I bounced back and forth between love and meh with this book. Kellan is still dreamy, and one of the most romantic guys. He is more emotionally raw in Effortless than he was in Thoughtless. He is such an uninhibited character, and just lets all of his feelings show for Kiera. He is so passionate, whether it's his adoration for his girl or his music, or his friendships.I felt a bit more sympathetic toward Kiera under the circumstances here than I did before. She still makes some annoying decisions, but her feelings of inadequacy are easily relatable. Kellan is such a hugely popular rocker, what girl would have enough self confidence to feel completely secure about the situation they are in? Not only does she have to miss out on Kellan for months, but there are secrets abounding on both sides. I just wanted to shake both of them. Geez, talk to each other already!I had a couple of problems with this part of the story. At times, it seemed more juvenile than the first book, though some of the subject matter was definitely more adult. I was annoyed at how the pregnancy was handled. Either the author has never had a baby of her own, or has never researched pregnancy, but you do NOT start growing a baby bump at 2 or even 3 months along, especially with baby number one. Also, I had to roll my eyes at the part where Kiera gives Anna a hug, and the baby kicks hard enough for Kiera to feel it...at four months?! I've had three kids, and even at five months, there's just enough to feel tickles and maybe a couple of decent nudges. Maybe I'm crazy picky, but it bothered me. If you're going to make it such a big part of the story, do it right. Also, at the very end, when Kellan and Kiera 'get married' while dancing at the bar, and then run to tell everyone of their private, impromptu, completely unrecognized 'marriage', as if it were the real deal. Kiera's sobbing, and once again, I had to roll my eyes. It just seemed very high-schoolish. The end could have been handled in a more mature fashion.I still love Griffin. He's such an ass, but such a friendly ass. I just can't help but love him. He and Anna are great together, and the way he reacts when he finds out that he's going to be a father literally made me tear up. Perfect reaction to get from the crude womanizer. He just got so melty and mushy.Overall, I was surprised at how much I fell in love with all of the characters involved. None of them were perfect; in fact, they all had some major issues. But people are fallible. I like that Kiera wasn't portrayed as a hooker villain for breaking Denny's heart. She made a mistake, a huge one. The guilt tears her up. Not only was it terrible for Denny, but it also put a huge strain on her relationship with Kellan. They both realize that the way their relationship started is not conducive to a healthy, trusting love. Especially under the circumstances that they are thrown into. They have to work so hard to stay together, but aside from the melodrama that is evident on nearly every page, I found myself transfixed. I KNOW it's a romance. I KNOW what will ulitimately happen. But I had to watch the train wreck that is Kiera and Kellan's relationship. If I could describe them in any way, I would say that they are without a doubt, passionately in love with each other. Beautiful love story!
 - S.C. Stephens)
