Reviewer: Tracy Miles From Kara by Melissa West
Series: Charleston Haven #2
Also in this series: Pieces of Olivia
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: December 2nd 2014
Genres: New Adult
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Series Rating:
Kara Marcus is desperate to forget the past and move on. But she can’t escape her choices—especially when she finds herself falling in love…
Since the first day she stepped into her childhood Southern Baptist church, two truths have been engrained in Kara Marcus’s head: sex before marriage is bad and murder is a sin. And that’s why Kara can never forgive herself for what she did at the age of sixteen.
Now, as second semester of freshman year comes to a close, Kara has stood by her high school boyfriend, Ethan. But as they seem to grow further and further apart every day, Kara realizes that she has feelings for someone else: Ethan’s roommate Colt.
Suddenly, Kara’s clear-cut world shifts out of focus, and she’s torn between what her head tells her is right and what her heart is desperately pushing her to do—even if it means committing another undeniable sin...
Tracy’s review of Miles from Kara (Charleston Haven #2) by Melissa West
Kara has been dating Ethan for a pretty long time. Unfortunately she’s not really feeling it for him any longer – especially when his hot Aussie roommate is around. She knows it’s wrong and tries to stop herself from looking at Colt but she just can’t. She soon realizes that she is better friends with Ethan and breaks it off with him. He seems to pretty much feel the same so it’s relatively amiable.
Not long after that Kara finds herself with Colt as he’s staying in Charleston Haven for the summer. The pair hang out but soon can’t deny their attraction to each other any longer. Colt is such a good guy and careful with Kara. He doesn’t rush her with anything and he respects the hell out of her.
Kara spends the summer working at a non-profit clinic trying to decide if psychology is really what she wants her major to be. There she meets Maggie who is 16 and pregnant. At first Kara can’t even bring herself to look at Maggie because when Kara was 16 she too became pregnant. She had gotten an abortion against her wishes (forceful mother) and has a hard time dealing with Maggie but eventually latches on to Maggie rather than push her away. Despite everyone telling her that she’s getting too close to Maggie and too involved she seems to see Maggie as her second chance at having a baby.
The story is not only about the romance and relationship between Colt and Kara but also about Kara finding herself and dealing with the abortion that she had 3 years previously. She grows and learns about herself with the help of several different people – all people who have her best interests at heart.
I loved seeing Kara grow throughout the book. Was she stubborn and pig-headed at times? Oh, yeah, definitely. But she needed to ride that emotional rollercoaster in order to come out on the other side a better person. I also admired Colt for his clear-headedness and insight when it came to Kara. He truly saw her and could read her like a book. He was kind and patient (well, except for that one time) with her and I just adored his character (he was sexy as hell, too! :)).
We got to see Preston and Olivia in this book as well as some other characters that we met in book one of the series. I was happy to see that the friendships, fun and budding new relationships in this book. Based on what I read in this book the next one’s going to be a doozer but in the best possible way. I can’t wait.
Rating: 4 out of 5
This title is available from InterMix. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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