Hydraulic Level Five by Sarah Latchaw
Romance Contemporary
E book, 225 pages
Omnific Publishing

Reviewed by Tori

How does a woman get over her one great love? With whitewater rafting, bluegrass, and a touch of revenge…

Kaye is an extreme sports addict with a kind heart and an axe to grind with her childhood sweetheart and ex-husband, renowned writer Samuel Caulfield Cabral. While Samuel enjoys a celebrity life in New York, Kaye remains in their hometown of Lyons, Colorado, running her PR agency and chatting daily with Samuel’s family, the beloved Cabrals—first-generation Mexican-Americans who have embraced Kaye as their own.

But when Samuel returns home for his sister’s wedding with a new love interest, stunning editor Caroline Ortega, the gloves are stripped off. Kaye is determined to unearth the reasons behind the death of their marriage and why two people who lived to love each other were driven apart, all leading to startling revelations about Samuel, about life…and about herself. (Goodreads)

Hydraulic Level Five by Sarah Latchaw was brought to my attention by Jane from Dear Author. She tweeted about it and in reading her light review on Goodreads, I was intrigued by the premise. I have always enjoyed second chance love stories. There is something addicting in seeing a love affair gone wrong and the efforts the couple will put into making it right again. Lately, those tropes have been mired in over blown dramatics and angst with dollops of miscommunication and the required villous figure who helps in facilitating our couples relationship demise. The mapping out of the story is easy to follow and you know exactly how it will end. just not the specifics of the journey.

What I truly enjoyed about this story is the lack of formula. As I started reading I became fully invested in Samuel and Kaye’s story. It is an emotional,  honest journey of love, loss, regret, guilt, and forgiveness. Well written with a smooth storyline, well plotted conflicts, and an underlying message of forgiveness that forces our couple to look deep inside themselves for the answers  to their questions. Strong realistic characters will sweep you up and break your heart as you follow this tremulous love story.

Aspen Kaye Trilby has loved Samuel Cabral forever. When they divorced, she began to reinvent herself in order to overcome the feelings of inadequacy he left her with.  An adrenaline junkie with a successful PR business, she is comfortable with her life but unable to move forward. Samuel left her with too many questions and no answers.

Samuel is a best selling author who seems content with his choices. When he left Kaye, he never looked back and that hurt Kaye tremendously. He rejected not only her love, but their friendship. With a successful career and beautiful new girlfriend by his side, Sam looks like he has moved on with his life. But appearances can be deceiving and Sam’s demons are a constant battle he faces everyday.

When Sam comes home for his sister’s wedding, Kaye is determined to get the answers she has waited seven long years for. But can Kaye get past the hurt and pain to dig deep for the answers she wants? Or will history repeat itself and leave Kaye once again alone and in the dark?

Told primarily in Kaye’s voice with interjections by Samuel through passages in a book he’s writing, we get an emotional look at their life in both the present and the past. How they met, as they fell in love, and when it began to all fall apart. We learn more about Kaye and Samuel as individuals. A pattern begins to form that clues the reader into the underlying issues that were swept aside and the secrets that affected their lives and ultimately their marriage.

This is not a typical romance story. This story dissects the lives of two people and looks deep into their souls. A strong emotional base leaves the reader with a bittersweet feeling as we watch our protagonists try to overcome past behavior in order to move forward. There is no real villain in here. No one person can be blamed. One event was the catalyst yet their path was almost predetermined. Humor and tears follow Sam and Kaye through their journey of self discovery and healing. Their issues are real and not plot elements tossed in to make a more dynamic story.

I really enjoyed how Ms. Latchaw doesn’t give an easy fix to their relationship. The characters have to work hard to repair the damage they each played a part in creating. You can feel the anger, resentment, confusion, and hurt rolling off of them. The emotional baggage that Kaye and Sam each carry needs to be addressed and the author allows that to happen in a realistic manner. It’s painful as you watch these two struggle to repair their friendship and find a way to forgive each other and themselves.

Fabulous secondary characters add to the emotional catharsis with their own recollections, stories, and advice. Samuel and Kaye’s families are close and when the marriage went south, more than just Sam and Kaye’s hearts were broken. I liked that both families tried to provide what emotional support they could to the couple but also did what they felt was best when the situations arose. They didn’t always make the best decisions but they did the best they could at the time. And isn’t that what life is all about? Doing the best we can and hoping that it is good enough to survive the outcome?

The ending is satisfying in that our couple comes to terms with the past and look towards the future. We aren’t given a concrete happily ever after however we are left with a good feeling towards the couple and their relationship. Ms. Latchaw does attach a brief excerpt of the sequel, entitled Skygods. Release date unknown.

Rating: B

Goodreads l Author Website l Publisher

Amazon