Review by Dottie: Becoming His By Mariah Dietz

Becoming His

Author: Mariah Dietz

His Series

Contemporary Romance

Teasers

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Synopsis

Sometimes life’s unforeseen paths lead us to discovering sides of ourselves we never knew existed. 

Ace Bosse has always found solace at home, but when she returns for the summer from college she builds an unexpected relationship with the reckless Max Miller. 

Three years ago, Max left for Alaska to find what he thought he’d lost, but now he realizes just how much he left behind. 

Max teaches Ace that sometimes a little crazy is exactly what life needs while learning that some chances are worth taking, regardless of the risks. 

But how do you know when you’ve met the right person? And will they be prepared to experience one of life’s biggest obstacles? 

Falling in love isn’t easy, but holding on to it is where the real challenge lies. 

Star Rating

(4 Stars)

Review

A word of warning before I begin:  This book ends with a multitude of cliffhangers.  I'm still reeling from them.

When I began reading Becoming His, I found myself slightly confused about the large group of characters; this is a book centered around a family with five daughters!! Two of these women are married, both of who are pregnant plus another daughter who is not married but also has a child. By its very nature, that becomes a lot of characters to try to keep straight at the very beginning...and that's just Ace's family. Then there's Max and his mom plus the two buddies staying with them for the summer. I found myself going back a few times and rereading sections to get them all straight. Eventually, it did become pretty easy to know who was whom and the story unfolded.

Ace is the youngest daughter of the family at almost 20. She grew up next door to Max but hasn't seen him for quite a while as he left home for a while to work in Alaska and has returned home before heading to college in the fall. His mom is very close with Ace's mom and they are thrown together from the start. Ace has always found Max to be attractive and is both delighted and nervous to have him back in the house next-door. Seeing them meet up as adults who are clearly very attracted to one another at the beginning of the book was fun and is where I was drawn into this story. Ace comes from a very close family. They frequently get together and the antics that ensue are pretty hilarious!  I have never read a book where there were so many food fights...often either led by or encouraged by the parents!! I found myself laughing often at how this family interacted.  Ace is particularly close to her sister Kendell (the fourth daughter) and her dad. I loved the scenes with Ace and her dad.  He's completely got her back and the love between them was wonderful to read.

The story follows Ace and Max getting together first as friends (although it's clear at the beginning they are both highly attracted to one another). I loved Max!! He's kind and funny and very focused on Ace and makes it clear from the beginning he is very interested in her. Whereas I loved the family dynamics, there were times when I had a very difficult time with Ace. She was clearly infatuated with Max and yet they had several misunderstandings from the get-go:

He takes a deep breath and looks down to Zeus, then returns his eyes to mine. "I want to apologize for what I said...I shouldn't have said what I did." "You already said you were sorry. I wasn't exactly polite in return. Really, it's no big deal."  "Because we don't really know each other,” he nods as he says the familiar words.  "I know, but is was a sorry excuse for an apology. You should have kicked my ass." I watch the edges of his lips climb into the slightest smile and feel my own curve in response, shaking my head. "Do you forgive me for being a douchbag?"...Max sticks out his hand and I stare at it a moment before glancing up at his face. "Nice to meet you, Ace, my name's Max. I've been your neighbor for the past ten years and I thought maybe we could be friends."  I couldn't help but let out a laugh that sounds too high from my nerves about the idea of being Max's friend.  I doubt I'll ever be able to look at his as a friend. "What, you don't want to be my friend?" he asks, cocking his left eyebrow up and looking at me questionably. I realize this trademark look is definitely the single most beautiful expression I've ever seen.

It takes a while for this couple to really get together and it was a nice balance of time; not too long and drawn-out but not whiplash fast either. Once they do get together, I felt the whole young-love feeling right along with them. Ace is pretty inexperienced in the love department and Max has never found a girl he really cares about so it was really fun seeing their feelings develop. They definitely had chemistry:

(Ace) After reading so many books, I've often wondered if it was possible to communicate a desire with just a look, and I know in this moment it is.

Ace comes from a very close-knit family and yet she is very resistant to finding romantic love and is really her own worst enemy. Every time I thought she might be getting it together, she would panic and run from this awesome guy. It was hard to understand why she did this but it did get very trying from time to time as I read. When things were good with Max, I really loved where the story was headed.

"Tell me you want me."  Max's voice is a pleading whisper, and I pull back slightly to look at his face and see doubt in his eyes that I don't understand nor recognize.  I place both of my hands on his face staring into the blue abyss where I completely lose myself and any inhibitions that I have left. "I want you," I softly confirm, tightening my legs around his waist. "I want all of you, Max," I whisper, dropping my hand to land on his chest over his heart, feeling the warm steady beats accelerate. Max closes his eyes, accepting my words, and then when he opens them I find a resounding calmness as he squeezes my thighs and pulls me back slightly before plunging inside of me, taking the air from my lungs as he kisses me with an immeasurable amount of hunger.

This is a book; however, where the sex scenes fade to black...the above quote is as racy as this book gets.  But these two are very sweet in discovering their love for one another.  I found myself frustrated from time to time with the maturity level of Ace and even Max from time to time. They are young.  Young people are inexperienced in love and life and watching them grow can be fun.  But there were also times I wanted to knock them along side the head!

This book had a lot of ups and downs. I really got caught up in the story and found myself resenting having to put it down to go to sleep.  I really like this family and wish I knew where it was headed but at the moment, the cliffhanger is literally just hanging there...argh! There are several unresolved issues that left a lot of room for the second book to address (due March 1st, 2015). I will say, for the record, I really seriously dislike cliffhangers.  But I did definitely enjoy this book!!

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