Damaged Goods By J C Hannigan

Everly is lovely kid, but she likes to fly under the radar, keeping close counsel with a small group of friends but she doesn’t really have a lot else going on. She lives on the edge of just about everything, keeping her innermost feelings to herself.

Teenage hormones are rife and Everly has her eye on the one boy in school that is everything she should never want… the inimitable bad boy Grayson.

Grayson is all kinds of handsome with his good looks, dark hair and earrings but he also had a reputation that means that he is out of Everly’s reach, no matter how much she wishes it was different. But situations can change…can’t they?

First loves are never easy, too often they are the carriers of such harsh truths that tender hearts never recover. So was this what lay in store for Everly?

At times I found myself frustrated with Everly and her teenage angst. I could have shook her in order to try and get her to see what was clearly happening and what she needed to do about it but then I remembered that this is a teenager we are dealing with, a whole different species almost, their wavelength and mine are miles apart.

And I also had a definite love/hate relationship with Grayson… What the heck was he doing when he just upped and disappeared? Really it was so annoying – he gave so little away about himself that he was almost an enigma. No teenage romance would be complete without the obligatory third protagonist, upsetting the applecart and confusing the whole situation and this is no different.

Now you are going to think I am moaning again because I wasn’t exactly a fan of Kyle either because to be honest he was just too nice, he was the guy that every mother wants their daughter to rock up at home with one day. The perfect future son-in-law material but dang where’s the fun in that?

I did however love the verbal sparring and general peacocking that went down between Grayson and Kyle in a bid to garner Everly’s attention it was funny to read and brought back memories of watching similar things in my youth.

So now I appear to be a whinge I will tell you what I did like- I liked the book!

In general I have to say it was a decent read, it was creative, very well written and for the most part it had me hooked. Because no matter the fact that at times the kids irked me, I wanted to know how the story would pan out.

This was a welcome dip back into what was almost YA territory and I must admit it was a pleasant trip.

I look forward to the next book in the series.