Wish You Were Here by Renee Carlino Review

4.5 Smooches

Synopsis

Charlotte has spent her twenties adrift, floating from interest to interest, job to job, and guy to guy, searching for a spark but never quite finding it. All she knows is that she won’t discover it working as a waitress at a pies-and-fries joint in Los Angeles or living with her fun but aimless best friend in a tiny apartment in the Arts District.

Then Charlotte collides with Adam, a gorgeous and soulful painter who seems just as lost as she feels. Their instant connection turns into a midnight drink… and a whirlwind night of champagne, Chinese food, and the kind of conversation that only happens in romantic comedies. But the next morning, Adam gives Charlotte the cold shoulder, leaving her confused and hurt—and wondering if the few odd moments between them the night before were red flags in disguise.

Months later, Charlotte hasn’t been able to shake Adam, so she decides to find out what happened the morning after their magical night together. This fateful decision rewrites their wild love story, but what Charlotte doesn’t know yet is that the ending has already been written.

Review

WOW! Now that was an emotional rollercoaster ride. I had so many strong feelings when reading this book that it is impossible to deny what an amazing writer Renee Carlino is. My emotions were all over the place when reading. At times I was in love with these flawed characters and at times I wanted to smack some sense into them But the moral is I was constantly feeling something. A sign of a great book.

I can’t go into great plot detail because . . .  spoilers, but this book hurt in that way that makes you feel alive. I wasn’t always happy with where it went and I was often quite mad at the protagonist, Charlotte, and her self-centered ways but ultimately I wanted to see where she would end up. For me while there is a heavy romance aspect, that did get sexy at times, this almost read like women’s fiction. While the romance was a driving force in the plot, the real story was Charlotte’s self discovery and her finally learning to let go and love herself and love life.

Wish You Were Here is a powerful story but be prepared . . .  tissues are a necessity and try not to question to much, just go along for the ride.

~miranda