3 STARS ✮ LAUREN LAYNE ✮ BLURRED LINES

LOVE STORY

Blurred Lines #3

by

Lauren Layne

Parents mean well. They always want to help but sometimes they don't mind throwing you under the bus by doing so. Lucy is supposed to start her new job in California in two weeks - her car however decides to break down shortly before she wants to leave her childhood home. Her parents come up with a genius plan. Since her (secret) ex-boyfriend, the cheater, is heading the same way, why not share the family car to get there? Lucy is everything but thrilled but not much she can do as the car was promised to Reece to begin with. 

Reece is seething. He has to deal with his ex for two weeks. The girl who used to mean everything to him. How are they supposed to stay civil when there is nothing but bad blood and hard feelings between them now. When they leave they both are dead-set on keeping away from each other. As their journey progresses each of them tries hard not to let the other one see what they both know is still there: their insane sexual chemistry and a hurt so deep that neither of them is over it yet. 

"Go tell your family goodbye. Let's get this nightmare on the road."
Right. Right. Because heaven forbid we put off the inevitable of finishing what we started years ago: destroying each other. 

This story is told in both first person POVs and in flashbacks outlining Reece's and Lucy's friendship from when they were kids to the day they fell apart. While this is always a bit hard to pull off it worked with this book and I attribute it to the length of the flashback chapters. They aren't overly long, just the right size. And through these chapters I learned who they were and it made it possible for me to view Reece in a better light. Because you see, he was really hard to love.

Lucy crawled on her hands and knees over to him, and he noticed the smashed Kleenex box in her hand. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, she sat beside him on the platform, swinging her legs around to dangle like his, and handed Reece the Kleenex box.

I'm usually very easy on the heroes in books and the heroines usually have it harder winning me over. This time it was the opposite. I love my alphaholes like the next girl but Reece was unfortunately too much of a jerk to Lucy and I just couldn't connect with him. Granted, he had abandonment issues and insecurities but boy, the guy was testy. If it hadn't been for the sweet connection of their childhood I would have given up on him. He was despicable to Lucy at times and he really deserved a casual hard kick in his family jewels.

"See, I just watched the way you attempted to juggle multiple girlfriends and failed, and then did the exact opposite."
He glances at me then, a mocking smile on his face.
"Oh sweetheart. When did I ever claim you as my girlfriend?"

Ouch.
He keeps repeating in his inner monologues that Lucy is a childish brat, when the only one acting like one is him.

"Bullshit," he snaps, before lowering his voice and leaning forward. "You're the reason we ... broke up. Shit, were we even dating?"
I lean forward. "I sure as hell thought so when I handed over my V card."
His eyes narrow. "You act like you handed it over easily. Like it didn't take me all goddamn summer to get into your pants."

Double - ouch.

Lucy didn't let him get away with it, thankfully. While she had big reservations in the beginning of their road trip she tried, yet and again, to be nice and stay civil. I really admired how she stood up to her ex-boyfriend who hurt her so badly and didn't let him drag her down. Which was a feat in my book since Reece really was an idiot a lot of times. I alternately screamed at my kindle or rolled my eyes at it. In the end I had a hard time rooting for them and thought Lucy deserved better.

While this wasn't a complete winner for me it still had a lot of enjoyable moments. It was a quick, surprisingly angsty read with the road trip feel when you get to travel through the country, driving in a car, listening to whatever is on the radio and without having to hurry to get to your goal. Again, the reminder to not let my review sway you. We all have different expectations from a story so it might be totally down your alley!