I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors Published by Penguin on April 8, 2014
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Family, Multigenerational, People & Places, United States, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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"My new favorite bad boy meets good girl romance--I loved this book!" -- Simone Elkeles, New York Times bestselling author
WHAT HAPPENS when the teenage heirs of two bitterly FEUDING FAMILIES can’t stay away from each other?
The Rhodales and the Whitfields have been sworn enemies for close on a hundred years, with a whole slew of adulterous affairs, financial backstabbing, and blackmailing that’s escalated the rivalry to its current state of tense ceasefire.
IT’S TIME TO LIGHT THE FUSE . . .
And now a meth lab explosion in rural Whitfield County is set to reignite the feud more viciously than ever before. Especially when the toxic fire that results throws together two unlikely spectators—proper good girl Victoria Whitfield, exiled from boarding school after her father’s real estate business melts down in disgrace, and town motorcycle rebel Mickey Rhodale, too late as always to thwart his older brothers’ dangerous drug deals.
Victoria and Mickey are about to find out the most passionate romances are the forbidden ones.
. . . ON A POWDER KEG FULL OF PENT-UP DESIRE, risk-taking daredevilry, and the desperate actions that erupt when a generation of teens inherits nothing but hate.
Get swept away in the first book of the sensational romantic drama that is Romeo & Juliet meets Justified.
By all intents and purposes, The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors should be my next favorite book, based on the cover and summary. I was expecting dangerous, they shouldn’t be together because they are opposites so I ship it chemistry. The Lonesome Young, unfortunately falls flat, lacking the chemistry that say, Simone Elkeles has.
A modern day Romeo and Juliet minus the dual suicides, The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors is set in Kentucky where the animosity between the Whitfields and the Rhodales rivals that of the Hatfields and the McCoys. Victoria returns home from boarding school to live with her grandmother on a ranch, along with her parents and sister and brother. When the book opens, Victoria happens to be near this meth explosion but it doesn’t get her. So, this guy she’s never met, Mickey, pretty much saves her and it’s the beginning of a mutual infatuation. Only, oh no, their families hate each other so they definitely cannot date at all. Let’s be honest though, they totally break that and begin seeing each other, despite all this danger that apparently will happen if they date, because again, their families hate each other to the point of lives being on the line.
Victoria Whitfield is rather prim and proper. She’s been away from Kentucky for pretty much her entire life, attending boarding school in Connecticut. Victoria is very innocent. She’s also very passionate about her pet horse named Heather’s Angel. What else — oh, she’s loyal to the people who work for her Gram. Her gram is super awesome. She has a little brother named Buddy who is cute but kind of a non-entity as far as I, the reader, am concerned. She has an older sister who has a drug problem but I don’t remember her name because meh. Oh and her parents are totally delusional, terrible human beings so like, it’s wonder that she totally doesn’t suck. Aside from her good grades, I am not overly impressed with Victoria. She’s very white bread.
Mickey Rhodale, the love interest, rides a motorcycle and sometimes a car. His dad is the sheriff, his mom is an elementary school teacher. His brothers are drug kingpins OH and his brothers have a different mother who is the drug queenpin and her name is Anna and she is terrible. So, anyways, Mickey has a violent streak when he is angry. He also has a lot of experience with the ladies. He is unfairly judged because he is a Rhodale. Hmmm, and that’s kind of what I can think of to say when I think about his character. He’s alright, I guess. I don’t know. Also, kind of boring.
Honestly, I thought that The Lonesome Young was way overdramatic. I mean, goodness, every other chapter something dangerous or scary or bad was happening. There are all these obstacles for Victoria and Mickey. There’s a whole lot of manufactured drama, which okay, I guess maybe that is what fiction is supposed to be, but honestly, when I read drama in books, I want it to feel honest and real. For me, this book was a little too much. Maybe by being toned down a little, I might have liked it more. Also, I am not exactly a spring chicken, so perhaps if I was an actual teenager I would be into it. I never felt any swoons or even any care for the characters, heck, it probably would have been more interesting if they Romeo & Julietted their way out of the book in the end.
Other Reviews Of The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors:
- Confessions Of A Book Addict – “I wasn’t in love with it“
- Quinn’s Book Nook – “The more I read, the less I liked of it“
- Loving Books -“I had so many problems with this book“
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