sucks that one of your go to authors didn't manage to impress because of this factor. Of course, I don't mind the occasional steamy scene but when a good portion of the book is based around it, then no thank you. Definitely agree with you - we have better things to do and read! Lovely review xx

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  7. It sucks that you didn’t enjoy this book even though you love the author. I also get very sick State of Origin Tickets of the NA storyline that always seems the same. It just gets old fast doesn’t it. I liked the synopsis for this book but after reading State of Origin 2016 Tickets your review I know I’d hate it. Thanks for saving me from getting a book I wouldn’t like!

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