Maverick by Anna Cruise

May 30, 2013 Ash Wednesday rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary-romance, netgalley, adult, review, sporty-spice, male-pov

3.5 STARS

There really was so much going against this book. On its own, it's pretty hard to sell an adult contemporary romance between a hugely successful professional surfer with a sob story and the similarly haunted publicist sent to fix his wrecked image. The potential for cliches is astounding, all of which Maverick delivered on. If you're looking for something original and fresh, mixing surfing with mediocre angst is probably as far as this book will take you.

But the ride really wasn't tha ...more

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Nov 02, 2013 Rose rated it it was ok

Shelves: romance, netgalley, new-adult, sports, realistic-fiction, tough-subjects, arc-or-galley, great-premise-lacking-execution, grief, contemporary

Initial reaction: This is one of those times when I feel torn about a rating because there was quite a bit in this that took turns away from the typical New Adult novel, but at the same time, it doesn't shed many of the stereotypes and some things had me feeling a little ragey at the consideration.

But for what it's worth, I liked Kellen and Gina's relationship, at least watching it in its better moments and for the fact that the two actually talked out their issues. That's far different than fro Initial reaction: This is one of those times when I feel torn about a rating because there was quite a bit in this that took turns away from the typical New Adult novel, but at the same time, it doesn't shed many of the stereotypes and some things had me feeling a little ragey at the consideration.

But for what it's worth, I liked Kellen and Gina's relationship, at least watching it in its better moments and for the fact that the two actually talked out their issues. That's far different than from what most authors do in this genre. Was it dramatic? In turns, yes, but not overly so for the situations and conflicts that were in each of the characters lives.

Still, I had a few bones to pick. Hopefully I can explain more in the full review.

Full review:

Anna Cruise's "Maverick" is the first novel I've read from the author. The premise in this is very promising, about a surfer grieving over the loss of a good friend and mentor, but as his grief consumes him, his prospects in his career fall by the wayside. A manager, Gina, is hired to help get Kellen's affairs in order, but the two of them embark on a much closer relationship than the professionalism of their careers demand. Likewise, they both have heavy measures of grief to carry and have to navigate through those trials.

This book started really sluggish, and I'll admit, the writing itself left much to be desired. I wasn't pulled into the narrative, and worst for wear on a collective perspective? This book is told in two perspectives that aren't delineated in the text as they come up. Rule of thumb: if you are writing from two perspectives in first person, NOTE the perspective of who's talking at the beginning of the chapter, otherwise it's very easy to get lost as a reader. I'll admit a few times when reading the narrative, I had to reorient myself as to whom was speaking, and that threw me out of the narrative, especially in the beginning.

The novel goes through Kellen's grief - he's also got attachment issues as evidenced with his actions in the beginning. I liked the descriptions of his being on the water, and I liked Kellen's attachment to the sport (being someone who is not only weak for any story centered on the water, but also sports). I did not like him as a character at first. I think as Gina came into the picture, the story became so much more interesting. Gina starts off as a no-nonsense agent that helps Kellen repair his public image in different ways. I definitely like the descriptions of Kellen working with the kids at the swim camp as well as Gina and Kellen's confrontation with the family of the guy Kellen punched at the beginning of the novel. I also appreciated hearing Gina's backstory and at the very least the interesting measure of grief that she had within the novel.

I definitely appreciated Kellen and Gina's ability to talk out their issues and own up to the things they did wrong. Was it a little quick for resolution? Yeah, but at least there was an attempt for the characters to be human and redeem themselves for parts of the palpable conflict. And I did like watching their relationship grow, at least the few parts of the novel where that was actually shown, rather than told.

But there's a lot of conflict in this novel that came across as contrived. I don't want to say that this book follows in the typical New Adult formula (abrasive hero, weak heroine, rape or attempted rape used a conflict plot point, instalove, etc), but it does hit a few of the aforementioned stereotypes. And it came across as really obvious that they were put in just to throw the conflict out there, so that the hero and heroine could reunite. That vexed me, especially with one last curveball towards the end.

I wish that the novel had a bit more vetting out, more showing than telling, and such for it to be a better experience. But it was okay, at least for an introduction to this author. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue reading Anna Cruise's novels at this point, but I will say there were parts of this novel I liked. But it still could've been much better than what it provided.

