Tammara Webber, 'Easy'

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

Easy was a very absorbing read. The ‘New Adult’ genre seems to be creeping through the gaps pretty quickly now but I think Webber is far at the forefront of this new wave of literature; think the angst of Twilight but the heat which comes from incorporating a shade or two of Fifty Shades of Grey. However, Easy is very grounded in the real world. Centred around Jacqueline, who arrives at college expecting to stay loved up with her boyfriend for whom she chose this university. Of course this does not happen, and soon Jacqueline is thrown into the very real world of single life. However this is not your black-and-white portrayal of a heartbroken teenager; Webber in fact deals throughout the book with the challenging subject of sexual assault, but not in an overly heavy way. The story is not a portrayal of a down-trodden abused college student by any means, in fact Webber actually places Jacqueline and a couple of her friends (including Erin, her best friend – a triumph of this book, I think) in very strong, powerful roles; taking matters into their own hands with self-defence classes (which are actually very detailed, perhaps a useful thing to read!) and strong attitudes. There is a great air of might and solidarity to the female roles in this book however, several of the male characters are portrayed as exceptionally sleazy – Jacqueline’s ex, a weak frat-boy that finishes with her essentially in order to sleep with other people, and his frat-brother and the sexual assaulter – Buck. However, Lucas (yum) more than compensates for their weaknesses; on a quiet mission to avenge a personal tragedy, Lucas pops up at the self-defence classes as an instructor and leads Jacqueline down a long road of recovery which ends in true love for her and Lucas. His story is extremely tough and gritty but essential to understanding his character.
This book is motivational, empowering and fortifying in many ways with how Webber deals with such a difficult subject matter. There is a strong sentiment and lesson in these pages; Jacqueline does not give up, she does not let Buck win, she soon fights back and picks up her life.
As a read, I found it a quick one – when I started it, I could hardly put the book down. The characters are instantly easy to identify with and care about and the well-crafted story stayed with me for quite a while after putting it down.