Jayla's Truth (Love in High Heels #1) by Lauri Fairbanks
Jayla's Truth (Love in High Heels Book 1)
Synopsis:
For more than three years Jayla Anderson lusted for Josh Andrews but he's been content to keep her at arm’s length and she has no idea why. Jayla’s friends adore her, the party planning business is booming and all her secrets have remained hidden but it just isn’t enough. A drunken kiss changes everything between them—or does it?
Review:
*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Jayla's Truth has a lot of potential, but I just couldn't connect with Jayla. First off she is not really the kind of girl I hang out with. She always made note of what people were wearing and how they looked and she never went anywhere without her makeup and clothing being just right. She wouldn't even hang out around the house with someone without full makeup on. Not really my people since I really don't care about any of that. She reminds me of a lot of ladies I used to work with and the way they talked when they were together and such. Nice ladies, but just not my group and I have a hard time really connecting with them. Nothing wrong with it, it is just not my scene. Also when I was reading the story I just couldn't understand why Jayla was the way she was. Well I know what we were told, but I didn't feel like it was shown through the story or that it was really in her character. It just didn't work for me. Still it wasn't a horrible book. It just is not the book for me either.
Jayla apparently has really low self esteem and is really insecure with the way she looks. That is obvious from the start and how she compares herself to her friends and other ladies all the time. She tells herself thing like well if that beautiful lady can't keep a guy what chance do I have? Things like that, but at the same time it just didn't feel like it was really part of the character for me. I don't know what it was exactly but it just didn't feel like she really was this way. The rest of the time she seemed like this strong lady, but then she would revert back to this different person. It didn't work for me.
She also has this big secret that she ran away from. Something about high school and afterwards she moved across the country to somewhere no one knew her to start over. When one guy from high school shows up she is really worried her big secret will be revealed. Maybe she will have to move again and start over if this person tells anyone her big secret. Well once it is revealed I just felt like oh. That is this big secret? Okay...is there something more to it than that? It was disappointing. I wish we could have seen more of her in high school, just a few scenes to see what she was really like. It couldn't have been that bad since the guy confesses he kind of liked her back then so...It could have helped Jayla seem more like the low self esteem, imagine oriented, looking for her body to be perfect but never thinking it is kind of woman that she is. I know she has issues, serious issues that she needs and does get help for, but it still didn't really fit her. She was insecure sometimes, but then strong and confident the rest of the time. It just felt off to me.
Josh is really great. He is so patient and wonderful with Jayla. He never pushes her (unless she needs the push as she will hurt herself otherwise) and just is there for her all the time. I did like him and found him to be a great guy. Yes, he had tried to keep Jayla at arms length because of professional reasons, but once he caved he was all in. Watching how dedicated he was to his clients, always traveling to be with them when they get injured and such, was great. He is really dedicated to those he cares about and I really liked him.
So overall Jayla's character didn't feel real to me. Her issues and problems didn't jell with all of her actions and I just was often times confused about why she would do or think some of the things she did. It didn't make a lot of sense to me since I didn't get the insecure vibe from her most of the time (unless she was doing something specific that showed how she was).
Overall this wasn't a terrible book, but I didn't love it either. Not sure why Jayla felt off for me, but she did. I did like Josh, and the book overall was alright. A good first effort and I will be looking to see how the author grows as she writes more.
Rating: ★ ★ 1/2
Jayla apparently has really low self esteem and is really insecure with the way she looks. That is obvious from the start and how she compares herself to her friends and other ladies all the time. She tells herself thing like well if that beautiful lady can't keep a guy what chance do I have? Things like that, but at the same time it just didn't feel like it was really part of the character for me. I don't know what it was exactly but it just didn't feel like she really was this way. The rest of the time she seemed like this strong lady, but then she would revert back to this different person. It didn't work for me.
She also has this big secret that she ran away from. Something about high school and afterwards she moved across the country to somewhere no one knew her to start over. When one guy from high school shows up she is really worried her big secret will be revealed. Maybe she will have to move again and start over if this person tells anyone her big secret. Well once it is revealed I just felt like oh. That is this big secret? Okay...is there something more to it than that? It was disappointing. I wish we could have seen more of her in high school, just a few scenes to see what she was really like. It couldn't have been that bad since the guy confesses he kind of liked her back then so...It could have helped Jayla seem more like the low self esteem, imagine oriented, looking for her body to be perfect but never thinking it is kind of woman that she is. I know she has issues, serious issues that she needs and does get help for, but it still didn't really fit her. She was insecure sometimes, but then strong and confident the rest of the time. It just felt off to me.
Josh is really great. He is so patient and wonderful with Jayla. He never pushes her (unless she needs the push as she will hurt herself otherwise) and just is there for her all the time. I did like him and found him to be a great guy. Yes, he had tried to keep Jayla at arms length because of professional reasons, but once he caved he was all in. Watching how dedicated he was to his clients, always traveling to be with them when they get injured and such, was great. He is really dedicated to those he cares about and I really liked him.
So overall Jayla's character didn't feel real to me. Her issues and problems didn't jell with all of her actions and I just was often times confused about why she would do or think some of the things she did. It didn't make a lot of sense to me since I didn't get the insecure vibe from her most of the time (unless she was doing something specific that showed how she was).
Overall this wasn't a terrible book, but I didn't love it either. Not sure why Jayla felt off for me, but she did. I did like Josh, and the book overall was alright. A good first effort and I will be looking to see how the author grows as she writes more.
Rating: ★ ★ 1/2
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