Monday 24 March 2014

Review: Unsticky by Sarra Manning

Unsticky by Sarra Manning
Publisher: Corgi
Publication Date: August 2nd 2012
My rating: 4 stars 


STATE OF GRACE Money makes the world go round - that's what twenty-something Grace Reeves is learning. Stuck in a grind where everyone's ahead apart from her, she's partied out, disillusioned, and massively in debt. If she's dumped by another rock-band wannabe, squashed by anyone else at her cut-throat fashion job, or chased by any more bailiffs, Grace suspects she'll fall apart... GRACE UNDER PRESSURE So when older, sexy and above all, wealthy art-dealer Vaughn appears, she's intrigued against her will. Could she handle being a sugar daddy's arm-candy? SAVING GRACE Soon Grace is thrown into a world of money and privilege, at Vaughn's beck and call in return for thousands of pounds in luxurious gifts, priceless clothes - and cash. She's out of her depth. Where's the line between acting the trophy girlfriend, and selling yourself for money? And, more importantly, whatever happened to love?

“I feel like life happens to other people, and I drift in and out of their lives without ever making any kind of impact. I want to matter to someone.”

I became a huge fan of Manning’s adult novels, after devouring You Don’t Have to say You Love Me. Despite me knowing which way things will go, there’s something about books which hit the right spot when you’re not having a great week. Manning sure knows how to cheer me up with her charming hot headed characters and leave you with a crazy dopey smile on your face throughout. Also when some of your blogger friends whose opinions you greatly trust (Keertana, Wendy and Heather) also loved Unsticky I knew I had a great reading experience ahead of me.

Grace is up to her eye balls in debt, she just about has enough to pay for her rent and has been ignoring the severe letters of warning she has been receiving from her overdue card payments. On top of this she really is being treated like a lackey at work, okay so what if she didn’t complete her fashion degree, she still works as twice as hard as some of the other editors at work, but still doesn’t receive any acknowledgement for her hard work, her idea’s are normally disregarded or given to some editor to work with, as if she didn’t contribute anything in the first place. So when older rich Vaughn comes along and has an offer she can’t refuse (she will be his mistress for £7000 a month and will do whatever is required of her when Vaughn needs her), she knows this is the best way to make the most of her life, to be honest which she has been floating through.

I like Grace was a bit wary of what Vaughn’s real intentions were, the obvious attraction between Vaughn and Grace was apparent in the interactions they had previously before this arrangement had been put on the table. But Grace did know if she did accept, it was best to keep this arrangement to herself, she needed the money, so it would benefit her immensely, but she knew just how others would react to what Grace had accepted.

I knew that it would have been extremely tough for both Grace and Vaughn to just keep their relationship as outlined in their contract. Spending so much time with each and sharing your deepest darkest secrets with one another would of course cause some blurriness of boundaries. And to be honest despite being the most annoying person ever in the beginning, Vaughn really began to turn his charm on as the book progressed. We were slowly given glimpses of his considerate side which he had kept hidden away for so long and which I really thought never existed. And despite only because of this contract between Vaughn and Grace, Grace was given some fantastic opportunities to become her own person; she was given confidence and belief in herself, something which had been knocked back by previous crappy boyfriends. And to excel and make the most of opportunities at work.

Manning sure knows how to make a romance which will leave you wanting more, I enjoyed the slow build up of Grace and Vaughn actually figuring out how to make the most of their relationship; the slow sweet kisses, the sweet gifts which were given no questions asked and the sexy scenes which were written wonderfully  *fans self*. Despite this book being over 500 pages long, it didn’t seem like a long book at all, I found myself literally flying through the pages, enjoying the fun escapades that Grace and Vaughn experienced, watching them grow and become comfortable with each other, like they never had with anyone before. Besides having a well written romance nailed, Manning also weaved some laugh out loud moments wonderfully into Unsticky. They were great at lifting you when there were dire prospects on the horizon, but also bought out sides of characters I hugely appreciated.

Manning has quickly become one of my favourite adult authors to date, she seems to know each time exactly what I need. I know for sure there will be plenty more Manning books I will be picking up this year.  




24 comments:

Siiri said...

It feels a little like a retelling of FSoG in the concept, but I'm sure that Manning has more actual story in it than James did. Good to hear that the characters really grow on the reader. I love stories about people coming into their own... um, idk. Discovering themselves and such so yay for this! Slow-build? Whohoo!!! I'm so happy you enjoyed. I'm willing to put the horrible French Kiss behind me and discover something new and exciting by Manning. So glad you enjoyed:)

Keertana said...

I'm thrilled you enjoyed this one, Jasprit! Manning hits the nail on the head with the romance in this book. Not only is it complex and richly developed, but it allows for both these characters to grow, change, and become better people which I appreciated. I love that Manning never sugarcoats her characters and their stark reality, flaws and all, is the version we fall in love with. Fantastic review, dearest - I can't wait to see what other Manning titles you pick up!

