My Skylar by Penelope Ward

My Skylar
by Penelope Ward
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Published by: Amazon Digital - June 10, 2014
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Skylar was my best friend, but I secretly pined for her. One thing after another kept us apart, and I’ve spent the last decade in fear of losing her forever. First, it was the cancer, but she survived only to face the unthinkable at my hands. Because of me, she left town. For years, I thought I’d never see her again. But now she’s back…and living with him. I don’t deserve her after everything I’ve put her through, but I can’t live without her. This is my last chance because she’s about to make the biggest mistake of her life. I can see it her eyes: she doesn’t love him. She still loves me...which is why I have to stop her before it’s too late.

I just finished Stepbrother Dearest by the same offer the other day. After loving it, I immediately bought this one to read. I wanted to read everything the author wrote after reading that masterpiece of new adult fiction!

While the whole Stepbrother Dearest storyline spanned a good decade and constantly held my interest, My Skylar didn't fare as well. It's not that I didn't love the storyline. I did. I love best friends-turned-lovers books and this one had all of the great elements. My only problem with it is that there was a bit too much angsty drama. Everything bad that could happen to tear Skylar and Mitch apart, did. Cancer? Check. Jealousy? Check. An immature teenager deciding she was sparing her teenage boyfriend an adult life without children? Check. Crazy, conniving, nutso ex-girlfriend that stalks her boyfriend's love? Check. Unwanted pregnancy? Check. The list could go on and on if I let it. What I'm trying to say is that for me, it was all just too much. Too much drama. Too much angst. Too much. Yes, I wanted Skylar and Mitch to get together in the end, but after awhile, it was mostly so that I could just finish the book and check it off my list of TBR.

Don't get me wrong. I loved both characters. Heck, I've even had an ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend stalk me, so I know the contents of the story could be realistic. Altogether, though, it was just too much.

The other thing that turned me off was that the book started out with Mitch stalking Skylar. As a victim of stalking, myself, I did not find that endearing. I found it creepy, and honestly didn't want to keep reading. I'm glad I did and that the backstory of Mitch and Skylar became a positive one instead of the creepy negative one I picked up at the beginning.

Also, Nina showing up at the hospital and somehow becoming Skylar's best friend confused me. The whole paragraph about seeing someone as lost as her in the hospital, pretending Skylar thought Nina was a hospital volunteer and talking to her? So confusing and I never knew why Nina was there at the hospital that day or why they became BFFs all of a sudden. In looking at other book blurbs, I see that Penelope Ward's first book featured Nina, so I guess if you've read that one, you know more about who Nina is. That said, the author still confused the heck out of me as to why Nina was in the hospital and how they became friends. Just an inconsistency I had to write off to be able to keep reading.

I'm still going to give this one 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the characters, wanted them to be together, and admired their love for each other. I'm also glad I read the whole thing, although I didn't want to finish it at times. I'm also planning to read another of her books, so this one didn't completely turn me off the author for good.