4 "not broken, just bent" Stars

Allie Harper is starting college in Oregon and she really needs a clean break from her family and a fresh start. She wants to reinvent herself and “find” herself. Somehow she ends up roommates with the campus hottie and bad boy, Kaden. It may sound like the basic New Adult plot line, right? Well, at first it seemed to follow your basic formula. Now, this isn’t necessarily a negative because it’s the reason we read this genre, right? However, I am finding that I need a little more than that if a book is going to stand out from all the rest.

Well, Begin Again developed into one of those stand-out NA books. Mainly because, KADEN. Angsty, hot, funny, sweet! A bit broken, but worth the trouble. He was crushed by his first love so he’s promised himself not to date anyone else seriously. Only hook-ups! So of course he pushes Allie away. There’s a lot of push and pull. But during that push and pull, they form a lovely, yet dysfunctional, friendship.

So both Allie and Kaden have “secrets” from their past (they are only in college, but it’s NA so…), but do they trust each other enough to share their secrets?

“I’m a jerk, and I don’t think there’s any hope for me. But I’d love to be the jerk who’s there for you.” -Kaden

He makes mistakes, but the way he tries to make up for those mistakes should be the reason you read this book. Who doesn’t want a hot, sweet guy groveling and begging for forgiveness?

"Coffee, chocolate, music. You had to give it to Kaden: he knew how to win over a woman." -Allie

If you’re in the mood for an New Adult college romance, I recommend this.
P.S. This cover is gorgeous!

An enjoyable read that sucks you in right from the beginning. The back-and-forth between Allie and Kaden was awesome and totally made the book. Kaden is a total A-hole but getting to know him you realize the reasons behind it and can understand how it all came to be. Allie has some secrets of her own that just give you the feels when they come to light.

This is the first book that I've read from Mona Kasten and I have to say I was quite amazed of her talent! The author's writing style isn't very typical. It's a bit fast paced at times and then slows down its pace just so you can catch up. Definitely a very unique writing style!
I really enjoyed reading Begin Again. There's a definite mystery going on throughout the story and in the beginning hints are dropped here and there about Allie just enough to whet your appetite. She's hiding from a past that she's obviously ashamed of and want to forget entirely. As she's trying to grapple new college life and living with a male roommate (who happens to be the tall, dark, and brooding type!), she discovers things about her roommate that might threaten her own escape from her old life. Kaden has a mysterious past of his own and is still suffering from it but we don't really get to see why until end of the novel. The author had a clever way of wanting the reader to dislike Kaden as he was sort of the antagonist, but I just couldn't hate him. And that in itself shows how great an author is - the ability for you to feel empathy for the antagonist and somehow root for him to the very end.
Ms. Kasten did a wonderful job researching and fleshing out her main characters. I felt their angst, their fears, and their loss. Both hero and heroine in the story suffered greatly and their pasts were explained in a well-written way. I was also glad that the author didn't use the typical insta-love for these two characters but the attraction and the curiosity were there immediately. Although neither one of them really wanted to be roommates due to Kaden's "rules", they lived as amicably together as possible. There was some hatred and some affection as Kaden tries to help Allie live through her ghosts although not opening up about his own.
There is a HEA ending and the author wrote the epilogue in a very satisfying way. I liked how she helped her main characters grow up in a way and through friendship and patience, both of them found love and peace.

When I read about this book I didn´t know it is a translation of a german author – and I did not know it is a Coming of Age book. Maybe if I had known I would not have read the book, which would be unfortunate because it is a well-written book.

Allie Harper is new in town and is urgently looking for an apartment. All apartments she has seen were terrible. Her last hope is sharing an apartment with Kaden who really does not want to share a flat with a woman.

But Allie can persuade him, provided she agrees to his rules. Either Allie obeys, or she's out:

1. Don't talk about your girl problems.
2. Keep your mouth shut if I bring someone home.
3. We will NEVER hook up.

Sounds easy.

However, within a short period of time, more is emerging from this flat-sharing community.

But until both learn to break through their past, time and obstacles still have to be overcome.

Even though the book serves quite a few stereotypes, the story of Allie and Kaden is exciting.

Mona Kasten writes about typical problems teenagers are confronted with, like alcohol, self-doubt, rejection and so on.

Although some solutions in the book are very simple, it seems to be credible and honest.

That's why I give 4 stars, even if it is not my favorite genre.

I'm fairly new to the NA genre, and while I enjoyed the author's writing, I feel the characters came off as immature. While I enjoyed the development of their relationship, I don't think I would be interested in reading other books in the series (or other NA by the same author). I also thought the reliance on songs will quickly date the story.

