Review: If Only, by A.J. Pine

Hi peeps! I decided I'd be posting my reviews for New Adult books in my author blog because it didn't feel right to do so in my YA-only book blog. Also, these reviews won't be rated with stars, points or anything of the sort. I'll only categorise them into "I loved it", "I really liked it", or "I liked it" sections, to be fair, since I'll be trying my luck in the NA world soon, and I don't feel particularly suited to say which books are better than others. So this will be a review section where I share books that I'd like you to read, too. 

The first book I'll be reviewing here is If Only, by A.J. Pine. 

Release Date: March 24th, 2014
Publisher: Entangled (Embrace) Publishing
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Categories: Contemp, New Adult
Read from March to May 2014 
Summary:

Sometimes it takes crossing an ocean to figure out where you belong. 
It's been two years since twenty-year-old Jordan had a boyfriend—which means it's been forever since she, well, you know. But now she’s off to spend her junior year in Aberdeen, Scotland, the perfect place to stop waiting for Mr. Right and just enjoy Mr. Right Now.
Sexy, sweet (and possible player) Griffin may be her perfect, no-strings-attached match. He’s fun, gorgeous, and makes her laugh. So why can’t she stop thinking about Noah who, minutes after being trapped together outside the train’s loo, kisses Jordan like she’s never been kissed before? Never mind his impossible blue eyes, his weathered, annotated copy of The Great Gatsby (total English-major porn)…oh, and his girlfriend.
Jordan knows everything this year has an expiration date. Aberdeen is supposed to be about fun rather than waiting for life to happen. But E. M. Forster, Shakespeare, and mistletoe on Valentine’s Day make her reconsider what love is and how far she’s willing to go for the right guy.

I really liked this book! I was definitely not expecting it. I wasn't expecting the relationship to take such a turn, to be developed like it was, and I gotta say, it was a very welcome surprise.

It took me a while to get into it, but I couldn't tell you why. Probably because I like to read four books at once. A.J. made me feel so bad, too! We meet two guys along with Jordan (or Brooks, as her best friend calls her), at the same time, and they're both so freaking cute, I want them both! Could I get the one that Jordan didn't want? I liked him ;)

The tension in this book was very well developed. I liked that, despite it falling into the insta-love category, the characters don't act on this right away, but rather, they let things unfold, they get to really know each other, spend some serious time together, and just learn to fall for the other. I think that's why I loved the ending, because it felt real, not rushed like many new NA books out there.

I loved the secondary characters. Crazy Elaina with her weird coffee, Duncan and Daniel and the kids from the play. All of them felt real, and that's hard to achieve, so kudos A.J.!

The drama was sooooooo good! I felt bad every time the characters did, and I smiled when they smiled.

It was all very cute towards the end, happiness and rainbows and all that. And the fact that it's located in Scotland didn't hurt either.
Oh, Noah... *sigh*

This was a really nice book, lovely quotes inside it to make sense of the character's mindframe, and helpful time tags to let us know how much time had passed.

Perfect dose of drama for a lovely, cute, adorable book.

If Only is out now and you can buy it through Amazon.