Shane @ItchingforBooks said...

This author and book are new to me, but your review has me intrigued. Seems interesting.

Unknown said...

I'm glad you loved this one,, Jasprit. I'm a bit wary of Sara's books ever since I read her Crush books. I think I'll try this one again just to see if things have changed from those book.

Great review, hun!

Anonymous said...

I haven't read anything by Sara Manning but this sounds wonderful, Jasprit. I love the sound of the concept of this book and it seems like Grace really grows throughout the story. And the romance sounds lovely!
Great review, Jasprit!

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

"Unsticky" is a horrible title, especially when it comes to a romance (yes, my mind is a gutter). I get the reasoning behind it but...
Besides that, this sounds like an intriguing story. I haven't read anything by this author before but it sounds like I need to change that! Fabulous review, Jasprit!

Sara @ Forever 17 Books said...

This is the first I'm hearing of this one but the premise interests me and I like what you said about the romance being a slow build. LOVE those! Thanks for sharing and great review!

Unknown said...

If it wasn`t for you Jasprit, I would never know about Sara Manning, so thank you for that!! I loved her You Don`t Have to Say You Love Me. I will check out here other work for sure.

Rashika said...

I've heard such wonderful things about Sarra and I am really curious to try out her stuff. I am smiling too much just reading this review. I LOVE the premise and this just sounds like a whole lot of fun. :') Although 500 pages is kind of long .-. and since I like reading chic-lits in one go.. I might have to wait a while before picking this up.

Lovely review as always, Jasprit!! :)

Tanja - Tanychy said...

Oh for a moment I thought this is the author of Fever series. LOL I was like, seriously? Well anyhow this book is new to me and while this is not a genre I usually read it sounds really good. I might give it a try when I get back to adult reads. Great review, Jasprit :)

Unknown said...

I have yet to see a bad review/rating for any of Manning's books. I really need to finally break down and purchase something of hers from The Book Depository since I've given up on trying to find them at my local bookstore. They really sounds fabulous, I hope I love them as much as you and everyone else does. :)

Jasprit said...

Yeah the way I worded it would make it sound like FSoG, but this was so much different and better than that book. Vaughn also isn't anything like Christian Grey. I've had the best luck with Manning's adult books over her YA one, so I hope you end up giving this book a try!

Jasprit said...

I didn't have the best reading experience with Manning's Crush books either Joy, but I have a feeling that you will really like this one!

Jasprit said...

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me was just one of my all time favourite reads, so I'm glad that you enjoyed it Antonia! I hope you end up liking this too! :)

Jasprit said...

Yay Bonnie go for it! I look forward to seeing how you get on! :)

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I haven't read anything by this author. That's great you liked this latest!

Unknown said...

I've only ever heard of her YA novels, but I'm glad her Adult novels don't disappoint! It's always great when you find that one author who you know you can count on for a great read :D (I have that with Kasie West and Laini Taylor) Glad you loved it ^^ And lovely review <33

Lauren @ Love is not a triangle said...

I LOVE THIS BOOOOKKKKKKK SO MUCH. It's sort of like a reverse romance, because these two have this contract but they fall in love slowly throughout it. Manning is so good at this odd couplings that just work perfectly. I agree that Vaugh made me so nervous at first, but I fell hard for him. I still haven't' read You don't have to say you love me, or Manning's newest book, but I own them both! You're right, she's so good at writing LONG books but making them incredibly engaging so you forget how massive they are.

Amanda said...

I really need to read something from Manning. So many people seem to love her books! I actually bought the ebook copy of Unsticky when it was on sale a while ago. This sounds like such a fun book; I'll have to keep it in mind when I need a romantic, cheering-up book. :)

Wendy Darling said...

This story shouldn't have worked and yet it did--it totally did! All thanks to the author's wonderful characterizations and writing. I LOVE Manning and she is mostly very consistent, and I'm so happy to see that you enjoyed this one as much as I did! I think I like her adult books better than her YA, which is rare for me. It's good to have adult books anyway, though.

I hear there's a Vaughn cameo in the new book. :D I've got it ready and waiting for me, I hope you get to it soon, too.

Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

Book Passion for Life said...

Fantastic review hun. Not sure I've heard of this book before but it does sound interesting. x

Unknown said...

I really like how realistic this sound, wonderful review.

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

I'm so glad that you liked this book! I absolutely love it too. Bought it on a whim when it first came out not really sure if I'd like SM's adult books... but I've gone on to read and love everything Sarra Manning has written so far :)

LisaFicTalk said...

Thanks to you and Wendy for saying such great things about Manning's work, I relented and gave in to buying the ebook of this. I've had it on my TBR for a couple weeks now but maybe I'll get around to it during the Easter break.

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