Less Than Nothing by R.E. Blake - 3.5 Stars

Less Than Nothing by R.E. Blake

3.5 Looking Forward to book #2 Stars

Blurb - Sage’s life as a teenage runaway in San Francisco is simple: Snatch a few hours of sleep on park benches and bus stops; dodge perverts, predators, and cops; and make enough as a street musician to eat. But her world flips upside down when she meets Derek – hot, tattooed, and charming, a singer from Seattle whose looks and talent take her breath away.

What begins as a reluctant partnership quickly develops into a cross-country race against time - and awakens a hunger in Sage that’s unfamiliar and exciting.

As they travel from coast to coast, Sage and Derek pursue their dream, only to discover that they can never run far enough to escape the demons from their pasts.

Less Than Nothing is book #1 in this series and the first book I have read by this author. I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review so here goes....

This book was not at all like I was expecting, from the blurb I was anticipating a coming of age love story with a homeless twist. To be honest I’m not at all sure what to classify this book as.

I like Sage, she’s homeless but she’s not down and out and I found myself admiring her survivor spirit.

I’m really not sure what to make of Derek he’s a bit of an enigma and I sway back ways and forwards between liking him and feeling like he is a bit of a dick.

I was not expecting the American Idol style talent show stuff, although I did laugh at the Martin aka Simon Cowell character.

To be honest at times I found Sage a bit mean and judgmental, I mean it was proper harsh that she just walked away from Derek and went as a solo act.

To be completely honest I loved the first half of the book, Sage and Derek meeting and then travelling to New York felt real and honest and I loved the connection they shared and the underlying chemistry.

I found the New York stuff just a bit commercialised and for me it ruined Sage and Derek’s dynamic, at one point I thought the author had just kind of given up on Derek and decided to write his character out.

I loved Jeremy he was hilarious and was a welcome comic relief from what felt like quite an intense story.

When I finished the book I didn’t realise that it was the first book in the series so I was actually shouting at my Kindle. Thank god that it’s not the end because I need to know what happens next you can count me once the next book is released you will be seeing my review lol.

Overall I enjoyed this book I loved the start and although I felt like it lost some of the intimate personal depth once the story hit New York I still got absorbed by the characters 3.5 stars from me.