Four Years Later: A Novel (One Week Girlfriend Quartet Book 4)

Owen McGuire is your typical college student who lives to play football, and likes to over-indulge in girls, weed and alcohol. However, he has his big sister Fable and his brother-in-law watching out for him and make it clear to him that he cannot go down this path forever. Meeting his new English tutor Chelsea Simmons does something for him, and opens his mind to new possibilities. However, he feels so out of her league that he is unwilling to give into the unwanted attraction he feels around her.What I loved about this book:Enjoyable student/tutor and popular jock/high-achieving nerdy girl romancemlWhat I felt needed improvement:Story turns slightly unrealistic, especially towards the endEven though I enjoyed it, this type of jock/nerd-girl romance is a bit overused, especially since it is a re-write of One Week Girlfriend #1.The whole thing becomes quite predictable too, and always following the same patternCharacters develop way too hurriedly on the account of insta-loveSo it's been a while since I picked up a Monica Murphy book and Four Weeks Later has been on my TBR-shelf for some time. I kind of dreaded reading this book, and although I liked it, I felt that it didn't exactly meet my expectations. It was certainly nice to get re-acquainted to Monica Murphy's writing, which is one of the leading NA/YA voices, and who certainly managed to keep up the good work throughout the series.Four Weeks Later is a standalone Book #4 in the One Week Girlfriend series and is dedicated to Fable's little brother Owen, who is now four years older and in college and experiencing problems of his own. However great this may sound, the storyline itself was disappointing, because it was a copycat of Drew and Fable's situation back in the first book: popular guy falls in love with underdog girl. Add in a little intrigue including drugs, alcohol or even revenge-seeking family members and you get yourself a Monica Murphy worthy plot.But well, I won't condemn it totally. It was still an enjoyable read especially since there was the added bonus of a tutor/student relationship, even though it didn't have as much of an impact as I'd thought (hoped). But character-wise, Owen and Chelsea had quite a realistic feel to them: the lost college golden boy who doesn't have a plan, and the nerdy girl who has it all laid out and has difficulty dealing with the unexpected (ie. her sudden attraction to a boy). Yet, I feel like they change too drastically in the course of the story, which feels unnatural at such pace.Four Years Later will also deal with some bigger issues college-students might have, such as drugs and alcohol abuse, and emotional blackmail. This gave the book a more realistic feel, even though I felt like those issues were not dealt with or regarded/condemned the way they should have.But again, even though it doesn't live up to some of the deeper YA books that compete with it, Four Years Later was quite enjoyable and a nice distraction.

This book was a disappointment for me. I didn't hate it, but I definitely did not love it either. The writing was good, and the characters were well developed, but this book just didn't do it for me, and it took me a while to figure out why.Eventually I figured out that it was because I honestly do not think Owen and Chelsea will last. I am just like Chelsea, and I don't mean that in a "she is so relatable" type of way because honestly, for most people, she is probably not a particularly relatable character, but for me, she was. Skipped a grade? Check. Incredibly socially awkward? Check. Can't string a sentence together in front of a cute guy? Check. And because I understand her, I don't think her and Owen will work. In fact, I don't see the appeal in Owen at all. First of all, he is Fable's little brother who we first met as a 14 year old, so that's weird to begin with, and he is supposed to be this dark, sexy, brooding character, but to me, he was just a whiny drug addict who had every opportunity in the world to turn his life around and wasn't. That's not to say that he didn't have his moments, he did, just not enough of them for me to really love his character.People always say that opposites attract, and that is true up to a point. However, relationships without strong foundations and mutual interests will not last. Owen and Chelsea have absolutely zero in common. At one point one of them, I think it was Chelsea, thought something along the lines of "we only talk about school and flirt and I am falling in love." If you only talk about the classes you are tutoring him in or flirt with him, do you even know anything about him? What is his favorite food? Favorite color? Favorite TV show? His major? This doesn't sound like a strong foundation to me, but I could be alone on that one.The other thing that bothered me was that this book didn't feel like it ended, more like it was just over. When the last chapter of a book, especially one that is the last book in a series, is "One Year Later," I expect it to tell me all about what the characters are up to, what they are planning, and give me an overall warm fuzzy feeling about everyone I met during the series. That is not what happened. Instead I got: "We don't know what we're doing" and "We're in love, so we don't need a plan." Umm... No. That is not how it works, and there is no way Chelsea would actually be okay with that.Despite what this rant of negativity would have you believe, I did not hate this book. However, it definitely fell way short for me.

Although I had pre-paid for this book a while ago, I held off reading it because I honestly didn't think that I was going to like it as much as the other books - I suppose mainly because it was about Owen and not Drew and Fable.Well, this is the only book in the series that I felt strongly enough about to actually write a review!I just loved it.It was such a painfully beautiful and insightful story of young love where the wrong word or the wrong look can destroy fragile happiness.Owen, who seemed like such a little s*** in the previous books and had the potential to go completely off the rails, ended up being the gorgeous bad boy with a heart of gold. Poor Chelsea had her life dominated by her passive, aggressive mother and with no confidence, only lives for her studies. Thank God they found each other!The book was extremely well written and I was also impressed with the spelling, punctuation, grammar and lack of plot errors. I know there are always going to be the odd spelling mistakes, but this book seemed to have very few. So many Kindle books seem to be riven with spelling and plot errors that it often ruins the flow of the story.So Monica Murphy, I noticed at the end of the book, where your previous books in the series were mentioned, there was nothing about your next book. You know you are going to have to write another, don't you? Perhaps Owen + Chelsea Forever? What do you think? I want to know what happens next. You can't leave us with Fable having another baby; Owen not sure if he wants to be a pro footballer; Chelsea taking a gap year (or couple of terms off). You didn't think this tied everything up nicely, did you? I want to read more - and I want to read more about Colin and Jen too! So please don't turn me into a whiney reviewer - do the decent thing - write another book in the series as soon as possible!

Owen is Fable’s brother from One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend and I was very fond of him from those books, when he was a foul-mouthed teen who poor Fable was trying to keep from going off the rails. Owen’s mother is an alcoholic and drug user who never stepped up to the plate for her kids. Fable had to step into that role, and her anger at that, and trying to minimise the distress and damage it caused Owen left her with very little sympathy for her mother, especially when she abandoned her children. Fable has cut her mother out of her life without a backward glance. Owen was always more forgiving towards her and now, four years later Owen’s mother has come back into his life, asking for handouts all the time. He knows he should tell her where to go but deep down he still craves his mother’s love.Owen is living in a pretty good situation; his brother in law, Drew, is doing well in his career as a pro American footballer and he’s bought Owen a house to live in and a car. Owen is potentially good enough to become a pro footballer too, but he needs to keep his grades up to stay on the team, and that is where one problem lies – he’s been cutting class so he can work more at his part time job so he can keep giving his mother money. Owen has also been turning to drink and drugs to curb his anxieties, which obviously could lead to him losing his place on the team. Owen agrees to have a tutor to help his grades in English Literature and creative writing, and this means he meets Chelsea.Chelsea is a bit of a lonely soul. Academically she’s pretty gifted and she was advanced a few years, meaning she made few friends amongst people her age or her older classmates. Her family is dysfunctional, with a mother who has done her best to indoctrinate Chelsea to be independent and stay clear of men while simultaneously behaving in the exact opposite way, allowing Chelsea’s father to walk all over her. Chelsea’s father is currently in prison, which is something she is trying to keep secret, but due to this Chelsea is on a tight budget, hence the tutoring, and a part time job too. She is immediately attracted to Owen, but he has heartbreaker written all over him and so she does her best to keep her distance.Owen has some pretty strong feelings for Chelsea from the beginning too, but he needs the tutoring to raise his grades, doesn’t want to scare Chelsea off and doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for her. These two are a bit like chalk and cheese, he’s foul-mouthed, promiscuous and a casual drug using party boy and she is all work and no play, pretty straitlaced and she is very inexperienced with the opposite sex but the more time they spend together the more they like one another.These two are so sweet together; the differences between them balance each other out really nicely, she loosens up a bit and he cleans up his act. Not everything goes smoothly for these two. I was actually expecting more obstacles, but these two don’t have the same type of big issues that Drew and Fable had to overcome. Reminiscent of Drew, Owen also writes poetry for his lady, but rather than the sweet poems that Drew writes Owen’s are a little more earthy.“I am so lucky. He’s so thoughtful, sweet and funny. He writes me poems. Dirty ones, but I don’t care. They’re beautiful. He’s beautiful. Not perfect, but he’s mine. And I am his.”Awww! I thought this was a lovely way to end the One Week Girlfriend series, I really enjoyed this book.