Overall score: 2/5 stars

Note I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher. ...more

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Aug 19, 2013 Lana ❇✾Dirty Girl Romance❇✾ rated it really liked it

Shelves: grieving, netgalley, new-to-me-author, new-adult, wounded

The ocean was an extension of myself, the only place where I could find solace and peace. And even though I'd lost my best friend to it, I couldn't let it go, couldn't turn my back to it. I couldn't exist without it.

There was something in his voice, in his eyes, something that hinted there really was more to him than the public persona I'd read about. He was damaged.

If I'm being honest here, what initially drew me in to read this was the hot cover. What? Like you've never done that! Please!

I ...more

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Oct 04, 2013 Krissys rated it really liked it

Shelves: featured-books, star

Maverick by Anna Cruise Author: Anna Cruise Title: Maverick Series: Cover Rating: Book Rating: Buy This Book:

Kellen Handler is in deep.

Ever since he can remember, he’s wanted to be a professional surfer. And he made it, rising to the top of the ranks, traveling the world and riding every break he’s ever dreamed of. His good looks and reputation for living on the edge—both in and out of the water—have made him an international superstar. But when his best friend dies in a tragic accident, Kelle ...more

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May 28, 2013 Mary rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

"I see you holding on to the past. Letting it control what you do, what you allow into your life. I don't want that for you. And I don't want that for me."

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"And I'm not saying that things are gonna be perfect. I'm not saying we're gonna wake up tomorrow and all our demons will be gone. But I think we can keep them locked away. Deal with them on our own time. In our own way. You know?"

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*****5 AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL AND TEAR-WORTHY STARS*****

First of all, the hot cover totally misle "I see you holding on to the past. Letting it control what you do, what you allow into your life. I don't want that for you. And I don't want that for me."

---------

"And I'm not saying that things are gonna be perfect. I'm not saying we're gonna wake up tomorrow and all our demons will be gone. But I think we can keep them locked away. Deal with them on our own time. In our own way. You know?"

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*****5 AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL AND TEAR-WORTHY STARS*****

First of all, the hot cover totally misled me to believe that this was just some typical new adult read about a playboy surfer and a girl who puts him in his place... BUT NO. I'm way beyond ecstatic to stumble upon this novel that really struck deep into my emotions with its depth and substance. In addition, this novel was also mostly from the guy's POV and switched just a few times to the girl's POV, which gave me more insight to Kellen's thoughts and feelings as well.

So we meet Kellen Handler, a playboy surfer at the top of his game but seem to want to piss it all down the drain, and Gina Bellori, a PR exec who's hiding an equally tragic secret of her own that hinders her from getting too attached with another person. Basically, both of them are wounded and broken souls who just can't seem to let go of their tragic past so much so that it consumes their every move in the present. Kellen's past was revealed pretty early on but it did take some time for me to put two and two together as to what happened to Gina. Both their stories were so heartbreaking that I found myself randomly tearing up even with their little flashbacks and whenever their thoughts go to those (view spoiler).

The moment they were thrown in each other's paths, you just know how hesitant they both were in opening up and trusting each other but somehow it just happened naturally. Not to mention, their budding attraction and intense chemistry was so palpable as well. Kellen really surprised me with how he was actually the first one to sort of cave in, showing that there really was more to his cocky and rude playboy facade. It took some time for Gina to do the same because of self-preservation and I honestly cannot blame her for it because if it was me who was in her place, I'd probably do the same or worse even. I swear, there came a point when I was reading this book that I could not see through my tears. They just really had their personal demons that they can't seem to let go and move on from. But once they accepted it as part of who they are and who they will be and decided to deal with their demons together, oh man, it was so completely beautiful how they found the perfect partner and ally in each other.

I really highly recommend this novel to those looking for more substance when it comes to new adult novels. After dealing with your typical angsty stories, it was refreshing to get sucked in deep once again in a story and I have nothing but praises for this novel and for the author as well! ...more

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May 09, 2013 A. Bookzilla. rated it really liked it

This would have been a perfect five star read for me but in the end I was just sort of left... unsatisfied. As it is, it's more of a 4.5.

I feel horrible about it because it really had everything.

A great hero and heroine, with awesome chemistry.
A great story line that I breezed through.
Something a little different than your usual NA romance.
Low on drama! Yay.

