If You Stay Release Day Launch and Giveaway!!!

24-year old Pax Tate is an asshole.

Seriously.

He’s a tattooed, rock-hard bad-boy with a bad attitude to match.

But he’s got his reasons.

His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with guilt although he doesn’t understand why. What he does know is that he and his dad are left alone and with more issues than they can count.

As Pax grew up, he tried to be the kid his father always wanted; the perfect golden boy, but it didn’t work. His dad couldn’t overcome his grief long enough to notice and Pax couldn’t keep up the impossible perfect façade.

So he slipped far, far from it.

Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the ugliness, the black void that he doesn’t want to deal with. If he pretends that the emptiness isn’t there, then it isn’t, right?

Wrong.

And it’s never more apparent than when he meets Mila.

Sweet, beautiful Mila Hill is the fresh air to his hardened frown, the beauty to his ugly heart. He doesn’t know how to not hurt her, but he quickly realizes that he’s got to figure it out because he needs her to breathe.

When memories of his mother’s death resurface from where he’s repressed them for so long, Mila is there to catch him when the guilt starts making sense. Mila is the one…the one who can save him from his broken troubled heart; from his issues, from the emptiness.

But only if he can stop being an asshole long enough to allow it.

He knows that. And he’s working on it.

But is that enough to make her stay?

**Warning -Contains sex and violence**

My Review

If You Stay was dark, depressing, heartbreaking, and swoony. I LOVED Pax and just wanted to give him a big hug, only because I can relate to his struggles.. not on a personal level, but a friend of mine had very similar struggles. I loved the dedication of this book. I think.. that at some point in everyone's life they seek out that comfort, as Pax did. Granted, it may just be one night of drinking and not nearly as bad as Pax.

To anyone who has ever found comfort in oblivion.

Cover Love and Writing
I really like the cover! It draws me in.. however it is seemingly light as compared to the subject and tone of the book. I think it should be on a wintery beach with the sky dark, in my opinion. This is the third book I've read by Courtney and I think she is a very talented writer. This book was written in the first person from both Pax and Mila's pov. The writing is smooth and contemporary. It was very easy to get lost in this book!

Main Characters
I loved that both of the characters, while struggling with issues, find each other and become stronger.. even when they aren't together. Both have had sad/terrible things happen to them and it made me happy that they could find someone to confide in, someone to love.

Swoonworthy Points: 6.5
While there are some steamy parts, and some romantic swooning I don't think that was the main focus of this book. I did love the painting scene =)!!

Overall, this dark contemporary will take you down then up and back around. The emotional roller-coaster is totally worth it! I highly recommend this book!

Author Bio:

Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people.

Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.

Links:

Website: http://courtneycolewrites.com/

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/courtneycolewrites

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/courtwritesYA

Novel Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17032328-if-you-stay

Author Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3112212.Courtney_Cole

Giveaway!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway