The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors

The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors

Release Date - April 8, 2014
Publisher Website - Razorbill/Penguin
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 336 pages
My Rating - 3.5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review from the publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Get swept away in the first book of the sensational romantic drama that is Romeo and Juliet meets Justified.

WHAT HAPPENS when the teenage heirs of two bitterly FEUDING FAMILIES can’t stay away from each other?

The Rhodales and the Whitfields have been sworn enemies for close on a hundred years, with a whole slew of adulterous affairs, financial backstabbing, and blackmailing that’s escalated the rivalry to its current state of tense ceasefire.

IT’S TIME TO LIGHT THE FUSE . . .

And now a meth lab explosion in rural Whitfield County is set to reignite the feud more viciously than ever before. Especially when the toxic fire that results throws together two unlikely spectators—proper good girl Victoria Whitfield, exiled from boarding school after her father’s real estate business melts down in disgrace, and town motorcycle rebel Mickey Rhodale, too late as always to thwart his older brothers’ dangerous drug deals.

Victoria and Mickey are about to find out the most passionate romances are the forbidden ones.

. . . ON A POWDER KEG FULL OF PENT-UP DESIRE, risk-taking daredevilry, and the desperate actions that erupt when a generation of teens inherits nothing but hate.

The Lonesome Young has a great setting, a deliciously tense feud, and some fantastically high stakes. It's a story of romance, betrayal, and learning to stand up for yourself. I immediately loved certain aspects of the story, but there was one aspect that didn't quite work for me.

The characters ended up endearing themselves to me rather quickly. Victoria is an intelligent, observant young woman. Her love for her sister was something I could understand and relate to. Mickey is determined to be looked at as more than just a Rhodale. He wants to rise above the stigma, and be better than his brothers. His short fuse temper adds a little bit of danger to him, but he melted my heart with how much he cares for his sister and mother.

The feud between the two families serves to create an interesting dynamic and tension. It offers high stakes that the author follows through on. We see the casualties, and the risks this type of feud can cause. The inclusion of drugs (and everything that comes with it) only increases the danger. It's this aspect of the story that held my interest, and urged me to keep reading. The romance could have almost been left out of it, except for the potential bridge between the families it creates, and the extra drama it causes. I don't think I was prepared for it to get this tense, this early. The pacing of the plot is quick, and is like a chain reaction that just keeps building.

The only aspect that didn't quite work for me was the, for me, slightly rushed romance. There was hardly any build up from the intense attraction, to them being in love. This is supposed to be a 'defy everything' type of love, and I wished it had been explored more. As mentioned, the characters themselves are great, and there is some promise in the romance. The scenes between them are filled with chemistry and tension. It would have worked better, for me, if it had been a slower build. There are only a few times where they are alone together and can actually talk, and it seems to happen in such a short span of time. The pacing of the plot perhaps creates this illusion as it seems everything is happening within days (it's actually longer than that). Lucy Connors history with writing romance is evident, and she certainly makes their attraction scorch off the pages. I fully bought into the lust, and attraction they had for each other, and that it had the potential to turn into something deeper. It's only saving grace is that situations like this help to increase feelings.

The Lonesome Young has interesting characters, a dynamite feud, and enough tension to ignite a fire. While the romance itself lacked, there was more than enough chemistry between the characters to satisfy.