Name: Catch Me
ISBN: 9781682307076

Claire Contreras

In the past, I always got everything I could have ever wanted, but nothing that I truly needed. I've experienced a lot of things in my twenty-five years, everything except the one thing I want. It's the one thing that can't be bought. It can't even be taken, it has to be given. And nobody has ever given it to me, not really anyway. I lost myself in more ways than I can count. The ironic thing is that I didn't realize how lost I was until he found me. And now that he has, I have to wonder if he'll stay around long enough to catch me.

Catch Me

Chelsea Bates

So, if I could give this book 100 stars, I would. But goodreads won't let me do that. Claire Contreras has become an automatic one-click author for me. I adore everything she writes. So onto the actual book. 

Catch Me was amazing. I loved every second of it. It was so relatable. 

It's about a girl named Brooklyn, who has lived in the shadow of her parents her whole life. Always doing what they ask of her and always feeling like more of an obligation than a daughter. She had a best friend through teen hood that really showed her what a real relationship was like, but she lost him too soon. She sinks into a depression for most of her life. 

"Sadness is my home, I belong in it, it belongs in me; we are one and the same."

Eight years after the loss of her best friend, her dad sends her clear across the country to NYC to work for his company discovering new talents for the label company. As she's leaving, she runs into a long time friend, Shea, with whom she has lots of history with. But he's become her closest best fried despite the ups and downs. Shea introduces Brooklyn to Nick Wilde. 

 "The shade [of blue eyes] that makes you want to dive in. Of course I know there's a great white shark waiting for me in that beautiful water if I dare to take the leap. I contemplate that for a while as we stand there hand in hand. About whether or not I could swim with a shark. Would it dance around me? Would it take a chunk from me and leave me to bleed out..."

Now the dance begins. They run into each other at headquarters, on the sidewalk, at the bar. The little run ins that build up to the ultimate confession. Then Shea invites her to join him on his tour, at least for the first few shows to check out some undiscovered talent. After some thought, she decides to go to the place she hates the most, San Francisco. On the plane, her and Nick have a little moment. 

 ""I really, really want to kiss you Brooklyn," he murmurs his voice raspy and soft and filled with need. "I really, really want to."
"So do it," I whisper against his lips.
He shakes his head, rubbing the tip of his nose against mine. "I don't want to share you."
"I'm not yours to share," I breathe.
"That's why I'm not going to kiss you," he whispers agains me, so close I can practically taste his tongue on mine."

Nick finally gets through to Brooklyn and they start enjoying each others company and he takes her home. She meets his family, but then has a flashback to a hard time in her life. 

"Fun fact about the brain: it blocks out memories you don't even know you don't want to remember."

"You don't get to apologize. You don't get to thank me for doing the right thing, and you don't get to apologize to me for making me go through it. I would have done that for anybody. I just fucking kills me that it was you - the most gorges woman on earth with the most beautiful smile and the best sense of humor...I hate that nobody was there to make you want to fight for it, and I hate that it took me so long to find you again."

Nick helps Brooklyn overcome a lot. Brooklyn doesn't realize how much she has conquered in her life, she is a strong woman and has gone through so much. She didn't grow up with the love and support of a family and she lost her only best friend early on in her life. Nick stands by her side and always fights for her. 

"It's amazing who you can live without somebody your entire life and then you meet them, let them in, let them take over you every thought, and then the moment they're gone, you feel like you're fucking dying."

Nick is undeniably in love with Brooklyn, they were made for each other. The way he helps her through her darkest times (sometimes without her realizing it) really is admirable. He cares for her, like no one has for her all her life. 

"There is nothing about realizing that you want to hand over your heart to somebody that's not scary. Take my heart, you're free to do whatever you want with it, including break it, rip it, shred it, and dislodge it from yours, but I'm going to give it to you anyway because I think you'll take good care of it."

Claire is an amazing author, who wrote characters that readers can really relate to. Watching Brooklyn fight with her strength, then fall in love with Nick, and still try to support her parents wishes for her really left a mark on my heart. This is one story that I will keep close to me. I plan on re-reading and re-reading this book. It deserves more than five stars in my book. 

""Are you sure everything will be okay?" I ask Nick in a whisper.
He scoots his chair closer to mine so that our knees are touching and cups my face. "No, babe, I'm not, but that the beauty of life," he says drawing circles over my cheeks. "The only thing I'm sure about is us."
And then he puts his mouth on mine, and I let myself fall."

Catch Me

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