Carried Away
Sometimes, going back home requires a big step forward.
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1. CARRIED AWAY by P. Dangelico
SYNOPSIS
Carrie Anderson—truth seeker, storyteller, journalist-at-large—is bad at social media and great at getting herself into trouble.
When she’s fired from her dream job for an ill-advised tweet, she has no other choice but to return to the town where she grew up with her head hung low. It’s temporary after all. She can work at her family’s bed and breakfast, fix her finances, and get back to her life and home in Los Angeles. There’s only one not-so-little problem... the grouchy ex-NHL star making her rethink what home means.
Jake Turner—great at hockey, bad at people—is not a happy man. Haunted by his past, all he wants is to disappear into obscurity, to get away from the scrutiny of the press he’s been under since going pro at nineteen. But when the press finds him, disappearing is no longer an option. Worse yet, the same journalist he’s trying to avoid is making him reconsider whether being forgotten is what he really wants.
BOOK REVIEW
Carried Away was definitely an enjoyable quick and easy read, but something (which I cannot necessarily point out at the moment) seemed off… Maybe it was the not so subtly covered parallels that were drawn to certain events in real life (you’ll catch them in the book, no doubt). Maybe it was the sometimes too predictable dragging of the plot. Or maybe it was the somewhat forced relationship between the main characters. And what I mean by ‘forced’ is that the connection felt groundless, instantaneous but in a weird sort of way (?) and uneven. I honestly don’t know…
“What do you expect out of life, Anderson? Because I’m afraid you’re gonna be sorely disappointed.”
I won’t bullshit you guys and straight-out say that I didn’t like the heroine. Carrie Anderson was over-the-top dramatic, unpredictable and impulsive, tended to jump to annoying conclusions (which may have been intended to be funny but failed to do so, at least in my humble opinion) and made decisions I personally would never make (in other words, totally not relatable). Her insecurities (which may have been intended to add some depth to the character but once again failed to do so, in my personal opinion) seemed rather silly, while her thoughts and attitudes—very selfish and rude. Okay, I think you got the general picture.
There’s something deeply satisfying about discovering someone I thought was a self-centered ogre is actually a good person.
The hero was more interesting but, unfortunately, not developed to his full potential. Jake Turner was gruff and standoffish on the outside, but extremely sweet, kind and nice in nature. It was just that something terrible happened to him in the past and left the guy hanging over a lonely pitfall and having no idea how to move on with his own life. I definitely felt for him, but fifty more pages would have made such a difference, hopefully giving the created threads more substance and emotional value.
“Anymore chemistry and we’d burn down the house if we ever slept together.”
Ehm… The chemistry was there but absent at the same time. It was the case of more telling rather than showing. I mean, the scenes were descriptive and more kindling rather than scorching hot. But the major thing was I really didn’t get where it all came from at some point. And I cannot even explain what happened between them. It just… happened.
“Life is a journey, someone much wiser than me once said. And if that’s true, then maybe mine is destined to have few more twists and turns than most.”
Carried Away did touch upon a number of serious issues but roughly and very briefly. I didn’t get enough time to fully process the events and their repercussions on the story flow…
Anyway, to sum everything up, the book was still very enjoyable (because I like Paola’s writing style) but I wasn’t carried away.