Review: Stir Me Up by Sabrina Elkins

Stir Me Up
by Sabrina Elkins

Kindle Edition, 268 pages
Published October 1st 2013 by HarlequinTEEN

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Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She'll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father's French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami's family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Julian's all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami's starting to feel. And Cami can't stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He's got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated….

I have to admit that at first I was having a very hard time getting into this story. For some reason I just could not connect with the main character, Cami. There were plenty of times where I just wanted to shelf the book and give up because I was a bit bored. It wasn't until Julian moved into her home that I started to really enjoy the story.

Cami and Julian’s relationship starts off with lots of bitterness. Julian feels like his world is over, and he holds a lot of guilt for what he has endured as a marine. Taking out his anger at the world and those who care about him most is the easiest thing for him to do.

Cami’s life is thrown upside down when Julian moves in with them. This is where Cami shows what a strong character she really is. She decides that she will not take any crap from Julian. That someone needs to show him that the world is not angry at him. She doesn't take his crap, and is always there for him when he needs help; whether he wants it or not.

Eventually a romance builds between the two and things get hot and heavy. I had an idea of where the story was leading, so I decided to continue reading it and I am so happy that I did. I ended up really liking Cami and her love for Julian. She looked past all his faults and his mistakes and accepted him for who he truly is. She showed Julian that life goes on, and that he can still do the things that he always dreamed of doing.

I loved the way their friendship grew into more and the way things ended. It wasn't your typical happily ever after.

In the end, Stir Me Up took me by surprise. I did not think I would like it as much as I did. It touches a topic that you don’t see too much in today’s young adult. Another bonus is that Cami’s father and step mother are always in the picture. They both play a huge role in the story. This was also a nice change for me.

You guessed it… A Good Choice for Reading! Especially for those who like Young Adult novels that cross the line a bit into New Adult.