Review: Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols is exactly the sort of book you should pick up on a boring Sunday and consume in a single sitting. It is engaging, full of hunky boys/lust/feelings. It is a soap opera for teens in a book, and I liked it a lot. I know I am late on this one- does everyone else like it, took?

But at first I didn't think I would end up liking this book. The first fifty pages really bothered me. I thought meg was Unappealing and that the cop thing was a bit fetishy. Thank goodness there was more to this story than first impressions.


HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?

All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn't make it back.

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge -- and over....

Originality: 5. I like Echols's southern-high school-hard knocks thing. I see that it is a trend in her books now (and reminds me of the Pushing the Limits series), but this was the first Echols I read and I found it fresh.

Absurdity:  6. See my concerns re: start of the book. This book isn't going for realistic portrayal of how cops handle badly behaved teenagers.  ALSO this cover is absurd. It hurts. And I read it in paperback!

Level of Paranormal Romance: 7. Sexy cop and bad girl sounds like a themed fraternity mixer- bad news. Luckily John After the 19 yr old runner is a hunk hunky hunk. And after a whole its clear that the Officer After version of John is pretty great, too.

Level of Harry-Potterness: 3. Obviously  no muggles in this one. But this book has more going on than first meets the eye, and Echols manages to bring in some serious issues without making it forced or cheesy. I was touched and surprised.