Beth's sister died three years ago, but her room is still kept exactly as it was and her space in the cloakroom is still kept aside for her. Beth's parents circle her, controlling her day to day life and making decisions for her so that she has little or no autonomy.
Chase is fresh out of juvie and determined to make a fresh start. When he and Beth meet, they have an instant connection, but when Chase's troubled past is revealed Beth has to decide whether she is going to carry on obeying her parents or follow her heart.
If you can't guess where this book is going just from the synopsis, then you must be pretty dim. Luckily, Erin Watt doesn't leave it long into the book before revealing the horrific connection between Beth and Chase, and concentrates mostly on how they try to work their friendship/relationship out, despite their snarled past.
I did like how the romance was paced and the connection between Beth and Chase. They weren't my favourite couple ever, but they did seem to have some chemistry. The thing Erin Watts is best at is provoking a reaction in their readers, and they certainly did that here.
Beth's parents were a bit overboard int heir rules and restrictions and while Erin Watts' writing style provoked the right responses in me (outrage, irritation), there was a bit of my brain that kept going, 'Waaaait a second. Really? Would they really be THAT unreasonable? Why doesn't she take some morre control over her life?' Like their choice of university for Beth. Her parents want her to attend an online university so that she can just stay livinng at home with them. Which infuriated me at the injustice, but also made me annoyed; like why didn't she just decide where she wanted to go to university and pay her own damn tuition money?
I don't think I will ever not like an Erin Watts book. This one didn't really hit the mark that their other workds have done, but it was still a decent summer read.
3 stars