Title: Drowning In You
Author: Rebecca Berto
Publisher: April 5th 2013 by author
Format: Paperback, 316 pages
Source: XPresso Book Tours
Series: Drowning in You | Finding Forever in Us
Secretly crushing
Crushed by a tragedy
Charlee May’s been crushing on Dexter Hollingworth since she was fifteen. Five years later, a horrific skiing disaster at Mason’s Ski Lift Resort leaves her millionaire dad critically injured and her mom dead at the hands of Dexter operating the lifts. Charlee is suddenly the sole caretaker for her little brother while their world falls apart.
Dexter couldn’t be more different from Charlee. He’s tattooed, avoids exclusive relationships and his Dad has a fair share of illegal dealings. With Dexter’s reputation, almost everyone believes he planned the Mason’s skiing disaster.
And after all these years he’s still crushing on Charlee May, the girl who’s too good for him.
When this cruel twist of fate ties Charlee’s family and Dexter’s reputation together, Charlee and Dexter wonder if their feelings are reciprocated, while Dexter discovers his dad is trying to steal the May’s millionaire fortune.
But like an addiction, one look, one touch, one taste—they’re hooked no matter the consequences.
Charlee just lost her mom and her dad is clinging to life, thanks to an accident at a ski resort, where her long-time crush just happened to be working the ski lift that failed. She tries to be strong for her little brother, but she’s finding it harder and harder, especially as her dad starts to talk about his death like it’s coming any minute. Dexter feels terrible about his part in the accident, but doesn’t let that stop him from finally making a move on his long-time crush.
Dexter was a typical bad boy – tatted man-whore with a hidden gentle soul. Everyone thought he was a druggie, but really, he just had a problem maintaining his diabetes, and his hypoglycemic episodes made everyone think he was high. He had a close relationship with his mother, a nurse who was caring for Charlee’s dad, but his dad was an asshat who he didn’t get along with. We never got to know Charlee before the accident, so I can’t say a lot about her personality, but she seemed like a fairly strong person with a good head on her shoulders. Her little brother was a very mature 10-year old, and I liked his character quite a bit.
The plot was an interesting one; can someone person love the person who’s responsible for their parent’s death? And can the person responsible move past the guilt to love the other? It was presented realistically, though I did have a few issues with it overall. We didn’t learn the details of the ski lift accident right away, and I felt the story would have benefited from having this information at the same time as everyone else. People were blaming Dexter for the accident but I kept wondering why.
Every other chapter or so was told in alternating point of views, which was nice. I always like being right in the head of the characters. It makes it easier to understand them and their motivations. The dialogue was kind of choppy, with incomplete thoughts. Actually, the entire thing was choppy and jumpy. In fact, the one thing I kept thinking was how frantic everything was. Not the story itself, but the way people spoke and acted. It lacked a smoothness and finesse.
There’s a sadness (obviously) with Charlee’s mother’s death, and her father’s declining health, and usually it was handled realistically. But I also felt some of it was rushed or just glossed over. There was one part I loved though, when Charlee was coming on to Dexter and he recognized it was her pain speaking, not her, and he handled it so beautifully. That really showed how mature he was, and made me think maybe he did deserve her after all.
This shows on Goodreads as the first book in a series, but I don’t see where the story can go from here, and unless the plot is a fantastic one, I probably won’t check it out.
An entertaining and somewhat realistic look at sadness and hope.
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