Review: Shh! & Wait! (Oxley Campus Series)
by Stacey Nash

BookCrushin was happy to have the chance to review first two books in Stacey Nash’s Oxley Campus series! All of the book details are below as well as my book reviews. Be sure to check this fun, new adult series!

 

Shh! (Oxley Campus #1) by Stacey Nash

Category: New Adult, Contemporary
Publication: February 23rd, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

Nineteen-year-old Olivia Dean has the perfect reputation, the perfect boyfriend, and an increasingly perfect CV. She has it all, until Christian breaks up with her in public, calling her out as a self-gratifying sexoholic: the kind that plays solo. But Olivia doesn’t do any such thing — the only thing she does at night is sleep … right?

Now all the boys on campus seem to want her attention for the absolutely wrong reason — including resident hottie, Logan Hays. He’s pulling out his best moves to gain her attention, so resisting his sexy charm is hard work. With rapidly slipping grades, a disturbingly lurid reputation and demanding parents, Olivia must discover the truth behind her rumoured sleeping problem. If she doesn’t, the perfect life she’s worked so hard for may slip away, including the one person who has Olivia breaking all her rules — Logan.

What do you do when you’re asleep?

***
Shh! is a story about acceptance, learning to trust and in turn love while facing life’s unexpected difficulties.

NB: This book is of a mild heat level, and contains no explicit sex scenes.

Review:

[book rating=4.0/5.0]  

Shh! is a sweet, funny book that deals with a topic I’ve never before read about, and it does so in a chaste and respectful manner. It centers around Olivia, a college student trying to have the perfect academic career to please her parents and land the ideal job after graduation. To Olivia, her reputation is everything; imagine her mortification then when a nasty rumor begins to spread across her small college campus, threatening everything she has worked for.

I really liked this book. Olivia is a very innocent character so the rumor about her is particularly devastating. I enjoyed her, though it took me a little while to warm up to her; when she finally began standing up for herself and making independent decisions, I really started to relate to her. However, I am an adult, and I remember how hard college was, so I can’t fault her too much for how she first reacts. I absolutely adored Logan, the swoon-worthy boy who isn’t discouraged by the rumors — or the truth — about Olivia. He was a good egg with a side of bad boy, and who can resist that? Molly and Savvy, Olivia’s friends, were funny and supportive and provided welcome laughs throughout the story. Oh, and Logan’s brother was a doll and I’m looking forward to reading his story next!

There are of course conflicts throughout the story that prevent our characters from getting together immediately, which in this case were actually completely understandable if at times frustrating. By the end of the book, Olivia has really grown as a character, and I hope we get to see her in other stories in this series.

---

 

Wait! (Oxley Campus #2)

Publication: April 20th, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

Jordan Hays knows just how precious life is; that’s why he has his own mapped out. He’ll work to pay his way through university while he studies hard, regardless of the constant distractions. Because when it comes to becoming a nurse, he’s deadly serious. He won’t fail to save someone again.

But Hex Penton is way too similar to the sister he lost, and even though the only thing more fun than stupid dares is the crazy girl who sets them, Jordan needs to make a choice. Hex believes every moment is important; every opportunity must be taken, because you never know when the world will be yanked out from underneath you. With the foundations he’s based his life on shaken, Jordan must discover what’s more important: making sure Hex’s life isn’t wasted, or remembering how to live his.

It’s time to play truth or dare.

***
Wait! is a story about acceptance, learning to trust and in turn love while facing life’s unexpected difficulties.

NB: This book is of a mild heat level, and contains no explicit sex scenes.

 

Review:

[book rating=4.5/5.0]

All along I’d been telling her to stop, when I should have been saying wait. Wait for me.

Wait! by Stacey Nash is the second book in her Oxley College Saga series, though it can be read as a standalone novel. I adored the first book in this series, Shh!, but I absolutely love Wait! Stacey’s voice has grown more confident in the telling of Jordan and Hex’s tale. Jordan is a handsome college freshman with six-pack Superman abs and a snarky grin (I kept picturing Colton Haynes) who also has a kind heart and a sadness in his past that he is trying to ignore. Hex is an outgoing, fun-loving freshman with awesome hair who has no idea what she is doing at college, except running from her own troubled past.

This is a dual POV novel, and both perspectives are well-written. I particularly enjoyed Jordan because he wasn’t the typical alpha male. He had a bit of edge to him but he was really a sweetheart who had no problems showing his softer side. I liked Hex, too, who has her own blend of wit and sarcasm. Stacey Nash does a wonderful job of creating a solid sense of community within her novels and this was no exception. I loved seeing characters from Shh! appear in different roles, and as usual her supporting cast of characters is stellar. I had to laugh, though, as I was reading this story; Oxley College is set in Australia, where the legal drinking age is 18 and where drinking is all but mandatory during freshmen orientation (what they call O-week). During my freshman year, all we got the first week was lecture after lecture about how the legal drinking age is 21 and what the consequences would be if we were caught drinking. Ahh, America.

The writing is warm, sweet, vivid, and genuine. This is becoming one of my favorite series and I’m already looking forward to the next installment, even though I’ll miss Jordan and Hex. I can’t wait to see how they show up in the third book!
4.5 out of 5 stars! Loved it!

Quotes:
“That smile was so deep I could crawl inside it and live happily ever after.”
“A few seconds passed then he laughed, and not with his usual small chuckle. This was a smooth noise, deep, like the rumble of a cascade. I had a new favorite sound.”