You Make MeAuthor: Erin McCarthy
Publication Date: April 16, 2014
Format: eBook
Pages: 212
Source: Purchased
The guy she wants…
Growing up on the coast of Maine with a revolving door of foster siblings, Caitlyn Michaud spent one intense and passionate year falling in love with her foster brother, Heath. Then he left without a word.
Isn’t the guy she needs…
Determined to move on, in college Caitlyn has risen above her small town impoverished roots and has joined a sorority, reinvented her appearance, and landed the right boyfriend in frat president Ethan.
But the perfect world she tried so hard to attain is ripped apart when Heath appears one night out of nowhere. Out of the military, Heath is as brooding and intense as ever, and he is determined not only to win her back, but to exact revenge on everyone who kept him from her…
And when one love allows her to breathe, but the other feels as essential to her life as air, how does she choose between them?
Have you ever read a book so good and hits you so deep that it was extremely difficult to get over? Well, You Make Me wasn’t like that for me; it was the unfortunate follow-up book. So as I read this book, and found myself having quite a few issues with it, I had to wonder if part of it was because I was still on a supreme high from the previous book and this just couldn’t compare. I think that might have played a small part in my feelings for it, but ultimately, I think it was the book. Or me. I actually felt as if I liked it at times, but when I put it all together, the negative outweighs the positive for me.
The premise of You Make Me was definitely interesting and held a lot of promise. You can read the blurb for the book to get the idea, because I don’t even want to rehash it. I was pretty excited to read it because I’ve liked McCarthy’s other books. Unfortunately, this time didn’t work out.
I think part of the problem is things seemed rushed, so it was hard to absorb and really delve into the characters and their emotions. I mostly felt impassive while I read this, except for when the characters annoyed me. I couldn’t get into some of the behaviors of the characters; they felt … I don’t know … forced … disingenuous … hypocritical … oh hell, all the above. They would get too damn dramatic over the stupidest crap. Oh, heaven forbid Caitlyn didn’t tell Ethan or Aubrey about her past or family. Why weren’t THEY a good friend and boyfriend and inquire about them? Or why didn’t Ethan want to talk to her mom before he asked a certain question? They seemed like the crappy friend/boyfriend to me. I mean, I don’t offer everything up about my family to my friends, not even the ones I had for 15+ years. I don’t expect them to inform me of every little thing either. If I found out after all these years that my friend’s absent father was say, in a mental institute, I’m not going to get bent out of shape over her not informing me of this sooner. I respect her decision to keep it to herself and don’t for one second see it as a lie. That is only one small aspect of many that irritated me about the characters.
Also, I wasn’t necessarily feeling Heath. The guy disappears for years without word, but got pissy when he suddenly decides to pop up and discovers Cat is with someone else? Dude, please. What if she had already married someone and had a kid? Was he going to blame her for not waiting for him, even though she didn’t even know where he was or if he was dead or alive? And no way was I buying why he didn’t contact her in all that time, especially since he was Facebook stalking her. There was so much more I could call him out on that rubbed me the wrong way, but I’ll just leave it at that. He’s weird, plain and simple. There were times I did enjoy him and Cat together, but overall, I wasn’t much of a fan.
It’s funny, because I kept feeling irritated while reading You Make Me, but then felt like I did like it when I finished. Then once I started really going over everything, I realized just how much I disliked the characters. This sucks, because I did want to like this book more. I’m not going to let this negative experience prevent me from reading more books by Erin McCarthy, though.
You can get a different perspective from Liz @ Fictional Candy
Bummer. I was curious about this but passed since it was the second book. I may actually have book one. What I want to know is what was the book you read before this one?
This is the 1st book in her new series, but I like her other series. The book I read before this was Love, in English.
Wow, if you feel impassive while reading, that is not a good sign. I was really hoping this one was good. It was on my TBR list but not anymore. And I am tired of not connecting with damn characters!
Who knows, you might love them; other people did.
Dude, please indeed!!Caitlyn is not going to hang around waiting for Heath… what a douche! Greta review Christy, it’s a shame this book let you down. I like Erin’s writing, but I haven’t read this series. Good to see you want to read more of her work.
Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace
Yeah, I like the True Believers books, so I’ll go back to reading those.
I forgot I totally wanted to read this, both because of the Maine-link (I lived there for a while) and for the story line. Unless Heath had a good reason for being forced away, I’d be pissed, too!!! Awesome idea to share Liz’s review for the alternative view b/c I’m totally checking out what she has to say b/c I really wanted to read this but since I know you two, I’ll be able to base my decision better!!!! You so smart…
lol – Oh I think you missed my review of The House on Blackberry Hill where I admit my obsession with Maine. There was a reason he was forced away, but why he didn’t contact her but then 4 years later wanted to expecting her to have waited for him was beyond infuriating. Btw, I tagged you in my post yesterday.
hahaha!!! I knew Christy wasn’t over the top about this book, but I really identified with the relationship drama between Cat & Heath, and I give it a total thumbs up!!
Nice review, I think I’ll pass on this one 🙂
I don’t blame ya. 🙂
I have had this happen before and it can be so disappointing, even devastating, especially if it starts to change your opinions about the original characters and setting.
Sorry this one was like that for you Christy. I think sometimes, this is why I take so long to re sequels of the books that I really loved. I am always so scared something will happen and I will hate it.
This was my first introduction to this new series and characters, but I really have no interest in visiting them again.
You know – I don’t think I liked the *other* characters enough to go on, myself.
Haha! That’s the most awesome shout out ever 🙂 We should totally do a dueling-reviews thing sometime! 🙂 I loved C&H, but I’m not over the top about the other characters, so I might not continue on. But Hey, at least you read it and gave it a chance!
lol – Do I always get to be the bad guy?
LOL If you want to be!! I mean, I am so much nicer haha. Kidding 🙂
Great comprehensive review! That dude really sounds weird… I’ll probably grab this when I find it in the library.
Yeah, dude was something else for sure.
Awe, well it sucks this was as good as you were hoping for. I have a feeling that Heath would most likely piss me off.
I have only read one book from McCarthy and thought it was pretty good. But I think this is one I will steer clear of. 🙁
You never know, you may love him. lol. Yeah, I’m sticking with her True Believers series right now.
Sorry you didn’t like this one. The characters do seem quite annoying…
And what you said about the friends/boyfriend getting made about her not offering up information? I’d find that SO aggravating too, but some things are just private or “family stuff.” I don’t tell my friends everything about my family.
Yeah, their reactions pissed me off. No bueno.
Difficult to statuate on this one. It’s been a while since I read a book by the author but I only tried her PNR series, I’m curious about something else.
Ack. Christy, you’re a one-woman marketing machine. You make this book sound so freaking good. How could I not want to read this?
Aw Christy that sucks. I really enjoy her books but like with a lot of authors there have been one or two along the way that just…didn’t work for me. From the sounds of it this one probably wouldn’t be a perfect match for me either and I’d want to bop someone lol Hope the next read for you goes better!
Sounds like there were some annoying parts here, especially when the dude shows up randomly and then gets pissed lol. At least you ended up enjoying it in the end!
I hate when characters get overdramatic! Sorry this wasn’t as good for you though!
Bummer 🙁 I totally understand how you felt, and I wonder if our anticipation sometimes is soo high that is very difficult to meet, but there’s nothing the author can do when you just don’t connect with the characters..
Thank you Christy.
I definitely know what it’s like to try to read a so/so book after an amazing book, and I always feel sorry for that book. Sorry this one didn’t work out for you, and thanks for the review!
Dude, this is exactly the reason why I don’t read anything for a day or two after I finish an extremely good book, because I will still keep on thinking about it for days on end and books that I read immediately after should be as good if they want to grab my already-occupied attention, haha. I just read an awesome one (SEARCHING FOR SKY) that broke my soul completely so I’m on a pause with regards to my reading. I’m sorry this one didn’t impress you very much – Heath would’ve made me see red, too. Dude, you’ve been gone away for years. You have to keep in mind that the world doesn’t revolve around you and won’t stop just because you will it to. Life will keep going forward, and so do the other people in your lives. Seriously, these characters!