Painting Sky: Blog Tour & Review

Painting Sky by Rita Branches
Publication Date: April 25, 2016
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Find it On: Goodreads / Amazon(ahttp://ritabranches.wordpress.com/ne's 

Follow the full tour here!

Synopsis

Nobody ever said life was easy...

People pleaser Jane Skylar wants nothing more than to earn her art degree, start her life, and bask in the bliss of living with her boyfriend.

But things don't always go as planned...

Struggling with her creative side, Jane finds herself in turmoil, often confiding in her roommate - another, more talented art student, Keith Hale. Keith just so happens to be her boyfriend's older, brooding brother. After a devastating breakup, Jane turns to Keith for comfort. But when the lines blur between roommate and lover, life becomes more complicated than ever before.

When Keith's past comes back to haunt him, their lives all get turned upside down, forcing the truth to surface. Now Jane must fight for what she wants--even if it hurts everyone she loves.

About the Author

Rita Branches is an independent YA (young adult) author who enjoys spending every free moment (when she´s not reading) writing emotional stories. Visit her website, Twitter, Goodreads, or Facebook.

My Review

I have a weakness for stories about art students, so let me tell you, this book had me hooked!

Painting Sky by Rita Branches follows Jane "Skylar" Keaton in her first year of college. She seems to be walking into an awesome freshman year: not only did her parents give her a chance to prove herself as an art major, but she's allowed to move into a house with her boyfriend and brother. What she doesn't expect is for this arrangement to push her farther away from the two boys she loves--and closer to their loner roommate/her boyfriend's brother, Keith.

I'd be lying if I said that this wasn't a formulaic romance novel, but it's one that Branches executed to a T. She found that happy middle ground where the romance was neither too drawn out nor too fast. Without going into spoilers, she also made a clean transition out of Jane's first relationship without making her main character out to be a terrible person.

Jane is a cool narrator. She's a little spineless to begin with, but much of the story is about fixing that problem and her learning to stand up for herself in her personal life and in her art. At times she felt a little too average, but sometimes she was spontaneous enough to keep me on my toes, and though she faces a lot of hard choices, I never found myself disagreeing with the calls she made.

Now Keith--oh my, Keith! He's a hot, broody bad-boy without romanticizing being a jerk. In fact, what draws our couple together is finding the kindness in each other when the people they trust the most let them down in times of need. I mean, c'mon, he's a painter! How could this edgy tatted "punk" not be a total softie inside?

I also need to take a second to talk about the art element (because I'm art trash tbh) that makes this book so unique. Sometimes it was reflective of character growth, sometimes it was comedic, and sometimes it was sexy as hell. Having it as a central element gave a rich layer to an already solid story and cast of characters.

I was 110% into this romance so much that I stayed up until 3 a.m. to finish it in one sitting. The only thing keeping this at 4 stars is the "twist" at the end, which read like another book entirely. Either it needed to be more prominent in the whole story, which I think would have ruined the vibe that I loved) or it could have been replaced with a less crazy event (a car crash, maybe?).

I loved the ending, though. It's that kind where everything technically works out but not in the way you'd expect. I love unsettling endings like that, but it also left me begging for a sequel!

Rating: 4/5. I was hooked!

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