The Secret of Ella and Micah by Jessica Sorenson

Source:  Purchased
Genre:  New Adult
Publisher: Forever
Date Published:  September 30, 2012
Number of Pages: 313

Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. 

Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes.  (from Goodreads)

This is, by far, my favorite New Adult I've read thus far.  The characters are well developed, and I loved the different POVs for the main characters.  While I didn't necessarily agree with the title (their secret?  I couldn't honestly tell you), there was a very happy medium between drama and love and finding yourself.  

Ella and Micah's romance is subtle, but building on itself, and it doesn't feel too lovey lovey.  There are some intimate scenes so I wouldn't recommend this for younger teenagers (I was reading romance novels at 15 so who am I to judge)  but it never got to a point where I was like "Just get it over with!"  

***The spelling of Micah can be Micha depending on what service you use.  I went to school with a guy named Micah, who would always correct the spelling.  Just in case it's spelled differently in the novel, considering I don't have it in front of me at the moment!***

5 out of 5 Happy Clouds :)

Highly recommend this New Adult novel, and I'm resisting the urge to pick up it's sequel, The Forever of Ella and Micah, right away.  I have too much on my TBR (I'm over 500 now...how did this happen??!!) but I'm sure I'll pick it up this summer, along with it's companion novel, The Temptation of Lila and Ethan (Ella's roommate and Micah's best friend).