SAINTCollege. My one chance to escape. And I ran as far and fast as I could.Straight into the arms of something more dangerous.Oliver.He thinks I’m a good girl. But he doesn’t know what I’m running from.He thinks I should stay away from him. But I can’t.I like his cruel words. And his intoxicating smile.He’s a temptation I can’t resist.Am I a sinner or saint?SINNERCollege. Second year.There are … saint?
SINNER
College. Second year.
There are bad decisions at every turn.
Including the new freshman, Layla.
Temptations I can’t fight. Shackles I can’t escape.
I’m only comfortable with the cruelty that slips from my lips.
Her innocent charm isn’t going to polish away my bad reputation.
This wasn’t going to end well.
We all have secrets. What’s your sin?
more
The Best Years by Elena Monroe is a new adult college romance. This is the first book in The Amherst Sinners series.
This was Elena’s debut novel back in 2019 and she knocked it out of the park. I was hooked from the very beginning and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. I am loving the chemistry between Oliver and Layla. Their relationship is a roller coaster but I can’t help but root for them. I loved that we got Oliver, Layla, Elizabeth, and Caden’s points of view throughout the book. It really brought the story to life.
The book does end on an amazing cliffhanger leaving me with so many questions. I can’t wait to dive into the next book in the series The Best Moments to get more of Layla and Oliver’s story.
I would highly recommend this book if you like new adult romance or college romances.
What happens next?! I literally couldn’t put this book down. Layla is such an innocent girl with a dark secret. Oliver, and his group of friends, are all broken in some way. They don’t let outsiders into the inner circle but somehow B plows her way into it while dragging Layla along for the ride. Some explosive chemistry happens between Ollie and Layla, but the past may just burn the world down around them. 10/10 recommend!
Elena Monroe continues to have the ability to surprise me after every turn. Her books leave me questioning my own morals and what things like love and loyalty mean to me. The Best Years is another example of her ability to do this. As the first book of her Amherst Sinners series, I knew I would be settling in for a long haul. What I didn’t expect though, was to meet Layla, the main female character, and relate so much to her. I would imagine many readers delve into this series and immediately fall for the bad boy Ollie, which believe I did too, but Layla is an interesting character.
I can remember being in high school and feeling incredibly uncomfortable in my own skin. Never feeling like you really fit in anywhere and going to parties where you watch everything from the sidelines. This is Layla. She had to grow up quickly, learn how to raise herself and do things to keep herself in line. Like focus on school and her part-time job. But college has arrived and she’s ready to move from FL to New England to try and make a new path for herself.
While I whole-heartedly believe she found exactly what she needed, I do not believe it was what she was expecting. Layla and her best friend B immediately hit it off with a very close-knit group of upper classman that have basements full of secrets. Ollie is a recovering cocaine addict and has never let himself really care about anyone in his life. This stems from being adopted and harboring feelings that he believes he doesn’t belong or really matter to anyone. Rather than let himself get thrown away by anyone, he keeps everyone at a distance. But Layla and her quiet ways eat away at Ollie’s hard exterior and they have to fight constantly to make their relationship work.
This is an element of their story that I love so much. Nothing has been easy for them. They are having to claw and fight their way to happiness, but those issues continue to pull their demons from underground all the way to the surface where they will be forced to either deal with their issues, or tear each other apart in the process. This is not an easy or a happy love story. It’s raw; it’s real; it’s beautiful in it’s agony.
You get to learn a lot about the entire group of friends throughout this book and it does leave you on a cliff hanger, propelling you right into the next book in the series: The Best Moments.
Oh the angst! Seriously, The Best Years had me going through it… like all up in my feels, ignoring my family, throwing my kindle feels!
Oliver and Layla were two extremely troubled characters… their connection although very new was just undeniable. Their chemistry was just WOW! But this story/their story is filled with secrets, pain, addiction, suspense & all the angsty goodness. They have so much to overcome and this is only just the beginning. GAH! So good!
The Best Years is about Layla the innocent goody girl and Oliver the legendary bad-boy. Layla is a freshman while Oliver is a senior. He is a recovering drug addict who spent a year away from college to go to rehab. Layla is running away from home after being raped by a guy who took advantage of her intoxicated state. Her friend B joined in Massachusetts aiding in her college experience. B’s transition from high school to college was simple. Her first frat party had her meeting the five lost popular people on campus. B took a liking to Caden while Layla took a liking to Oliver. Oliver had that bad-boy persona that every girl on campus desired. Since high school Oliver had a steady thing with Elizabeth. After rehab Oliver changed. Sobriety gave him insight and clarity. Layla was just the good girl type to help him stay clean. It wasn’t easy. Elena threw every type of obstacle. They managed to overcome many issues. Until winter break. The thought of being separated for two months scared Oliver.
