This is a re-read for like the third time and I’ve got to say, this book just gets better and better.
Easy is narrated by Jacqueline, a second-year music student at college who has just been dumped by her dickwad boyfriend, Kennedy, so that he can sleep with other girls. When her roommate, Erin, suggests that they go to a frat party (because they always end well) to cheer her up, she is attacked on her way home by one of the frat brothers. Luckily for her, Lucas is nearby and weighs in to save her. From this chance encounter, a relationship grows between Jacqueline and Lucas, but Lucas has his own issues...
This book has got to be one of my favourite romances of all time. It’s seriously that good. I’m a sucker for a well-written romance and the plot and characterisation of Easy both come up trumps for me.
The romance between Lucas and Jacqueline was absolutely beautiful. It was well-paced and not all instalovey, but it also had its problems and false-starts.
I thought the rape sub-plot was dealt with very realistically, making the point that women are far more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone they know rather than a random stranger on the street. The author also investigated the endemic culture of victim-blaming and close-ranks denial surrounding rape accusations.
Jacqueline is a lovely protagonist. Her heartbreak over her dickbean ex-boyfriend was realistic without being all waily and pathetic. She stuck up for herself and wasn’t all pathetic and weepy, but she had faults, too.
And Lucas. I love him and the fact that he will never be mine makes me want to lay my head down right now on my laptop keyboard and whimper with frustration. He’s all tats and piercings and tragic past and he’s super intelligent and a considerate lover and an artist and he rides a motorbike. Sigh. So unfair. It’s lucky that I like Jacqueline, otherwise I’d have to scratch her eyes out.
10/10