This book had me from beginning to end. It was an easy and fast read, flowing so effortlessly that I read it in one sitting which says alot about how engrossed I was by it.
Their back and forth through the pages was authentic and sweet, throughly engaging especially when both MC's are dealing with unresolved and troubling issues from their pasts. The writer made everything feel real and genuine that I couldn't help but care for all the characters, and I really loved the ending.

Wow, oh wow, this is the first book I have read from this Author and it was fantastic. I can't recommend it enough. The day I started I could barely put it down carrying the damn kindle around with me. The writing is very good and has a fast paced plot. It's the the good girl meets the bad slightly broken unwilling to commit bad boy, tattoos and all. As a new freshman in Oregon Allie has just moved to get away from her parents and needs an apartment to share when she meets bad boy Kaden with who she has to share the apartment with. I really enjoyed this book from the first page until the last.

Allie and Kaden are looking for a new start or at least an escape from their old, troubled life. Allie is a chirpy, freedom-loving girl and has come down to Woodshill to set up her new life, far away from her family. Kaden is the ruggedly handsome guy with tattoos, each connected to a certain memory in the past. And what connects them is the presence of certain memories in each of their lives that once broke them, beyond repair.

Allie and Kaden end up becoming roommates and Kaden sets up certain rules.

1. Don't talk about your girl problems.
2. Keep your mouth shut if I bring someone home.
3. We will NEVER hook up.

Each one is happy in their lives. Allie ends up befriending Kaden's friends and they all hang out together. Allie and Kaden start getting comfortable with each other as friends. And then the sparks start to fly. The attraction, the sexual tension increases as both of them start to take care of each other. Allie finds emotional stability in Kaden's arms and she finally tells him all about her past

Do they break the rules? Well, maybe a little. Things start going south when Kaden's brother shows up and threatens Kaden that he would reveal the secrets of his past to Allie- secrets that Kaden is ashamed of.

The chemistry between Kaden and Allie is great and I thought I would hate Kaden after reading the blurb but I ended up liking his character. He's sweet and caring and a little 'bent'. He's supportive and understanding. Allie has her own emotional baggage too just like Kaden. It's a face paced, mushy romantic tale. A bit cliche too sometimes. But their characters are so strong that it's worth the read. I never really got bored because their love story was so eventful. The lovemaking scenes were a little repetitive according to me but their time of occurrence was so well placed. Another thing I hated about this book is Kaden's mood swings. He kept justifying all his stupid behaviors by saying that he had a bad past. It was illogical at times. Or maybe, I just expected a darker, scandalous secret than what was mentioned in the story.

Begin Again is a treat for the Romance genre lovers. It has some great characters, a good plot and a lot of love.

I received an ecopy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hallelujah, there's a soundtrack!!! You know how excited I get when authors include their musical inspiration, it just heightens the whole experience for me.

Begin Again was originally written in German and translated into English, so I am not sure if that is why there is some little hiccups with grammar/punctuation and overall flow. And there were a couple of little plot points/holes that were never fully explained that left me kind of scratching my head at the end of the book.

However, for the most part, it was an easy, enjoyable read. The characters were fleshed out and relatable, the storyline of antagonists to friends to lovers was a feel good type of read for me... I am a sucker for a jerk-faced bully. And while I don't think Kaden quite meets the criteria for being a bully, he does have his jerk moments, haha! I enjoyed the side characters as well, and would be interested to hear more about them in books of their own.

Ms. Kasten's take on college romance was inspired, her words...a gift. 4 stars.

I received a copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

This is the type of book I love. The hero starts of as a right asshole, then we see the softer side, for him to go back to his asshole ways, then we get to find out why he is being like he is and then finally we see him as he really is..sigh.

The main characters relationship was realistic, no insta love but a great growing friendship. The secondary characters were really great and I can't wait to read more about them in the upcoming books. I will definitely be reading the next one.

I absolutely loved this book from the very beginning! They both had troubled pasts which brought them together. They were alike in so many ways and found comfort in each other. I always enjoy a great love story!!! Can't wait to read another one of Mona Kasten's books!!