Kellen is really just misunderstood. Love these nice guy heroes. He didn't piss me off once, which tells you a lot since there actually were ...more

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May 24, 2013 Tessa Teevan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc

If you've been following my reviews, then it's no secret to you that I love a good Anna Cruise book. Maverick definitely delivers. In fact, dare I say it, it may just be my favorite of her books. There's a shortage of bad boy surfers in the literature arena, so Kellen is a refreshing addition to the book boyfriend shelf.

description

When we first meet Kellen, he's waking up from a drunk night of debauchery with another conquest, whom in his mind can only remember as "Ch."

Chelsea? Cheryl? What was her name ...more

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Jun 15, 2013 HeatherTX rated it liked it

Shelves: character-surfer, genre-contemporary-romance, character-pr_consultant

Not a bad, there was just something missing for me.

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Aug 14, 2013 Kayla rated it really liked it

I got to read Maverick for Ashley’s Reading Bliss blog. First off, I enjoyed reading Maverick. I wasn’t sure what I was going to get out of this book. Kellen seemed liked he wasn’t going to be a good guy at first and then I was like oohhhh I like him! He had a bad*** reputation but he was just hurting and needed someone to help him see he needed to talk through his emotions and Gina was there for him until she got scared. Gina I wasn’t a very big fan of at some parts of the book but in the end I ...more

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Aug 24, 2013 Ji rated it liked it

Shelves: boy-girl-with-secrets, mild-romance

I'm going to keep this short and simple.

This book was alright. I feel like it had a lot of potential. I really liked Kellen in this book. I thought he was a great guy. He wasn't a hard headed asshole...he really was sweet, thoughtful and caring. Gina on the other hand. I think she was just crazy. I hated her character. I could not really relate to her at all. The angst was really not necessary. I did not understand why she kept on lashing out on Kellen.

I gave it 3 stars because the story was in ...more

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Mar 23, 2015 A.L. Goulden rated it really liked it

Shelves: hea-sweet, hot-surfer

I loved this story for more than my obsession with surfing. This book holds deeper issues for both main characters that I wasn't expecting. I was really happy that Kellen wasn't made to sound stupid or one dimensional like many surfer book boyfriends. Gina was given secrets that unfold as you go and give way to a deep pain that links them together. This book was crafted well to keep interest and pace, but did leave me a little wanting at the end. Great quick summer read!

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Oct 18, 2018 Hbeebti rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was pretty cute. I may have to check out more book by this author.

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Aug 17, 2013 Paula Phillips rated it really liked it

One of the common threads in New Adult fiction is that the male star in the books can often play a sport, more than often it's something like Boxing, MMA, Football or Baseball. In Anna Cruise's she offers us up the sport of Surfing. This peaked my interest as I like the "idea" of a surfer and love surfing movies, though of course I'm not really a water person myself. In Maverick we meet champion surfer and a bit of a smart-ass Kellan Handler. He's the type of guy who will sleep with anyone and ...more

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May 08, 2013 Kristel rated it it was amazing

I adore this book! The main characters, Kellen and Gina...sigh. They both have a past and they were thrown together against their wishes, but as they get to know each other they are able to help each other. That’s what I adore! Gina isn't the type of person to take anyone’s crap, especially Kellen’s, and Kellen is exactly the type of person Gina needs to pull her back into life. Anyone else want a group hug?

I enjoyed reading the book from Kellen's point of view. Ms. Cruise did a wonderful job of ...more

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Aug 17, 2013 Felicia Tatum rated it it was amazing

I haven't read one Anna Cruise book that I haven't devoured from beginning to end. Seriously! This one was just as good as the others. Kellan and Gina are both fighting demons, running from their grief, all while trying to fake it for the world. I love how strong of a character Gina is, how she just takes control of the situation and let's Kellan know what's what, no questions allowed. This book was beautiful, heartbreaking, and full of hope. I loved it!!!

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Jan 03, 2015 Deniz rated it liked it

3.5 Stars
Total guilty pleasure!!

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May 31, 2013 Anne OK rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2013-reads

4.5 YUMMY STARS

FULL REVIEW SOON

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Dec 26, 2014 Chris rated it really liked it

Shelves: new-adult, read-in-2014, the-xoxo-new-adult-collection, hot-stuff

Good story.

