TrueAuthor: Erin McCarthy
Series: True Believers #1
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: May 7. 2013
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.
Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…
Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…
I’ve been on a romance kick lately, in all forms. I couldn’t resist True when I read the synopsis. The whole friends paying someone to devirginize their other friend scenario could either turn out to be really dramatic or humorous. I was hoping I’d get nice balance of both, and that’s what I got. It wasn’t true love with me and the book, but I did like it quite a bit.
When Rory’s friends find out she’s a virgin, but doesn’t want to be, they secretly hire Tyler to help her out with that. Sounds shady, doesn’t it? It was in a way, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Rory and Tyler grow closer, but of course, there has to be bumps in the road that threaten their happily ever after. Thankfully the conflicts didn’t drag out too much and they were resolved without too much drama, so I definitely appreciated that.
Rory is a twenty-year-old pre-med student. Does she want to treat little kids or go into family practice? No, she wants to be a coroner. That’s right, dead people are her thing. That alone bumped her up a whole lot of points in my book. Plus, she’s just so damn adorkable! She’s a bit socially awkward, always so logical and straight-forward. I adore characters like her. It’s funny sometimes how she tries to work her feelings out logically, and I really like that she applied rationalization when it came to the people and their behavior around her.
Tyler is twenty-two and plans to become an EMT, but he’s had a rough life. I really liked him, but don’t know if I consider him a true bad boy. Just because he’s had a shitty home-life, likes to drink and party sometimes and has a penis piercing *wags eyebrows* doesn’t mean he automatically falls in that category. There’s a lot more to the guy, and it was fun and sweet watching Rory discover that. They were so cute together! And I loved all of the references to A Streetcar Named Desire. Steellllaaaaa!!! Ahem … sorry.
The secondary characters were a lot of fun. Jessica and Kylie are Rory’s best friends and roommates, but they are her complete opposites. Plus, they’re the ones who hired Tyler, but their hearts were in the right place. I loved Jessica the most, though. I knew I was going to love her as soon as I saw her reaction to an incident that involved a douchey creep who deserved an ass kicking. Plus, she’s a tall blond who is free with her sexuality, so of course she’s my favorite. Tyler’s younger brothers also play a pivotal role in the story, and I found them entertaining despite the messed up situation they were in. Their relationship was sweet … well, sweet in the way that brothers give each other crap because they love each other.
I’m not quite sure how I feel about the ending. I liked it, but it seemed so abrupt. It would’ve been nice to at least have a small epilogue or something. Also, there is an incident that involves a few criminal justice terms, but the author didn’t seem to understand the difference between them. She constantly used jail and prison, and probation and parole interchangeably. It was super annoying. I understand not everyone understands the differences, but I would expect an author to do a little research, ya know?
Despite a couple of irritants, I really did enjoy True. I’m eager to read the rest of the series, which features each friend that was in this book. I’m especially excited for the second book, Sweet, because it is Jessica’s story.
Ok, this is really sad, but I kinda think I own this either on kindle app or nook. Isn’t it horrible that my TBR is so large that I really don’t have a clue. The worse is when I buy a book for nook and find I already own on kindle. *facepalm* Now that I have shared, had over the Cadbury eggs. *snickers* True sounds good, and despite some issues I am glad you enjoyed it. The premise is a tricky one and I am glad she pulled it off. Great review Christy!
Everyone is taking my Cadbury eggs *sobs*. I need all of my chocolate right now or someone might get hurt. lol
I agree that the idea behind this book could have gone either way; glad it went the right way for you. Sounds like a cute read, and I’m going to need one of these after I FINALLY finish The King. I hate to say it, but this might be my last BDB book. o_O Anyway, happy Friday! 🙂
Uh-oh … I’m planning to finally start the BDB series. lol
You are on a kick lately, I love it!
I am glad that even though you didn’t love this you still really liked and enjoyed it.
I hope you have a nice weekend Christy.
It was really cute.
Despite the few issues you mentioned at the end there Christy, I’m glad you enjoyed this one! I absolutely loved it because of Rory, calling her adorkable is such an apt description. She was just so cute and honest, and I loved that she didn’t play games or try and hide her feelings from Tyler. She was just all “so this is how it is…thoughts?” Loved:)
I adore characters like Rory.
