Concupiscent Bibliophile: Only for You by Genna Rulon- Book Tour and Enthusiastic Review!

Title: Only for You (For You #1)

Author: Genna Rulon

Genre: New Adult

Publication Date: September 24, 2013

Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.

Synopsis

“In its purest form love is self-sacrificing, eternal, selfless, enduring, truthful, forgiving and indulgent. It also feels an awful lot like a kick to the stomach when you try to fight it!“

All Everleigh Carsen wanted to do was complete her final semester at Hensley University and begin the life she carefully planned.
When a wave of violent crime seizes campus, Everleigh is persuaded to attend a school sponsored self-defense seminar by her best friend, where she meets volunteer instructor, Hunter Charles. After Everleigh’s biting sarcasm induces Hunter to eject her from class, a tempestuous relationship is born.
Everleigh is determined to forget the striking man, but fate–that fickle shrew–continuously intervenes. Unable to escape him, she declares Hunter an enemy combatant. The only complication… Hunter is resolutely pursuing vindication…by any means necessary. Verbal warfare ensues, and despite Everleigh’s ingenious efforts, in Hunter, she has finally found her equal.
Only For You is a compelling tale of friendship, desire, and redemption--brimming with intelligent characters, witty dialogue, unexpected twists, profound sorrow, unfettered hope, and love’s unassailable perseverance.

Note: Although this is series, each novel can be read as a stand alone.

My Review:

Only For You by Genna Rulon
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Who loves a ton of sexual tension and witty banter? I do! I do! This book was a very pleasant surprise for me in several ways. In reading the description I expected to like it, but I didn't expect to love it.

Everleigh Carson is in her final semester of college and looking forward to graduating. There have been a string of attacks, and then murders of women on campus and as a result the school is offering free self-defense classes until the attacker is identified and caught. Hunter Charles is the very sexy self-defense instructor and Ev attends the class at the insistence of her roommate. Hunter ends up kicking her out of class for making a snarky comment and being disruptive. She soon finds that Hunter is in a couple of her classes, and despite her irritation with him after he shamed her in class, he has a wit that matches her own. They quickly become close friends, and despite their obviously strong chemistry Hunter makes it clear that he is not capable of more than friendship. Underlying the growing friendship and sexual tension are more and more attacks on women at the college and a more urgent need than ever to find and stop the attacker.

Everleigh is a wonderful character, and I enjoyed experiencing the story through her perspective. She is a strong, confident, smart, and hilarious woman. I adore her friendship with her best friend and roommate Sam. Their dynamic and loyalty to one another is fierce and shows what components are most important in a friendship. Hunter is pretty incredible, and while it is frustrating to see him holding himself back despite his feelings for Ev, it is rewarding to see him be such a strong and supportive friend. Plus he's hot. Like wicked hot. And his chemistry with Everleigh practically gave me the vapors.

One of the things I absolutely loved about this book was the way the culture of violence was addressed by the characters. A couple of really important points were made throughout the book that I really love seeing made in this context. The idea that bystanders play an important role in violence thriving is huge- and it was nice to see that concept addressed directly. Those who witness acts of overt or covert violence, but stand by silently are part of the problem and I thought the author demonstrated that concept in a wonderful way. I also like how through different characters the author shows what the challenges, benefits, and consequences of not reporting a violent act are. She helps the reader understand how and why reporting an abusive incident can be challenging, but also why it is important.

The author also addressed how women have a different experience in life when it comes to being afraid and needing to be mindful of one's safety than men do. Obviously in a time where women are being singled out and attacked there would be more of a hyper-vigilance necessary, but the idea that in general women experience a certain level of fear and the resulting caution on a daily basis was handled thoughtfully.

I am so glad that I read this book! I was very invested in the characters and I'm super excited to read more by this author in the future. I was pretty close to giving this one a 5. I'd say 75% of the book was a total 5, but then the last quarter of the book was just a strong 4 (which for me means still quite awesome). Overall 4.5.

*a copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review

Oh yeah- you are definitely going to want to go and check out the chapters from Hunter's POV- which can be found on Genna Roulon's blog here: Hunter's POV

About the Author

Genna Rulon is an up and coming contemporary romance author.

During her 15 years in the corporate world, Genna, inspired by her love of reading, fantasized about penning her own stories. Encouraged by her favorite authors, many of whom are indie writers and self-published, she committed to pursuing her aspirations of writing her own novels.

Genna was raised in Long Island, New York, where she still resides, surrounded by the most amazing family and friends. Married to a wonderful man, who patiently tolerates her ramblings about whichever book she is currently working on, even feigning interest relatively convincingly! Genna is blessed with two little boys who do their best to thwart mommy’s writing time with their hilarious antics and charming extrapolations.