I’ve been meaning to read ‘Begin Again’ by Mona Kasten for a very long time now. This book was originally published in German and so I’d already heard a lot of positive things from my friends and other German book bloggers. The only reason I actually never picked it up is because I don’t really like reading German books even though I’m German myself. Sounds weird but that’s just how it is. So naturally, I was very excited when I found out that ‘Begin Again’ had been translated into German and was incredibly happy when I received an ARC of it.

‘Begin Again’ tells the story of Allie and Kaden. When Allie moves to college, she’s looking for a room to rent but can’t find a fitting one until she checks out the spare room in Kaden’s apartment. The problem is that he actually doesn’t want to live together with a girl but Allie can be very convincing and so Kaden lets her move in anyway. But he has a couple of rules, one of which is that the two will never hook up. Naturally though, they start feeling attracted to each other and have to deal with their feelings while at the same time having to deal with their dark pasts.

I really enjoyed reading the book and it was such a quick read. ‘Begin Again’ has a great plot and it’s a book you can easily read in one sitting because it will captivate you. It made me laugh a lot and I’ll definitely add it to my list of books I reread when I just need something that will make me happy. I also immediately fell in love with the two main characters, Kaden and Allie, but also really loved some of the secondary characters like Spencer, Dawn and Scott and hope we will get to read more about them in the sequel.

I know that many people also absolutely love Mona Kasten’s writing style but I personally felt like that was the only thing I can say something negative about regarding this book. I can’t even specifically tell you what I didn’t like about it but there were just a couple of things that bothered me and I feel like there’s still room for improvement. But as far as I know this is one of the very first novels she ever published and I’m confident that her writing will get better with every additional book she’ll publish in the future.

All in all, I really liked this book and I’m very glad it was finally translated into English so that more people have the chance to read it. I’m going to deduct one star because of her writing and give ‘Begin Again’ 4 out of 5 stars.

I loved it! I devoured it! Those of you who like the broody, jerkface alpha male, this book is for you.

Allie has escaped her family life to begin again at college. She just needs a place to live. Turns out, dorms are already full, and she needs an apartment. Not as easy as she thought. And then she has the pleasure of applying as a roommate with Kaden. TALK ABOUT JERK!!!! OMG, he was straight out nasty and rude, but I loved that first initial meeting and his "don't care" attitude.

There's more to Kaden than he lets show, and I just really, really liked him.....jerk or not! LOL!

Great storyline and like I said it was just an easy read with the right amount of perfection!

What I think about ... :

... the story:
I loved the story from the very first page on. It just drew me in and I could not stop reading as I just needed to know what would happen, why Allie left her family and everything she knew from her old life behind. I also wanted to know what happened to Kaden to behave like this and to keep Allie at a distance even tough he obviously likes her.

... the characters:
Allie was quite a fascinating character. The more you, as a reader, get to know her, the more you are surprised about her character, her motives, what happened to her and how she could become the person she is, even though all the stuff of her past could possibly make her a whole different person.
At first I just couldn't understand who she left her family and old life behind like this. I am quite a family person and even tough I do live quite a distance away from my family, I frequently visit them. For Allie it was just not like this and I simply could not understand why, until everything was reveled and showed, how much her own mum made her chose to leave her family behind.
I really liked Kaden, even though he really was an asshole at times and sometimes I really just wanted to hit him in the face - hard.
But as the story progressed more and more is revealed about Kaden and why he behaves like he does so that I just could not be angry at him anymore.
And he really can be romantic, as the end shows.
I really liked how their relationship developed and how they get to know each other as time goes by.
Execpt for Allie and Kaden, I also really liked Dawn, Allie's best friend and Spencer, who is Kaden's best friend. I just love both of their characters and really look forward to learn more about them in the second book.

What I loved the most:
The story, the characters and most all the emotions you feel throughout the story. I cried, I laughed and I just hoped that everything would be alright at the end.
I really loved the writing style as well.