I started off not liking this book. I had not yet formed a connection to any character. All that changed when Layla met Oliver at a frat party with Elizabeth. The tangled non-love triangle had my head spinning and my heart racing. Oliver’s character is complex with a baggage full of bad choices. He gives sinning a new meaning. While he’s apologetic about his past mistakes he’s quite aware that he’s still very capable of making more bad choices because it’s his nature.
These characters are confused about feelings of love. Mistakes are made because of these feelings. With that lack of understanding these characters piled on more bad decisions. Elena wrote a compelling story of how these characters failed at recognizing healthy love. At times I didn’t agree or connect with a few characters, but I did enjoy these flawed characters as individuals. I wanted to see it thru to the end to understand how each character survived their traumas.
There were six characters making up The Best Years. Normally I’m not a fan of a character driven story’s, but Elena balanced all the characters giving ample storyline to each without crowding the storyline. She accomplished this by using one simple concept. They were all sinners with a past. They were flawed characters trying to recover from past mistakes while helping protect and support each other.
I notice other readers commented on the grammar and spelling errors, but I’m not the grammar police and it matters very little to me. It didn’t take away from the storyline.
The story was wordy in some areas describing every minute detail in ways that left little to the imagination. I just skimmed a little here and there. The story could’ve used a little cuts here and there to clean it up.
I love the dual points of view, yet some of the dialogue was repetitive from Layla’s to Oliver’s. The crossover was redundant rehashing the same scenes with the different perspective. I enjoy dual points of view for the instant feedback of feelings, but Readdressing the same scene is unnecessary since the same scene was just mentioned in the prior chapter.
Oliver and Layla had this deliciously wicked push n’ pull. They teetered on the edge between what was right and wrong. They were confused regarding their feelings not wanting to put labels on anything.
Elena shines the brightest when writing the sex scenes. My head is percent in the story. All other aspects of life seems to disappear while reading those scenes. The way she explores a body with sight, touch, and sound is exhilarating.
Suspenseful, intense and very angsty!
WOW! This story pulled me in and had me utterly captivated by the storyline, enthralled with each of the fantastic characters, and highly entertained right to that very exciting but shocking cliffhanger of an ending.
I loved all the angst, the intense emotions, and all the freaking drama that this story brings. The explosive emotions from each character took me on one hell of a roller-coaster ride with many ups and downs that had my head spinning.
Oliver and Layla are very troubled characters. Oliver can be cruel and use painful words to break people down. He’s the ultimate bad boy that you can’t help falling in love with. Layla is a sweet and innocent young woman who is carrying around a darkness that is eating away at her. Oliver digs himself deep into your heart (even with his cruelty) and never lets you go.
Oliver and Layla have an instant connection but its rife with pain, anger and fear. Their sexual chemistry was intense to read and smoking hot! There are a lot of hurdles for both of them to overcome before things can get better and they can move forward.
There are so many secrets, lots of suspense and little twists and turns throughout that you will have a hard time putting this book down. It truly is a great story and I can’t wait to dive into book 2.
Slight SPOILERS
**********
****************
***************************
This book started up with a fast fun pace and I instantly fell into this book. I felt like I was along the entire journey with these characters. Then the worst and best thing happened.
2 polar opposite bffs enroll at a college together and they seem to instantly click with a group of close-knit friends! Very close friends. Things seem great until Layla and Oliver connect like magnets. I was enjoying it all and then it was back and forth back and forth. That drove me crazy! Oliver drove me crazy! Layla drove me crazy! Many secrets were revealed and alot of things were pieced together. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions! All over the place. I love each character! I especially seemed very interested in Hunter from the jump! I have a thing for “bad guys”, shoot me. Lol The very ending of this book was a mild shocker and it ended abruptly! Thankfully IM A HARDCORE FAN LOVER OF CLIFFHANGERS. !! This book is also Elena Monroe debut book so im glad I was given an ARC to start this beautiful wild ride of books. In this book each character is just as important as the next. I feel they each hold that special power equally. Thats a nice change. ALSO!!!! I Absolutely love the Playlist and I was super psyched that Elena Monroe puts ALL genres of music. I feel authors rarely include hiphop or rap songs and I love love love the diversity! Im a new fan and hopefully for life! Book 2 next. Elena Monroe
Wow! This story will have a piece of my heart forever. It’s so real and raw. I was absolutely captivated by Ollie’s journey. Walking with him as he fought his demons to be the best person he could be and as he helps Layla with her own battles. A poignant story about addiction, love, life and friendships. I can’t wait to read book 2!
This book had everything I love in a New Adult Romance. It was incredibly angsty, packed with drama, it made me feel all the emotions as it took me on a wild ride. I enjoyed this book so much and found I could not put it down.
Oliver/Ollie was troubled, could be cruel and harsh at times, made bad desicons that left you feeling frustrated, angry, and hurting. He was also a beautiful, complex, vulnerable and a lost soul type of character.
