Title: Pieces of Olivia
Author: Melissa West
Series: Charleston Haven #1
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Format: Kindle Edition, 210 pages
Release Date: July 15th 2014
Publisher: Penguin/InterMix Books
Source: eARC received from publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Olivia Warren used to be a normal girl with a bright future.
But on one fated night, everything changed.

Hiding the scars of her past up her sleeves, Olivia transfers her enrollment from Columbia University to The College of Charleston, determined to pursue her own dreams for the first time in her life.

She intends to allow herself a bit of alone time to heal... that is, until she meets Preston.

Preston is best friends with her roommate, completely hot, and off-limits. But the chemistry between them is instantaneous—and as the pair begins to spend more time with one another, their feelings for each other build into something undeniable, something powerful enough to heal Olivia’s deepest scars.

Olivia tries to put her own past behind her and trust Preston, but she discovers that his past might be more present than she ever bargained for…


I picked this book up by chance because I saw Melissa West tweet about it being free to download on Netgalley for a day. So I did and I very glad I started reading it because I fell in love with this book right from the beginning.

Olivia is a broken character. you can tell from the moment you meet her that she dealing with some serious grief and that it is taking over her life. You could tell how much she cared for other, but how she would always keep them at am arms length because she was afraid to lose them. and it is not until about half way though the  book do we find out why. And I have to say that I do not cry very much when reading books, it takes a lot, but Melissa made me cry on more than ONE occasion because Olivia just felt so real and her grief felt so overwhelming. I felt everything that she felt and I knew that by the end of the book, Olivia was going to be one of those characters that sticks with you.

The main focus of this book, besides Olivia getting through her grief, was her relationship with Preston. The reason I liked them together so much was because of how slow their relationship progressed. it was a relief to not see an insta-love situation in a book. Although you could tell right away that there was some serious sexual tension, they never acted on it. Throughout the book you could tell that Preston was harboring a secret, one that could make or break their relationship. I will say that I figured it out faster than i think was supposed to, so that kind of ruined it for me, and I think the way Olivia reacted to it, although a bit over dramatic, felt real. These two have quickly become some of my fav couples, and their sexy scenes were well worth the wait ;)

Friendship is another thing that I loved in this book. Olivia is very hesitant to let anyone in, but she lets Kara in, her roommate and Preston's best friend. I loved their relationship because it was guarded at the beginning and then you watched Olivia's walls start to fall down, and Kara was a great person to do that.  She was such a great secondary character and I am so happy that she is going to get her own book next. I cannot wait to read her characters next journey!