|ARC REVIEW| Believe by Erin McCarthy

BELIEVE (#3)
Review by: Kaede
Release Date: January 21st, 2014
Publisher: InterMix 
Pages: 232

Robin used to be a party girl… until she got black out drunk and woke up in bed with her best friend's boyfriend. Now she's faced with being THAT girl, and couldn't be more disgusted with herself. She can't even tell her friends the reason for her sudden sobriety and she avoids everyone until she meets Phoenix—quiet, tattooed, and different in every way that's good and oh, so bad…

Phoenix is two days out of jail when he meets Robin at his cousin's house, and he knows that he has no business talking to her, but he's drawn to her quiet demeanor, sweet smile, and artistic talent. She doesn't care that he's done time, or that he only has five bucks to his name, and she supports his goal to be a tattoo artist.

But Phoenix knows Robin has a secret, and that it's a naïve dream to believe that his record won't catch up with them at some point. Though neither is prepared for the explosive result when the past collides with the present…

**An advance copy of this book was provided for review. However, all opinions remain honest and my own.**

Believe is probably my favorite book in the True Believers series. While I did read Believe in a short time, these books seem to be enjoyable but also laced with problems. 

For the most part, if you are a reader who can read without looking too deep into things and you enjoy New Adult, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this series. But if you are a reader who look at words for more than their surface meaning, you'll find that the characters display questionable logic and strange decisions. 

I'm generally someone who can just read a book for pure entertainment and not analyze things for multiple meanings when I want to. I can also be all philosophical and read between lines and look for and appreciate scenes that are more than what first meets the eye. To fully enjoy Believe, you have to be in the mood to read something fun and fast, and try not to find deep meaning behind the character's actions or plot. 

The book rotates between our two main characters, and I liked seeing how Phoenix and Robin thought and I liked getting to see reactions or a look into feelings we wouldn't have gotten had this series been written in one point of view. After waking up in bed with her best friend's boyfriend, Robin is horrified and disgusted and withdraws from the person who used to party and drink without telling anyone why. Robin was generally a likable character, even though she wasn't the strongest. I can also see why she made some of the bad decisions she did, because things like that do happen in this world. There isn't any insta-love in this book, but there is an immediate sense of lust between Robin and Phoenix, and I can even understand why there would be. But what I cannot understand is why Robin would willingly invite Phoenix to stay the night at her apartment without knowing what he went to jail for. Even if the Mann brothers seem to be on good terms with him, I'm certain Phoenix didn't spent time in jail for handing out rainbows and spreading sunshine. Nobody in the entire book seemed to think that it was at least unsafe, and it's obvious to the readers Phoenix wasn't a mass murderer, but Robin had no way of knowing because she wouldn't at least ask him.

"Even if no one else cared about me, I did." 

I like characters like Phoenix who have a strong sense of self-respect, because how can you expect others to love or accept you when you can't first love and accept yourself? I never thought Phoenix would be bad for Robin, but when he says he thinks it's oddly satisfying to see people cry for him, it makes me wonder if maybe he isn't as affected by everything as he claims. His anger problems are touched upon, but I was surprised that he was able to destroy somebody's car with no repercussions. Not saying that the owner of that car didn't deserve it, but I expected somebody to call the police or something along those lines. 

I liked Robin and Phoenix's relationship, and both of them were good for the other. They supported each other, and with a bit of time they managed to build a honest relationship. I was happy that Robin could feel comfortable with Phoenix, although...

"You've screwed us all, man. Now they're all going to expect portraits."  

Now I laughed when I read this line, but I can't help but think that Phoenix didn't think it through completely, because a tattoo of your girlfriend's face when you've only known her for less than two months seems a bit rash. But I guess I can see why Robin was so happy, since I suppose you can look at it as sweet and the tattoo is supposed to be beautiful. But I think a tattoo like that is a commitment that Phoenix should make after they were married and maybe as an anniversary surprise, because you can't just wash something like that await. And I don't want them to break up at all, but if it did happen, there will always be a permanent reminder of what once was on your skin. Not to sound depressing at all. Nope. 

I am depressing myself with my depression talk of fictional characters breaking up. IT MUST NEVER HAPPEN.

Like in Sweet, it was fun to see all the characters from previous books again and you can definitely feel that there is a strong connection not only between family, but also friends. Some relationships are strengthened in Believe, and others broken. And I tried refraining from mentioning him before, because I knew I'd go off on paragraphs of ranting, so I'll settle for just one sentence. Nathan is an asshole. I appreciate artistic characters because I like to draw, and I liked that I could relate to Robin and Phoenix in that aspect. Believe was engaging enough to keep me flipping those pages, and had I started this in the morning, it could have easily been a one sitting read. I was curious and couldn't resist reading the excerpt for Shatter, the next book, and all I'll say is that I'll be reading that one too without a doubt because I'd like to read Kylie's side of the story to tie it all together. And plus it sounds just simply like something I'd enjoy - as I've enjoyed every book in this series. If you love New Adult, this is a series I think would be a shame for you not to try. 

4 coffee cups!

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BUY THE BOOK:

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE

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Let's Discuss: In the comments, tell me what your favorite bird is! I'm personally terrible at remembering types of bird, so I'm going to have to go with a bluebird because they are cute and blue. And yes, that is totally logical reasoning. Not. KAEDE YOU CAN'T JUST LIKE SOMETHING BECAUSE IT'S BLUE AND CUTE. 

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Contact Kaede: 

Email: kimberlyho75@yahoo.com

Goodreads: Kaede
Twitter: Kami178xx