First Comes Love Review

First Comes Love
by Katie Kacvinsky
Expected Publication Date: 05.08.2012
From Goodreads:

 Like his name, Gray is dark and stormy. Dylan, a girl always searching for what's next, seemingly unable to settle down, is the exact opposite: full of light and life. On the outside, they seem like an unlikely couple. But looks can be deceiving and besides, opposites attract. What starts as friendship, turns into admiration, respect and caring, until finally these two lone souls find they are truly in love with each other. But staying in love is not as easy as falling in love. If Dylan and Gray want their love to last, they're going to have to work at it. And learn that sometimes love means having to say you're sorry.

My Thoughts:  Aside from the names of the main characters (both Gray (male) and Dylan (female ) were too artsy when put together for my tastes), First Comes Love was an enjoyable read.  Gray is still dealing with his twin sister's death- and by dealing with  really mean totally ignoring it and building up walls around himself, when he meets free-spirit Dylan.  She's fun, quirky, and annoys Gray at first.  Yet like a book worm in a really old musty volume of Shakespeare plays, she burrows her way into his life. 

Despite a few missteps by both of them in the beginning, the build a genuine friendship, one that is especially beneficial for Gray.  Expect a bit of the ice to chip of his heart- and probably yours too.  From friendship comes love, but it's a very realistic growth, and it never feels forced.  Well, Dylan is forceful, but it's in a good way since Gray would still be moping around Arizona, probably in a puddle of his own sweat.

Speaking of Arizona, I have yet to understand why anyone willingly lives there.  I believe sweat should be the result of effort, not just simply walking the 10 feet front the front door to the car door.  Every book set in Arizona that I have ever read has convinced me that my chubby butt is never, ever, ever going to be moving there.  Of course, it makes for a good setting and gives the characters something to talk about, like Gray instructing Dylan how to survive the heat.

My favorite chapter of First Comes Love is the date Gray takes Dylan on, per her request, to all the places his sister had loved.  There was a sweetness to the day that had me crying.  In a good way.  It's the beginning of Gray realizing that he has to start grieving.

The POV alternates between Gray and Dylan, which confused me a bit in the beginning since I couldn't remember if Gray was the girl or the boy.  That's completely my fault, since I like the name Gray for a girl and normal readers should have no problems unless they have weird mental hangups like I do.  There is some language and some hot smexy smex towards the end, but it's not overdone and doesn't wander off to the land of Hustler.  Gray and Dylan are older teens, he's 19 and she's at least 18, and they're both smart so the book doesn't enter into the land of Teen Mom either.

The book ended on a better note than I thought it would.  I kept thinking of Sweet November, that movie where a free spirit, Charlize Theron, rescues uptight dude, played by Keanu Reeves, only to announce that she's dying.  Thankfully the author didn't go there either.  Dylan and Gray do encounter very real problems in their relationship due to their differences, but no one has to get cancer and die at the end.

(Spoilerish)
Dylan's actions toward the end of made me mad (almost to the point of book throwing, but since it was a borrowed copy I was able to overcome the impulse by reminding myself that books can get damaged that way), but by the very end she redeemed herself a bit for me without her character being compromised.

First Comes Love gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

 It was a nice break from all the thrillers and dystopian novels I've been reading recently.

The cover of First Comes Love gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

I like it, but Dylan does not look like that, and I can't stand when the cover models have the wrong color hair.

Disclaimer: The books that I receive are either purchased by me, given to me by either the author or publisher, or borrowed from Around the World ARC Tours in exchange for an honest review or won by me in a contest.  All opinion, snark and wit are my own.