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Jun 03, 2013 Mallory rated it really liked it

Shelves: angsty-drama-romance, contemporary-romance, emotional-romance, sports-romance

4.5 stars

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Mar 13, 2018 Nana Pickrell rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This was the first book I've read by this author after being recommended by author Melissa Pearl. The storyline was OK, but not enough to get me invested into the characters. There were some contrived scenes that really didn't need to be included especially the last scene with Gina & Branagan. And for me, the ending seemed to be incomplete. It felt like it needed an epilogue to give it closure. I'm not sure if I will read anything else by this author other than the collaboration with Ms. Pea ...more

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Jul 15, 2018 Catherine Geist rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Good read

This was a great book. It was well written and the storyline and characters. There was a lo of emotions in it.Sadness,love,& unexpected events. Good to the very end.

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Apr 03, 2019 Fabianny Navarro rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I loved!

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Sep 28, 2018 Kitlina rated it liked it

Shelves: my-kindle

A nice enough read.
Nothing major happened. A book about loss and healing with the right person. But not something extraordinary.
I liked the writing though, it managed to keep my attention.

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May 26, 2013 Amanda (Hootie) Clark rated it really liked it

Shelves: mature-young-adult, smexy

Just going by the cover I assumed this book would be all hot surfers and hotter sex! The cover is yummy so you can see why I felt that way right? What I got in return was a much deeper and emotional story than just a hot sexy surfer with lickable abs.

When the book opens Kellen is in the process of kicking out his one night stand in a hurry to get to a surfing competition. Right away you can tell he has a "Kiss My A--" attitude about everything. From the girls, to the surfing to the drinking he d Just going by the cover I assumed this book would be all hot surfers and hotter sex! The cover is yummy so you can see why I felt that way right? What I got in return was a much deeper and emotional story than just a hot sexy surfer with lickable abs.

When the book opens Kellen is in the process of kicking out his one night stand in a hurry to get to a surfing competition. Right away you can tell he has a "Kiss My A--" attitude about everything. From the girls, to the surfing to the drinking he does daily. You would think with all of that going on he wouldn't be able to perform adequately but when it comes to surfing, Kellen nails it every time. On the heels of his most recent win he gets caught up in some barroom drama and throws a punch that almost costs him his career, until his management steps in and hires Gina as his PR rep. She has to help keep him out of trouble and clean up his image which is hard to do when Kellen is still grieving the loss of his best friend six months prior and gives zero f--ks about his image. What he doesn't know is that Gina has a secret of her own that keeps her locked away from the outside world focusing only on her work. The more closely Kellen and Gina work together, the more the attraction between them grows but they have to overcome their pasts if they want to be together.

I was highly surprised by this book, so much so that when I found myself crying a little throughout I was Like WTF? For Kellen to lose his best friend in a surfing accident was heartbreaking because not only did he love surfing but he loved his best friend. Watching him try to cope with the grief of thinking it was his fault was the hardest part. Of course he does the usual things guys do to hide the pain, he bangs trashy women and drinks more than any human should But I loved how resilient his character was. Even though he was wasted 90% of the times he surfed in competitions, he still managed to focus his attention to get the job done. The second hardest part was watching him slowly fall for Gina only to have to watch her keep herself locked down hoping she didn't further damage poor Kellen's heart. I loved his character, he was cocky, arrogant and a total douche at first but the more layers you chipped away, the more you understood where he was coming from.

Gina's character on the other hand remained somewhat of a mystery for most of the book. As the story unfolds you find out she loved and lost someone too but you don't find out the entire story until almost the end. I loved that these two broken people found each other by chance and helped each other heal. Gina had some family problems that wounded her very deeply and ultimately became the reason she guarded herself from Kellen. My heart broke for her once I found out what happened and I just wanted to hug this poor girl. She didn't just lose one person she loved, no she lost two people due to the circumstances surrounding the events that took place. Despite Kellen losing his best friend, I think Gina's loss tugged at my heart more because like I said it was a double whammy for her. She was what a good female character was made of though, she too was resilient and strong, determined and feisty. She didn't take Kellen's sh-- and seeing him do a complete 180 just by having her around was both hilarious and fun!

I didn't realize that the points of view would change so when the book started I was confused and had to stop and figure out whose eyes I was looking through at first. The POV's switched from Gina to Kellen without much warning so it was a little jarring even for a seasoned reader such as myself. I think the character's names should have gone at the top of the chapters just to make it less confusing. The characters share an electric chemistry and when the time came for their steamy scene I felt like it was a little all over the place. It seemed like some things were repeated a couple of times and that took away a little of the focus on the romance aspect for me. It wasn't that it was bad, I just felt like with a little bit of tightening up it could have been spot on.

