Review: All of You by Christina Lee

From Goodreads:

Avery has just met her hot upstairs neighbor. He's irresistible. Tattooed. And a virgin.

Nursing student Avery Michaels wants nothing to do with dating—she's perfectly happy single. Privy to too many of her mother's bad decisions and even worse taste in boyfriends, all Avery can handle is a string of uncomplicated hookups whenever the mood strikes.

When she meets smoking hot tattoo artist Bennett, she wants him—for just one night. But he won't accept a no-strings-attached arrangement. He lives by a straight-laced code of values based on his own troubled upbringing.

Bennett sees something special in Avery and he wants more from her. Way more. As Avery wrestles with her emotions for Bennett, danger and tragedy force them to open up to each other. And Avery must face the terrifying realization that she wants more from him, too.

So she needs to make a choice—let Bennett go or finally let him in.

You know what, I really enjoyed reading this book.  

In a world filled with stories of good girls and bad boys, it was nice to see this dynamic.  Not that Avery is a "bad" girl, but she is definitely not like so many of the heroines we meet these days.  Having recognized the shortcomings and failings of her mother, she has taken control of her life and refuses to let a relationship define her.  Men and love are trouble with a capital T and she's better off without the distraction.  

Until she meets Bennett.

 
Bennett.  Gah, I need a minute to compose myself because just thinking about him makes me get all kinds of starry-eyed.  Like Avery, he also had a childhood that was far from textbook, but instead of emotional walls, he chooses abstinence.  Knowing what it was like living with a single mother, he refuses to be that man. 

Once Avery realizes that Bennett won't fit into her lifestyle, she tries her hardest to forget about him.  Easier said than done once he moves into an apartment in the same building.  

I love it when fate decides to intervene.

The dynamic between Avery and Bennett is one of my favorites in the New Adult genre.  With the proverbial lines drawn in the sand, they try to just be friends...and we all know how that ends up.  The chemistry between them is palpable, but beyond that, they genuinely care about each other.  Because they GET each other.

But with that connection comes a bit of vulnerability, and I'd be wrong if I didn't say that the two of them are ridiculously stubborn at times.  Thankfully there are strong secondary characters that do their best to knock some sense into Bennett and Avery and allow them to see what they could be missing.  Not gonna lie, I absolutely adored Mrs. Jackson and the role she played in this story.  What a gem.       

It is hardly a secret that I love swoony boys with ink and that I've been known to fist-pump when I find a story that has a heroine that refuses to be a Bella Swan doormat.  This book has both.  Add to the mix a storyline that didn't seem contrived or ridiculous and All of You is a book that did not disappoint.