Review: Soulmates by Nicole Dykes

Title: Soulmates
Author: Nicole Dykes
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 22, 2015

Madison met Jake Keller when she was six years old. They thought nothing could separate them. Everything changes when they enter high school. One fight gets out of control and they go from inseparable friends to bitter enemies. Madison tries to put the past behind her and move on while enduring Jake's torment.
When tragedy strikes they are drawn to each other again. There is no doubt that they have an insane attraction to each other but, can they fix what has been broken?
Follow Madison and Jake as they navigate through the pain, sexual tension, pressure, tears, and heartbreak of adolescence and young adulthood.

"...love is painful. Sometimes it takes making a lot of mistakes and being with the wrong person to lead you to perfect one."

I saw on goodreads that Nicole had just published her first book and that it was free on kindle for two days.  So I went ahead and downloaded it.  I usually let my ebooks sit for a long time (I'm a big fan of having a book in hand).  But not two days after I downloaded it did I forget to bring a book to work with me.  This was the first thing in my kindle library on my phone.

There are some technical issues with the writing in this book.  Since it was self-published, Nicole of course did not have access to editors.  So there is some proof-reading that could be done here.  But that's okay.  Most people aren't as crazy about things like that as I am (I keep a pen by my bedside to correct books.  You'd be amazed at the errors in Divergent).

The story follows the life of Maddy Wright.  She is the most sensible of her group of friends and for a long time thinks that they are too young to be sexually active.  She and Jake Keller have been best friends since they were six years old.  But Jake's life has not been easy on him.  And he definitely makes a lot of mistakes.  One of those mistakes costs him his friendship with Maddy.

As time goes on, Maddy grows into herself.  She is not such a "prude" as people call her.  Eventually, she and Jake make up.  They get together, but things don't last.  Between college, new jobs and new relationships, it's difficult to stay in touch.  But rest assured. things work out nicely.

This is a really sweet story about young love.  It was a super quick read, and I enjoyed it a lot.  There was some sex, but not a grotesque amount.  If you are not comfortable reading about sex, then I would not suggest this book.  But it is not anywhere close to the Fifty Shades of Grey level.

The one thing that really bothered me was spoiler Jake's brother Chris.  How did he die? end spoiler I suppose that might be explored in the next book.

Edit: The spoiler was explored more in an update published to Amazon.com.

So what did I think?  This book was short and sweet, so to say.  It had a decent plot-line and Maddy was kind of adorable.  I really liked the story.  I would recommend it to anyone who can deal with a little sex and likes contemporary romance.  I will definitely be reading the second book.