Owen who featured in the preceding books in this series is Fables brother. Now all grown up he's at college. But lately he's been backsliding his grades are suffering and he's been suspended from the football team. He's forced to have a tutor. This is where Chelsea comes in, she's been asked to help Owen get back on track and catch up with all the assignments he's missed. Owen and Chelsea are complete opposites, but there's an attraction between them but both are afraid to act upon it.Owen is the archetypal bad boy too many women, too much drinking to name but two of his frequent indulgences. He's got some personal issues that he's hiding his sister from Fable. She will hit the roof if she finds out what's going on. Chelsea is a sweet girl, I liked her character a lot. She's not without her own problems. But I really enjoyed reading about these two, the chemistry was hot between them. Owen realises he can't treat Chelsea like he usually treats all the other girls. For once he's having to go slow, actually getting to know a girl. A totally new experience for him.I really liked this story. It has one of my favourite themes.The bad boy falling for the quiet girl that doesn't usually get noticed. This is very well written and is one of the best in this series.

A really enjoyable book. I loved Owen and Chelsea they are both unique, interesting and likeable characters. There is enough angst and heartbreak to keep the story gripping as the romance blossoms between the two leads. Owen can be sweet but also sexy. I liked that the author allowed their relationship to build rather than it all happening within the first few chapters. The only reason it's not 5 stars for me is the book cover is quite cheesy and doesn't reflect the quality of the book.

This book is warm and loving, written in the same way as One Week Girlfriend and those that followed. Owen we know has issues, his mum as well as weed. Chelsea comes into Owens life to tutor him to improve his grades. They hit it off and are attracted to each other. Chelsea has her own secrets. Can they both live with their secrets or will the truth rip them apart.

Wow. I loved this book, couldn't put it down. However I was quite disappointed with the ending. I felt that the book ended quite abruptly, with a happily-ever-after kind of ending. I really wanted to read more about how Owen and Chelsea got through their intense issues, although this may be because I really didn't want the book to end! :) I loved how attentive and understanding Owen was towards Chelsea, especially since she was so inexperienced in comparison. They are definitely an amazing couple, just like Drew and Fable! <3

Well a lovely ending to a great series, I'm so happy that Owen's story was told, he found his HEA eventually, he so deserved it.Highly recommended read, all characters really come full circle and you are pulled along with them all

This book ties up the series and lets us into Owen's world - superb writing yet again! Loved Owen and Chelsea and getting to see Fable and Drew after four years. Will definitely recommend to all my friends and family. Monica Murphy never fails to deliver.

omg Owen is all grown, from the cute boy we meet in One Week Girlfriend to a sexy man in Four Years Later!! I felt like crying. it was a brilliant read. I Recommend it to everyone...

Owen has grown up from the kid we see in the first 2 books but has he matured?Will he make Drew & Fable proud?Will he make the right decisions for his future for HIM & not to please his sister?A MUST read story!

I'm glad that Owen got his story. Enjoyable Read. Nice to still get glimpses of Drew and Fable. Owen is lovely. Colin was dark and brooding. But Drew still steals the series for me.

Good easy read.

Wow this was a great book I was in tears at the end. Please give us more Owen and Chelsea, one book is simply not enough!

What a brilliant set of books I was so pleased to find that she has written another one in the series thank you

Fantastic again. Never want these books to end. Hope to have another with Owen and Chelsea :) maybe I'll find one one day....(hopeful)