Last Good Man (Crown Creek)

I'm on the fence with this one. I usually love this author, but this one didn't do it for me. I didn't like Cooper and Willa together. Cooper couldn't let go of the past (that really didn't have anything to do with him), until pretty much the main end of the story. Even then, he had to have someone else verify that for him. He couldn't trust Willa enough to take her word. Willa was bossy, but I guess that's to be expected when you pretty much raise your brother when you're 14. I couldn't imagine a mom putting a child in that situation. Don't even get me started on Liam. How could you let your "best friend" take the fall for you for YEARS, and never try to make it right?! It took someone else pointing it out to him before he even tries to apologize for it. I liked the other stories in the Crown Creek universe (the King brothers), this one wasn't for me. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Cooper has hated Willa ever since he found her cheating on his best friend Liam and he can't understand how Liam can remain her best friend. Since then everything she does irritates him, the way she nags Liam, the way she mothers all their friends, the way she crushes all the joy out of everything. Then on Liam's last night before he leaves for New York, he gets stupid drunk and Cooper and Willa have another argument at a party, Cooper was supposed to give Willa and Liam a life home but she storms off into the woods and he thinks good riddance. But when Liam makes Cooper promise to look after Willa and make sure she gets home safely he's moved by his conscience to go and find her and give her a lift home - instead he finds her lying by the side of the road having been hit by a car. Wracked by guilt, when the ambulance crew refuse to allow him to accompany her in the ambulance he tells one small lie and says they are engaged. Only trouble is, it's a small town and soon everyone knows. Now Cooper and Willa are living a lie to all their friends, family and the media, who love the idea of a young man saving his fiancee's life, but forced to act a part it doesn't seem as difficult as they might have thought. This is stock YA/NA romance, complete with a teenage boy who is a skilled and thoughtful lover, parental angst and small town gossip. The reason for Liam and Willa's break-up is blindingly obvious to anyone who has read NA/YA. It's not bad, the writing is good, the characters are likeable but it's nothing new or different.

A good read but a little on the slow side. The book contains many typos that are distracting and make it appear unprofessional. A bit of a disappointment that has a ton of potential!