In Too Deep by Michelle Kemper Brownlow

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1975 KB
• Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing (3 Jun 2013)
• Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00D6T70LO

Gracie has just finished her freshman year of college in Memphis when she takes a job at a local pizza joint in her home town of McKenzie, Tennessee. She is the epitome of innocence when she meets Noah. Noah is unabashedly handsome, intriguingly reckless and just cocky enough to be sexy. Gracie’s instincts tell her to stay far away from him and based on the stories she hears from her co-workers he leaves broken hearts in his wake. But still, she can’t explain her fascination with him.

Noah puts aside his bad boy ways when what he thought was a summer crush has him unexpectedly falling in love. But soon after Gracie transfers to UT Knoxville to be with Noah, their unexpected love becomes riddled with anger, deceit and humiliation.

Jake, Noah’s former roommate and Gracie’s best friend, can no longer be a bystander. Gracie’s world falls out from beneath her and when she breaks she turns to Jake for strength. As Jake talks her through a decision she’s not yet strong enough to make, together they uncover a truth so ugly neither of them is prepared for its fallout. Will Jake pull her to the surface or is Gracie Jordan finally In Too Deep?

Cover:  I really love this cover- the black and white with the pop of light blue is really eye catching.

I had really high expectations of this one, and really wanted to love it, but I'm conflicted as it contained A LOT of my pet peeves in a book.
So for others, this will be a fantastic read.  Hands down.  But for me it was a struggle.
For me I couldn't connect to Gracie, I understand that a destructive relationship is damaging to self belief (an important to cover the topic) and can make a person insecure, but I like to read about strong female leads.  I swear it felt like she was crying on every page.
Noah is a jackass.  There's no way around it.  There's absolutely nothing redeeming about him.  But despite him humiliating her, bullying her, cheating on her- she stills takes him back.  She can't let him go.  It was kind of painful reading her thoughts when it comes to phrases like 'I don't know who I am without him.'  Sickening.  Because I seriously couldn't see why she'd want him.
The yo-yo-ing of 'it's over- I can't let go' became really tedious to the point that I just didn't care.
I felt her weakness grating on my nerves.
Jake.  Jake I liked- he's the complete opposite of Noah, but similarly, why he'd be interested in Gracie I can't possibly imagine.
Over all I feel this book had a lot of premise.  Gracie is where this books biggest problems lie.  If she had been different, I feel like I would have enjoyed this book a lot more than I did.
Most reviews for this have been rave reviews, so maybe it's just me.
1.5/5 stars.