Author: Lyla Payne
Publisher: 310 Pages (September 20th, 2013)
From: the Author
Format: eARC
Add to: Goodreads
Order a copy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK
Check out my review for: Broken At Love (Whitman University #1)
Check out my review for: By Referral Only (Whitman University, #2)
NOTE: This is a "New Adult" novel. Due to mature content this title is recommended for ages 17+
Synopsis: Toby Wright has always prided himself on being one of the most normal guys at Whitman University. He loves his parents, has a great job lined up after graduation, and with the exception of attempting to cross the unbalanced Sebastian Blair sophomore year, has kept his nose pretty clean.
But the rich never have empty closets, and memories long stashed away come spilling free when notorious party girl Kennedy Gilbert almost dies in his dorm room.
Nobody really knows how Kennedy manages to stay in good standing at Whitman–she never goes to class, doesn’t pretend to care about her future, and as far as people can tell, is never sober. This isn’t her first meeting with a stomach pump, but it is the first time she’s woken up to Toby’s concerned brown eyes. Despite the fact that she prefers life without friends, he gets under her skin with his insistence on playing her guardian angel.
No one knows better than Toby that people can only be saved if they want to be, but the realization that she has no one else draws him back into the shadows of Kennedy’s life–and eventually into her bed. But she long ago came to terms with a truth that Toby refuses to accept: she doesn’t want to be rescued, she only wants to forget.
Unwilling to give up on her, Toby’s dragged under by this broken girl and her dark, twisted Whitman University he never guessed existed. If he struggles to the surface, he’ll abandon someone he loves for the second time in his life. If he doesn’t, it won’t be long until they both drown.
Review: 4 Stars - Author Lyla Payne has done it again with Be My Downfall, the third title in her Whitman University Series. Filled with ups and downs you can’t help but worry about the health and well being of both of our mail characters. My heart hurt one minute and swooned the next.
This time we get a chance to spend some quality time with Toby and Kennedy. Both are troubled and have had some pretty serious issues that all stem from their pasts. This title is emotional, so much so that I took a bit longer to read this than I normally would. Kennedy is in a constant downward spiral and if she could be happy about it she would. She uses alcohol to get by day after day and has some things she uses to help her feel anything that were upsetting and disturbing to me.
Toby see’s something in Kennedy and while she makes him remember a part of his past he feels somewhat responsible for he knows she has no one else to watch after her to take care of her. He makes it a mission of sorts to try to get to know Kennedy better and the two end up in a relationship of sorts.
Kennedy… gosh that girl. I’m not even sure what to say to her other than she made my heart ache. Mostly because of what she thought of herself and the situations she allows herself to get into or asks for. She’s incredible smart but doesn’t care. She hasn’t had anything to care about for a very long time or so she believes. Her past wasn’t easy. She’s been through some horrible things and it’s helped shape her mindset.
Toby comes from a political family so he knows how to stay out of trouble. He keeps his nose clean and doesn’t do relationships because he doesn’t want to deal with anymore heartbreak. He loves his parents and knows how important his father’s job is so being good and staying out of trouble is easy for him. He had a plan for after college and can’t wait. When he meets Kennedy things start to change for our sweet, loveable boy and this has to be the hardest part of reading for me. While Kennedy hurt my heart, Toby broke it. Then the two shattered it into a million pieces.
Their story has it’s sweet moments but there’s a darker side and I often felt like I was on a rollercoaster due to the emotions that ran through me and how quickly those emotions changed while reading I’m surprised I didn’t get whiplash!
Also, I loved how Emilie and Quinn were also a part of this title. Not as much as the last book, but still they had their moments of page time. We also had a chance to see Ruby and Cole! Not as much of Cole as this reader would have liked, but we can’t have everything.
All in all this was an extremely emotional read for me with characters that I was rooting for from the very beginning. It’s hard to love or even care about someone with an addiction. It’s hard to love or even care about someone who doesn’t want that. It’s also hard to love or care about someone when they are bound and determined to self destruct in the blink of an eye. Reading this title will show you both sides of the coin. I have to commend Payne for writing about such a serious topic and getting it pretty spot on to the real thing and it this alone that makes the story in all its dark twisty bits well written and gripping.
I highly recommend this title but as I’ve stated before in previous reviews for this series I believe that you should start at the beginning with Broken At Love. These titles can be read as standalone but each new book is written about a set of secondary characters’ that we’ve met in previous books. It’s a chance for readers to get to know future main characters earlier in the series. Plus the books are fabulous! So, be sure to pick up Broken At Love, By Referral Only and this title today! Happy Reading!
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