Recommended for ages 17 years+
Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think
out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the
same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story.
And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything
fell apart.
Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward,
Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But
after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown North Carolina, she
makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far
behind.
With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few
necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound
bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew
Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark
secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed
never to fall in love.
But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things
she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live
out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their
sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life,
pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined
possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear
them completely apart?
I had one single thought as I began reading The Edge of
Never, “why haven’t I read this sooner?”. I had bought the book almost a year
ago. It sounded so appealing at the time but somehow life managed to get busy
as usual and I got distracted by other shiny objects and this had to wait.
There has to be something said for things coming about at the right time or
place because this time around, there were no excuses to set this aside.
I think what I liked most about Camryn is that she spoke for
those of us who have this sense of wanderlust. How many of us wish that we
could just chuck aside adult responsibility a bit? I relished living
vicariously through her as she decided one day to screw work and her mundane routine
to head out on a bus to that mecca of awesomeness – Idaho. I didn't see her as pessimistic or whiney.
She needed to make drastic changes in her life because she knew she was restricted
by her current circumstance. Going away
for a while allowed her that distance to think freely and just breath. Then
Andrew gets on the bus at one of the stops and the contemplative, quiet bus ride
becomes interesting.
One word to describe Camryn and Andrew together: electric. They’re
sort of opposites-attract who are in similar places in their lives looking for
freedom. After being in Camryn’s head for a few chapters, I was happy (and surprised because I wasn't expecting it) to read
Andrew’s narrative because his take on her is so spot on. The fact that she
finds him rather obnoxious in the beginning doesn't hurt their chemistry. In
fact, there were a few times where I laughed out loud because they reminded me of me and my hubby – he likes to rile me up, tease me and mess with
me just the way Andrew does with Camryn.
It’s no surprise that she eventually goes from sour to light-hearted when they eventually go off on their road trip. As for Andrew, he’s
just a dream. Looks aside, the guy is good-hearted and even looked out for
Camryn (unbeknownst to her) before they got to know each other. He's a stud who carries no pretense or insecurities. He snaps her out of her funk. He wakes her up to new possibilities, encouraging her to let loose and throw caution to the wind every once in a while. He's not perfect and he's secretive about his problems so Camyrn gives him the space he needs. She's there for him as much as he is for her.
In this day and age where everyone is skeptical and overtly cautious, I was happy to read about a couple taking a gigantic leap of faith. Traveling around the
country with a stranger is not exactly the brightest thing to do but once
again, being there at the right time and place, there was a reason these two
were drawn together. The longer they're together chipping away at their exteriors, the deeper their affection grows. And that chemistry I mentioned earlier? WOW! Their intensity makes sense after their time together and how they've grown to feel about each other. That's not to say there weren't a few details that bothered me as their relationship intensified but still they're amazing together.
I say if you’re a romantic and love adventure, this is your book. Even with the few minor issues I had, the greatest joy I had was reading how Camryn and Andrew, through their own personal pain transform each other into better people. Oh and Redmerski provides us with a pretty stellar soundtrack for this road trip. I really liked it and I hope you do too!
~ Bel
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