AWRW Book Review: Lost In Us, [Lost Series] by Layla Hagen

Serena has learned to live with her past, locking her secrets and nightmares deep inside her. But when her boyfriend of six years abruptly leaves her, she’s catapulted back into pain, nursing a broken heart. When indulging in mountains of chocolate doesn’t work, Serena decides the best way to deal with her shattered heart is to indulge in something else. A rebound . . .

The night she swaps her usual Sprite for tequila, she meets James. The encounter is breathtaking.
Electrifying.
And best not repeated.

James is a successful entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. A man who has amassed a fortune by taking risks. A man who has shunned commitment completely, and still does. He’s the exact opposite of Serena. But sometimes opposites attract. Sometimes they give in to burning passion. Sometimes opposites are perfect for each other.

James is everything her damaged soul could want. His kisses are intoxicating, his touch out of this world. He makes her forget. He grants her peace from her pain. But as they grow closer, Serena discovers she isn’t the only one with a past. James carries the scars of a past much darker than hers. One that has left him damaged, hurt, and wary of love. A past that gives him the power to shatter her.

Now James and Serena must find a way to mend one another. Or risk losing each other forever.

Product Details

• New Adult, Romance
• Print Length: 316 pages
• Publisher: Layla Hagen (February 12, 2014)

AWRW Book Review:

Serena doesn’t have rebounds, nor does she usually drink tequila,  but tonight she wants to be a little reckless. After her boyfriend of six years dumped her, her best friend encourages her to have a little fun in the form of meaningless sex. Little does she know, trouble just walked into the bar, and he is headed her way.

James, Stanford’s golden boy, and poster child for successful serial entrepreneurs, has no problem picking up women, and Serena is no different. They have sex; delicious, rough, and intense sex… but where do they go from there? If even anywhere?

“I am the center of his world tonight. But what about tomorrow?”

Serena and James both carry with them a past, a past that has shaped who they have become today. Serena is afraid to step outside her comfort zone, and James is afraid to fall in love. They have sex, break up, get back together, have makeup sex, and break up again. This cycle repeats itself, further shattering their already broken hearts.

“He can make me happy like no one else. But he can also make me miserable like no one else.”

Serena discovers that distance really is the best defense, despite her torn emotions, and primal urges to seek James out. She’d rather live in her safe bubble, than take that leap of faith on a man as unpredictable as James. But what kind of life is she living? James makes the emptiness more bearable, and the memories sweeter for Serena.

“Isn’t everything that is really worth it in this life risky?”

Lost in Us, by Layla Hagen is a story about two young people who couldn’t possibly be anymore different, starting out their lives as adults, taking risks, getting hurt, and mending each other along the way. The Katy Perry song Hot & Cold comes to mind when I think of James… His unpredictability drove me as crazy as it did Serena! Trust me, you will NOT predict his moves. His personality is anything but readable!

Excerpt:

“Red suits you,” a voice calls behind me. I’m suddenly very grateful for being squeezed in, because my knees seem to have turned to rubber. When he finally comes into view, my breath is cut short. There is something about seeing his beautiful blue eyes behind a mask that makes every inch of my skin burn. 

So it wasn’t the tequila last night. 

“Dance?” He extends his hand. 

“I can’t dance.” 

“That makes two of us,” he says, though unlike me, he doesn’t sound panicked in the slightest. I really can’t dance. Especially not waltz. But he doesn’t lower his hand, and instead of protesting further, I raise my hand and place it in his. As if in slow motion I see him putting his other arm around my waist, and pulling me so close to him that I feel his every breath against my skin. This doesn’t help the burning sensation. At all. 

“Did you and your friend arrive home safely last night?”

Small talk. Fantastic. 

“If safely includes Jess throwing up twice on the way home, then yes.”

“Quite a party girl, your friend,” he says appreciatively. 

“What makes you think I’m not one?” I regret the question instantly. Thinking that a former math whiz kid isn’t the most hardcore party girl at Stanford is not an absurd conclusion to draw. But his answer takes me by complete surprise. 

“Having a steady boyfriend usually means you spend your free evenings and weekends … otherwise.”

“You asked Dani to spy on me?” 

“Of course not,” he says with fake affronting. “I just know how to get the info I need from her.”

“What happened to old-fashioned questioning?” 

“It’s old-fashioned,” he answers with a smirk. “I like to consider myself modern.”

“Make that lazy and sneaky.”

*Warning Spoilers*

Unfortunately, this story tended to drag at times, mostly because of the personalities and antics of James and Serena. They acted more like high school kids than adults, what with their childish games of trying to make each other jealous, *snoooze*,  and him jumping into the next available bed whenever things got tough. (Ok, so supposedly he didn’t jump into Natalie’s bed that second time but I am calling BS on that one!!!!!)

I think that if this story had been less lengthy, it would have been a better read. Lost, the novella, adequately built the characters up and their worlds surrounding them.  316 pages of Serena and  “hot & cold” James was just too much for me. It was appropriate for Serena to have been drinking tequila when she met James, because that man could drive a saint to drink! 🙂

Overall, I am giving Lost in Us, by Layla Hagen 3 stars.  I enjoy Layla Hagen’s writing style, I just didn’t enjoy these two characters!

Purchase

Goodreads

About the Author:

“Welcome! My name is Layla Hagen and I am a New Adult Contemporary Romance author.

I fell in love with books when I was nine years old, and my love affair with stories continues even now, many years later.

I write romantic stories and can’t wait to share them with the world.

And I drink coffee. Lots of it :-D” —Amazon Author Bio

*** Honest, fair, and thoughtful book review provided in exchange for a copy of Lost in Us

 

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