Seriously though I really liked this book. It had heart, drama, romance and funny moments to break up the tension between the characters. Kellen and Gina's story was done beautifully and left me feeling like I just read something significant. This was my first experience with reading an Anna Cruise book but I know it won't be my last. Maverick may appear to be about a hot surfer with gorgeous tanned skin, but with this book there was definitely more than meets the...abs.
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Jun 15, 2013 Tania rated it really liked it

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I am not going to lie…look at that cover! That’s the first thing that drew my attention and lucky for me, I was NOT disappointed by a pretty cover! The second thing that grabbed my attention is that this is a story about a professional surfer. I love the water! God only knows how I developed this love of water when I was raised in a region with grass and mountains as far as the eye can see. I am going to go as far as t For more on this review, please see...

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I am not going to lie…look at that cover! That’s the first thing that drew my attention and lucky for me, I was NOT disappointed by a pretty cover! The second thing that grabbed my attention is that this is a story about a professional surfer. I love the water! God only knows how I developed this love of water when I was raised in a region with grass and mountains as far as the eye can see. I am going to go as far as to probably embarrass myself by admitting I was a HUGE fan of Blue Crush, a chick flick surfer movie from 2002. I have seen it countless times. Talking about it almost makes me want to break out singing Cruel Summer by Bananarama. Feel free to sing along…”it’s a cruel, cruel summer, leaving me here on my own…”

Maverick introduces us to Kellen Handler, the hottest thing, both physically and professionally, in the surfing world. At 24 years of age, Kellen has the world at his feet, but he could care less. Drowning himself in booze and a different pro-ho surfer girl every night, Kellen can barely drag his hungover ass out of bed each morning to compete. Kellen’s womanizing reputation is handed to him on a silver panty covered platter. Seriously girls, you throw it at guys, they will take it, use it and toss it back and there is no lack of beach bunnies trying to bag themselves a night with Kellen Handler! Kellen is not an egotistical ass and it is quite easy to love him. He is tortured after the drowning death of his best friend and surfing buddy, Jay Torres. Blaming himself for the freak accident that claimed Jay’s life, Kellen is just a shell of himself, going through the motions but not taking his life or his surfing career seriously.

“You think Jay would have been happy? Seeing you last night? Knowing you’re throwing all this away? This is yours, Kellen. All this. And you’re pissing it away.”

Deciding that Kellen’s reputation is in need of a serious overhaul, the tour executives stage an intervention and suspend him from competition. With the help of his newly hired public relations manager, Gina Bellori, he is to stay out of trouble and change his public image before he can get back in the water.

“Surfing was the one thing I had left. It was the one thing I’d clung to since Jay’s death. And now they were threatening to take it away from me.”

Gina is a beautiful 23 year old recent college grad who doesn’t have the experience to handle such a high profile case but her own surfing history has landed Kellen Handler right in her lap. The problem here is that Gina has got her own surfing demons to contend with and Kellen is a constant reminder of a world she no longer wants to have anything to do with.

Kellen isn’t a bad guy, he’s just down and out and struggling to continue on. There is nothing asshole-ish about him and he conforms to Gina’s agenda immediately with little drama. Gina is impressed with Kellen’s effort to stop his downward spiral and a friendship develops. The biggest boost to Kellen’s ego is that he knows Gina believes in him and in turn he starts to believe in himself. The more she gets to know him the more she finds herself affected by him. Gina struggles with her attraction to him and continually reminds herself that he is a job and nothing more while trying to maintain professional boundaries. Kellen is a constant reminder of what she has lost and she doesn’t want to put herself in that position ever again.

Kellen is insanely attracted to Gina and as he oh so sweetly continues to pursue her, the professional lines are blurred and Gina becomes angry and pushes back. When Gina extends the olive branch with beer and a little “you tell me your demons and I will tell you mine” confession time, emotions run high. This leads to some scorching hot beach to shower to bedroom sex. With a big WTF did I just do? Gina goes into self-preservation mode and cuts all ties to Kellen. Thankfully our surfing hottie realizes PDQ that all the drinking and mindless sex since Jay’s death has not made him feel better. There has been only one thing that has made him feel good about himself and he plans to get it back, no matter how many times he has to remind her he is not her past but her present.

“Hey, let me introduce myself. I’m Kellen. Kellen Handler.”

