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    Crush
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    Crush
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    Crush
    Ebook318 pages5 hours

    Crush

    By Nicole Williams

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Football glory. A giant diamond. A wandering eye.

    Jude and Lucy are happily engaged . . . but that doesn't mean life's a bed of roses.

    Once again, Jude and Lucy are torn apart by football training and a summer job that creates new tensions. This time Jude's the one with trust issues. Will Lucy's life-changing news bring them back together or end their relationship for good? Can love triumph forever?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster UK
    Release dateApr 23, 2013
    ISBN9781471117640
    Author

    Nicole Williams

    Nicole Williams, author of Crash, Clash, Crush, The Eden Trilogy, and The Patrick Chronicles, is a wife, a mom, and a writer who believes in true love, kindred spirits, and happy endings. Nicole currently lives with her family in Spokane, Washington.

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    Reviews for Crush

    4/5

    74 ratings16 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book seems to be the average good girl falls for the bad boy book. There is always at least one tormented soul who needs to find absolution. This book has many tortured souls who need to find their way out of their dark holes. Although this is a typical book, it kept me intrigued. Even when I thought I couldn't read anymore of the good girl/bad boy cliche, I kept on reading. Nicole Williams seems to never disappoint in her ability to take a typical book and make it worth reading.
    • 5/5
      Needed a moment to decompress after reading this book to get my brain and heart functioning at a normal pace again. I've read maybe more than a half dozen New Adult/Realistic Fiction in the past several weeks so before I started reading this one, I knew to expect that heart wrenching moment (or moments). What I didn't expect was to be so sucked in to this particular story as much as I did. Yes Crash had the typical, "I have a painful past experience", breakup to makeup moments, "I'm going to listen to rumors and not ask you myself what's up", but what makes Crash a unique NA/RF on it's own is Nicole Williams' writing and storytelling. The characters were very believable, the dialogue flowed and it was easy to bond with the them. They were also easy to love or dislike when necessary, interesting, and also very well fleshed out. Williams' writing was....breezy, yet intense at the same time, and on point. Lucy's voice was just cool, can't find a better word to describe her voice but I was a fan of her spunky personality. Talk about being a fan, I was totally fangirling for Jude Ryder, saying he's a bad boy is the understatement of the century. Hmmm, Jude Ryder was yummy and scary at the same time.

      I was as engrossed as one can be in a book, it certainly did not help my trying to protect my book loving heart as it was figuratively stomped on, dealing the with the intensity from Lucy and Jude's trials and tribulations created a roller coaster of emotions. Crash was a really well written story about loss, regret, love(of course), and how family dynamics are affected in the after effects of a tragedy.