What I did not like:
Nothing.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.
I just loved this book and really recommend it to everyone who loves cute romances and New Adult stories.
I really can't wait for the second book, so get to know the whole story of Dawn.

i liked this book, it was a slow start but it pulled me in.You have to read this book.

Allie and Kaden's lives are more intertwined than they think. Upon their first meeting, Kaden believes that Allie is a dude looking to rent the extra room in his apartment - based on the signature at the end of the emails they've exchanged, "A. Harper" is not who Kaden thinks. When Allie shows up at his apartment for the showing, Kaden and Allie begin to clash, Kaden's arrogant cocky attitude and Allie's sassy, independent voice are no match for one another.

This novel blew me out of the water. It is my first novel by Mona Kasten, and by the looks of it it won't certainly be my last. I really enjoyed this book, the balance between romance, comedy and drama - I applaud the author she really outdid herself on this novel! The romance had me swooning, frustrated (in more than one way, if you know what I mean) and pining for my own personal Kaden White!

I highly recommend this novel, it is a must read for me if you're into the light romance with a little bit of drama and twists put in here and there. It definitely isn't a dark romance, erotic or anything near any of those genres. It's the perfect feel-good romance that you'll enjoy and that'll pull at your heart strings in ways you didn't even know a novel could!

This book had me till the very end. Kaden is as moody as he comes and Allie with her insecurities and zest for life has him looking at life in a new way. I found their back and forth take on their feelings and relationship to be quite engaging, because though they loved each other, they had so many issues and unresolved emotions from their past to deal with.

Allie had just moved into a new place and had four years of college to look forward to and the author smoothly introduced other characters who would become good friends to see her through. I loved Dawn’s commitment and loyalty to their friendship. I also had the distinct feeling that she had some issues to deal with and given that this book is part of a trilogy I cannot wait to read Dawn’s story.

The pace is great, the introduction of nature and the outdoors in the form of Kaden and Allie’s hiking trips was a fresh outlook for me. I love the outdoors.

Of course, what’s college or new adult without some stuck-up personalities and Sawyer did make an appearance if not once, but twice!

On flow, I’d say that it was smooth because I read it in one sitting and that says a lot about how engrossed I was.

I am grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. I’d also love to send my love to the author, Mona, for writing such a great read! Danke schön!

I really enjoyed the romance between two strong characters. Their exteriors didn't always show their true selves and I liked finding out what made these 2 characters fall in love.

Begin Again is the first book in the series Again by German author Mona Kasten. Although it is a series, it can also be stand alone since each book is about different couples. Begin Again is on Allie and Kaden. Two people who really are not that opposite at all meet, have a long build up, and blast fireworks explode.

The first half of the book i truly enjoyed. i first thought Kayden was going to be this bad boy, ladies man with the tattoos, and while yes he has the tats and is a ladies man the book doesn’t focus on his unless encounters with one night stands or really focuses on that at all. Allie comes from a rich midwestern family who has controlled her long enough. She leaves her Nebraska town for Oregon to start over in college, where she meets Kayden and becomes his roommate.

Allie is no angel and is far from your typical goody-two-shoes we usually read about in books paired up with the tattoo bad boy. I really enjoyed that the characters both had faults and went outside the typical sterotypes in books these days.

About 60% of the book is just a long build up between the two, which is the part i enjoyed the most. i enjoyed reading their hatred for one another turn into acceptance and eventually friendship… and then some…. once the two kissed/hooked up it became way too much for me. both characters were going back and forth on wanting to be together to being together, pushing each other away again. it was just way too much drama built up in a short span of the book. it was like on repeat over and over again the last half. i wanted to quit reading midway through because i was over it but i was too invested into the story. while the outcome is what i was expecting… the first half saved the book for me.

And a small thing that personally annoyed me was as someone who has visited Lincoln, Nebraska many times due to family living there… i would love to know where this rich high society lives in Lincoln live. I did not feel Lincoln was described at all accurately in the book. I had a hard time getting passed that, but that is more of a personal thing.


I give Begin Again (Again #1), by Mona Kasten 2.5 stars.


Book provided by the publisher, via NetGalley in return for an honest review.