New Adult Book Review: Thoughtless by S. C. Stephens!

THOUGHTLESS

by S.C. Stephens

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Out Now! 

Review Source: e-ARC received from Simon & Schuster / Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review, with thanks!

For almost two years now, Kiera's boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she's ever wanted: loving, tender and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together, Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university, everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart.

Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source—a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he's purely a friend that she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes...and none of them will ever be the same.

If there's one thing I ADORE in a book it's a Triangle!

Now, I know, often they're terribly cliche and sometimes it feels like the author has used one because it's the surefire way to write conflict into an otherwise dull story. But when a book's focus is based almost entirely on the triangle, well, let's just say that's a book I HAVE TO GET MY MITTS ON!!!!

But, putting my obsession with geometry aside, I have to say that this is a rather difficult review to write. There were parts of this book that I loved and parts I hated outright.
I'm going to start the lovefest by saying one word:

Kellan Kyle

*bites knuckle and swoons* And yes, I am aware that's two words! 

OMFB (that's OH MY F*CKING BRAD for those of you that don't speak Carmen, and let's face it, that's probably 99.9999999999999% of the world's population!) is he to die for! I mean, yeah, okay, he's a fictional character but holy crap is he one HOT book boy! Seriously, out of all the fictional characters I get swoony for in a drop-my-knickers-right-here-right-now-on-the-table-thank-you-kind-Sir kind of way he's the only one that I actually, really, truly wish was real!
He's a total punk ass brat player but that's what makes him so yummy!
Oh, did I mention he's a musician?

*Dies*

Oh, the angst! For me, this is the deciding factor as to whether a triangle works or doesn't, whether you feel something, or don't! You've all heard me say before that I'm addicted to the dramarama, Stephens brings drama by the tonne, she hands you some scuba gear, loads it all on top of you and dares you to swim your way out or drown.
For the record, I drowned, but OH BRAD, was it ever a worthwhile experience! 
      

"I hate you . . ." I seethed.
His hands forced my legs on either side of his hips and he pressed himself against me hard, before I could even react. Even through jeans, the intensity of the move, the feel of him, of how turned on he was as well, made me gasp, made my breath heavier. 
"That's not hate you feel . . ." His voice had a hard edge to it. Enraged, I stared at him icily. He smiled wickedly, breathing heavier as well, his eyes showing no humor. "And that's not friendship either." 

e-copy - Kindle 57%    

The heat between these two was palpable! I felt their desire and despair like it was my own, Stephens has a way of sucking you into Kiera and Kellan's current scene and then amplifying the tension to a point where you're not just picturing the events in Thoughtless, you're experiencing them too. I enjoyed the world she created so much that a part of me really didn't want it to end.
Which brings me to the things that I didn't enjoy about this book, and I'm not gonna lie, there were a few big, huge, massive issues for me!
Let's start with Denny, first of all I really liked his character, I feel like we were cheated out of a great deal of his character and I would have like to have seen and experienced more through his eyes, but overall I liked him. BUT . . . as an Aussie girl I have to say . . . What the? I found a lot of the interaction with Denny to be off, while I applaud the fact that Stephens didn't turn him into the cringe-worthy, horrific, blokey bloke stereotype who runs around jumping on reptiles and saying Crikey, I really wish she'd spoken to an Australian about our idioms. Denny was pulling out phrases that I've never heard of, or worse, phrases that haven't been used here since the early eighties that were made out to be typically "Aussie", not a huge dilemma in the scheme of things, I know, but it was enough to make me wish she'd done her research!      And while we're on the subject of irritating, let's talk Kiera. I didn't loathe her as much as others seem to have, but I often questioned Stephens' desire to create a character like Kiera. She's uptight, a bit snobbish  spoilt, suffers from an extreme case of the "why me?" syndrome and was a complete prude. At times I thought she was dumber than a box of nail clippings, the indecisiveness, the constant back and forth between the two guys, the whining! It made me want to strangle her! She was such an unlikable character that if it hadn't been for Kellan, I would not have continued reading! After I got a little way in it became a lot easier to ignore Kiera's voice (weird, considering this story is told for her POV) and buckle myself in for the roller coaster ride of angst!

"This was supposed to be innocent, Kellan!" I spat at him.
"We were never innocent Kiera. How naive are you?" he said in the same tone, moving against me again.
"God, I hate you . . ." I whispered, tears of rage stinging my eyes.
Equally enraged he stared right back at me. "No, you don't . . ." 
 e-copy - Kindle 57%  

Another thing that really reduced my enjoyment of this novel was that the prose felt incredibly green. It screamed first time author to me, which Stephens was when she first released it independently! Now, I adore my indie authors! On a good day when I'm actually bothering to work on my writing, I am, in fact, an Indie author! So it's not that I'm not basking in the Indie love, but I can't help but feel if this had been published the first time around by a big house with an experienced and very stalwart editor, it could have been brilliant! The recipe is there, but the story gets bogged down in repetitive phrases and an endless stream of useless looks, facial expressions, intonations and terrible descriptors. And if I ever have to read the word blush again I'll go mad! -  Oh wait, I already am! - honestly, I think the only thing Kiera did in this entire novel was blush, at boys, at curse words, at lamp posts! I don't know how she got time to wreak the havoc she did on her personal life what with all the blushing she was doing!
The length was another issue that could have been rectified with a good editor (much like this review), Thoughtless was a good 150 pages over what my prosaic little mind can handle when it comes to that much angst without a lot of forward motion.
Overall, Thoughtless is a good read! It's an emotional story that will suck you dry and have you thinking about it for a long time to come! If you loathe the love triangle then this is not the book for you, but if you're a hopeless romantic that lives for the thrill and disquiet that comes with sordid, steamy affairs then you really should just quit reading this review and follow the purchase links already, because you won't be disappointed!        

I'm giving this one Four OH, BRADS!

OH BRAD! I LOVE YOU SO . . .

Purchase your copy of Thoughtless

Amazon | B & N | Book Depository

 Special thanks to Simon & Schuster  

and Netgalley
for providing this review copy!