Layla was the sweet innocent freshman with insecurities and issues from her past plaguing her.
This story was so capitvating. At times it broke my heart then slowly pieced it back together. This is an amazing beginning to a 3 book series for anyone who enjoys a good New Adult Angsty College book.
This does end on a cliffhanger and you are definitely going to want to read book 2 as soon as you are finished
–This is a book I went into reading blind but if you need trigger warnings I would take caution as some topics/issues might affect you–
Broken and screwed
I’m giving 3.5-4 stars because this book has the potential to be great, but there’s a ‘but’
I’ll start with what I loved :
I loved the rawness of these kids realities. Every character is broken , searching , wanting . And they have formed a friendship group that is loyal and strong together and the world building his author has done is fantastic .
I loved the plot, and the ideas that are brought in. I loved that we got to see the ebs and flows of growth in the characters two steps forward one step back kind of thing.
Layla and Ollie are imperfect in a lot of ways . Both hurt and broken and trying to find themselves and drawn to each other in the process . Ollie
Is a recovering addiction , and finding himself after a stint in rehab . Trying to stay sober while also staying loyal to his friends . Layla is trying to discover who she is after feeling like the label of innocent has been forced on her and she doesn’t feel that way at all .
We are also taken on parts of their friends journeys. We get glimpses and I’m curious to see how
That fits into the remainder of the story !
What lost points for me was that there were clear and obvious indescrepancies throughout the story , like it hasn’t been fully or carefully edited.
There are some scenes that we see in detail through two different perspectives (which lacks consistency as well ) and often the dialogue between these same scenes was different and there were a few other things that had me second guessing my memory though I’m pretty sure were just conflicting information .
I think some careful editing could take this book from
Good to great !!
Despite this I’m kean to finish this series and find out what happened with this cliffhanger ending !!
Layla is now a freshman at Amherst. College so far from home was meant to be her second chance. Leave the past, regrets and secrets all in the past and move on. Right? Wrong. Introduce her new friends the “Sinners” mainly her new obsession of eye candy with dark and broody attitude to boot, Ollie.
He is so similar to the one she wanted to get away from but there is just something about him that keeps drawing her in. He isn’t they type to settle down or even be in a relationship and she isn’t one for only fun and games.
Two people from opposite words have more in common than they ever expected. The SAINT & SINNER collide. Maybe Layla isn’t the SAINT everyone thought.
LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! eEena you kill me with your writing, I love Oliver how did you do it? How did you make me love him so much????? this book is so good, I loved all the POVs I loved all the ups and downs!
The Best Years is the first book in The Amherst Sinners series.
I was unsure of this book starting out but I’m glad I stuck with it to the end, and what an ending it was! It was so good! I promise if you stick with it, you’ll love it too.
This book contains so much angst, so much drama, and tons of secrets. It will keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next. If you love college romances with a bit of a darker twist then this is the book for you.
I can’t wait to see what Elena Monroe has in store for the rest of The Amherst Sinners series.
**Warning: This book may not be for everyone as it deals with some heavy and intense situations.
This is a young adult romance. It is an easy, yet compelling read. It takes you on a journey to the everyday lives and struggles of students. As the reader, you feel protective over Layla, due to her innocence. You experience her emotions and everything that goes hand-in-hand with the daily activities. Oliver is your typical bad boy and keep the read interesting.
The friend circle has their own secrets and dark pasts and that is what makes them fit. The understanding that no one is perfect and no one is excluded from the harsh realities of life itself.
Her writing style makes you feel as though you are in the room with the characters. You feel what they feel, you see what they see and you experience the highs and the lows.
Elena Monroe…. definitely a name to look out for! Soon to be among the big names I’m sure!
I have to say it took me awhile to get hooked to this story. I want to say at about chapter 4 or 5 is when I started to get hooked.
I will say that I was intrigued with Oliver though right away. After that prologue I was like hmmm I need to know more about his past and what made him this way. What went wrong in his life to make him an addict. I never hated him through the whole book. I was always rooting for him. Wanted him to realize he was capable of all things that came with relationships.
My heart broke for Layla! Oh this poor girl. All she wanted to do was leave her hometown that harbored such bad memories. She so desperately wanted to be away to start over and be a new person. Find herself without everyone putting the innocent label on her. But she soon realizes that she may never get away from that label as she might just really be innocent. She has so much to learn in college but never did she expect Oliver would be the one to teach her how to truly be herself.
I ended up loving this book a lot! Yes it took me a little to get into the story but I understood at the end that there was a lot of backstory that needed to be covered. Though I will warm people it ends in a cliffhanger. I am so thankful she also sent me an ARC for book 2 that I am starting right after I am done with this review!
I give this book a 4⃣
And the reason only was just how it took me a few chapters to get hooked. That is my personal reading style, I like to get hooked right off the bat!
Though I will very much recommend this book!