      Crash also stands on it's own as a NA/RF with it's own unique twist. A very surprising one for sure. Thoroughly enjoyable and will need to make sure the subject material of my next read is as light as a feather (probably not possible).
    • 3/5
      This was a wonderful Love story but it didn't make my stomach knot up or make me crazy. It was a bit cheesy & ironic that both the main characters.........read my full review on my blog iloveladyporn.blogspot.com
    • 4/5
      Jude and Lucy's story is compelling and heart-twisting. They feel everything in an intense and powerful way, however, they never quite manage to get beyond serious heart-stopping kisses. The story is full of angst, deep love, tragedy and jealousy. While the circumstances of some of the events seem borderline believable, they add up to a good read.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. I had heard good reports about it and I wasn't disappointed. It was a great love story with moments of heart stopping angst that really tugged at my emotions. It also had its share of sexy moments with the fun banter between the two. “Rain. Jude. Me. Kissing. Stick a fork in me because I was done”
      Both Jude and Lucy had been through so much already in their relatively young lives that I felt for them from the beginning – two tortured souls, drawn to each other like magnets…
      “For no reason at all, it was like I felt my soul surface in a typhoon, begging me to take notice and follow after that moment of serendipity”
      but repeatedly torn apart by trust issues and lack of belief in themselves and each other, and the deep need of Jude to protect Lucy from himself.
      I admired how Lucy dealt with situations at her new school with wit and sarcasm and didn’t let it get her down and Jude was always there to protect her honour
      “He was defending my honor and, whether he was going about the right or wrong way doing so, it was the damn sexiest, most romantic thing I’d ever had happen to me”
      It was wonderful to see Jude start to believe that he deserved happiness and love as it was to see Lucy help him see that. “Our reputations weren’t who we really were, they were who people told us we were. Some of us fell into that tray, while others fought their entire lives to break free of them”
      “You didn’t make me a better person, because no one can do that. You made me want to be a better person…………You made me better Luce.”
      I'll definitely be putting Nicole's other books on my tbr list.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the story. I read this book because I heard it was good and I wasn't disappointed. I want to read the rest of the series to find out how it all ends.
    • 4/5
      Life hasn't always been about rescuing dogs and trying to save the world. Once upon a time, Lucy enjoyed a stellar middle class life, attending private school, having a popular older brother and loving parents. Death sometimes can suck the life out of people and after the death of Lucy's brother, the family dynamic completely fell apart, her father a once successful business man has wallowed into a recluse who stays home making fabulous dinners but shuts out the world and ignores the financial devastation he's put on the family. Her mother a bitter angry woman isn't doing well either, forced back to work and handling grief in destructive ways she tends to fail as a parent. That leaves Lucy, the beauty queen who lives to dance and baffles people with her snarky attitude yet save the world mantra. Waiting for life to start again, waiting for the guilt to lesson, Lucy awaits the day she can go to college and dance her sorrows away.When Lucy meets Jude, the towns well known bad boy, she immediately identifies the danger in him, yet she can't help but want to save him, break his bad boy ways, or be the one who helps him see his own potential. Because helping Jude is almost like helping her brother, what could be bad about that? Even gaining a reputation to be with him, even risking the delicate relationship she has with her parents cant stop the longing to know this boy. Like medal to a magnet, Lucy sees, smells and reacts to all things Jude.Jude is beautiful, charming and a total jerk, but don't hold that against him, its not his fault you see, he's a product of crappy parents, a crappy life and terrible living conditions. Even with the jerky exterior, rap sheet, and man-whore tendencies, when he's around Lucy, he can't help but try and be better. Hot temper, anger issues and paranoid behavior readily handy, in the long run, Lucy does bring out the best attributes of Jude, a caring guy who got handed the crap end of the stick. A kid who just wants a chance and needs that one big break. Of course what would be a good story of bad boy debauchery or happy endings if we didn't include highschool drama and plenty of it, because Lucy and Jude each harbor dark secrets and pasts their not willing to open up with and moving forward without trust is a recipe for disaster.Predictable disasters aside, Crash is a sit and read all at once type of book, the characters for the most part are fun getting to know and despite its borderline cheesy scenes, dumbed down responses to very serious scenarios, the writing itself for an Indie publisher was pretty solid. Lucy, for being a gal who's faced practically everything has a very well balanced mature look on life, granted she makes a terrible 'social' move with character Sawyer, overall her decisions and choices speak highly to her integrity. Jude the typical good guy under the bad boy to hide his pain played well but a tad unrealistic considering his circumstances. Pacing flowed evenly, even with Williams liberty with time gaps, those sometimes annoying let the reader fill in the blanks in what our characters could possibly be doing worked in small doses, a much needed window escaping from the mundane that tends to take over these little love stories. However in some areas we are just left with a scratching of the head, pondering the whereabouts and the goings on of our doomed lovers, which I hate to say could really turn readers off. Don't let that scare you off though, cardboard parents, nonexistent teachers in a highschool where kids are running amuck, romance that heats up the page and juvenile delinquents engaging in sinister crimes all grace the pages of Crash's inner workings.Beyond its get through the issue as fast as possible plot devices...Crash is a story most deserving of its characters, flawed, edgy and almost perfect in its less than perfect world.
    • 5/5
