Collide by H.M. Ward

So I never ended up finishing this novella series, not really sure why…I only had one novella left.  Probably b/c they were more expensive than I wanted to pay.  But then a related novel came out and recently went on sale, so now I’m rereading it and finally going to finish this story.  I’m not sure if this format of story is really my thing, I think I only enjoy serial novella series for certain styles.  But since I have most of it, I am definitely going to find out finally how it ends!!

Blurb:
When Mari accidentally overhears that Trystan is in love, she can’t believe it. He’s pining over some girl that doesn’t know he’s alive. The confident swagger and endless stream of girls is a facade. It conceals his loneliness and hides how messed up he’s really become trying to flee from a life that’s battered him to his core.

Trystan tries to figure out how to make it clear how much he loves Mari, but every insincere kiss and every broken promise haunts him, because she knows them all. Now, Trystan has to prove to the one girl he’s actually fallen in love with that she’s not just another conquest.

Mari has no idea who Trystan loves, but she can tell that whoever it is has captured his heart entirely. Soon Mari sees the man behind the mask, the guy that Trystan tries so hard to hide. Everything about him is appealing, and too hard to resist.

In a moment of desperation, Trystan uploads a love song he wrote for Mari, but before he can show it to her, the video goes viral. Everyone wants to know who he is, and the only thing shielding him is an anonymous account name and some thick shadows hiding his face. Tyrstan realizes that the consequences of revealing his identity will be disastrous. Everything he’s tried so hard to hide will be exposed. It’s a secret that is impossible to keep and the only girl who he wanted to hear it will never believe him.

The Secret Life of Trystan Scott is an addicting romance with lots of tension and steamy kisses. The story is told in 20,000 word segments. Each book is another episode, building on the previous. The books in the TRYSTAN SCOTT series will get hotter as it progresses and cross from YA into New Adult by the end of the series.

    

My Review:
ORIGINAL REVIEW: 3.5 stars — Ah cliffhangers…at least the next book is out, otherwise that would have made me round down to 3 stars.  I really hate cliffhangers.  Just a personal thing.  This was a waffle one for me….I really had a hard time b/c I really loved Mari and Trystan…but it felt like not a lot happened and things just went back and forth with no forward progress…  In the end I love these 2 enough to get over it, but I’m hoping more happens in the next book.

I guess the other thing that has me waffling over rounding down to 3 stars is the tense issues…I’m not used to 3rd person, and it felt really confusing sometimes.  I mean, I can’t figure out if it’s just b/c I personally don’t like it, or if it was genuinely confusing and could have been cleaned up??  Weird…

ON REREAD: Still 3.5 stars — Knowing this is a serial novella series, I was prepared for the cliffy ending.  I’m not sure if this one has been updated and stupid Amazon just never sent me the updated files, but if it hasn’t been updated: beware there is a horrific amount of tense changes (past/present).  I was more easily able to get through the weird first person for Mari chapters, third person for Trystan chapters.  Maybe I’m a different reader than I was back then?

In the end I was sucked in by the mega emotions of both Mari and Trystan, particularly Trystan’s love for Mari.  It does feel a bit drawn out, but I’m willing to live with it because I liked the meat that we did get…even if I wished there was less bread.  You know, just being weird and using a strange metaphor.