True by Erin McCarthy

True by Erin McCarthy
Publisher: Penguin Group/Intermix
Publication date: May 7th 2013
My rating:  4 stars

When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

True ended up being more of a deep story that the blurb implies.  I have to admit the first paragraph of the description had me cringing, but reading on I thought this story might have potential.   Seeing Jenny’s excellent review @SupernaturalSnark spurned me on to pick this up sooner rather than later, and I’m so happy I did!

Rory is a smart, logical, socially inept girl used to keeping people at arm’s length.  She’s more comfortable with a book than with a living, breathing person.  That’s until she goes to college and meets Jessica and Kylie, her fun loving, big-hearted, outgoing roommates, who love and include her in everything they do.  When these girls find out that Rory is still a virgin they arrange for, and pay off their friend, Tyler, to seduce and take her virginity; unbeknownst to her, at first.  

Tyler ended up being and all around nice guy, and genuinely interested in Rory.  Instead of doing a “hit and run” (yes, I did actually type that, lol!) he pursues Rory, trying to get to know her.  Rory was truly interested in Tyler, he has a way of melting her insides, but after finding out about the “arrangement” she thinks the only reason Tyler showed any interest is because he was being paid to do it.  She’s rightly suspicious of Tyler and initially rebuffs his interest.   Tyler is persistent and as she lets him in, Rory realizes that he has his own insecurities.  Coming from a mess of a family, he feels Rory is too good for someone like him. 

As a protagonist, Rory was refreshing to read about, because she used logic to make her decisions, and even when she was emotionally compromised, she managed to see the “forest for the trees,” grasping  the big picture.  Seeing her come out of her shell and gain confidence around others was a pleasure to read.  Tyler was also lovely.  He was responsible beyond his years, being forced to grow up and look after his younger brothers as a result of crappy parents.  The first scene where we meet his mother made me want to cry for him.  He’s so noble, trying to do what’s right. 

I had a couple of snags with this story, but they were pretty minor and didn’t take up much of the story.  The first one was the whole idea of Rory’s friends buying off a guy to seduce her.  I didn’t care for the idea, and I can’t say that I bought it.  I really don’t see this happening with the way they seemed to care for Rory throughout the story, unless they were incredibly stupid.  If you care about someone, you’re going to pay off some guy to take her virginity?!!  Isn’t that supposed to be important to most people? But like I said: small portion of the story.  The second snag I had was in regards to Jessica (one of Rory’s friends) and Tyler’s relationship in the beginning.  I won’t elaborate too much but it just grated on me.  I was quickly emailing Jenny as soon as it came up which was somewhere at the 4% mark, and fortunately she assured me this did not have a major impact on the story.  Thanks, Jenny!!  I really love your “hand-holding” (you should’ve seen our emails about Iced!)!  I guess at 4% I should’ve been a little more patient, lol!

I was really happy to find out at the end of this story there’s a companion novel centering on Rory’s friend, Jessica.  There's no title yet, but it's supposed to be out November of this year. I was totally happy to get a little glimpse of Rory and Tyler in the future with the excerpt I read!

In the end, True was more than just a romance between the “awkward girl” and the “popular hot guy.”  This was a story about finding a true connection and love in the midst real and messy lives.