Carolina Days #2

Lindsay is agoraphobic and hosts a hugely popular fashion blog. She hires Luke, who was introduced in The Other Side of Someday, to help her get in shape for her 10-year high school reunion. Although the training starts out virtually through video chat, Luke slowly manages to integrate himself in Lindsay’s life, meeting her in person and getting her to open up, leave her house, and take a chance on him. But Lindsay is keeping a secret – the reason she doesn’t interact with the outside world – that could destroy everything she has built.

Don’t hate me, I’m a fan of Carey, but…this was not my cup of tea. It’s a wonderful story and an interesting concept. My neighbor is agoraphobic. As in, I’ve never seen her, but I see her trash on trash day; she has her groceries delivered (go Peapod); and the lights go on and off. My mom claims to have met her briefly, but I have my doubts. Anyhoo, I digress.

This is not your typical, girl meets boy, falls in love in two weeks, and live happily ever after, story. The majority of the story is Luke getting Lindsay to even let him hold her hand. Then, the climax of the reunion (or what I thought was going to be the climax) was over in a snap. I wanted Lindsay to lay the smackdown (at least verbally) on her arch nemesis – the horrible, horrible excuse for a woman responsible for Lindsay being the way she is. I also wanted to know if anything came from that opportunity Luke had in his storyline.

The characters are well developed. Carey does a really good job of detailing their lives, thoughts, and emotions it’s hard to believe they are fictional characters. There was so much buildup through the most of the book the ending just seemed oversimplified.  For me, this was like a roller coaster with a really long, really tall ascension, but then the rest of the roller coaster was really short and disappointing. 😦