I read this a while back and liked it enough. I had a couple of issues with it too. Being in law enforcement for several years, it was frustrating references for me too. *shrugs* Hey, at least I wasn’t alone. lol… Great review, I’m glad you enjoyed it for the most part.
lol – it’s things like that that will drive me crazy.
I have an ARC of this still that needs to read. I like the sound of the adorkable heroine but not so much the abrupt ending and the misuse of probation and parole and jail. Still it sounds cute and fun not like most NA out there.
It was a good ending, but I turned the page expecting more and it just ended.
Love the references to Street Car. LOL Oh despite the issues it does seem like you still enjoyed it. I’m a bit leery because of the ending, but you are swaying me toward getting it. 🙂
I enjoyed it quite a bit. The issues were minimal, so it wasn’t bad.
Aw yay glad you enjoyed it even with some blips along the way. I loved the two of them (didn’t see him as much of a bad boy myself but still enjoyed him and his pierced self lol).
It’s been so long since I read it I can’t remember if the mixed up terms caught me or not. I’m a criminology major so know the differences but dang if I can remember though that’s a gripe I have on a semi-regular basis when books are in my field (animal rescue/veterinary medicine). There too easy terms get mixed up and just make you wonder.
Hope you enjoy the next one! Book 3 was my favorite so far. Very different characters.
Part of me knows that things like that shouldn’t bother me, but it IS things like that that irritate me the most sometimes.
Loved your review…I’m on the fence about this one its on my “thinking about putting it in my TBR” pile ;0) I’ll have to keep an eye out to see how you feel about the next one.
Oh, you should read it, Ria!
I’ve only read one book by Erin McCarthy, and all I remember is that it was HOT!…LOL This is a new to me series, so maybe I can jump on it early on.
Love the review 🙂
I know of her other series but haven’t read it yet. Obviously I need to!
Ugh. I so need to read this one. It’s taking me forever to get to it. But I do hate abrupt endings.
It was a nice ending, it’s just that it felt like there was going to be more.
Sounds like an intriguing plot!
It was pretty fun. 🙂
So overall this sounds like a great start to a new series. I do love me a good adorkable MC 😉 I’ll definitely keep my eye on this series. Great review!
I was a fun one. 😀
You’re right: the premise has the potential for a rip-roaring read. I’m glad it was a bit of both. 🙂 And Prince Edward, ftw!
…or is it Prince Albert? I can’t remember…
lol – Albert. It didn’t say which spot his was in though, so I’ll just pretend it was in my favorite. 😀
I’ve heard many good things about this series but just haven’t ventured into it yet. Thanks for the review, it sounds like you enjoyed it, and the side characters sound wonderful.
Glad that you enjoyed this book, even though it doesn’t sound like my type of read, at least not anymore. I’m taking a break from books where the female character is a virgin in need of deflowering. There are too much of them and I just can’t take it anymore, lol.
Either way, thanks for sharing 🙂
Believe me, I understand. I read like 5-6 books (this one included) that all had virgin MCs. I’m kind of over that. Also, I tired of all the red hair. So redheaded virgins are on my blah list right now. LOL.
It’s okay abrupt endings leave me with confused feelings and scratching my head too. Ummm interesting plot thought and a coroner? yup different.
A didn’t think Tyler was a true badboy either. I think he was happy to go with the rep people created about him. I agree about the ending being abrupt, but I still enjoyed it. Awesome review Christy!
Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace
You had me at Stellllaaaaaa! LOL! I haven’t heard of this one, but I’m adding it to the list!
I hate when books end too abruptly and I’m left wanting more. Sounds like this was a good one overall, I’m glad you liked it. I have been wanting to check it out. Awesome review!
I’ve enjoyed this series! I love romance stories, and this one was really sweet. I loved the super close relationship between Tyler and his brothers, and agree that Rory was very adorable! I loved that she was very different from the usual female lead characters that I read about. I can’t wait to see what you think about Jessica’s story! I think you’re going to really like it 🙂 Wonderful Review Christy!