      OMG!! This book was such an incredible and exhilaration ride. Full to the hilt of emotion and suspense; I was beside myself at every twist and turn. Lucy and Jude are perfect for one another; even if they can't seem to realize it themselves. After an entire life of on the wrong side of the tracks Jude can't seem to see this wonderful and incredible opportunity standing right in front of him. If just for a moment he would entertain the thought he could see that she may just be his saving Grace. On the other hand Lucy also needs to learn that not everyone can be trusted, and she just can't save them all. The entire ride was a roller coaster, but it fit together so nicely that readers will not be bogged down by the dramatics of their on again off again relationship. Readers be forewarned that you will find yourself a devoted cheerleader for the duration of this book. I am so excited to see what Nicole Williams will offer in book two. I don't think I can even fathom starting another book unless it is Clash. If Clash is half as good as Crash I will gladly accept my lack of sleep this entire week. ~BookWhisperer Reviewer JO~
    • 3/5
      This book gave me a lot of mixed feelings. I had heard so many things about Jude Ryder that I knew I had to meet him. So, I finally decided to dive head first into this story. What I got wasn't quite what I expected. Lucy is a girl who is very sarcastic and will tell you how she feels in any kind of situation. She recently suffered through a trauma that causes her to think she is able to save any and everyone. This Superhero complex doesn't change, even when she meets broken and bruised Jude Ryder. Together they find out things about each other that makes them in turn more about themselves. They fall in love and ironically, they turn out to be closer than they ever thought. What I enjoyed about the book was the writing. Every hot and steamy scene I was GLUED to. Williams really knows how to write a great love scene. She never went to far, but as a New Adult book, she gave us just enough. But I had to imagine Jude they way I thought he should look. For some reason, I did not like the author's description of him. I felt Idk, just that he should be different in a way. He just didn't seem hot enough for me. Which is weird, because he definitely IS a bad boy which I LOVED about him. Another thing I didn't really enjoy, was the unrealistic situations in the book. There were some times when I found myself rolling my eyes and saying "Really?" I mean I know this is a book, but if you're going to label it "Realistic Fiction" and base it off a romance, at leasst make it believable. A lot of what was in this book would not have ever taken place in the real world. What I did like though was the ending. I love how everything tied together. A couple of pages towards the end I felt like I had a lot of questions, but they were all answered in the end which I really enjoyed. In the end, it was an enjoyable read, but it didn't quite tickle "my bad boy and goodie two shoes girl fancy..."
    • 5/5
      I'm not sure what I love most about this book. Jude or the Beatles references. This book pulled at my heartstrings on more than one occasion, and totally reminded me of Travis from Beautiful Disaster. If Nicole Williams wants to write about more angsty bad boys I will continue purchasing her books!
    • 4/5
      Crash epitomizes everything that makes me (usually) stay away from contemporary novels. You see, I tend to like all my entertainment to take me somewhere very far from reality. Contemporary works almost always have some element to them that is all too real, or 'hits home'. They tend to turn me in to emotional goo.Crash did just that. Crash made my heart hurt.Lucy's family has lost a lot these past few years including their wealth. Which leads them to move into their lake cabin and her to enroll in the local public school. One lazy summer day before starting school she happens upon the hottest and perhaps most troublesome boy in town, Jude. It's a chance encounter that will leave them both reeling.Danger and heartbreak follow Jude everywhere he goes and though Lucy has had plenty of the latter, she just can't turn away from Jude's sad molten eyes. They are complete opposites with one very large magnetic attraction for each other. Jude's had a rough life and has combated everyone he's ever cared about leaving him by being careful to never truly care for anyone in return. Until Lucy proves to not walk away from him so easily. She challenges him and pushes him, making him want to be a better person.Lucy comes from a broken home. Not broken in the divorce sense, her parents are still together, they just don't function properly since her brother's death. In light of her homelife, Lucy tends to revel in her small rebellious streak. She also has a base desire to save everyone she knows as she wasn't able to save her brother. Jude is equally a challenge for her.Can their attraction for each other turn into a love strong enough to overcome every obstacle standing in their way? Fireworks burn bright and wars wage strong as these two battle it out and oh what a ride it is. Secrets, lies, betrayal and jealousy stand in their way and it will take a strong love to move past it all.I truly enjoyed every moment of this book. The passion these two characters have for life and each other is infectious. I immediately picked up Clash and can not wait to get my fingers on Crush, the third installment.
    • 5/5
      I have to say I was not disappointed with the end of Lucy and Jude's story. These two seem to thrive on drama though. That being said I am so happy that they come out on the otherside of it hand in hand. Even though they both have a ways to go I was glad to see them growing up. They are getting better at controlling their anger but some was a little out of line but when put into perspective made sense. There was a few times when I wanted to shake them both. Thank God for Holly because she seemed to be able to do just that. I didn't like the extra conflict added but I was so proud of Lucy and the way she handled it. I was afraid I would end up hating her. Thank heavens I didn't. Crazy anger issues or not I still love Jude. He overreacts a lot but once you get down to it he's just a boy afraid of being left like everyone has always done to him. He's scared and a little, okay a lot, possessive but his love for Luce runs deep and is true. I guess that is why her being so indecisive bothers me so much but like I said I am happy to see she has gotten better. Such a great ending, though I am sad too see them go but glad that maybe that means no more drama. I hope we see more of Holly,Thomas,India and even Anton.
    • 5/5
      Two words: Jude Ryder. Review over.

