Claire - Abigail Strom

College is this huge time in your life where you're making new friends, figuring out things on your own, making future plans, and probably doing all the cool college things you've always wanted to do. There's parties, sports, new guys, new girls, and no parental supervision. But there's also huge unknowns, like who do you do after your first big breakup or how do you decide who to be after your dreams are crushed? Claire, the second book in the Hart University series, tackles those big moments and daunting questions with a cast of incredible characters, humor, and a bit of drama.

Rating: 4 Stars
Published: April 26, 2016
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
ARC provided by Abigail Strom in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon Goodreads

It’s sophomore year, and Claire Stone has sworn off romance. She’s just gone through a breakup and she wants some time to find out who she is on her own. The only flaw in her plan is her friend (and hot quarterback) Will McKenna, who’s a walking temptation to forget all about her singlehood pledge.

Will has had a thing for Claire since freshman year. Now that they’re both single, he wants more from her than friendship. But Claire doesn’t want to be anyone’s girlfriend right now, and with football season underway, Will’s got issues of his own to deal with.

When an injury on the field changes everything, Will and Claire are driven apart. But when the two of them end up trapped together in a snowstorm, they’re forced to deal with each other again. Can they confront their feelings without ruining their friendship? Or will their friendship turn into something more?

"And then something happened. As I spoke those words, I realized I actually meant them. Claire was an awesome person, and she deserved a chance to realize it."

I loved Claire, I liked Will, and I was so happy to be spending time with the characters of Hart University again. I am always going on and on about female NA characters being so whiny and mopey, but you won't find that here. Claire is so strong and smart for 19 years old, she's stubborn, kind, and in a band too! Reading from her POV was a breathe of fresh air, I loved her approach to her sophomore year of college and the challenge of finding oneself when you're caught up in the draw of boys. Will was exactly like most guys I met in college, so I'm a little biased when I say it took me a while to get into him. However, his character development throughout the book is steady and it made him a really well rounded character. The drama between these two is total friends-to-lovers, but different than you'd expect. Their friendship is nice, I could read a whole book about their friendship, but the hope of their relationship is nicer and I wanted so much for them. They're just plain cute and I loved them. Mix in the college scene and I was one happy reader. I really enjoy that Abigail Strom writes the characters into the college, that school isn't an afterthought. The setting is easy to picture, the scenes happening before your eyes, which makes this book even better.

Abigail Strom has done it again with Claire and you definitely need to add the Hart University books to your TBR shelf right away. I enjoyed Rikki, but I totally immersed myself in Claire and didn't look up until my kindle hit 100%.