Love Someone - Lori's review of MILES FROM KARA by Melissa West

Title: Miles from Kara
Author: Melissa West
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: 12/2/2014
Source: ARC from Publisher through Netgalley

Synopsis:
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 ingrained 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.

Melissa West writes heartfelt Southern romance and YA sci-fi romance,
all with lots of kissing. Because who doesn't like kissing?. She lives outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two daughters and spends most of her time writing, reading, or fueling her coffee addiction.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. 


Connect with Melissa at www.melissawestauthor.com or on Twitter @MB_West.

I'm going to start by saying that I think I would've gotten more out of this book if I had read Book #1, which is my fault, not the author's.  I never really felt like I connected with Kara and Colt. Because of that, I feel like their connection didn't really ever strike me as authentic.

Kara is secretly lusting as after her boyfriend's roommate, Colt.  She only decides that she needs to break up with her current boyfriend when she sees signs that her feelings for Colt might be reciprocated.  I really didn't think her actions were fair to her boyfriend, but I will say that I'm grateful that all she ever did was text a little with Colt before she realized that she needed to end things with Ethan.

I could definitely see great friendships in Miles From Kara.  I think both the guys and the girls showed a strong core group and I liked the mix of personalities that were brought to the table.  There was lots of sexual tension and plenty of tenderness as well.

While I was entertained by the story, I never got anything very original or truly enticing to me.  It was just okay.  If you enjoy stories about young college students falling in love, you will probably like this book.  I mean, I did like it, I just didn't love it.  I think there is a certain type of New Adult books that just isn't for me.  I am older (41) and while I enjoy reading books about all age groups from YA, college aged, and adult, sometimes the New Adult books are written in a way that I don't relate well to. Miles From Kara seems to fall in that category, because it's good.  It just isn't for me.

3.25 Stars

Jason Mraz - Love Someone