Wanted (Wanted #1) by Kelly Elliott

Verbally abused by her mother for years, 18 year old Ellie Johnson always believed she would never be loved or wanted by anyone. She focused all of her attention on her grades and getting into the University of Texas to start a new life away from her mother.
The last thing Ellie expected was to fall in love with Gunner Mathews, a starting linebacker for the University of Texas football team and not to mention, her brothers best friend. 
Gunner only had two passions in life, football and his grandfather’s ranch, until he falls for his best friends little sister. He will stop at nothing to show Ellie how much he wants her, even if it means he has to move faster than she would like. 
Gunner knows they are meant to be together forever, but Ellie keeps denying her feelings out of fear of being hurt again. Every time he gets close to winning her love, something pushes her away again. Will Ellie ever be able to let go of the past and let him into her heart and will Gunner be patient enough to wait for her?
What will it take for them to realize they are all each other have ever WANTED?

3.75-4 Stars

“I want to be the person who gives you all of your firsts. I want to experience them with you so I can see that beautiful smile of yours light up every time you do something new. I want to make all your dreams come true.” ~ Gunner 

OH. MY. GOD. **SWOON!!** I’m completely in love with Gunner. He totally made the story worth while. He’s one hot, sweet, sexy, tattooed Southern gentleman. Just fucking gorgeous! Oh yea, he definitely made it to my all time favorite book boyfriends. 

The story is fairly simple and highly predictable. In a nutshell, it’s a story about a young woman, who was raised by her beloved older brother and an alcoholic mother. Ellie has been on the receiving end of a lot of verbal abuse from her mother. She always kept telling Ellie that no one will ever want her. If it wasn’t for her hard working older brother, Jefferson, she would be lost. Her previous two relationships have ended in utter disaster. Both times, her two good for nothing boyfriends were cheating on her because she wasn’t ready to give up her elusive V-card, yet. When she caught her latest boyfriend in the midst with another woman in the school theatre, she broke down and called her big brother to come and get her. When her brother shows up to defend her and kick her latest boyfriend’s ass, he shows up with his best friend, Gunner. It was love at first sight for both Ellie and Gunner. Oh the joys of instant love. 

If you don’t like being treated like a doormat then get the fuck off the floor 

Drew “Gunner” Mathews has had his fair share of women. He and Jefferson are star football players for the University of Texas. He has never been in a long term relationship and really wasn't looking for one. But once he sets his eyes on Ellie, he was a goner. And as much as Ellie felt the same way, she was more guarded. With all the negative things her mom was feeding her, coupled with the cheating exes, Ellie was not about to be fooled again by another man. Gunner had his work cut out for him, but he was determined to convince her to give him a chance. 

“Drew….it’s another first.”

He looked at me confused. “What is baby?”

“This…this feeling…it’s a first for me.”

“Tell me Ellie.”

“I have never in my life…ever felt so completely loved and…wanted.” 

I was debating back and forth on what to rate this. For the most part, I really liked the story, and I just LOVE Gunner. Going into this story, I thought this was considered Mature YA/New Adult, but I think it teetered more on the adult side. There was a considerable amount steam, not that they were explicit or anything, but more than your typical Mature YA story would have. It also had a whole lot of cursing, which was fucking fine by me. lol. What I got annoyed with were the constant uses of the phrases: “Pesh,” “Gesh,” “Hells Bells,” “Gosh,” and “Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” They were all over the place! Every time I came across them, I was like, “What the fuck?” The author constantly cusses, but is reluctant to use “God.” I don’t know. It got way annoying. 

Another thing that bothered me was the heroine Ellie. Not only did she constantly use the above phrases, but she sometimes acted like a fourteen year old girl. The way she spoke wasn’t very…I don’t know…grown up? Plus, she often jumped to conclusions and immediately got angry at Gunner. Talk to your boyfriend first before dumping him, okay Ellie? Gesh! lol. 

Lastly, another negative of the story was its length. It was way too long. There came a point where it I just didn’t care anymore. There were so many things that could’ve been cut out. I just wanted it to end so I can move on. Plus the story could've seriously used an editor to clean up the shitload of punctuation errors. 

Anyway, before I stop jabbering, I have to mention Jefferson and Ellie's BFF, Ari. She was just awesome. The shit that came out of her mouth…oh, my God, pure sailor mouth. LOVED her. As for Jefferson, totally swoon-worthy! To be honest, I was more interested in Jefferson and Ari’s story. I can’t wait for their book to come out. 

Okay, I’m done. Sorry for my jibber jabber. If you’re looking for a long, simple read and don’t mind the constant cussing andother overly used childish phrases, then I think you will enjoy this.