      Okay, seriously though, I loved this book! I was completely sucked into this tragic, dysfunctional, passionate, and sweet romance between Lucy and Jude. I began reading and didn't move until I finished the last page just a few hours later. This story had me smiling from ear to ear, laughing out loud, so frustrated, and on the verge of tears, all in the span of 322 pages. I definitely did not go into this expecting to come away loving it this much.

      Lucy was a great main character for me. I loved her personality and her dialogue had me laughing so much. I also loved the relationship between Jude and Lucy. Their chemistry was great and believable. Nothing about the relationship or growth of it felt forced to me. In fact, the "normal" parts of their relationship, like when it's not obvious that Jude has many problems, were pretty relatable. I went back and forth with Jude. I began the story really liking him, then not so much for parts in the middle, then really liking him again. The moments where I didn't like him so much were the moments where I didn't fully understand him or his motives yet. Underneath it all, Jude is a very sweet boy capable of loving Lucy very much. Life has just handed him some crappy deals for too long and it's really taken a toll on him. But, I think anyone who has read Crash agrees that by the end life is looking up for him and he truly deserves it.

      Crash was a rollercoaster ride if I ever read one. This thing goes up and down and all around so much, but that's what makes it so addicting. That's what kept me in place for hours reading. Sometimes that technique can make a reader dizzy, but Nicole Williams made it work so well. The entire story line was unpredictable for me and I was surprised by the turn of events quite a few times. Crash was an intense read and I can't wait to see where Williams takes Lucy and Jude in the next installment, Clash.
    • 4/5
      Ya’ll. I did it. I finally finish this series. It was hard to finish it because I fell for the characters. I wanted them to be happy and content.Plot: This story follows Jude and Lucy when they are finishing college. Things are happening upon them fast. Work opportunities and life all come crashing down and they have to make some big decisions. I like that this story still sticks with the old Jude and Lucy yet they have grown. It good to see them making decisions on their own yet together.Love: This is the area that I was most nervous about. Jude getting a lifetime opportunity and Lucy trying to pre-sue her dance dreams, communication get sidelined. They start arguing and seeing things differently. And it worried me. I just wanted to scream, “WORK IT OUT!!” But they kept hiding secrets, not telling their feelings and before you know it…BAM! It all explodes.Ending: I like the way it ended. They finally got their head on straight and starting thinking about each other instead of themselves. I like they the came back to the start in being friends.I loved this ending. It gave the perfect HAPPILY EVER AFTER that I wanted. Soo good and happy to see things work out nicely of them both. Crush is awesome!
    • 4/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.Quick & Dirty: This was a sweet romance filled with lots of sexy moments, and drama. It was the perfect ending for a wonderful series.Opening Sentence: Up, down.The Review:It’s been three years since Lucy and Jude got engaged. They just finished their junior year of college and life couldn’t be better. Jude has just been drafted by the San Diego Chargers and signed a multi-million dollar contract. Now on top of being the happiest couple ever they are totally rich, what could possibly go wrong. But if you know Jude and Lucy you know that their relationship is no walk in the park. They both have spit fire tempers and sometimes it seems that they fight more than they get along.Jude is living his dream of being a professional football player, but what about Lucy’s dream. She wants to be a professional ballet dancer and San Diego isn’t exactly the ideal place to do that. She also wants to finish school at Julliard which happens to be in New York. Now they have the whole country between them. Can their love survive the distance? Will they be able to compromise and work out their problems? Will Lucy and Jude get their happily ever after?Lucy is our very independent protagonist. She definitely has a mind of her own, and doesn’t like to be told what to do. She has a pretty quick temper, but she has worked on trying to rein it in especially when it comes to Jude. I loved Lucy in the first book, her spunk and attitude was fun and endearing, but as