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A review by xoxotawnydee
Stubborn Love by Wendy Owens
3.0
Stubborn Love is the story of Clementine "Emmie" Hayes. Not so much a story of the main guy. It is almost a coming of age story despite the fact that she is twenty-six years old.
Emmie had pretty much been a nobody in high school. One of those "artsy" kids who only had one friend and no prospects as far as boyfriends went. Until Ashton Stirling made his way into her life. She was crazy about him. So crazy that she actually chose him over her best friend. They married right out of high school and stayed together for years. The problem with Ashton is that he had.. problems. A manipulative jerk who wouldn't let her leave because he couldn't stand the thought of being alone. And he had a bit of a drinking problem, so some of those problems turned a little physical. Until finally Emmie had had enough. And she told him she was leaving.
But he couldn't live without her.
Three years later Emmie is starting anew in New York, finally following her dream of getting a Fine Arts degree. New York is expensive though, so when a random Rainbow Brite she meets by a taxi one day offers to let her take a look at her apartment to be roommated, Emmie goes for it. And they become best friends. Which is great. Because Paige is awesome. She is the girl that every girl wants as a best friend. Fun, and out-spoken, not to mention extremely protective.
And finally everything is going right in Emmie's life. No more abuse. Following her dream. New best friend. Enter Colin Bennett, Paige's boyfriend's brother, and their landlord. Neither Emmie nor Colin is looking for love, but Colin's found it finally, and he's not going down without a fight. He will do whatever it takes to get Emmie to give him a chance once he figures out that she likes him too.
I read a review on goodreads that complained abotu the story having nothing memorable about it, so of course I wanted to read it to get a taste myself. I'm strange that way. But I have to disagree. Which is exactly what I was expecting to happen.
I think Colin was an extremely memorable main guy. I think he was perfect and exactly what Emmie needed to try and get over the horror that Ashton had brought into her life. And what made him perfect was that he wasn't the rich little boy that she thought he was at first. He was hard-working and loving and protective of so many people. He was just a beautiful character.
I've already sung Paige's prescence in the book.
My least favorite character was Emmie though. Not because she wasn't a good character, but because I just got sick of hearing about Ashton. I know that ex's, especially horrible breakups, can have an outstanding impact on a person's life. And I know that one simple negative statement from somebody can stay with you forever. I've got a few of them stuck in my head too. But I hated that she just wouldn't let it go. Wouldn't let herself be happy. And fought anybody who tried to help her. Like she was a horrible person who deserved to go to hell and be tortured on the way. I just wanted to shake her and reiterate the fact that Ashton was obviously sick and she couldn't have done anything differently. At the end, when she finally starts coming to terms with it, she says that when she thinks back on it, she thinks Ashton was looking for a way out. Looking for permission, if you will. And I completely agree with that. I think that Ashton was extremely sick and he couldn't take it anymore and he wanted permission from the one person that probably mattered most to him.
In no way do I believe that what he did is a good thing, or that he should be "forgiven" just because of that, but I think in a way that he literally couldn't let her go.. but he knew that she couldn't stay. So he gave her a way out. He wouldn't have known that she would be hung up on it for as long as she was. So I give this book 3.5 stars because Ashton drove me crazy on a page to page basis. Now I'm off to go read Only In Dreams, the story of Paige. I can't wait. I'm so excited!
Emmie had pretty much been a nobody in high school. One of those "artsy" kids who only had one friend and no prospects as far as boyfriends went. Until Ashton Stirling made his way into her life. She was crazy about him. So crazy that she actually chose him over her best friend. They married right out of high school and stayed together for years. The problem with Ashton is that he had.. problems. A manipulative jerk who wouldn't let her leave because he couldn't stand the thought of being alone. And he had a bit of a drinking problem, so some of those problems turned a little physical. Until finally Emmie had had enough. And she told him she was leaving.
But he couldn't live without her.
Three years later Emmie is starting anew in New York, finally following her dream of getting a Fine Arts degree. New York is expensive though, so when a random Rainbow Brite she meets by a taxi one day offers to let her take a look at her apartment to be roommated, Emmie goes for it. And they become best friends. Which is great. Because Paige is awesome. She is the girl that every girl wants as a best friend. Fun, and out-spoken, not to mention extremely protective.
And finally everything is going right in Emmie's life. No more abuse. Following her dream. New best friend. Enter Colin Bennett, Paige's boyfriend's brother, and their landlord. Neither Emmie nor Colin is looking for love, but Colin's found it finally, and he's not going down without a fight. He will do whatever it takes to get Emmie to give him a chance once he figures out that she likes him too.
I read a review on goodreads that complained abotu the story having nothing memorable about it, so of course I wanted to read it to get a taste myself. I'm strange that way. But I have to disagree. Which is exactly what I was expecting to happen.
I think Colin was an extremely memorable main guy. I think he was perfect and exactly what Emmie needed to try and get over the horror that Ashton had brought into her life. And what made him perfect was that he wasn't the rich little boy that she thought he was at first. He was hard-working and loving and protective of so many people. He was just a beautiful character.
I've already sung Paige's prescence in the book.
My least favorite character was Emmie though. Not because she wasn't a good character, but because I just got sick of hearing about Ashton. I know that ex's, especially horrible breakups, can have an outstanding impact on a person's life. And I know that one simple negative statement from somebody can stay with you forever. I've got a few of them stuck in my head too. But I hated that she just wouldn't let it go. Wouldn't let herself be happy. And fought anybody who tried to help her. Like she was a horrible person who deserved to go to hell and be tortured on the way. I just wanted to shake her and reiterate the fact that Ashton was obviously sick and she couldn't have done anything differently. At the end, when she finally starts coming to terms with it, she says that when she thinks back on it, she thinks Ashton was looking for a way out. Looking for permission, if you will. And I completely agree with that. I think that Ashton was extremely sick and he couldn't take it anymore and he wanted permission from the one person that probably mattered most to him.
In no way do I believe that what he did is a good thing, or that he should be "forgiven" just because of that, but I think in a way that he literally couldn't let her go.. but he knew that she couldn't stay. So he gave her a way out. He wouldn't have known that she would be hung up on it for as long as she was. So I give this book 3.5 stars because Ashton drove me crazy on a page to page basis. Now I'm off to go read Only In Dreams, the story of Paige. I can't wait. I'm so excited!