Nothing Left to Lose was recommended to me by a friend. She spoke very highly of it so I was anxious to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype for me. In fact, I can't figure out how this book has such a high rating. While it's not the most terrible book I've ever attempted to read, (I'm looking at you, Fifty Shades) it certainly isn't five star calibur.

Let's start with the fact that the author apparently did next to no research what so ever. It's glaringly obvious that the author is not American, which is fine. But if you set your book in the United States, and you make your characters American, then they should talk and act American. Both Anna and Ashton had glaring tendencies to act or speak like they were from Europe. It seemed the author threw in curse words such as "shit" and "fuck" throughout to make it seem more authentic, but it didn't work. It also took me a ridiculous amount of time to figure out that the "lounge" was the living room in their apartment. I honestly thought they had this mega-apartment that had a separate lounge area. And what the hell is a a waistcoat? I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure Americans don't have or wear them. (Also, I'd just like to point out that there is a "z" in the English language, and words like "apologize" have them. And words such as "color" and "favor" don't have a "u". I do realize that this is the European spelling, but it was very jarring for me, and after a while the European words and spellings became annoyances, making me enjoy the book less.)

Also, it is obvious that the author has absolutely no idea how the United States media and election campaigns work. Anna was kidnapped and held captive by one of the most notorious criminals in the country, and they were able to keep it under wraps?! And her father is a SENATOR who ends up running for PRESIDENT?! Honey, normal, every day girls who get kidnapped can't escape our media when they are found. If you ask, most Americans would be able to tell you who Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugaard are. And their parents weren't politicians. And let's, for a moment, pretend that the Senator was able to keep Anna's ordeal mostly under wraps after she was found. Once he started running for president, that would have been one of the first things dug up in the media and splashed all over the place. Sorry, but the fact that they were able to hide her kidnapping ordeal for nearly four years is just not even close to believeable.

And then there is the author's apparent adversity to using the word "said." I don't think anyone in that book "said" anything. They stated things, they chirped them, they did everything but say them. One thing I've learned... a lot of times you don't have to write that they "said" (or chirped or stated) anything. Sometimes all you need are quotation marks around a sentence, and most people reading your book will figure out that it's being spoken.

Now, shall we move on to the actual story?

It probably took me longer than it should have to catch on that this seemed to be almost a retelling of Twilight. Anna and Ashton are co-dependent to the max. Worse than Edward and Bella, and that's saying something. The whole weekend that Ashton spends with his friends, both of them are so miserable, its not healthy.

And then there's the fact that after three years of pushing everyone away and refusing to be touched,

Anna lets Ashton sleep with her and they have sex after knowing each other for THREE DAYS.

What. the. fuck?! And then she's a bitch about it for pretty much the rest of the (LONG) story.

When she can't keep her hands off him, they sleep together, then she says "Oh Ashton, I can't take a relationship, so this is just for tonight." "This is just for this weekend." "This is just for our vacation."

And he lets her do it because he's apparently so in love with this girl. Why? I didn't figure that one out at all. She's thoughtful. I'll give her that one. But she's also a selfish bitch.

They VERY obvious Twilight rip off made me roll my eyes. First he's reading the book, and suddenly, the next day they go for a drive in Anna's "other" car, an Aston Martin Vanquish. I groaned out loud at that one. Come on, really!? Why not a Ferrari or a Maserati? Now that would have impressed him and me.

And this book is L-O-N-G long. 605 pages on my Nook, and we could have probably cut out about 400 of them. While the beginning was good, the middle was just them flirting, going on dates, flirting some more,

having sex when Anna couldn't keep her hands off him anymore,

then her pushing him away, and more flirting. I kept waiting for something bad to happen. When Ashton is away with his friends, and Anna's waiting for him to call her, her phone rings. I think, oh maybe it's Carter and he's finally tracked her down! That would be a good twist! But no, I'm disappointed because it really is Ashton calling her to say good night to his "Baby Girl."

REALLY?! Baby Girl? Pretty Boy? Do you know who I call Baby Girl? My daughter. Except after reading this book I will probably never call her that again. First of all, why do they need to have pet names for each other at all?! I call my husband by his first name, and it doesn't mean I love him less. And if you're going to have pet names, please, please make them something other than Baby Girl and Pretty Boy. UGH! I wanted to gag by the end of the book. Just like Twilight ruined the word "chagrin" for me, I will cringe from this day forward anytime I read the nicknames "Baby Girl" and "Pretty Boy". Thankfully I shouldn't come across them much in future books I read.

The whole bit with Carter was probably the best part, and it didn't last nearly long enough. He was probably the best written character in this book. He was nasty and mean and I could see why Anna would be afraid of him. Unfortunately, by the time I got to that part, I really didn't care anymore. Too bad the author couldn't have done more with him, instead of giving us 400 useless pages of Anna and Ashton making out and being annoying.

Overall, while I liked this book better than, say, Fifty Shades, (which was a DNF after four chapters for me) it wasn't a great book. It was long, boring and most parts were unbelievable. I won't recommend it to anyone, and I probably won't pick up another book by this author ever again. 1.5 stars.