Review: "Between Everything and Us" by Rebecca Paula (Sutton College #1)

Note: This ebook was provided by Patchwork Press Cooperative via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Matisse Evans and Beau Grady are college roommates sharing a home with two other people. Mati is a an art student in her sophomore year trying to make the necessary changes in her life so that she can move forward from the failures and disappointments that her parents continue to hold over her head. Her first year in a prestigious art school was a disaster and now she's transferred and wants to keep her head down and not give in to distractions, distractions like her roommate Beau. 

Beau should be in his final year of college but has decided it's time for him to drop out, no longer finding the desire to follow through with all the plans he used to have when it felt as if he had the world at his feet. Two years ago, the world was pulled out from under him when he received a life-altering diagnosis that has him constantly sabotaging his present as well as his future. He doesn't want to be attracted to his roommate Mati but he can't help the way he's beginning to feel for her.

Things between Mati and Beau run hot and cold, not sure if being friends is even a possibility for either of them. Mati sees Beau as a distraction she doesn't need, but Beau sees her as the one person able to give him the focus he's been lacking. As they cross the line from being enemies to friends to lovers, Beau is holding off on to telling Mati his diagnosis because once he does, she'll have to decide if she's going to take her chances and stay or if she'll cut her losses and walk away from him. 

Between Everything and Us is the first book in the Sutton College series by Rebecca Paula and is a new adult (NA) romance. The premise of the story was an interesting one and there was a lot of back and forth between the characters that I enjoyed because it felt like this build-up to something momentous. The main drawback was it felt stilted at times, shifting from one moment to another without any preamble, and I found myself wondering if I had missed something in between transitions.

Both Mati and Beau were likable characters and I did see that there was chemistry between them, one that neither of them really wanted to acknowledge because they had their own issues they were dealing with. After what felt like the long foreplay going on between the two, their time together was sweet and touching and that's when I truly fell in love with their story. Between Everything and Us was an overall good read and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. This gets four stars! ♥

Date Read: 09 April 2015

Learn more about Rebecca Paula here.

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