The Fifteenth Minute by Sarina Bowen

Rating: 5 stars

Author: Sarina Bowen

Release Date: October 13th, 2015

ARC received kindly from author in exchange for an honest review.

The Fifteenth Minute was like a roller-coaster of emotions and I wanted the ride to never end. Sarina Bowen has created a masterpiece with this heart stopping, humorous and romantic story. It is one of the best books I have read this year, and I am pretty confident when I say it’s nearly impossible not to fall in love with The Fifteenth Minute.

Lianne Challice isn’t your typical freshman- she’s a movie star, best known for her role as Princess Vindi. Wanting a chance at a normal college experience, she is trying to stay under the radar, which isn’t exactly easy with a crazy paparazzi following her, being the punchline of a million sorceress jokes, and even having t-shirts made about her. In addition to all that, she also has to deal with her awful manager, and try to relate to people that she has little in common with. And as for her love life, well, that is nonexistence. However, there is one guy that makes her feel like he sees her for who she really is…

DJ Trevi is the guy behind the music playing in the arena during hockey games. He has turned the challenge of picking the right song to play at the right moment into an art form. Music serves as an escape to him, one of the few things that can help district him during an extremely intense situation he is dealing with. What’s another distraction? Lianne. He is intrigued that she knows as much about music as he does, their debates on whether or not pizza is an amazing food, and then there is the little fact he finds her absolutely beautiful.

Lianne doesn’t let people in easily, but for some reason when it comes to DJ, she’s eager to open the gates. DJ can’t believe someone like Lianne would even be interested in him, especially when a situation may prevent him from doing anything about it.

Even though Lianne is famous, she is very easy to connect with. Sure, she’s a movie star, but she’s also a girl that is trying to adjust to college life, is self conscious at times about her body, and gets tongue tied around a guy she likes. She is  awkward, sweet, smart, and a better friend than she gives herself credit for. I love her friendships with Bella and Rafe. Lianne is a strong character, though has a problem voicing what she wants. It was great watching her evolve through out the book.

As for DJ, well he is completely swoon worthy. He *might* be my favorite male character in the series, and that is saying something because I loved them all so much. He is romantic, caring, unknowingly charming and loyal. Pretty much the kind of guy you would love to meet in real life. He isn’t perfect though, and is under a great deal of stress due to the terrifying situation he finds himself in. Reading what he was going through made my heart feel like it would pound out of my chest and at times caused my stomach to drop.

Even though Lianne and DJ have an instant connection with each other, including plenty of crazy chemistry, DJ reluctantly has to put a stop on what they could become and insist they take the friend route. Normally I want to yell at a character when they do that to me, but in DJ’s case, I completely get it. So they try to be friends and only friends, which is easier said than done- hello sexual tension. Their friendship tugged on my heart strings, I loved the way they supported and were there for each other. I don’t want to give too much away, but they WILL make you smile.

Sarina blew me away with this book. I love how she brings dept to characters and isn’t afraid to tackle deep topics with real reactions, emotions, and the effects it can have on family relationships and friendships. While her characters are dealing with serious issues, there is also an endless amount of moments that bring a smile to your face, make you laugh like an idiot and steal the air from your lungs. And maybe even make you blush, cause Sarina is pretty darn good at writing sexy scenes.The Fifteenth Minute is truly special. It was also great to see many familiar faces from previous books in the series, The Ivy Years.

My only compliant is that it introduced me to a bunch a characters that I’m curious to read more about. Like, tomorrow, so get on that Sarina! 😛

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