Nailed

Reader reviewed by Crystal F

Nailed is an engrossing young adult story. I loved the realism of it.



Mandy is a down-to-earth girl who just graduated from high school and
knows what she wants - to own her own construction company. The day she
has waited for has finally arrived and she is about to be on her first
construction crew. Since her father owns a construction company she is
not new to the scene, but she is new to her crew of 4 other men. At
first it's tough working for her brother and getting used to the guys,
but through perseverance Mandy does it. She starts to fit in and
realize her attraction for two of the crew members.



Boston and A.J. couldn't be more different and Mandy finds positives to
both of them. But in a love triangle which one will she choose.
I admit I have not read any lover's triangle books so this was new for
me.



I really enjoyed the plot and Mandy as a character. She's a strong
female who knows what she wants. She's not overbearing and she is very
feminine even working on the framing crew. I also liked how she was
sure about a career but she wasn't sure where relationships were
involved. She grew during the book and I enjoyed watching her journey.



The men involved all sound amazing. I was fanning myself listening to
the description of them. I can definitely find wonderful qualities in
both A.J. and Boston especially against the crasser members of the
crew.
I also loved the scenes involving the bookstores. I love bookstores so
to see them mentioned in the book was a lot of fun.



An all-around great read - it's hard to put down and very enjoyable. It
was fun getting a look into the construction field especially from a
female perspective. Ms. Laurens did a wonderful job on this book.

Reader reviewed by Erica

Nailed
Jennifer Laurens
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing
Release Date: September 22, 2008
Pages: 240

Rating: 3 stars

One girl. Two guys. Who says three's a crowd? When Mandy takes an unusual summer job-in construction-she has to prove she's just one of the guys. But she gets more than she bargains for being the only girl on the job. The mixture of hot guys, sunscreen, raw wood and testosterone proves to be an elixir she can't protect her heart from. Brooding Boston and flirty AJ find themselves looking at Mandy as more than just a girl who holds a hammer. Mandy soon finds herself not only lost in a whirlwind of a male-dominated world, but also the center of an inadvertently "constructed" love triangle. Mandy must choose between two guys who want her heart. But what's a girl to do when she wants them both?

Nailed was a fun, easy read that I enjoyed reading. Nailed wasn't a book that really wowed me though. After awhile, watching Mandy go between the two guys just got a little old to me. There's only so much you can write about a love triangle. Jennifer Laurens writing was great and kept the book flowing.

And I know covers shouldn't make a difference really, but the girl on the front looks way older than a recent high school graduate and overall, to me, it just wasn't that attractive.

Reader reviewed by shannon

The boy in this book. Finds himself defending his belief to be different.Like most kids in high school, it's hard to be different and not fit in. Others tease and make fun of you. So either you make yourself fit in. Or you dare to be different. Learning to be okay with who you are can be hard. The boy in the book finds out the hard way. But, comes out on top.

Reader reviewed by ambeen

I have to start off by saying what an unfortunate title this book was given. It is something more suited for a raunchy romance novel that includes steamy sex scenes, not a fairly innocent story about an eighteen year old girl. The cover is also horrific. The people on the cover are no where close to matching the characters. At all. This is in no way the author's fault and I actually feel sorry for her that she is stuck with these two poor representations of her novel.

Nailed may be your regular, run-of-the-mill romance story without much to set it apart from other romance novels, but it is a well written and interesting story. My curiosity to find out how thing would play out (even if I did predict correctly who Mandy would end up with after the first chapter) kept me turning the pages past midnight to finish.

Some of the characters in the novel weren't as well fleshed out as I would have liked. They may have only been minor characters but I still feel I could have been given more to get a better understanding of them. For example, the character of Cam is never given a clear sexuality. It is contemplated by the other characters but never pinned down. I didn't understand the contemplation if there was never going to be a clear answer.

I also felt that the novel's ending was a little too sudden. Mandy goes from being indecisive to having made up her mind in five pages and the equivelant of a couple hours. It felt forced instead of a natural progression toward a decision.

In all, I think this would be a great novel for anyone looking for a sweet, warming romance novel.

Reader reviewed by the book muncher

Mandy has always dreamed about taking a job at her fathers construction company, so shes thrilled to start her first job after she graduates high school. Unfortunately, her older brother Marc is overseeing the job and giving Mandy a hard time for being the only girl on the job. But theres even better news in the form of two very hot construction guys, Charlie (better known as Boston) and AJ, both of whom seem interested in Mandy. Mandy finds herself having to make a difficult decision between the two but is afraid of hurting someone in the process.

My reaction to Nailed is difficult to say. First of all, Mandy is not my favorite protagonist. While I do admire her for knowing exactly she wants for her future, her desire to help others, and her reluctance to hurt anyone, I did find her a bit hypocritical. On one hand, when she thought about men being so animalistic when they talked about women, she seemed disgusted; but then she was always lusting after either AJ or Boston and taking in their scents (seems pretty animalistic to me). And, no other characters are really developed besides Mandy. Also, the plot wasnt too exciting for me; it was a classic love triangle. What I did find interesting though was the unique setting. I mean, how many romantic stories can you read that take place on a construction site?

Overall, Nailed did not totally wow me, but it was a pretty fun read. I recommend this novel to fans of cute and unique romance novels. This is Jennifer Laurens latest novel and will be released in September.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com