Jake Undone (Gemini #2) by Penelope Ward
Jake Undone
Synopsis:
Nina Kennedy was alive…but not living…until she met him.
Planes, trains, heights…you name it, Nina was afraid of it and led a sheltered life ruled by irrational fears and phobias. When she moves to Brooklyn for nursing school, that life is turned upside down, as she develops an intense but unwanted attraction to her gorgeous roommate, who’s pierced, tattooed and just happens to be the smartest person she’s ever met.
Behind Jake Green’s rough exterior and devilish smile, lies a heart of gold. He makes it his mission to change Nina’s outlook on life. When he agrees to tutor her, they forge a bet and the stakes are high as Jake forces Nina to face her demons. He just wasn’t expecting to fall hard for her in the process.
What Nina doesn’t realize, is that Jake has been living his own private hell. Once he drops a bombshell, will their love survive it?
Told in two parts from both Nina and Jake’s points of view, Jake Undone is a standalone story and a companion to the novel, Gemini.
Review:
Jake Undone was an alright read for me. Nina was a little too okay for how afraid of everything she was supposed to be. She seemed like everyone else until she needed to be afraid of something. And lucky her she has magical Jake to make everything better. I still enjoyed the read, though the ending was a bit much. Some slight spoilers ahead.
Nina is moving to the big city to go to nursing school. She is afraid of elevators and trains and most things where you are stuck in a small space (though not cars). And heights, and lots of things. She moves in with her childhood friend, almost brother, Ryan. On her first day she meets Jake and then she has a crush on him. He is the tattooed pierced bad boy, but he is really smart and sweet. No one really knows much about him. He doesn't really talk about personal things much. He leaves every weekend to go to Boston, but no one knows why.
When Nina has trouble with math she tells Jake and they make a bet. He will tutor her and for every test where she doesn't get an A they go on an outing to try and defeat one of her fears. He won't tell her what it is, but she has to go along with him and do it. She agrees because she needs the help, and probably because she likes him and does want to get over her anxiety. Jake is super sweet with her, at times you can see that he wants to be more than friends, but he keeps trying to stay away. He wants to spend time with her, wants to be her friend, but doesn't think he can be more (even though he wants to).
So things go along and they get closer. Finally over Christmas break Jake misses Nina enough that he tells her how they need to talk. He shows up as a surprise on her birthday, the day before they had scheduled to talk. Things progress even though Jake tries to hold off. Jake wants to talk to her, but she doesn't want to. She loves him and he loves her so everything is going to be fine. It doesn't matter what he wants to tell her she will still love him...so she says. Something comes up that takes Jake back to Boston before they can talk and while he is gone Ryan finds out the deal with Jake and Boston and brings it to Nina. Why? I am not sure. Ryan was a super jerk the rest of the book. He has not been spending that much time with Nina, and he was friends with Jake but now suddenly Jake is a horrible person and Nina needs to stay away? When other things happen and Nina thinks she sees one thing (it does look like that), but Ryan knows for sure that is not what happened what does Ryan do? Nothing. Why make your sister happy when you can watch her be miserable for no reason? He annoyed me so much and made me so angry. Maybe if I could have understood why he was so against Jake I could have understood. As it was he seemed to go from Jake as a friend to I hate Jake overnight, for no reason. Man did I hate Ryan by the end.
Jake really did deal with everything in a great way. Yes, he is devastated by some of the things that happened, but his secret really shows how much he cares for those he loves. He really is a great guy. The one year later section at the end though was a bit much for me. I just....did you really need to add even more drama to the story? It just felt like it was added to try and add more excitement, when really it just didn't feel like it worked with everything else. Yes, Nina's fears seemed to go away pretty easily. I have some irrational fears and let me tell you there is no way it would be that easy for me to face them the way she did. Even with my husband I am not doing it, and I would be in tears and it would be a super mess. I have tried, but my fears don't effect my daily life so it is not a big deal. It just felt like Nina got over everything way too easily, but I still enjoyed the story. I also didn't think the writing was the best, but it was still a good read.
Rating: ★★★
Comments
Post a Comment