Fall Guy (Youngblood, #1)

Fall Guy (Youngblood, #1) - Liz Reinhardt between 3.5 and 4 starsOverall I liked this book. Why 3.5? It started well, girl meets boy, instant attraction and the story was going somewhere.But the author' s penchant for use of similes and metaphors was at some places distracting and I found myself zoning off and having to go back and re-read the page, therefore the story wasn't flowing as easy as I would have liked. The dialogue between Evan and Winchester was a bit hard to believe, they came across very mature and older than their age. This is Evan after meeting Winchester for the first time: I smell him, and it's a smell that's not part of the deep, salty musks of this area. It's clean and fresh and sweet. Something foreign and intoxicating. It smells like clover, wet with a sheen of overnight dew.....and few pages later Winchester describing Evan: I stay by her side, catching the scent of cotton candy and magnolia, and just a little undercurrent of ashGah...it seemed a bit far fetched, I know that the smell is one of the primary senses, but these two are teenagers, I don't think they'd stop and analize the way they smell in proximity of each other.The story was dragging a bit in places and nothing was really happening for a while, but once it's started going (at around 48%) it got interesting and engaging.This is a story about families, the strong ties and loyalties that can both keep you behind or help you learn from yours and others' mistakes and move forward, on this case depending on which family you belong to. This is a story about finding true love and discovering yourself and your strengths. I loved Evan, she came across as funny, smart and mature (admittedly at times more than possible for someone that young). Winch, was very sexy, sensitive and very loyal to his family and I felt sorry for him to have to keep the burden of his family's secrets. He gave this air of calm and in control and for a very long time had put himself in a role where it was expected that he'd sacrifice himself for others' mistakes. This went to the extent that he'd given up his life, his future and never even indulged himself in any dreams. As Evan and Winch get to know each other, acknowledging the attraction between them, admitting to themselves and each other how wrong they are for each other, their love grows and gets stronger and you can't help but hope that they finally would get together without any more obstacles. The make out and love scenes are extra hot, these two might be young but they come across as very experienced lovers. We see Winch conflicted, divided between his feeling for Evan and his duties to his family, what is expected of him.He tries, and he tries hard. Evan is a very good influence and her patience and determination helped him to come out of his shell. I will never break your heart. I will never hurt you. I might fuck up, I might not be perfect, but I'll never hurt you, Evan. You have my word." Did I mention I loved Evan? She was feisty, sexy, and not only once was she whiny or needy. She did have her moments of self doubt but she never really gave up on her love for Winch. She genuinely cared for him and while it would have been easy to ask him to choose between her and his family, she never did. She wanted him to cut the ties with his family for the right reasons, to set himself free. A guy who's ready to fall because he's between a rock and a cliff's edge. And, as his body clings close to mine and shudders right along with me, I know he thinks this is the end. That this is his last grab before the long, lonely descent. What he doesn't realize is that I'm already standing at the bottom, waiting to catch him. And I never miss. It was amazing to see her coax him, one step at a time, to open up, to let go and start thinking for himself and his future. She stood up to his family, despite how dysfunctional and intimidating they were. Page after page we see a different Winch. He changed before our eyes, from a cocky, calm and controlled young man, to a boy who was afraid to let himself go and live life like anyone his age is entitled to. It takes a near tragedy and tough love from Evan to complete his transformation. The little game that Evan used to play always, sometimes, never, well in the end, his answer is without any hesitation: I'll always love my family. I'll see them sometimes. I'll never be under their thumb again.There were some very sweet moments and I totally felt for Winch. He was robbed of his dreams and his chance of living a normal life. I enjoyed the last part of the book the best. While at first we felt frustrated, angst for his "it's complicated " life, the book ends in high notes of hope. " I know in that minute I'll be Evan's fall guy until the day I die, and my future, for the first time in my life, is an always I can't wait to fall into."