Shaykitteh's World of Books

Stella fell in love with Blake when she was only 20 and in college with Zoe. Though Zoe was a freshman and Stella a junior, Zoe and Stella quickly became friends. While Stella didn't see Zoe's brother as often as she might have liked, she saw him enough for her heart to pound at the mention of his name. With nine years separating them and the fear that Zoe would think they were friends only so Stella could hook up with Blake, Stella kept her feelings to herself.

Pressure Point takes us through Stella and Blake's lives from when they first met, up through the events of New Point, and to their own future beyond. Two things are consistent throughout the storyline: Stella's selflessness and Blake's arrogance.

While I enjoyed reading the background of Blake, Stella, and Zoe, and while I enjoyed Blake when I was introduced to him in Zoe's story (New Point) I found that I didn't actually like him in Pressure Point. Even when he was telling his side of the story, his arrogance and control showed through. From being unable to let Zoe live her own life and work through her own recovery to taking advantage of Stella during a moment of weakness to the pure gall of showing up at a family wedding at the end to try to make it right with Stella, I found that I liked him less and less throughout the story and I couldn't understand what Stella saw in him or why she's want to stay with him.

He eventually admits that he was wrong and tries to make it up to Stella... but does that make up for the months... and even years... of being a complete dick? I really don't know.

I give this book 3 1/2 stars (upgraded to 4 stars for Amazon and Goodreads since they don't allow half stars) for the writing ability of Olivia Luck and how she makes the characters and locations come alive. Though I'm still not sure if I like Blake, he's well written. I have to assume that he's supposed to come across as an arrogant ass because no one could have written him like that accidentally, so Olivia did a great job at making his personality and flaws come through. Stella is a sweetheart and somewhat of a doormat, but I cheered when she finally stood up for herself and jumped on that train. Being able to see Blake's side of Zoe's story was interesting and gave me a deeper insight to Blake as a character, though it doesn't redeem or excuse all of his flaws, and I enjoyed meeting some of the new characters such as Violet, Max, and Felix.

While this book is excellently written, has a great plot, and well-developed characters, I can't give it 5 stars for several reasons: 1) I find it difficult to say that I loved a book when I dislike one of the main characters, 2) There is some heavy-handed foreshadowing toward the end that seemed forced, and 3) The ending. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, but I will just say that I wanted to throw the book when I was finished reading it, but since I was reading on a kindle that wouldn't have worked out so well.

In the end, I have mixed feelings about this story. For as much as the first book was dealing with Zoe's PTSD, it still had a feeling of light-hearted fun. This second book in the Point series felt darker and lacked the spark that the first book had for me.

~~ I received an ARC from the author and BOOK ENTHUSIAST PROMOTIONS for review purposes. ~~