A good emotional, intense, romantic contemporary. I already fell in love with this series with the first two, so it's not a surprise that Tamsin was equally enjoyable.

This is the third book in the Hart University series and I like that this series follows a group of friends but focuses a different couple every book and each book is a new year. As the name suggests this book is about Tamsin who from the first book has been upfront about her personal life and relationships.
In the last book Tamsin and Claire take a vow of to take some time to focus on themselves by cutting out guys and relationships and doing more to enrich their lives. This works out really well for Tamsin so she continues through this book. Tamsin is not shy about how she has chosen to live her life in the past or presently and does not appreciate judgement from her peers.
Daniel is not in the friend group but Tamsin knows of him because of a previous act of kindness. He is a Christian and a jock. The two end up in a theater class together and not surprisingly they are often at odds.
I liked that they did not shy away from things in this one. Through the theater class many issues were addressed that are often glossed over or not in other books in this genre. I am a big fan of how female positive this series is. I hope there will be a book four.

Well, hell.
This was different. Not at all what I was expecting. Which is a good thing because there's a reason I've been putting off reading this book for so many months.

Least of all did I expect to end up loving the heroine as much as I did, especially after Tamsin introduced herself as the "Queen of Sluts" in the first chapter.
She was a spectacular female lead. A proud and passionate feminist, strong and loyal, but without being bitchy or overly stubborn. She's a free spirit, a liberal who's comfortable with her sexuality and her, let's call it colorful past. Perfect role model material and a seldom sight in the New Adult genre.
Hats off, Ms. Strom, hats off.

On the other hand, there's Daniel, her complete opposite if you will. He's clean-cut, quiet, religious, conservative. And he's a virgin. I couldn't believe my eyes. A virgin hero and a sexually experienced heroine in a NA romance? More of that, please!
He's a second-string jock and a genuinely good guy, but one who's battling his own demons.

And while I didn't expect there to be any believable chemistry between two characters that are so wildly different from one another, Abigail Strom totally made it work.
Sure, there isn't much going on plot-wise. It's just two people and their circles of friends meeting, interacting, going to class, spending weekends or holidays at home. It's college life.
What we do get in this book though, is amazing character growth and real substance. As in stuff that actually matters. It tackles subjects such as feminism and women's rights, slut shaming, tolerance and prejudices. Side characters that actually have something to say, discussions and arguments that are fascinating to follow.

The only point of criticism I have for this book is the rather underdeveloped progression of the romance. It felt like one minute, Tamsin and Daniel are just friends (sure, friends that are immensely attracted to each other, but friends nonetheless) and in the next they're professing their love for each other. And while I usually appreciate quick reads, I feel like this one could've used a few more pages.

But, despite that totally forgivable flaw, this was a fantastic read.
If you love proud and strong yet compassionate heroines, check it out.
If you love actually nice heroes who are no man-whores, check it out.
If you love character-driven stories, check it out.
And if you love romances that are more than just that, check it out.

What a tremendous story between two characters who have taken on the labels that they have either given to themselves or that others have given them. Daniel has had his eye on Tamsin ever since the first day of his freshman year at Hart University, when he was the first person to ever stand up for and defend her. Tamsin had been labeled by her peers long before she ever earned the title. Both Tamsin and Daniel have suffered greatly and even though they seek to find solace in each other - nothing is ever easy and we flawed people will always dissapoint each other when given the chance. I loved the way Strom approached some very sensitive topics in this story. She approached these topics from both sides of the coin and having the tables flipped on them was very emotional. I loved how she alternated between their points of view so we could get inside both of their minds to see how they processed the events. I can’t wait to read all the books in this series.

I received a free copy of this ebook from Netgalley for an honest review.

This is the third book in this series, and the second that I've read. It was fun to see some of the other characters make brief appearances here and there throughout the story. It really is the story of Tamsin and Daniel though, and they very much dominated the narrative.

Despite the fact that they seemingly have very little in common, these two find themselves hopelessly attracted and actually enjoying each other's company. Through a variety of circumstances, including some rather intense exercises for their shared Drama class, they find themselves sharing and learning a lot about each other. Often, they even approach things from the other person's point of view, which leads to some new perspectives for both of them. They both also have past wounds that they are dealing with; totally different in nature, but kind of in the same wheelhouse. It takes the majority of the semester, and some relationship trauma, before they are ready to totally open up to one another and let the other person see them for who they are.

