Synopsis: Ellen has loved Jagger since she was five and he was seven when they kissed through the chain link fence at school. She’s had their wedding planned since she was twelve and is ready for a happily ever after with him, but life just isn't that neat and tidy. Although they lost contact over the years, which broke her heart, during Jag's senior year in high school, sophomore Ellen catches his eye once again and their friendship is back on. When things between them gradually develop into something more, Ellen wants to give herself completely to Jag, but he’s not so sure he wants to risk their relationship in taking things to the next level. When Jag is drafted to the Dodgers as the hot, new pitcher of the team, Ellen decides to go with him, transferring colleges and leaving her friends and family behind. But things get more and more complicated when busy schedules, a slimy agent and a supermodel disrupt their lives, which makes Ellen question whether they’ll ever get their perfect forever.
This is the first book of the True Love Trilogy.
5 Angst-ridden Stars
So, I came across this book back in December and immediately
wanted to read it. I read reviews, however, and figured out that it had a
cliffhanger, so I decided to wait. I am actually not a big fan of cliffhangers.
I love a good series because I love to spend time with the characters and
really get to know them, but cliffhangers drive me crazy! This is the type of book
that is right up my alley, though – childhood friends that develop into high
school sweethearts who then have to learn to navigate early adulthood to see if
their love will actually make it. Enter Ellen “El” and Jagger Knox Jensen, also
known as “Jag”. These two have known each other since Ellen was five and Jag
was seven. Ellen is the youngest of four, with three older brothers, so she
grows up being a bit of a tomboy. She runs, swims, skateboards and spits
alongside Jag for most of their life. However, around the age of 11, she
realizes that she is beginning to have different feelings about Jag. He’s not
just her buddy anymore; he is the boy that she will marry someday. He, however,
being two years older, is also starting to see girls in a different light. The
only problem is that he doesn’t see Ellen in that same light – she is still his
little buddy, but he doesn’t really have time for her anymore since there are
so many other girls that he can chase after. As they get older, he becomes more
handsome and popular, and he begins to make a name for himself in baseball.
Ellen decides to live with her secret crush and move on with life as she enters
high school. They go for five years – five years! – without talking.
Life throws her another curveball (hey…I’m just going with
the theme, here) when she is a Sophomore in high school and Jag is a Senior. He
seems to finally see her again and wants to hang out with her. They begin as
friends, with Ellen constantly getting flustered and ahead of herself. Example –
she tries to tell him that something is super but also thinks of fun, so she
tells him that it’s “fuper”. He just chuckles and moves on. He graduates and
moves on to play baseball at college in a different state, but they continue
seeing one another long distance. She then graduates and moves to college, as
well, but they are still long distance. I want to point this out because this
is actually something that I liked about Ellen. A lot of the female characters
these days really seem to forget themselves or not take the time to figure out
what they want. Ellen wants to work in Sports Medicine, and she finds a good
program and pursues it at her choice of college, rather than following Jag. You
go, Ellen! This does make for a difficult relationship, however, as their
relationship grows more through phone conversations and text messages, which
the author primarily just summarizes. Jag did always keep a physical distance
between Ellen, however, that seemed to frustrate both of them, but this was
addressed once he tasted a little bit of jealousy after seeing some pictures of
her with a friend that also happened to be a boy. I also liked this part of the
book because, as much as it might be fun to read at times – the dreaded
insta-love and immediate physical connection – it is also refreshing to read
about something that develops over time. Jag has spent most of his life caring
for Ellen and protecting her, and he remains constant in that aspect and
protects her from himself on an intimate level until they are both ready. When
it happens, though, it is HOT.
