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Miles From Kara (2014)

by Melissa West(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Penguin / InterMix

series

Charleston Haven

review 1: 2.5 stars While I enjoyed the YA style of writing from Melissa West, nothing really stood out to me with this one. Two different storylines seem to be happening and neither really meshed in my mind as supporting each other until the last 20% to 30% of the book.I was initially intrigued by the synopsis of this book and immediately wanted to read it. Another undeniable sin. The consequences of a choice made at her younger age of sixteen. The potential love triangle. All of those things told me that I was in for an amazing experience. Unfortunately, this one fell short for me.Kara is a young girl fresh into her college years and sharing space on campus with her high school friends. She tries so hard to be real and not become what she perceives her mother to be...a liar... more and a fraud. But, Kara is all of those things when it comes to herself. She is in denial about her hurt and pain when it comes to the decision that was made for her when she was sixteen. She's angry and her anger doesn't go unnoticed by her friends.Ethan is Kara's high school sweetheart. He's unattentive to her, leaving for jaunts with his frat buddies weekends at a time and never really spends time with her. He cancels more than he shows for their dates. Her friends question her anger toward him, but I would be angry at him, too. Do they not notice that he's never there? He allegedly loves her, but it isn't shown in his actions. They've grown apart, and her attention is more focused on Colt, Ethan's Aussie roommate.Colt is a surfer looking (in my mind), tattooed student originating from Australia but having been raised in the states. Unknown to Kara at first, Colt shares the attraction she feels and makes that known once Ethan is out of the picture. He is the perfect boyfriend, despite his personal issues with his family. He has a sad past but doesn't let it interfere with his relationship with Kara. In fact, he is very mature and wise when it comes to Kara and her issues. I fell for Colt in a hard way and could see exactly why Kara was so attracted to him. Heck, I wanted a Colt of my own!So, why didn't this book measure up for me? Well, there seemed to be two storylines that were supposed to be intertwined, I suppose, but they just didn't mesh very well me; they both seemed separate and only connected in the last part of the book for me. The first part of the book was all about Kara crushing on Colt and seemed a bit repetitive at times in the telling of her crush. There is a huge secret that Kara is carrying on her shoulders, causing grief and a serious internal conflict for Kara. At first, I thought the Colt - Ethan - Kara storyline was the main storyline because the secret was only mentioned a couple of times during the first 30% or so. But, during the last half of the book, the secret became the primary focus of the plot and Colt became secondary. Unfortunately, the big secret storyline was hidden too well in the day to day motions of Kara. I would have preferred more focus and intensity surrounding Kara's issues and conflict.I loved the last 20% of the book, but there were never any really intense moments throughout my reading that would take me over the edge. While this is book #2 in the Charleston Haven series, it can be read as a standalone. At first, I didn't feel that I was missing out by not reading the first book in the series because the premise of Olivia is explained in Miles from Kara. However, perhaps I might have felt differently and connected a little better had I met Kara in the first book. No two people read the same book, and there are plenty of glowing reviews out there for this one. As always, I encourage you to be your own judge and form your own opinions of a book. This is simply a review of the book based on my thoughts and opinions after reading it.
review 2: Wonderful! Kara's coming to terms with her past was well thought through and the raw emotion- logical or not- made her very relatable. I thought I would have a hard time thinking in Kara's mind, since I was so used to Olivia's perspective (having just finished Pieces of Olivia). But their personalities are so different that it didn't take too long. Her outward appearance in PoO was much more upbeat. It was interesting to get to know her inner dialogue, which was much more somber and reflective. I loved Colt, but he almost seemed too good to be true. I kind of wish he had a little more bad boy to him. But don't get me wrong! He plays a super supportive partner for Kara. I think I would have appreciated a little more background on Colt.I liked the strong presence of Olivia and Preston in Kara's life, and the addition of Taylor and Sarah's budding relationship smells like a book 3!!! less

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