Miles from Kara by Melissa West (Charleston Haven #2)
Released: December 2, 2014
New Adult
Penguin Intermix
Reviewed by Mandi
I expected this book to be darker than it was based on the blurb. Instead, I think this book is written for a younger audience than my 36 years. I felt like I was reading about a very immature heroine who eventually got on my nerves so much that I disliked this book.
Kara Marcus got pregnant at 16 and her mom dragged her to the doctor to have an abortion, never giving Kara a chance to make her own decision. Now in college, she still deals with the guilt of this. Her relationship with her boyfriend Ethan is falling apart on both sides, and she is falling for his roommate Colt. Colt is Australian and hot and dreamy and everything Kara wants. After some lusty and meaningful glances and conversations between the two of them, Kara breaks it off with Ethan. Then we have many pages of Kara unsure if Colt really likes her (he does) and she has her first orgasm and she falls in love. We don’t get to know Colt all that well. He has a rocky relationship with his father and is a great designer. He is a pretty even-keeled guy. No super drama surrounding him. All the drama is saved for Kara.
Kara is a psychology major. She accepts a volunteer position at a counseling center called Helping Hands near campus. She meets with troubled teens and college students, supposed to be only giving advice, and calling for certified adult if a real problem aries. Kara is unsure if psychology is the right major for her so she thinks this will give her an opportunity to test it out.She gets saddled with a pregnant teenager who doesn’t’ know if she should give the baby up for adoption. With Kara’s abortion a few years earlier, this throws Kara into the past and she becomes very close with this teenager. She crosses the line of counselor to friend, and all sorts of problems erupt. She starts to fall in love with this unborn child and buys the teen gifts. She gets angry if the teen leans towards adoption rather than keeping the baby. She goes to ultrasound appointments with her. All against the advice of her boss, therapist and friends. This storyline becomes the lead story in the book, throwing the romance to the side. This side of Kara, this immature, clingy, side did not work for me. Also, Kara thinks she is pretty perfect. Her friends think she is pretty perfect. I wanted someone to shake her and tell her to grow up. I wanted her boss to not threaten to fire her but actually do it. She doesn’t have a degree or any type of training, and now she is counseling this scared, troubled teenager? She got on my nerves. I don’t mind an abortion storyline, but the way Kara acted – it annoyed me rather than have me feel sympathy for her.
This was a miss for me.
Rating: D
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