I stayed up way to late to finish reading this book. A kind of coming of age book where Allie tries to find out who she wants to be and finds love with Kaden. The story was exciting as you could relate to Allie's introduction to her new found freedom and how she looked at her environment and her new friends. Allie and Kaden both had deep issues they had to deal with from their past. I could relate emotionally with their angst. It was a compelling story from page one and as I mentioned above I could not put it down. I smiled and was sad and sighed and was glad that they found their HFN status. I voluntarily received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from NetGalley. I highly recommend it.

This book was pretty good, a quick read once I started. It was translated from German to English though, and I think something got lost in the translation somewhere.... Allie and Kayden end up being roommates and Kayden is pretty much a jerk at the beginning of the story. He is nasty, rude, and just not nice at all. As the story progressed and they are attracted to each other, he gets nicer and they have to face their feelings for each other and also what they are both hiding in their pasts. Allie is a strong independent character who is trying to make it on her own and she does not change that because she falls in love. Kind of a no-brain romance which is sometimes just what I want to read. I did find it odd that the book was written by a German but set in the US. I really liked the secondary characters though as well and they def added to the story/dialogue which was again a little off in general.

I went into this story completely blind, I loved the story at the beginning but my feelings changed by the end of it, just too predictable. I wanted to slap some sense into most of the characters. So to say the least, I was over the story and was just ready for it to end.

This book was so good I loved watching these 2 fall in love

Thank you to NetGalley and be-ebooks for an ARC of this book in return for my honest review. I really liked this book-Allie and Kaden had some definite chemistry and I liked the secondary characters-Dawn, Spencer and Monica. Both main characters had some baggage that they needed to work through to be truly available for each other and it was handled in a sensitive and relate-able fashion.

2 “Listen to your friend” Stars

ARC via NetGalley.

Thank you!

I can see Begin Again being big during the NA golden years a while back. It had the key elements: young people going to college and making dubious choices, lots of drama, bad boy hero and a nice girl heroine. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for me now.

I’m not saying I’m over New Adult. I’m not. I read two NA books this week alone that I absolutely loved, but they didn’t feel as stilted as Begin Again.

I understand this book was initially written in German, so I’m blaming the stilted and sometimes uncomfortable dialogue on translation problems, but I don’t think I can blame translation for the rest of the issues I had with this book.

First, I didn’t dislike Ally, but I didn’t like her, either. She lacked the backbone needed to make me connect with her. Spineless main characters are one of my biggest pet peeves, and the way Ally let her family and Kaden walk all over her didn’t work for me.

Kaden…Well, Kaden, I’m all in for alpha males, but you took things a little too far, huh, buddy? Kaden is a jerk. There’s no nice way to say it. To his credit, he admits to being one. To my credit, his reason to being a jerk didn’t convince me.

Kaden’s trauma wasn’t big enough to justify his actions, especially one toward the ending—the break up scene. What he did was cruel, unnecessary and I was Scott (Ally’s friend and the most sensible person in this story) the entire time after Ally confessed what Kaden did to her.

Scott is the best part of this story. His constant “Sorry, people, but that doesn’t work for me” comments about Kaden’s behaviors gave me life.

I felt represented by Scott throughout this story, because he wouldn’t go all “aww, cute” whenever Kaden showed up after screwing up. He’d try to make Ally see some sense, though that seemed to be a lost battle.

I did enjoy some of the moments between Kaden and Ally mid-book, because I thought he was progressing toward opening up to her and being less rude for no apparent reason. But then he’d do something stupid and I’d take that step back.


Maybe if Ally had been more sure of herself and stood up for what she wanted, I could’ve enjoyed this book. But with Kaden being a jerk and Ally lacking a backbone, plus the problems with the dialogue, this book was a lost battle for me.

Sweet story, but slightly choppy writing. I liked how Allie found her voice and internal strength to stand up to those that wronged her. I actually thought Kaden's secret was the bigger one and was surprised it wasn't a bigger deal in the story until the end.

I did not want this book to end! I could not get enough of Kaden and Allie. Both of them have past issues which make relationships very difficult. They learn from each other and truly "Begin Again". I did like the fact that there weren't others in the book trying to sabotage Kaden and Allie like mean ex's who try and create havoc. It basically was Kaden and Allie learning to be honest, trust and love again!! Everyone needs to read this!!