The story switches pretty much equally between his and her perspectives in alternating chapers. Although this tactic has sometimes confused me in similar stories, the author made their two voices different enough that they were easy to discern. The reading is easy and the writing entertaining, so much so that I basically finished reading it in a day. I assume there is at least one more volume in this series - covering the senior year for this eclectic group of friends - and I look forward to reading it to discover what more becomes of them all.

LOVED DANIEL! Hated Tamsin. Not my favorite book by this author!

It can be read as standalone.
Tamsin and Daniel are in college. They happen to be together in one of their clases. And apparently, they have nothing in common
I didn't expect some topics as abortion or religion. It has been very interesting to have different points of view on such topics. Daniel is a very conservative man. And Tamsin is a very liberal woman. But why can't they be together?
The book is ok. But I really liked reading about issues we should be talking everyday. Issues we should be fighting against. And we should eradicate them. But we are not doing it.
At least, including these topics in literature is a good starting point.

Tasmin is an acting major, while Daniel is a football player. The two essentially have nothing in common. He is very conservative in his beliefs, while Tasmin is very liberal. The two find each other partnered up in an acting class and have to go head to head on some pretty controversial topics. Although they may have different beliefs their feelings for one another link them together.

This was a great read. The connection the characters had was good and I loved the debating between the two.

I gave this book 3.5 stars. It was gritty, down to earth and wasn’t a typical NA romance and I enjoyed it.

Tamsin was an incredibly quick read. Mostly because I read it while sitting in a doctors office without wifi for 3 hours. Despite the terrible circumstances, I did really like this book.

I think it did a good job of showing both sides of the story, but I did find it to be a bit biased. It seemed like the author set out to write it as this huge Liberal vs. Conservative love story, but I don’t think Daniel was that conservative. I was expecting more arguments and drama. There was a bit of both of those, but not quite as much as I would expect. I thought it would be more provoking and gritty with passion on both ends, but I felt like Daniel just wasn’t as conservative as Tamsin was Liberal. Maybe I’m reading to much into this as it is a NA romance, but I kind of wanted more.

Daniel was such a sweetheart honestly. He was willing to look at things in a different way and never slutshamed Tamsin like a lot of men fictional and real would have done. Daniel was conservative but not a shitty person and I liked how the author made that known.

Tamsin was a great lead character. She wasn’t ashamed of her past. She decided that wasn’t who she wanted to be anymore and made those changes in her lifestyle, but she never once regretted those things she did in the past because it made her who she is and she was proud of that. Tamsin is the type of character we all need to be.

This book was hard to read for the most part. I love NA books set in college, but I don’t like wishy-washy characters.

And if you’re going to approach certain subjects I believe it should be done in a manner that it doesn’t feel superficial, like you’re just scratching the surface.

I feel like the political and religion aspects of the book were given a LOT more work and thought than the actual story. So, for me, this book is a great political manifest, but it doesn’t have much of a story/plot.

The story was rushed and if it was given more time and work I probably would have like it a lot better. The way it is I feel like it was left to the sidelines so the characters political and religious views coild shine. Ans even though I agree with some, I was expecting a romance book out of this read.

“You know how some people can’t be labeled? You can’t fit them into a neat little box? Yeah, that’s not me. I’ve always been easy to label. Bad girl. Skank. Slut. From the time I was fifteen years old, that’s who I’ve been. Tamsin Shay, Queen of the Sluts. But hey, at least I’m queen of something. And as realms go, let me tell you, the kingdom of sluts has some pretty awesome people in it. I’m proud to be their queen.”
I have to admit, when I read these first lines, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book. I’ve read the other two books in the Hart University series and I remembered enjoying them. However, they are released like one each year so that means 2015, 2016 and now 2017, factor that in with the other hundreds of books I’ve read during this time and it was kind of hard for me to remember the other characters and place Tamsin and Daniel. I just kind of remembering Tamsin being something of a free-spirit, so again…wasn’t really sure what to expect.
Tamsin Shay and Daniel Bowmen, boy did these two get more than they expected during their Junior Year at Hart University. Both were determined to focus on their crafts and school work. Unfortunately for them, attraction through a major monkey wrench in their plans.
This book wasn’t just about attraction, fighting attraction, navigating dating, and falling in love. This book touched on some serious social issues and how two people who are clearly on separate sides of issues deal with their differences and their undeniable attraction to each other. They have to examine their beliefs and why their beliefs are their beliefs. They examine what made them feel so passionately about their beliefs and how society views them because of their beliefs. They have to come to terms with the fact that not everything is black and white; there are most definitely shades of grey.
This was also a book about people dealing with the perception about them and how they affect your everyday life. We may think we are handling misconceptions about us but in fact, the way we deal with them kind of just adds fuel to the fire. How sometimes we can get in our own heads and be our own worst enemy.
I have to applaud Abigail for her approach in this book. It wasn’t “preachy” at all. I think it was very objective in giving both sides of arguments and I’ll admit…it had me rethinking my position on some issues. Not changing but rethinking why people feel the way they do and it actually helped me articulate to someone that sometime a person’s beliefs are based on personal experiences and how sometimes it’s all about perspective and frame of reference.
This was a pretty quick read for me. The pace was good and it kept my attention. Definitely add to your TBR for 2018.