the books progressed my like for Lucy lessened slightly. It’s not that I didn’t like her still, but I just had a harder time connecting with her. She went from strong and independent to being over dramatic and a little irritating. She didn’t want her life to change, which I understand, but life is full of changes whether you want them or not. So for a good portion of the book I wasn’t Lucy’s biggest fan, but by the end she once again became the Lucy I loved in the beginning of the series.Jude Ryder is one sexy sweet man. He is as gorgeous as ever and he is so cute to Lucy. She is his reason for existing and he tries so hard to make her happy. Jude is far from perfect with his raging temper, and jealous streak, but all that makes him more human. He is respectful and very giving, but he also stubborn. Him and Lucy clash on a lot of things, but they have amazing hot chemistry. Watching Jude go from a broken boy in the first book to a grown man is a wonderful process. I loved his character and I’m sad to see his story end.I have to start off by saying I really loved this series. It was so fun, dramatic, sexy, entertaining, and heartfelt. I love that Jude and Lucy don’t have a perfect relationship. The fact that they have to work at it every day made it more real. There were parts there were a little overdone, especially with Lucy’s character, but overall, I still enjoyed this book. There are a lot more steamy scenes in this book then the previous two books which was a fun change. As always, I really enjoy Nicole’s writing. It’s engaging and so easy to get lost in. Her stories are always heartfelt and beautifully done. This was a perfect ending to a wonderful series. I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants a good steamy NA contemporary novel.Notable Scene:I saw Jude before he saw me. He was spinning circles in place, and his eyes fell on me after a final revolution. His shoulders relaxed when he smiled. “Yo, Lu-cy!” he shouted–Rocky-style—above the noise in the airport, breaking into a run my way.I didn’t care that we were catching the attention of everyone within hearing and seeing distance; nor did I care about the show we’d be giving them soon. The only thing I cared about was the guy running at breakneck speed and getting his arms around me.I wasn’t walking anymore. My bags were bouncing against me as I dodged around people, and the corners of my eyes stung with the tears forming. You would have thought he’d been deployed to the Middle East for the past year from the way we were charging at each other.When Jude reached me, he grabbed me up and spun me around. I held on for the ride, wondering how another person could make me feel whole again. When Jude finally set me back down, I let my purse and carry-on fall to the floor. Folding me back into his arms, he pressed into me as tightly as two people could fit together. God, it felt so good.FTC Advisory: Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Crush. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 4/5
      This is a trilogy that is being marketed as YA, and in the first book, the two main characters, Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder, are in high school. By the third book they have graduated to college and the author has graduated to big time erotica. There are quite a few descriptions not only of sex but even of phone sex (using Facetime video interaction on smart phones). But it’s between two people in love and the language isn’t as explicit as it could be. The plots of the three books can be summarized as:Crash: When will we have sex?Clash: What sexy things will we do to each other when we get each other alone?Crush: When will we get married?Underlying themes for all three: fear of being hurt; jealousy; temper problems and impulse control; growing up.Side themes: Lucy loving to dance; Jude loving to play football.The series begins as if it is about a good girl mistaking a bad boy for a good boy, and vice versa, sort of along the lines of Pride and Prejudice. But once Lucy figures out what is what, or who is who, she admits her attraction to Jude, and they move on to the next theme: a hormonally challenged, stubborn, and often irritating girl trying to resist giving in to an intensely passionate and romantic boy who loves her to distraction. Finally, An Event intervenes, helping Lucy - at last - to figure out what really matters. We the readers already did, and had been shaking Lucy through three books.Evaluation: This is a nice romantic story. It doesn't always seem realistic, but what the heck. Take these books to the beach. Be prepared for lots of sex. ... in the books, at any rate.