And let me tell you, he is swoon worthy and oh so worth it!
...more

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Nov 05, 2013 Sophia rated it really liked it

Shelves: net-galley-reads, na, con-rom-sports

A competitive surfer who is self-destructing fast and is barely clinging to the one thing he still has- surfing and the sea and a woman afraid to go near the sea and her memories who is hired to clean up his image. It shouldn't work, but it does- too well- if they can both stop running from their pasts long enough to see it through.

Kellen gets his name in the paper and not in a good way marking the beginning of the end for him if he doesn't clean up his reputation. Unfortunately, he is also dang A competitive surfer who is self-destructing fast and is barely clinging to the one thing he still has- surfing and the sea and a woman afraid to go near the sea and her memories who is hired to clean up his image. It shouldn't work, but it does- too well- if they can both stop running from their pasts long enough to see it through.

Kellen gets his name in the paper and not in a good way marking the beginning of the end for him if he doesn't clean up his reputation. Unfortunately, he is also dangerously close to not caring about anything since his friend died. He can't get past it and carries around a boatload of guilt for his part in Jay's death. The only thing he both loves and paradoxically at the same time hates is when he can be out on the waves. He can't let them take that from him so if he has to jump through a few PR hoops like a trained monkey for thirty days than that is what he'll do.

Gina knows working on Kellen's image is a really bad idea because of her own past tragedies that have kept her far away from the sea and from surfing, but her boss doesn't agree. She has preconceived notions in her mind of how things will be. Hardliving, womanizing surf god who doesn't care about anyone, but himself. Meeting Kellen tells her that she's got him all wrong and that makes him even more dangerous still. He's just a guy in serious pain who has lost his moorings when his friend and mentor dies tragically. He agrees to all that she asks of him, but he is also observant and questioning when he sees hints at those things she tries desperately to hide.

Kellen doesn't know what to make of Gina because she is like no woman he has met before. She is a calm, cool professional who is good at what she does. She's got his back when a jerk and his dad try to manipulate Kellen. Gina is also empathetic and kind- his friend. Well, she's friendly until he asks one question too many or accidentally hits a sore point with her and then she turns into a hissing, spitting Queen B who shoves him away hard. They circle each other closer and closer peeling back layer and layer until they get to the bleeding hearts, fears and guilt within. It all comes down to healing and trust.

I knew this was going to be an emotionally intense story going in. Kellen and Gina are both just hot messes barely keeping it together. She just pulls it off better than he does because she has had longer to put tape on all her broken pieces and she's not in the public eye or has people targeting her because she's a celebrity like Kellen. I was in the mood for this one as a change of pace from some of the other stuff I've been reading lately. It certainly didn't hurt that the hero was an easy-on-the-eyes pro surfer who wasn't as hopelessly lost and jaded as he seemed or that the back drop was mostly the sunny beaches and blue waves of SoCal. I was all in from the instant Kellen started telling his story from page one and was doubly intrigued after his first meeting with Gina and trying to figure out what her deal was. Let's just say that between the two of them, they made me hurt for them and cheer when it seemed they each were starting to heal even a little.

At first, Kellen comes off as a real tool, but then his character is further revealed and I just ended up aching for his pain. Gina got a similar reaction from me with her hot and cold stuff and the way she flew into an absolute freak at times, but then she would turn around and own her messy stuff and move on to helping Kellen. There was a bad moment in the last half and it was the big crisis that had to happen so that everything would break open and the bad stuff would pour out. That twisty danger element in the end took me by surprise too. All the way through, I loved the pace of this relationship. The attraction and tension are there, but I'm glad they didn't jump in bed right away. Well worth it for things to tease out the way they did even the false starts and bad moments. Only niggle I had was that it ended abruptly for me. There was a little denouement that wrapped things up in a believable manner. However, I guess after all the angst, I just wanted to bask in a longer time of the smooth sailing and lovey stuff.

All in all, it was a most satisfying read that I would recommend to Contemporary Romance lovers who are in the mood for a bit of drama and a hot dose of passion by the sea.

My thanks to Netgalley for providing the book for review purposes. ...more

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Aug 26, 2013 Chu rated it really liked it

Shelves: death-and-dying, sports-buff, second-chances

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Review Originally Posted at: Book Freak

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I fell in love with the waves, the cover and Kellan - in no particular order.

