ARC Review: True by Erin McCarthy

Title: True
Author: Erin McCarthy
Genre: New Adult Romance

Goodreads rating: 3.70 out of 5.00 (1 ,200+ ratings)
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When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…


Review by Chantelle

True was a really pleasant surprise. I've been looking for a nice, not-annoying new-adult romance to get me out of a reading funk and this did it! It was an easy, sweet read with characters that weren't bat-shit crazy which was refreshing and just what I needed. Yay!

It was a little weird how the blurb reveals both that Tyler was hired to seduce Rory, and that his dysfunctional family poses an issue to their relationship because those two factors are basically what this novel revolves around... hence, there were no big surprises in this novel. But that being said, that might have been why I enjoyed it as much as I did; no completely out of the blue surprise medical catastrophies or what not. It was a girly chick-lit romance that would be a solid addition to anyone's TBR list. 

Rory is a character that I believe was constructed to be extremely relateable, maybe too much so at times. The good points, is that we have a main character who is down to earth, has other interests besides boys, and is someone you can genuinely root for. However, the juxtaposition of her two extremely promiscuous tall blonde room-mates to make Rory look more like a saint was a bit overkill in my opinion. One pet peeve of mine is when author's throw in medical jargon, and Rory is studying premed... however, except for one tragically cringe-worthy paragraph comparing the physical and figurative ways to touch a heart (many, many laughs were had), I didn't actually mind it. For anyone who's worried that the book is solely about Rory being (oh no! shock horror) a virgin, don't worry, the issue is only emphasised a little in the first quarter with the remainder focusing on the growing friendship between Rory and Tyler which was really cute. 

Tyler initially appears as your typical tattooed, muscled, tall hunk; but what was great, is that the romance is about Rory and Tyler being two people who aren't really who they seem, which is what draws them together. Rory, mathematical premed Rory, is actually sarcastic and passionate; Tyler, tattooed playboy, is incredibly insecure due to his poor upbringing. Definitely a romance I'd recommend if you're having trouble finding the next book to read! I'm not really sure if me calling it "pleasant" would be considered a huge recommendation, but believe me, pleasant is sometimes just what you need.

Ratings
Overall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4/5