Review : The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : The Secret of Ella and Micha
Author : Jessica Sorensen
Publisher : Self-Published
Publication Date : October 4th 2012
Goodreads - Amazon

Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home.

Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes.

Personal Thoughts

I've always enjoyed reading New Adult books ever since I discovered brilliant books such as Easy by Tammara Webber and Slammed by Colleen Hoover. To be honest, if a book falls under the New Adult sub-genre, there's no doubt that I'm going to pick it up even without reading the blurb. That's exactly what I did with The Secret of Ella and Micha. While it didn't exactly blow me away, I still thought it was an entertaining read.

The Secret of Ella and Micha is told in the point of views of both Ella and Micha. Ella was a character that I initially found very hard to like. It wasn't because she was unlikeable as a character, but instead, it was due to the fact that she refused to open up to others. As a reader, I wanted to know so much more about her character, but I took me a little too long to figure her out. She hid herself behind this good girl image which she clearly wasn't. Connecting with her character was very hard for me, so it wasn't so easy to enjoy her character fully. However, throughout the course of the story, she slowly started to unveil her true self making it so much easier to relate and sympathize with her. When I learned of her history, my heart broke for her. She was plagued by the guilt that she was responsible for the death of her bipolar mother and this guilt was slowly eating her away. Eventually, as Ella started to grow and mend whatever damage she had done to the people close to her, she started to grow on me as well. By the end of the book, I came to the realization that I really did enjoy her as a character. Micha, on the other hand, I loved from the very first instant I was introduced to him. His loyalty towards his friendship with Ella was what really attracted me to his character. I loved that the author wrote the book in his POV as well because being in his mind helped me understand his character so much better. Although he could be a player at times, it was crystal clear that his heart belonged to only one person. He was incredibly down-to-earth, sweet and super sexy. Micha too had his fair share of issues, but he preferred to keep it all to himself because he didn't want to upset anyone else. I also really loved the deep relationship he seemed to have with his mother. It was, in my opinion, very sweet. Overall, I loved his character. The secondary characters in the book were also really well-fleshed out. I especially enjoyed the characters of Ethan, Micha's friend and Lila, Ella's roommate and friend. They were really supportive of their friends and I simply adored their interactions. I just learned that the author has written a book for Ethan and Lila, so I'm really excited to read more about these two.

Like many other New Adult books, The Secret of Ella and Micha is a romance book with other darker undertones. This book for instance touched themes such as suicide, bipolar parent, abandoned children etc ... I think the author did a great job at blending these themes together with the plot line, making the book very enjoyable. I really enjoyed the romance in this book. I thought the chemistry between Ella and Micha was off the charts. They had so much sexual tension that all I wanted for them to do was to kiss at all times! Whenever they would appear together in a scene, the chemistry between them was palpable. It was sweet and sexy at the same time, which in my opinion is a very hard combination to achieve in romance books. The make-out scenes between Ella and Micha were sweltering and definitely worth the read. But, what I truly enjoyed was the fact that nothing was instant about the love that existed between the two characters. They were childhood friends and soon this friendship blossomed into something deeper, so the relationship between Ella and Micha never felt unrealistic. Plus, I loved the fact that the two characters respected each other and would actually listen to each other. Jessica Sorensen is clearly a very good writer because she had me flipping through the pages at high speed wanting Ella and Micha to finally get together. I'm really looking forward to reading more from this wonderful author. She has some great looking books that are releasing soon, so I can't wait!

Overall, if you're a fan of the New Adult genre, you are going to love The Secret of Ella and Micha. It has the perfect balance of angst and romance. If that doesn't convince you, then the excerpt I'm sharing below with you all should, assuming that you guys are as shallow as I am when it comes to make-out scenes! :P

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Excerpt

Micha looks ridiculous and I can’t help but laugh. I haven’t laughed in so long that it feels unnatural leaving my mouth. It’s like we’re kids again, as if this moment belongs in another time where things are weightless and full of sunshine.

  As I’m laughing at him, the sprinklers turn on and my clothes instantly get soaked. At first I squeal, but then I let go, lifting my hands above my head and twirling in the water, figuring he won’t come in after me.

  He calls out something about me being beautiful and then he charges into the sprinklers, completely blind-siding me. His arms snake around my waist and we collapse to the ground but Micha holds my weight up, so I land on the wet grass gently.

  “Micha,” I say, trying to be serious. “Don’t do it. You know how much I hate being tickled.”

  “Which makes it even more appealing.” Water beads in his hair, his long eyelashes, his lips.  With one hand, he pins my arms above my head and presses his body against mine. My wet clothes cling to my skin and I can feel every part of him.  “I take that back. This is more appealing.” He lets his hand move up my ribs, his thumb sketching along the ridges, sending my body into a frenzy.

  I stop fighting him and lay perfectly still.  Water sprinkles our faces as he lowers his lips to mine. Our wet tongues twine together, full of desire as they collide. A strange, unfamiliar feeling opens inside of me again and my legs fall apart and hook around his waist, requesting more of him, like they did last night.

  Micha draws back, looking surprised as he glances at the house to the side of us and then at the street. Then he lets out an untamed growl and deepens the kiss, thrusting his tongue deep into my mouth. I suck on his bottom lip and trace my tongue along his lip ring. It sends a quiver through his body and I’m secretly pleased, but my pleasure confuses me.

“Ella,” he groans and then kisses me fiercely. His hand travels upward and cups my breasts. His thumb circles around my nipple and through the wet fabric of my clothes, the feeling is mind blowing. It’s driving me wild and my knees vice-grip against his hips.

  A moan laced with ecstasy crumbles from my lips. I’m starting to lose control again and it’s alarming. I try to get past it this time ...

Want to know what happens next? ;)

Well, you're going to have to read the book to find out.

Trust me when I saw that this book is FULL of smoking scenes like this one!