This leads us into the next phase of Ellen and Jag’s story –
the Big Leagues. Jag gets drafter to a Major League Team. Ellen is, as always,
very supportive and excited, but she is still frustrated at the continued
distance in their relationship. At this point, her family and friends really
rally around both of them. Her friend Rebecca encourages her to wait through
his first year and then move out with him when he is “called up” to the actual
team – The LA Dodgers. This is what Ellen does – she works hard to get ahead in
her program at school and makes sure that she finds a program that is also well
known in her field and gets everything transferred. Even with this, Ellen
thought about her decision and talked with Jag, her friends and her family
about this. It didn’t come across as rash. She made a decision that her program
and her boyfriend were both equally important at this point, and she wanted the
ability to invest in both. So things move forward and seem really good. Jag’s
schedule is crazy, as he has Spring Training for six weeks, then constant games
– both in and out of town. Ellen, meanwhile, starts at her new school, gets
involved in her classes and even gets a job. She doesn’t just live off of Jag –
she actually wants to be his partner and do her part – again, something that I
like. She hits the first snag, however, when she meets one of their neighbors –
Allesandra. Allesandra is a lingerie model who makes snarky comments about Jag helping
her with her car at some point before Ellen made it to California. This seems
to be where the crack in their foundation begins – if not with the crazy
schedules that they already have. Ellen does not care for Allesandra and her
Brazilian beauty, and she lets Jag know. Several months go by, and things still
seem to be okay on the surface, but then comes the commercial. This is the
commercial heard ‘round the world for their relationship. Jag signs a contract
to film a commercial with Allesandra, which happens on the beach, so you can
imagine what that looks like. Jag knows that Ellen does not care for
Allesandra, so he, in my opinion, really downplays what happened in filming the
commercial. I think that this was one of his big mistakes, however, Ellen keeps
convincing herself and her friends and family that it doesn’t bother her as
much as it really does. This is one of her big mistakes.
Once the commercial airs, everything begins to unravel.
Ellen has some, in my opinion, valid concerns about the commercial and what he
did not share with her. He, however, does not seem to hear her. He basically
just ignores her concerns and her hurt feelings, takes her to bed, and moves
on. Then they find out that he has a continued commitment to filming additional
commercials, as well as doing whatever the ad campaign asks of him. I don’t
want to give too much away at this point, but this leads to the final chapter
where Jag hurts Ellen on so many levels. First, he disregards how she feels
about what is going on in their life. In reality, this is just the culmination
of his having disregarded concerns that she has had for a while. He then breaks
her heart – plain and simple. So, Ellen leaves and flies home, and that is
where the first book ends. I waited until the second book was coming out to
read this, and I am glad that I did. I would have been seriously pissed to get
to that ending.
So, now that you’ve been introduced to Ellen and Jag, I will
share one of my biggest complaints about this book - it is that it wasn’t long
enough! Probably not a bad complaint to have, but I would have loved more
stories of Ellen and Jag as they are growing up so that I really feel that I know
them. As it is, I read this book so quickly and each chapter is just a snapshot
of what they are going through. You go from Ellen being around age five in
Chapter One to around age 23 by the end of the book, so it moves very quickly. I’ve
pointed out several reasons why I love Ellen, though, so let me get to the good
stuff. I love Jag. He is described as this amazingly attractive boy that gets
better with age. Ellen talks about how manly he becomes, especially as he
trains more and grows into being an actual adult. When I think of Jag, I think
of that Aloe Blacc song “The Man”. It seems to fit Jag’s attitude and swagger.
I really do believe that he loves Ellen, so I’m a little heartbroken right now,
too. I’m not sure what happened with him, although, I always try to put a book
into a real-life frame once I’ve finished reading it. I think that, between
both of their schedules and his gaining notoriety as an athlete and a
semi-celebrity, they are actually probably responding pretty realistically to
outside pressure on their relationship. Does that make my heart any less for
Ellen, though? No. Does that make Jag any less of an absolute jerk for not
seeing what he has been doing to Ellen, not to mention the final straw? No. I
can’t wait to read the second book. I have heard that it is from his point of
view. I need to know what the crap is going on. Is it at all possible that he
has let his new fame go to his head? I truly hope not.
Jess
