Book Review: Come Back to Me by Mila Gray.

Product details:
Publisher: Pan Macmillan.
eBook, 373 pages.
Release date: June 19th 2014.
Rating:  4 out of 5.
Ages: New Adult
Source: Received from author for review.

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.

Ever since the genre known nowadays as New Adult burst onto the scene not all that very long ago, it’s been a hit and miss affair for me. In all my New Adult reading I’ve had one major hit (Deeper by Robin York), a few major misses (those unnamed books that I could barely –and sometimes didn’t even- finish), but for the most part, I find New Adult to be a mostly okay but somewhat forgettable affair. Sure, I’ll enjoy a New Adult book while I’m reading it, but ask me a few weeks down the road what that book was all about, and chances it won’t have left all that much of an impression on me. I also find a lot of New Adult books are just too similar by far. Think of what Twilight didn’t do for YA when it spawned a million Twialikes with too-many-love-triangles-to-count (Twihards). Substitute those pesky love triangles for innocent good girls falling for heavily-tattooed-bad-boys who ride motorbikes and you’ll see a similar trend emerging in NA.

Thankfully, though it does contain some of those aforementioned NA mainstays, Come Back to Me is not one of those New Adult books.  Come Back to Me is the first New Adult offering from Sarah Alderson writing as Mila Gray. And you need to know that this is Sarah Alderson (she of Hunting Lila and Alex Wakeman –PHWOAR!-fame) because, with Sarah Alderson, you know you’re in good hands.  You can also pretty much guarantee that any guy you encounter in a Sarah Alderson novel will be off the scales hot, and any steamy scenes, will be, well, worth the wait.

And that’s just in her Young Adult novels.

Come Back to Me deals with a forbidden, conducted-in-secret, and therefore all-kinds-of-hot summer romance between just-turned-eighteen Jessa Kingsley and at-home-on-leave-Marine Kit Ryan. A couple years older than Jessa, Kit is hotter-than-hell and has a reputation as a love-them-and-leave-them type. He’s also best friends with Jessa’s over-protective older brother, Riley. Added to that, Jessa’s ever-strict dad (he allows Jessa to have a cell phone for emergencies only?!), hates Kit to the point where he doesn’t even like him calling over to the house. Chances are he’s not going to be all-too-happy about the fact that Kit is hooking up with his daughter every chance he gets. Right from the start Kit and Jessa have quite a number of obstacles thrown right in the path of their blossoming true love. And, true love it is, because while these two enjoy multiple hot hook-ups, this isn’t just a casual fling, it’s not something for them both to pass the time with before Jessa starts college and Kit returns to service. No, these two have admired each other from afar for years, and when they finally get together, well, sparks fly.

Come Back to Me is a joyful reading experience. There is something about Sarah Alderson’s writing that always hooks me from the get go. I read this one last weekend while the sun shone all day long, and I have to say that I loved every minute of it. It’s perfect summer reading. New Adult for me is pure escapism, and Come Back to Me is just like one of those comfort-blanket-Sunday-afternoon-Lifetime-movies that I find myself watching from time to time. You know: heavy on the romance, with a strong possibility of tears, and always, always, always a happy ever after. In terms of plot, Come Back to Me doesn’t offer anything very new or groundbreaking. What it does offer is an all-round pleasurable reading experience from the pen of an author who really knows how to tell a story –and how to write a hot guy. I always say that Alderson’s books read like movies, and this one is no exception.

Come Back to Me is undoubtedly a very romantic story, but there’s more to Kit and Jessa’s story than a simple romance against the odds.  Aspects of military lifestyle, the sacrifices made and the often long-lasting consequences of, are skillfully detailed in this book, as are the tragedies that are a heart-breaking fact of life for many military families day in, day out, the world over. So, this book isn’t all romance, it’s not all sweetness and light, but what it is, is a very good read, and definitely one to add to your summer reading list.

I hope this is the first in a very long New Adult writing career for Mila Gray.