Friday, February 28, 2014

REVIEW: Anywhere but Here by Anna Cruise



Jacie Winslow is in the last place she wants to be.

Home.

Forced to leave school when she discovers her tuition money has mysteriously disappeared, Jacie returns to the barren wasteland of Silver Valley. Suddenly, she's back in her own version of hell, living with her irresponsible mother—and her mother's newest derelict boyfriend.

Stuck working a dead-end job in the local coffee shop as she tries to figure out a way back to college, Jacie meets Cade, a stranger who claims to just be passing through town. Jacie can't help but wonder if there's more to his story and, as she gets to know him better, finds him to be the lone
bright spot in Silver Valley.

But bright spots are fleeting in this desolate desert town. Especially when Jacie discovers the truth about what happened to the money she'd painstakingly saved—and what she'll need to do to get it back.

  
 
 
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20898677-anywhere-but-here?from_search=true




Really loved this! This is my third Anna Cruise book and definitely my favorite out of the three I've read. I saw that she released this book last night and decided to buy it on a whim. One minute I was starting it with the intention of only reading a little before I went to bed, and the next minute I was done! There's just something about her writing that's really engaging to me. It's not over the top, overly angsty, or anything like that. It's just a book about a normal girl -- with big dreams -- that's down on her luck. You have to be a good story teller to be able to sell a story like that!

The story. . .

The main character in the story, Jacie, has just returned to her hometown because her mother drained all the money in her college fund. She's devastated, pissed off, and really determined. She doesn't want to be stuck in a nowhere town forever, so she's trying to figure out a way to get the hell out of Dodge. Between her worthless mom and her mom's slimy new boyfriend, she's handling everything the best she can.

She meets Cade, a guy who starts frequenting the coffee shop she works at, and gives him the cold shoulder right away. Handsome or not she's as prickly as ever. She has no desire to make any more connections to a town she plans to leave in the dust. Cade has his own secrets though and something about Jacie catches his eye. He loves her attitude and she finds it difficult to resist his charms (eventually). Can this good guy change her perspective on the wreckage that is her life?

Overall. . .

I loved it. I really did. I thought the character development was awesome. I personally found Jacie to be a really relatable and likeable character. I adored Cade. I liked all the other secondary characters. There really wasn't anything I didn't like. For me, sometimes the NA world gets a little rundown with the same old, same old and this was a good detour to take. It's not your run of the mill NA story. In fact, if your looking for heavy, steamy romance, this isn't the book for you. The book focuses on Jacie overcoming her hardships as much as it does the romance between her and Cade. Jacie and Cade build a solid friendship that turns into a romance (but it's light). I probably would liked to have seen a little bit more of their relationship, but I liked everything the way it was too. I dug the witty banter and sarcasm. Loved Jacie's spunky attitude and Cade's good intentions. Yeah. It was a good read. So read it.
4.5 Stars
 

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