Manhattan (Becker Brothers Book 3)

I prayed to God that I wouldn't completely shatter my heart in an attempt to keep that boy in my life. 

Everyone knows not to fall in love with your best friend. But when your best friend is Michael Becker, it's impossible not to. He's everything our town knows a Becker brother to be: devastatingly handsome, charming as a thief, and the icing on the cake- a sentimental musician who's never without his guitar. And he was mine. At least, that's what I'd convinced myself. Our bond was born in elementary school, strengthened by circumstances and the promise to always be there for each other, no matter what. And the best thing about my life was being friends with Michael Becker. Until it was the worst. I watched him fall in love with someone else, and helped patch him back up when she left him behind. But when he drops the bomb that he's moving to New York, I realize it's my last chance to tell him how I feel. And I ask him to make one more promise. One summer. One list of adventures to remind him that our small town has more to offer than memories of the girl who left him behind. One last chance to tell him I'm in love with him. And I'm just dumb enough to believe that maybe he could love me, too. 

Manhattan releases on December 19th. I received an advanced copy for my honest review. This is book three in a stand alone series about the Becker brothers. The first two books are not necessary to read this one, though I would highly recommend reading those books also, because this series is fantastic. 

I wish there were words for me to accurately describe the way Kandi's words make me feel. The way she described young, teenage love, took me back to high school. It took me back to the first time you feel like your falling in love, the way it made you feel. How it made you scared to death, but excited at the same time. It was like she could see inside my head and feel the things I've felt before. She is so good at making people feel when they read her books. She makes my emotions resurface, and she is a master at making your heart race while your reading. 

I was only eighteen. I was only eighteen, and yet, I could remember moments in my life that changed everything.

I have been dying for Mikey's book ever since Kandi introduced the Becker brothers. I was not disappointed. He was by far my favorite Becker. He is young, so his emotions are raw. He still doesn't understand how to deal with some of the things he feeling, and he is vulnerable, even when he doesn't want to be. I loved the love he had for his mom, the love he had for his brother, and the love he had for Kylie. I also liked that he wasn't afraid to fall apart when he was going through pain. He wasn't afraid to open up to Kylie about how he was feeling and what he was going through, and I think that's what made him such a fantastic character. I think that's what helped he and Kylie's relationship and friendship grow. 

Kylie was a character that I strive to be in life. She is selfless, she is loving, and she would literally give someone the shirt off her back. She put everyone and everything above herself, and she did everything that she could to help whoever needed it. She was such a beautiful soul, and it was easy to see how people fell in love with her so effortlessly. She had normal teenage insecurities, but she didn't let them come to surface very often. She was just a fantastically written, beautiful character. 

It was as if the whole world was tilting, like we were spinning out of orbit, like all the laws of gravity were being broken with that singular kiss. 

There is no other author that can write a first kiss, or any kiss, like Kandi Steiner. It feels like it's your first kiss, it feels like your feeling everything the characters are feeling. You can be reading and your heart will start racing, and she can transport you into that moment with those characters. She makes you feel like your exposed, and your living in that exact moment, right along with them. She is seriously a master at writing love. And while she's a master at writing love, she's also a master at writing pain. She can break your heart, and make you feel like it will never be okay again. She can make you feel like your experiencing a heartache right along with her characters. She forms a connection between the reader and the character that is truly unbelievable. 

My chest ached, heart splitting more, and I pressed a hand over the bones, soothing them as best I could. I forced three long, burning breaths, and then I drove back into my little hometown with only one aspiration. 

To leave it. 

I loved that this book wasn't just about first loves, or friends falling in love. It was also about two young people finding out who they are as people. Finding out who they want to become, what they want to do with their lives, and also how to deal with tragic pasts, while also learning how to live in the moment. 

Overall, this one is getting 5 STARS. It's no secret I'm a Kandi Steiner fan girl. She can write a moment and a feeling better than anyone else. She can make you feel things you haven't felt in forever, she can make you sad, rip your heart out, but then slowly piece it back together. She can make you feel like you want to throw up and cry, but then smile and laugh within a single chapter. In the past year she has given me some of my favorite reads, some of my favorite book moments, and she has gained me as true fan of her work. If you haven't picked up a book from her, you are truly missing out, her books just keep getting better and better with every one she puts out. 

And don't even get me started on this book cover, because holy cow is it beautiful or what?