In my review of Claire, I mentioned I was glad I already had this book waiting for me on my Kindle. Now that I’ve read Tamsin’s story I’m even more thankful I didn’t have to wait. This story is so timely with what is going on in America today. I only hope that a few years from now, if someone is reading this for the first time, they’ll think some of the characteristics of Daniel’s roommates are exaggerated. Unfortunately, right now, there are a lot of people out there with the thoughts and actions of Daniel’s “friends”.

From the beginning of this series, Abigail Strom has done such a fantastic job of showing a more liberal side of college life. Within Tamsin’s group of friends there are people raised in “traditional” families and families with gay parents and single parents. There are gay friends and polyamorous friends. Some of the group are virgins and others have had multiple partners. And they are all accepted for who they are, no matter what. The author takes a step out of that box a bit with this one. Daniel is a pretty conservative guy. It was a very emotional process to watch Tamsin and Daniel struggle with their preconceived ideas of what a feminist is versus what a conservative. Can you be a church going and God-loving person yet have a relationship with an atheist? How can a couple make things when there are so many things about them that are different? I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you that the most important parts of Tamsin and Daniel, their hearts, are not so different after all.

There are some heavy topics handled in this book…molestation, rape, abortion. Some as hypotheticals and some as realities. If you are sensitive to these issues I want to give you a heads up. They are not mentioned in passing but delved into. From my perspective that is what makes this story so great. To get the different opinions and different arguments. For these young adults to realize that just because they believe something whole-heartedly doesn’t mean someone who has different beliefs is a bad person or even a wrong person.

I could go on and on about this story, but I fear I will end up saying too much. This package will be best unwrapped by each reader to draw their own conclusions and feel their own emotions. I just want to say that Abigail Strom never ceases to amaze me with her insight into the human heart and mind.

Never in a million years had I thought, I'd actually like this book as much as I eventually did. Here's what I wrote when I finished Claire, the second book in the series:

"I'll probably give Tamsin a try, though I'm not exactly interested in her story. I don't know why, but I know one thing: I'll most likely love her story once I give it a chance."

And damn right! Just like I expected. It's not my favorite book to ever exist, but I liked it really much, despite all my fear I'd hate Tamsin's story. I didn't. Probably because of Daniel. He fit her so well. I couldn't imagine a guy that would, but the second Daniel entered the stage (almost literally), I knew he was perfect for her. And my, my. I loved these two together. The ever-lasting discussions about abortion and the pro-life or pro-choice team exhauted me, I'll admit that. But... The author managed great, because she captured both sides so perfectly and there was no right team either way. Both characters had different minds. In the beginning and in the end. No harm done.

Tamsin's such a strong character, I feel so bad for judging her in the beginning. It's what people do, I'm no exception to that. And I think there are more readers out there who aren't sure about this girl. She's different and I wasn't sure whether that's a good thing or not. Having read her story now, I think it's a good thing. Also because her character makes you rethink about your beliefs - the discussion might have annoyed me sometimes, but they also make you think. And I love that it doesn't have to be a Shakespeare book or a book written by any great philosopher to make you do that: Think. This is a new adult book. And while people nowadays tend to hate on that genre, I love how Abigail Strom used her power and wrote this kind of story.

I really believed both characters when it was their turn to speak - their point of views. Which is why I think the author has a great talent. You could always tell the two voices apart, and not just because of their different opinions on things. I feel like I'm repeating myself like an old CD playing the same old song, but I just didn't expect the book to be as good as it was, and now I want to point that out.

What Daniel went through... Oh my goodness. I couldn't hold back the tears. It's so tragic and he's still such a decent guy. And Tamsin's still strong, though so many people tried to bring her down in her past. There could be no better choice for the two characters than each other. Seriously. How did the author come up with that?! There's so much perfection in their tragedy.

While I was annoyed with "The Semester of Us" in Claire, I half expected this book to pick up the topic again. I'm so thankful that didn't happen and Tamsin just stayed true to herself. She's like this rock chick without being ever described as one and Daniel is like the gentleman you read about in books like Jane Austen's. Weird mix, huh? But just give it a go and you'll see for yourself that this is the best possible mix. Of course, they both got flaws... Such as Daniel's friends. Gosh, they're jerks. I didn't like their conversations one bit. What girl would?! And Tamsin sometimes seemed to think she was perfect, like acceting the fact that people slut shamed her made her queen of everything. Now that I think about it, it's really obvious, actually. I didn't like that, but the positive aspects are stronger.

The scenes in acting class were really interesting. And I always love reading about Rikki, because she's most likely my favorite of Abigail Strom's characters. It hasn't been that long since I read Claire, but I loved the reunion feeling I received on my end. Though honestly, and this time I really mean it, I'm not quite sure about the next book in the series - Julia. She's a mystery to me. We haven't even really seen a glimpse of her yet. And now a whole book? Eh. Just not sure.

This story of Hart University world is about Tamsin and Daniel. Tamsin is into theater major and into gothic with a long history of love affairs though she’s into celibacy the last year.. Daniel studying engineering participates in the football team and he is conservative; going to church, not drinking alcohol etc. Everything changes between them when they meet in the class of the Experiments in Drama and where they are asked to improvise on the topic of abortion.

Once again Abigail nailed it. Not only did she bring together two complete opposite characters, but she gave depth to a romance story by argumenting about a topic like abortion and representing so harmonically both sides of pro-choice and pro-life. What more can anyone ask from a writer. Not only to write a fun and enjoyable story but also touch tough topics and providing so evenly the different point of views. Amazing!!!

I really loved the story. The approach and depth the author gave to the characters without deprecating the suspense and interest of the reader.

A beautiful heartfelt somewhat deep and emotional read. Hold onto your tissue box because you might just need them. Such a great read.. Tamsin if you have been following the Hart University series takes a break to work on herself and not her love life. You see a different type of Tamsin in this one once you get more of her story. She is full of life and loves being in the spotlight. Then you have Daniel. Sweet and caring Daniel. He is almost a complete opposite of Tamsin. But like they say opposites tend to attract and they can so work out. Even through the bumps in getting there Tamsin and Daniel have this pull that you can't help but say hey I get it. And you do really get it once they both open up about their pasts. This book is filled with topics that most people are not comfortable with but they are handled in such a careful and thoughtful way. It's beautiful really. This series just keeps getting better and better with each book. I love this close net of friends. I so can't wait for the next book. Abigail Strom did a fantastic job with Daniel and Tamsin's story. She made it so real and heartfelt that you can't help but love it.

While I loved Rikki and Sam and Claire and Will, I absolutely adore Tamsin and Daniel. Tamsin has made a lot of bad decisions in her life, mainly in an attempt to get her parents' attention. Unfortunately, those decisions have followed her to college. When the guy she has been crushing on, but stayed away from because they both had someone else, joins her drama class, she is shocked. They get paired up and sparks fly.
Daniel is only in the class for an easy grade, but find the brutal honesty hard to escape from. They start spending time together and he falls when harder for her. The only problem is he has a heartbreaking secret that eats him alive and makes him push her away. He also has one secret that is a direct result of the first.
Just when thinks are great for both of them, she has finally found someone that doesn't judge her and he has finally confessed and conquered one of his secrets, his housemate destroys it.
Can Daniel find a way to reveal his darkest secret? If he does, will it be too little, too late? Can these two very different people find a way to overcome their differences? This book delved into some pretty heavy topics, broke my heart at times, and had me turning pages until I had no more pages to turn.
I received an ARC, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

I really enjoyed this story. It is #4 in a series and it is extremely different than any of the other books in the series, it has some very serious issues it discusses and I thought the author did an amazing job with those issues. It stars Tasmin, who is someone we have seen in other books. She is a junior and has slept with 23 guys. One in college but the rest in high school. She refers to herself as the Queen of the Sluts, though she has not dated in over a year.

She meets Daniel in her new drama class and they hot it off as opposing sides to the issue of abortion. I loved how the author approached this very hot issue and used all the characters in the story. However Daniel is a virgin and he has a very good reason for it. The two fall in love but their issues are still there and I loved how the author approached those.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.