When Our Worlds Collide (Our Worlds #1)
by Lindsey Iler
Published on: 11/18/14
Self Published
Genre: New Adult Romance
Graham Black is everything that she wants.
Kennedy Conrad is everything that he needs.
Graham has a few rules in life. Play baseball to get the hell out of Tennessee and if you plan on dropping your panties for him then you better keep your shirt on.
Graham’s your typical all-American baseball player with the world at his fingertips. His devilish good looks and charm help him crawl into the beds and hearts of the girls at his high school. With secrets that no one knows, he has every intention of running away from his hometown the minute he graduates. Nothing can get in his way. That is until his poor choices collide him into Kennedy Conrad.
Kennedy Conrad has her own set of rules. Dance with your whole heart and get by each day without being noticed.
Kennedy’s sweet and reserved, everything Graham’s not. After one fated night, she can’t stop him from noticing her anymore. She knows there’s a chance of heartache by letting him in and it’s when the unthinkable happens to Kennedy that Graham realizes that what he’s been fighting is what causes Kennedy to end up hurt.
Is Graham who Kennedy believes him to be? Or is he still who he was the night that their worlds collided?
Can their love survive one more thing that is meant to pull them apart?
My Rating: 3 3/4 Coffee Cups!!
This was a Kindle Unlimited pick-up that I looked at and said "sure, why not?" I'm not going to lie, the synopsis didn't really catch me and hook me. I had just moved and had no cable or internet so I figured I'd give it a read to pass the time. I am so incredibly glad I did. I won't lie, the synopsis makes you think, "oh no, not another angsty, opposites attract love story", but it is so much more than that.
Kennedy Conrad is probably one of the sweetest characters I've read in a while. She is a great friend, daughter, student and person in general. She is selfless to a major fault (that truly still confuses me a little bit) and she tries to coast through her high school life unnoticed. She has one friend, her best friend Violet who is her complete opposite. Where Violet is a party girl, Kennedy is perfectly content staying home on a Saturday night reading and watching Pretty Woman.
Enter Graham Black. High school heart-throb/breaker, star baseball player, troubled rich kid. He is absolutely terrified of any kind of strings forming with the girls that he hooks up with to the point of making them keep their shirts on during their little escapades. Oh and FYI- although this book is set in their junior year of high school it reads as a new adult kinda book. I can't go into too much detail about how Graham and Kennedy eventually connect, just know that it will have you scratching your head a little bit. That is truly my only real fault with the story. And I ended up getting passed it pretty easily because these two characters have an amazing connection. Graham helps her step out of her comfort zone, pushes her confidence to new heights and makes her feel loved and cherished. Kennedy makes Graham feel like more than he is. A better person, maybe even a good person- which is a concept that he struggles with on a daily basis.
This couple goes through more than any single person's fair share of ups and downs between the typical "oh my gosh she's crossing the social borders of high school!" nay-sayers, the jealous girls and his parents, to the secret that brought them together in the first place. Their strength through all of the obstacles placed in front of them is incredible. And you feel each moment of happiness as much as you feel each moment of hurt and disappointment. Kennedy bears the brunt of the obstacles and her strength in particular is inspiring- even for a fictional character.
This book absolutely does end on a cliffhanger and it's not necessarily a happy one. I will forewarn you of this. I didn't know this wasn't a standalone going in, so I figured I'd spare you what I went through when I finished the book. I literally immediately went on to Goodreads and Amazon hoping and praying that SOMEONE mentions SOMETHING about a sequel. Lucky for us Lindsey Iler is not that mean. Oh and did I mention this is Ms. Iler's debut novel? No? Well I would have had no idea had I not read it somewhere else. This book is wonderfully written in such a way that you completely identify with all of her characters. Except for Craig, no one identifies with him, unless by identify you mean punch in the virtual wee-wee.
This is definitely a book that surprised me- in the best possible way. I picked this book up as something to pass time and ended up reading it in a day. It was a wonderful read, so much that I had to make it my first review in my comeback ;)
