Anyone But Him by Cassie Graham- Blog Tour

Title: Anyone But Him
Author: Cassie Graham
Release Date: Nov 25, 2014

Find on Goodreads

Whitley Hayes is an ordinary girl with a gypsy heart. College is the only constant in her life. She’s made a lot of mistakes and she intends on keeping them in the past. 
Move on and forget. 
That’s her motto. 
Jennings Cohen is no ordinary man—not at all. He would have never imagined his life would turn into such a spectacle. The tabloids exploit him, fans stalk him and the paparazzi are relentless. It’s not always fun being Jennings. 
It doesn’t help that he has a secret. One that comes at a price he’s not sure he can pay.
Relationships get complicated and hearts shatter.
It’s not easy living a lie, but it’s easier than telling the truth.

My Review:

Anyone But Him by Cassie Graham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Whitley Hayes is finishing up her teaching degree and is ready to move forward in her life. She only has short-term relationships with people she isn't all that connected to, and is feeling like she would like more from her life, but doesn't really know how to move on. Jennings Cohen is a very popular award-winning actor. While he appreciates his status, he would also like to have a chance at normalcy. Whitley and Jennings meet randomly and find a connection, but both have secrets that may keep them apart.

I did enjoy this book, but I felt at times like the author was trying to put too many elements into the story. Really, any one of the issues could have presented enough conflict for the characters to deal with, but we get many more. There is the celebrity/non-celebrity coupling issues, stalker, traumatic past, and dual identify stuff going on here- which is a lot to deal with in one book. I think I would have liked for one or two of these concepts to be explored a little more thoroughly rather than each being presented partially.  I did really like these characters. Whitley is smart and a little prickly, but easy to like and cheer on. Jennings is pretty great, if a bit hyperbolic at times. The chemistry between them was very hot, and I was really hoping that they would be able to make things work because they were both characters that i wanted to see find happiness. Both characters had strong friendships that showed the importance of a good support system. Overall, I liked this and would read more by this author in the future.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I journey past the carved-by-hand eight-person table, and walk to the master bedroom. The white, canopy bed sits in the middle of the room. The barely see-through sheets that hang on the sides move and dance in the breeze. Whit walks quietly behind me, and I turn to look at her. Eyes wide, she takes in everything the house has to offer. Setting her soda down, she walks to the queen size bed and plops down. 
“Would it be completely inappropriate if I jumped on the bed?” she prompts, looking reluctant. 
I give a good belly laugh, and spread out my hands. “I’d be offended if you didn’t.” 
She shoots up, takes her sandals off and, in one swift hop, she lands on the bed. Bending at the knees she bounces. I sit down in a white armchair across the room and watch her as she lets loose. This is another one of those moments that is so rare, that I feel the intense want to capture this moment forever. She jumps with glee, squeaking with happiness with each bounce. Every time her feet come off of the bed, her arms go into the air. Her long blonde hair bobs with each movement, and she pushes it out of her face, just like the way she did it that day I ran into her at the beach. 
“Jump with me, Jennings.” 
Any macho doucheface would tell her to keep jumping and have fun. That he would sit in the chair and watch. But, I want to keep her smile fully intact for as long as possible. So, I take off my slip-on, stitched loafers and approach the bed.

- If you notice the cover, it has a lot of clues to what you’ll find in the story. Not only are there stars and rain, which are HUGE key points, but also if you look closely, you’ll see a person behind the couple taking a picture. A paparazzi. 
- The idea for Anyone But Him came to me in the shower as I was listening to one of my favorite bands, MKTO. The main singer is an actor and a singer and the idea just sort of blew up from there.
- Jennings was originally named Bradley, but I saw one of my ‘likers’ last name was Jennings and had to have it. Bradley is still in the book as Jennings’ best friend.
- Holli is loosely based off of a friend I have. She’s a spunky girl from Texas with a cute twang that I love. Holli helped me a lot when writing my first book and I promised her I’d write a character into my story using her name.
- My husband and I have always had a fascination with stargazing, so I felt it was appropriate to incorporate it into the book.
- When my husband was away with the Military, we would have moon dates. He would promise me he’d go outside and look at the moon and tell me he loved me. I promised to do the same. We moon dated for six months before he came home. 
- The ending was partly planned and partly unexpected. While I always promise a happily ever after, I’ve left it open ended so I can give you more of a story.
- Chapter Ten was made specifically for one of my beta readers, Ashlei. We talked and joked about Whitley and Jennings date and I decided to give it life.

Cassie Graham is the author of Unable to Resist. She also hates talking about herself. It makes her nervous and somewhat sweaty. So, she’s going to make this short.
While writing is her true passion, her family is even more important. Her ultimate happy place is sitting in her house with her husband and daughter while writing stories about lovers who are meant to be together. She’d live in that world forever if she could.

Facebook | Twitter | Website | Goodreads