Allie Harper is running from her past and breaking free from her overbearing, stuck up parents. To do that she's just moved all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska to tiny Woodshill, Oregon. After extensively searching for a place to stay she winds up at the apartment of Kaden White - who definitely doesn't want Allie as a roommate (or any female for that matter). But Kaden needs the money and Allie needs a place to stay so they come to a compromise: Allie can have the room as long as she plays by Kaden's rules.

Allie agrees, besides the last thing she needs right now is a hook-up but as she settles into her new life, makes new friends and experiences new things Allie begins to see another side to Kaden - a side she likes a lot.

Will Allie be able to stifle her feelings for Kaden? Or will Kaden throw his rules out the window? Can their relationship survive all the darkness in their pasts? Or will Kaden's fear of letting anyone get too close tear them apart?

I loved reading Begin Again. More than just the romance, seeing Allie come into her own and become a strong, independent woman after a lifetime with her parents made for a pleasant, hopeful read. Watching Allie experience new things and make friends, seeing her try to hide her growing feelings for Kaden, I thought overall the story was well written and plotted.

I loved Kaden, although I can see why some readers may not like him. Some may see a girl fall for a guy that acts like a jerk toward her over and over again until he finally realizes how special the girl is and be put off by the story but I love books like this. I love seeing male characters that are broken and twisted by their pasts learn to love.

I hope the other two books in this series get translated into English because I would love to read them! Mona Kasten is definitely an author I'd like to see more of!

I liked this book and it was an easy read. The character development in this novel seems a little lacking (could be simple due to translation). Allie and Kaden meet and become roommates in a college town. They become friends...sort of. Both of these people have some serious baggage from their early years that they have never resolved. I would have liked to have seem some more resolution of both of their pasts, however, the small parts that were given made sense. I feel like the story could have really developed some of the secondary characters as well and wished I had seen more about Dawn and Spencer (great spin off possibly). Overall this was an easy read that anyone who loves new adult romance or college romances would enjoy.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Allie is looking for an apartment since moving from Lincoln, Nebraska to go college. Her hunt to find an apartment wasn't the best until her last stop... with Kaden. Kaden wasn't very happy to see that the person he was interviewing for the apartment was a girl, but when his other canidate backed out, he agreed. As long as she followed three rules.. and boy, were rules meant to be broken.

I won't go into more detail about the book because, well, you should read it for yourself ;)

Now where to begin.... I was in a rut to find something to read. I received an email from netgalley about the release of this book and to sign up to get a chance to read it. I was lucky to get a chance to read Begin Again and I absolutely loved it. What drew me to this book first was that it was a translated to English book from German. I was interested to see how a romance book could be translated over and it was done fairly well.

Begin Again was an easy read, and it was hard to put down. I lost sleep and track of time because I kept wanting more. I loved the friendships in this book. Allie with Dawn and Kaden with Spencer. They all had each other's backs and really helped each other out when they needed it.

The romance with Allie and Kaden was kind of sweet. Sure Kaden is a HUGE jerk, but at least he wasn't an a-hole (and yes there's a difference!). This roommate situation puts it apart from other stories with the same premise because the male lead isn't obnoxious and the female lead isn't a brat or whiny. They fed off each other and really brought their worst out of each other, releasing them of their sorrows.

It looks like this is a first of a series, and I can't wait until I'm able to read the next. :)

The cliched outline of a "romance" involving - a controlling jerk, frantic pacing, more drama than a middle school dance, mommy issues and a doormat heroine.

First words exchanged between the hero and heroine <b>"'What the hell are you doing here?'"</b>

Kaden is upset that the person interested in renting his spare room is female. Because he lives in a magic land without rental applications or background checks. Or, apparently, manners. After deciding Allie can move in Kaden's behavior just plummets down the toilet - including subjecting her to "tests" to see if she's cool enough to join his "friends." Never does Allie question why she's running after this guy jumping through his hoops - apparently we're just all to accept that they have a badly skewed relationship necessitating her need to prove her worth to him - over and over and over again.

<b>"His gaze was mysterious but attentive; his eyes darted over my face. Lying between his arms, I felt encompassed."</b> And let't not even get started on the writing.

Suffice it to say, I didn't enjoy this book. It upsets me when controlling, moody, borderline psychotic men are cast as heroes - thereby romanticizing unhealthy relationships.

I took a chance with this one and I have to say I was fairly satisfied, It was the first time reading a translation of a book, but I think I will do it again.

This was a really sweet romance! The male protagonist wasn’t the worst domineering male MC I’ve ever read, so that was nice. Still not the best though. I liked this read and it went quick but it’s not one of my favorites!