The Only Exception by Magan Vernon

The Only Exception by Magan Vernon
Series: N/A
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: All Night Reads
Publication Date: April 9, 2013

Fiercely liberal Monica Remy prefers to blend in. Despite her tattoos, piercings, and outspoken personality, she transferred to Central to escape—before she finds out that her next door neighbor is the uber conservative governor's son, Trey Chapman.

No matter how hard she tries to avoid Trey, he still finds a way to get under her skin. Monica can’t stand his crisp white shirts or his staunch views on women. But she can’t help counting every freckle on his face and wondering what it would feel like to have him stop talking politics and kiss her.

A class debate project forces the unlikely pair to work together, and the political lines are blurred in late-night make out sessions. But despite their fiery chemistry, Trey’s politics threatens to smother their relationship for good.

I was really expecting to like this one. Which is why I was sorely disappointed by it. I guess I expected it to be more forbidden love, less I loved you as soon as I set sight on you. Don't get me wrong, that has it's place in the world of literature too, but I expected more from this.

Monica and Trey didn't make much of an impression on me. They weren't very well developed, and I just didn't feel the "chemistry" between them. As soon as they meet, it escalates quickly to "will you date me" and leaves most of the politics at that. I was expect more of a fiery romance, but what I got didn't exactly resemble romance to me. I didn't understand some of the problems that they had...and lots of conservatives believe in contraception. I mean, I do. I'm pro-life, but I think that everyone deserves a choice. Also, I do not believe in gun control and I'd like to keep my second amendment rights. But what can you do? A lot of the pre-conceived notions that Monica has about conservatives aren't all true. Just like some liberals toe the line. She assumes too much, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

The Only Exception escalated way too quickly. I don't feel like there was enough time for feelings to happen, which is what really disappointed me. I want to be immersed in the love of a romance, and that just didn't happen with this one. Also, this is going to sound weird, but random fact. The word "libido" must appear in this book something like ten times. Which trust me, is a lot.

Back to the relationship...another thing that bothered me was the way they kept calling each other "Mr." and "Miss". I'm sure that it's meant to be cute, but it just seemed a little too adult for a college relationship. It was off-putting.

Monica herself was kind of off-putting to tell you the truth. I have no idea what it is...maybe it's just me. Actually, I'm sure it's just me and I feel really bad about it. Trey is off-putting too. For the life of me, I just cannot picture this young republican as being cute...he's a bit too clean cut.

I know that I'm focusing mostly on the characters and the romance...and that's pretty much all that needs to be said for me. I went into this expecting a love story, but I was disappointed by the lack of story depth and emotional investment.

All in all, The Only Exception just wasn't for me. If you think you'll like it though, I think you should try it.