Review: Dearest Clementine by Lex Martin
Twenty-year-old Clementine Avery doesn’t mind being called bitchy and closed off. It’s safe, and after being burned by her high school sweetheart and stalked by a professor her freshman year of college, safe sounds pretty damn good.
Her number one rule for survival? No dating. That is until she accidentally signs up for a romance writing class and needs material for her latest assignment. Sexy RA Gavin Murphy is more than happy to play the part of book boyfriend to help Clem find some inspiration, even if that means making out…in the name of research, of course.
As Gavin and Clem grow closer, they get entangled in the mystery surrounding a missing student, and Clem unwittingly becomes a possible target. Gavin tries to show Clem she can handle falling in love again, but she knows she has to be careful because her heart’s at stake…and maybe even her life.
DEAREST CLEMENTINE is a stand-alone novel with two companion novels. This New Adult romance is recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Review:
This was a quick read for me, but it’s because I couldn’t put it down! The characters are so enjoyable and there is so much going on throughout the story.
Clementine is a GREAT character…she is REAL. She’s tough and independent, but also a little soft with her insecurities. She’s been hurt…and gone through some pretty heavy stuff so she’s guarded, and neurotic and amazingly honest and upfront about it which is admirable. I LOVED that she is a writer, and I LOVE the dynamic between her and her friends, which is RARE for me…I usually DESPISE the best friends! But they all click and mess well in their roles without taking it a step too far and being over-bearing in a cliché’ trope.
Clementine is a GREAT character…she is REAL. She’s tough and independent, but also a little soft with her insecurities. She’s been hurt…and gone through some pretty heavy stuff so she’s guarded, and neurotic and amazingly honest and upfront about it which is admirable. I LOVED that she is a writer, and I LOVE the dynamic between her and her friends, which is RARE for me…I usually DESPISE the best friends! But they all click and mess well in their roles without taking it a step too far and being over-bearing in a cliché’ trope.
“Did you just use peer pressure as a verb?”
“God, you make me hot when you talk grammar.”
“The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.” I try not to laugh. Oh my God. He’s a geek who jokes about verb tenses.
“I think I've been waiting for the big gesture, the one where the guy stands in the rain and declares his love or makes some scene at a football game that ends with the crowd doing the slow clap. It's official. Romantic comedies have ruined me.”
Gavin Murphy is just too good to be true, obviously. He’s got humor and heart, he’s a gentleman. He’s tall and dark, with green eyes?! MY KRYPTONITE!! He has patience with Clementine, and such a staggering way he goes about being around her. He seems at ease with her, and knows how to do all those little things that can make girls insides turn to mush without seeming cocky or arrogant.
“I'm tired of being so closed off. It hasn't made me any stronger or braver. It hasn't imparted any wisdom or comfort. It has just made me lonely.”
“I want to warn you. I'm going to kiss you, and you're going to like it. A lot.”
“I’m seriously attracted to you, and I know you need to take things slowly, and I don’t want to screw this up, whatever this is, so that’s why I’m walking you home and stopping on your front steps. Because I want to be a gentleman.”
I love how their relationship develops, they have this friendship writer-bond thing going on, and I love the ruse of “inspiration” that brings them closer and closer and closer. I love how affectionate Gavin is with Clem; he has no shame in staking claim with pet names or subtle touches and it is so incredibly sweet.
The conflict was there, but not nearly as intense as I was expecting which was REALLY GREAT as a reader, because honestly this book has a lot going on.
The conflict was there, but not nearly as intense as I was expecting which was REALLY GREAT as a reader, because honestly this book has a lot going on.
This is why I didn’t give this book a full 5 stars…there was just so much to keep track of that I felt some issues got lost. Clementine has issues with her parents and the lifestyle they live and the types of parents they chose to be, so she’s more or less trying to muddle through on her own. She has also gone through a rough breakup, and the ex comes into play. She also has to deal with the emotional stress of having a professor turn stalker the year prior, and all of the mental health fallout from that. It’s almost a mild suspense/mystery mixed in with the romance of it all. Which is fine, but there we’re just to many factors at play, and some outshone others, leaving me with questions, and wondering why those hurdles were included at all. It just took away from the meat of the story and made it feel a little water logged.
Its has a quick wrap up after the climax and I wish I got a little more of their happy ending, but an epilogue from Gavin was a great closer for me! Overall I was really impressed, because nowadays finding good NA are not always easy. It was fresh and real, and I’d love to read more by Lex!
For an excerpt go here: http://lexmartinwrites.com/my-books/
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