Review: The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen

Reviewer: Rowena
The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years, #4) by Sarina Bowen
Series: The Ivy Years #4
Also in this series: The Year We Hid Away , Blonde Date , The Year We Fell Down , The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years, #3), The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years, #5), The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years, #5), The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years, #2), Extra Credit
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: April 12, 2015
Point-of-View: First
Genres: New Adult
Pages: 279
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:

The girl who’s had everyone meets the boy who has no one.

For Bella, the sweet-talking, free-loving, hip-checking student manager of the Harkness men’s hockey team, sex is a second language. She’s used to being fluent where others stutter, and the things people say behind her back don’t (often) bother her. So she can’t understand why her smoking hot downstairs neighbor has so much trouble staying friends after their spontaneous night together. She knows better than to worry about it, but there’s something in those espresso eyes that makes her second guess herself.

Rafe is appalled with himself for losing his virginity in a drunken hookup. His strict Catholic upbringing always emphasized loving thy neighbor—but not with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms. The result is an Ivy League bout of awkwardness. But when Bella is leveled by a little bad luck and a downright sinister fraternity stunt, it’s Rafe who is there to pick up the pieces.

Bella doesn’t want Rafe's help, and she’s through with men. Too bad the undeniable spark that crackles between the two of them just can't be extinguished.

Bella’s book!

Bella was such a memorable character from The Understatement of the Year and I knew that I was going to like her from the very beginning, loose morals and all. She had that happy disposition that people gravitate to and I loved that she enjoyed sex and made no excuses for it. I loved that she owned what she liked and who she was and didn’t pay too much mind about what others thought. I also loved that she loved hockey the way that she did. In The Understatement of the Year, when she finds out about Graham and Rikker, I felt how hurt she was. I knew that despite sleeping around, it was Graham that she wanted to be with so to see her realize that her and Graham was never going to happen, reminded me of Caroline and Stefan from Vampire Diaries. LOL.

When I found out that Bella was getting a book, I was thrilled! Bella deserved a happy ending so I was all about reading it the first moment I could get my hands on it and Sarina Bowen doesn’t disappoint with Bella’s story.

The story starts with the introduction to Bella’s man, Rafael. Rafael is a stand up guy. One of the good ones. It’s his birthday and he’s spending the night with his girlfriend where he will hopefully lose his virginity but when he shows up at his girlfriends room, some guy beat him there. Turns out, she cheated on Rafe when she away on a trip and Rafe’s night turns to shit. He heads back to his dorm, only to find both of his roommates getting down (exactly what he hoped he would be doing) so not being able to take it, he takes the bottle of wine he bought to share with his girl and starts drinking it all by himself and that’s where Bella finds him. They end up spending the entire night drinking and talking and then Bella relieves Rafe of his virginity, as only Bella can. 🙂

This story stayed with me a little while after I finished it because wow. Just wow. Bella’s story was not an easy one to get through. She goes through some serious shit in this book and I wanted to beat every single guy in that dumb ass frat with a baseball bat for the way that they treated, not only Bella but every other girl that comes through their doors.

Bella had some serious issues that she needed to get through and seeing her being tested at every turn made my heart hurt for her but holy hell does she come out on top in the end. She made decisions but who doesn’t? She didn’t deserve half of the things that happened to her and to see how protective and caring and patient that Rafe was with Bella? Swoon.

I adored Rafe. I knew that I was going to love him from the very first chapter in this book and with each passing chapter, I grew more and more in love with him. That Latino boy had it going on. I loved the way that he was with Bella. He was there for Bella when she needed someone to be there for her. He was there for her even when she didn’t want anyone there…and when he couldn’t be there, he made sure that someone was. Goodness, I could go on and on about what an awesome hero Rafe is but just know, he was fantastic.

As she always does, Sarina Bowen got me thinking about slut shaming. Do I slut shame people? Do I assume that because a girl dresses a certain way, she’s a slut? And ugh, I have been known to do that from time to time and while I was reading Bella’s story, my heart went out to her and I felt ashamed for the slut shaming that I’ve done in the past. Women are real people and they should be allowed to dress however they want and sleep with whoever they want without people talking shit about them. Living with that kind of reputation is hard and Bella had to develop a thick skin for simply being who she wanted to be. Bella was one of the strongest heroines that I’ve read about this year and I really enjoyed her story. I enjoyed seeing her overcome every obstacle that was in her way to find happiness with Rafe. I thought the two of them deserved a happy life and was happy when they finally came together.

The romance between Rafe and Bella was sweet and it was good. This was another eye-opening story with real life issues that I appreciated. It’s another great addition to an already fantastic series and I’m more than a little anxious for Leanne’s story. I hope she hooks up with that hockey player from the pizza place. Kudos to Sarina Bowen on a job well done with this book. I really liked it!

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

The Ivy Years

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