Maverick was something I looked forward in reading once I was done with two others (If I Fall & It Was You). I love the way she writes - not to mention the length of her novels: not too short, not too long and she never intends to drag her readers.

some_text

Kellan knew what loss it - but he never did learn how to cope unless he's suited and riding the waves. In the wate ...more

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Jun 04, 2013 Court rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 4-stars-2013, read-in-2013

MustReadBooksOrDie

Court: Maverick is my kryptonite for a book. We have a tortured bad boy surfer who is messing up his reputation and spot on the pro tour with women and booze. Then we have PR person Gina who is sent in to help fix his reputation, and of course the sparks fly. Gina though has an interesting past herself, so things don't go quite like I thought they were going to.

Shel: Oh, me too Courtney. Me too. Hot surfer boy? Strong, smart, sassy female? I'm all in.

Court: The setting of SoC MustReadBooksOrDie

Court: Maverick is my kryptonite for a book. We have a tortured bad boy surfer who is messing up his reputation and spot on the pro tour with women and booze. Then we have PR person Gina who is sent in to help fix his reputation, and of course the sparks fly. Gina though has an interesting past herself, so things don't go quite like I thought they were going to.

Shel: Oh, me too Courtney. Me too. Hot surfer boy? Strong, smart, sassy female? I'm all in.

Court: The setting of SoCal was also a major plus for me. It is my all time favorite place that I have visited, and if I could talk my husband into moving out there I so would in a heartbeat. Alas, that hasn't happened yet. Huntington Beach *sigh* all the way down toward San Diego *sigh again* are absolutely beautiful, so I loved all of the references to those and the beaches and waves. I also watched Chasing Mavericks not long before I read this, so I definitely was loving all of the Maverick references and surfing! Shel: I've never been to California but it's on my list of places to go and I cannot wait to see the West Coast. Cannot wait!

Court: Poor Kellen. He lost his best friend surfing and the rest of the world is expecting him to be over it by now. It has only been six months and he does have obligations to fill, but give the guy a break! That being said...he is making some bad alcohol influenced choices going home with some nasty women...ick! He and Gina definitely do not want the same things so that was an interesting aspect of the story, because usually it is the guy who is being standoffish with the girls advances. We have a little bit of gender role reversal here, which is nice because guys can't always get what they want, too, ya know!

Shel: Yes, it was nice to see a guy actually express his neediness and desire for once. But I hated to see him in pain and to feel so guilty for something that he had no control over. And then when he finally opens up to Gina and she bails on him...well I was no longer thrilled with her character. She does redeem herself and they are able to move forward but only after a seriously bad altercation between Gina and a scum-of-the earth jerk.

Court: My star rating was boosted because while this was a romantic story, it was much more about each of them dealing with their grief together than it was about steaming up the pages. For Gina's side of the story, we got teeny tidbits throughout and her losses were completely different yet so horrifying. Sorry, can't tell you why...but if I was in that situation I don't think I would have been able to deal quite as well as her!

Shel: Yeah, Gina and Kellen both have some serious losses to overcome. I think that's why the work so well--they truly understand trying to live through (or just exist) through the emotional pain caused by loss and grief and guilt and blame.

Court: Again, I definitely wanted more, more, more before the end...but for those of you who are looking for a stand alone novel, wrapped up by the end...here you go! I really enjoyed it! Shel: We always want more. Hahaha. This was a very enjoyable and quick read--another great summer beach read for sure!

Courtney: 5 Stars
Shelley: 4 Stars ...more

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Aug 21, 2013 Ginnie rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I am reviewing this book for My Family's Heart Book Reviews.

I have been sitting here honestly flipping through stuff on my computer just trying to figure out what to say for this review. And trust me that doesn't happen a lot. Even if I claim that I don't know what to say, I usually do. But not this time, nope I jut kept trying to come up with something. And I am not saying that this book was in any way bad because it was good but it was just a book to me. It was nothing more, nothing less. And I am reviewing this book for My Family's Heart Book Reviews.

I have been sitting here honestly flipping through stuff on my computer just trying to figure out what to say for this review. And trust me that doesn't happen a lot. Even if I claim that I don't know what to say, I usually do. But not this time, nope I jut kept trying to come up with something. And I am not saying that this book was in any way bad because it was good but it was just a book to me. It was nothing more, nothing less. And very few people know what to say about "just a book." So I am going to say what I can, the best I can.

