(Once) Again by Theresa Paolo

(Once) Again
By Theresa Paolo
Published: June 17, 2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 217
Book 2 in the Again series
4 stars

Josh will have to reconcile his past…

In order to make Kat his future.

After surviving a real-life nightmare, Josh Wagner is sent home from his dream college on crutches. Bedridden and tormented by flashbacks, he’s just seen his world shattered and his baseball scholarship go up in smoke. Josh’s family hires a health aide to help take care of him, but when he opens the door, the last person he expects to see is his biggest regret…

Katherine Singleton is the only girl Josh has ever loved. Now, even though she’s only taking care of him because it’s her job, Josh is determined to win her back. But Kat had to move on after their breakup two years ago, and despite her feelings for Josh, a lot has happened since he left…

When Kat’s past comes back to haunt her, Josh decides it’s his turn to take care of her. But protecting her—and redeeming himself—will put Josh in the line of fire again. Will he survive this time?

*Novel received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Opening Thoughts
I went into this book expecting a super sweet, adorable, light contemporary, and while parts of this book definitely fit that description, overall this book was a lot deeper than I expected.  I knew going into this book that I wasn't in the mood for those tortured souls that have all these deeprooted emotional issues and they won't open up at all, not that there's anything wrong with those books, it's just not what I'm in the mood for right now.  But this book, which is centered around a guy who was caught in a shooting at his college and was shot in the leg, and him dealing with that, and that was just an aspect I really enjoyed.

Characters
I loved both Josh and Kat so, so much, and I can say that I am a huge shipper of their relationship.  I think that my favorite part of their relationship was that they both opened up to each other and talked about what they were feeling, because they have both been/ are going through some pretty serious stuff, and cheesy or not, it does help to talk about it to someone.  This was something that made their relationship really unique because characters in most romances but particurally new adult books never open up to each other.  Kat did have a harder time opening up than Josh which was why I think I liked Josh's character more than Kat's.  I loved being in Josh's head.  It's so rare that we get a book from the point of view of the guy, so it was great getting to hear all of his thoughts.  He was super funny, and had great dialogue and some amazing one liners that really made the book for me.  

Plot
I loved, loved, loved the fact that Josh was involved in a school shooting.  I found the emotional and psychological effects that it had on him to be super fascinating.  Unfortunately, I wasn't near as impressed with Kat's storyline.  It was pretty unoriginal and overdone, though I was extremely impressed with the way that she had dealt with the first of her problems, the one from before the start of the book.  That was not so with the problem that occurs later on in the book, but oh well, you can't have everything.  As for the romance, it followed the standard new adult blueprint, pretty able, though I really like that they didn't have that much sex, while in most new adults, that's all they ever do.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  It was still pretty much the standard new adult book, but it was definitely starting to break out of the mold.  I don't think I will go back and read the first book because they can be read as standalones, but I don't know, never say never.  And now I'm quoting Justin Bieber so I guess that's my cue to wrap it up.  I would recommend this to people who like new adult, and think they'll like this.

Thanks for reading!
Amber