Believe by Erin McCarthy
Also by this author: Shatter
Series: True Believers #3
Also in this series: Shatter
Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Published by InterMix on January 21, 2014
Pages: 232
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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A New Adult novel from Erin McCarthy, the USA Today bestselling author of Sweet.

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…

Enjoyed the swiftness at which Robin and Phoenix recognized the connection with each other and even though they were both dealing with things they were willing to open themselves up to a friendship that gradually progressed.

I felt for Robin who seemed like a nice girl. Though granted she made a mistake that would hurt a lot of people, people she cared about, what made me like her was that she felt truly sorry and grieved over her mistake and took measures of prevention so that she couldn’t let it happen again.

I could understand Robin fears and shame at trying to keep it secret, trying to protect the friends she cared so much and she had very right to be worried because what she did was messed up. I enjoyed the big anticipation of when her secret would come out and all the backlash that would go down when it did and wondering how everyone would truly react. Would they react they way she thought they would or would they surprise her? I understood Robin trying to prepare for the possibility that it could happen and the aftermath.

I liked Phoenix and even though he was a epitome of a hardass what with just coming out of prison, yea prison. He was still willing and able to open himself to Robin and attempt to have a relationship with her. Phoenix had his own issues that he had to deal with but he genuinely cared for his family and Robin and that shined over all the badassness that was him.

In the end I really enjoyed Believe by Erin McCarthy, the connection and romance between Phoenix and Robin was sizzling and all the drama and conflict as they navigated their feelings and fixed the wrongs in their lives.