I guess I will start with the characters. At first I thought I would like Gina, I mean she seemed to be a take no junk kind of chick and you don't always see that in these type of books. But the more I got to know her the more I just wanted her to take a chill pill and stop all the whining. I understand that this girl had something very tragic happen to two of her loved ones but eek, the way she was constantly flipping out on the poor hot guy was terrible. I felt bad for him. And that brings us to Kellen, the poor hot surfer guy. He is also suffering from a tragedy and of course like any damaged bad boy he is handling it with alcohol and numerous random girls. I seriously wish I could give him a cookie for having to deal with Gina. Anyways, so Gina is hired to fix Kellen's image after he gets into some trouble and from there, their rocky relationship starts. I honestly never really saw them as more than friends, I got no romantic warm and fuzzes when it came to them. Did they ever actually use the big "L" word? Did I miss that somewhere? So as far as the characters go I didn't like her and him I just pitied. Who wants to be with someone that is going to be constantly reminded of their murdered first love every time they look at you? Eesh.

So as I was saying, this to me was just a book. It's just there. The story wasn't bad, it did keep me intrigued though. I wanted to know the whole time what Gina's story was. You pretty much got Kellan's out of the way from the start, but her's you just had to wait for. Drove me nuts And when all the puzzle pieces finally fell in place, I was just like "eeh ok." The sex was luke warm to me and the romance was nada, I mean anytime you thought aww here we go, bam the crazy came out of the girl lol. I wished there would of been an epilogue also. What happened with them, we saw 2 months in and that was it. Did we have any surf babies? What happened with her brother Leo? Did Kellen take back to the waves? This book left me with no closure, sighhh. I still decided to give this book 4 stars because there wasn't a thing to give it 3.5. Great story idea even though there was no closure for me, I was disappointed with the characters and their relationship or lack there of. But I will say this, it was a great story idea and the parts that were good, were actually greaat. So hopefully that explains my rating.

My song for this book: Wasteland by 10 years.
...more

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May 09, 2013 Yvonne (The Shadow Realm) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013, 2013-may, contemporary, ebooks, own, own-to-read

Blog Tour Post: The Shadow Realm

I must admit, I was a bit worried that I wasn't gonna like this book. I had been dying to read it since I seen that awesome cover. But a couple weeks ago I read Cruise's other book, It Was You, and I didn't like it. This really disappointed me because I was so looking forward to reading Maverick and I was worried that I wasn't gonna like it the same way I didn't like It Was You. I am delighted to say though that this is not the case. I really really enjoyed this b Blog Tour Post: The Shadow Realm

I must admit, I was a bit worried that I wasn't gonna like this book. I had been dying to read it since I seen that awesome cover. But a couple weeks ago I read Cruise's other book, It Was You, and I didn't like it. This really disappointed me because I was so looking forward to reading Maverick and I was worried that I wasn't gonna like it the same way I didn't like It Was You. I am delighted to say though that this is not the case. I really really enjoyed this book and I am so thrilled about this!

You can tell from the way Ms Cruise tells the story that a lot of research went into this book. There is so much information about surfing it was extremely enjoyable to read about. It made me want to visit all these surfing hot spots (and not just to perv on all the hot surfer dudes :P).

The main reason I liked this book so much better than Cruise's other book is that the characters didn't annoy me one bit. They were so easy to read about, they didn't make overly stupid mistakes and they apologized if they did over-react to something. It is mainly told from Kellen's POV (which I loved!) but we do get the odd chapter here and there from Gina's POV. I was hoping it was gonna be an all male POV book but I can see that Gina's parts did add a bit more to the story. Both characters are dealing with tragic pasts and they are both just trying to cope the best they can. But it's not really working, especially for Kellen. He is in jeopardy of throwing away his surfing career if he doesn't get his act together. My heart broke for Kellen. The poor guy lost his best friend who he's know nearly his whole life. I just wanted to give him a big hug. Kellen is not your usual"bad boy" type that is portrayed in most NA books. He is actually a really nice guy and can be incredibly sweet. Even though he sleeps around he never leads any of the girls on. He tells them straight out it's just a one night stand. He is just trying to find a way to cope, even if it isn't the healthiest way to do it.
Gina I liked too. She is dealing with her own tragic past which is slowly revealed as the story progressed. I liked that it remained a mystery for a lot of the book. Even though she did over-react to some situations I still liked her. She was tough and resilient and I loved the chemistry between the two characters. It felt easy and natural, not at all forced. They helped each other to over come their pasts and they were just so good for each other.

Beautiful writing, beautiful settings, wonderful characters. Romance, humor heart-break, hot surfers(!!). If all these things appeal to you then this is the book for you. A fantastic read. ...more

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