Where the Road Takes Me by Jay McLean (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Amazon Pub on February 1st 2015
Genres: Coming of Age, Fiction, General, Romance
Format: eARC
Chloe has one plan for the future, and one plan only: the road. She's made a promise to herself: don't let anyone in, and don't let anyone love her. She's learned the hard way what happens if she breaks her rules. So she's focused on being invisible and waiting until she can set out on the road--her dream of freedom, at least for a little while. Blake Hunter is a basketball star who has it all--everything about him looks perfect to those on the other side of his protective walls. He can't let anyone see the shattered pieces behind the flawless facade or else all his hopes and dreams will disappear. One dark night throws Chloe and Blake together, changing everything for Blake. For Chloe, nothing changes: she has the road, and she's focused on it. But when the so-called perfect boy starts to notice the invisible girl, they discover that sometimes with love, no one knows where the road may lead.
I grabbed this book on a whim, mostly because of the cover, but also because some of Jay McLean’s books have been on my TBR list for a while so I figured why not!
Chloe has spent her years in foster care never connecting to anyone, never tying herself down, and never letting anyone in. It’s easier that way when they move her to a new house or family or school. She has one plan after graduation, and that’s “the road”. Nothing is going to side-track that.
On the outside, Blake has everything … popularity, the cheerleader girlfriend, all the money he needs and a home to go to each and every night. But it’s a façade and he can’t show anyone what his real life is actually like.
When Chloe stumbles out of the bushes and he literally runs into her, he stops to help, but what seems like just a good deed turns into a night where he finds himself finally connecting to someone and despite all her efforts to push him away he isn’t ready to give her up! But Chloe isn’t changing her plans for anyone… not even the one guy she’s let herself form a connection with.
What I liked…
I really truly enjoyed the slow relationship build here. Chloe and Blake form this bond of friendship before it moves to anything romantic and it was nice to see that. Sure you can see it coming from a mile away, but they didn’t rush into anything.
I also really liked seeing the relationship between Josh and Blake – I love that he was a support to Josh and his situation.
What I didn’t like…
I struggled so hard to connect with Chloe as a character. I get why she pushed people away, and why she felt she had to stick to her plans, but it was hard to be sympathetic to her when the family she did have was begging her not to go and to she refused to see how much they cared about her.
I felt like a lot of was just too convenient and just formulated and ultimately that’s what dropped this book down for me. Plus, the ending did not work for me at all. And Blake, while I found myself really liking him, there were things about him that I realized really drove me nuts. I hate to say that he was ‘too perfect’ because honestly, the whole first half of the book he has a girlfriend… and well he’s trying to hook up with Chloe the entire time, but he always says just the right thing, his mom comes through at just the right time… I don’t know, after a bit it was a little irritating.
Anyway, this was an okay read for me. It didn’t blow me away, but I think I blame that more on the fact that I didn’t connect with our main character Chloe at all.
The writing was well done, and the story, while having quite a few too many coincidences and clichés, was still enjoyable.
I’ll definitely check out McLean’s other books and give them a try, but this one was just not a hit for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my thoughts.
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