This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.
Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet.
It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.
But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.
Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other."
My Review: I'll be honest: I was not a fan of this book. I really liked Barnholdt's One Night That Changes Everything so I thought I'd really like this book too (even though this book is older than ONTCE...so perhaps her writing got better...?) but I really didn't.
That's not to say I hated this book. I didn't. It wasn't really so horrible that it would be worth hating. But it was nothing special. The characters were actually semi-okay, had they been fleshed out further...but they weren't, so they both came off as awkward and whiny children. I mean, Courtney pretty much stews for the majority of the trip over Jordan's "mysterious Internet girlfriend" when it would have been more mature (and normal) to ask about her. It's not desperate---I mean, you're on a road trip with the dude. May as well get cozy. And Jordan...is an idiot. He had a dilemma and what did he do? Did he try to solve the dilemma by being honest or just WORKING through his issues? No. No, he dumped Courtney after panicking and caused a whole bunch of emotional issues for them. I don't know, they both just seemed immature and childish to me. They were going to college but they were acting like 13-year-olds.
What annoyed me even MORE than the characters was the plot. A road trip together? Really? And I know some people would be, "Duh. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE BOOK," to which I respond, "Then it's a really stupid point." I mean, sometimes a boy and a girl taking a trip together makes sense---and this book was not one of those times. You're REALLY telling me that Courtney's dad is willing to let Courtney go on a frickin' road trip with the guy who dumped her AND knows his secret...despite the fact that he calls Jordan every 2 minutes to check to see if he's spilled his secret yet? Really? I mean, really? How does that make sense for the character of Courtney's dad? If he REALLY didn't want Courtney to know the secret, he'd have been willing to buy her a plane ticket to her college. And I'm really failing to comprehend what mom would force her daughter to go on a road trip with the boy who broke up with her daughter. I'm sorry, that's just weird. They were all acting like the road trip couldn't have been cancelled and I guess that annoyed me so much because yeah, it could have. Don't even lie.
And the whole book was pretty much...Jordan and Courtney squabbling and having a few "moments" and some puking...and some random bits about their best friends back home (which were actually the most interesting part of the book---I'd rather read a book about THEM, to be honest)...and that was it. It was a relatively short book, nothing much else. Nothing special. I guess the ending was decent because it wasn't the typical happy fairy tale ending where everything works out perfectly...but still, this book was just average and not anything great. Sorry, Lauren.
Cover: The cover IS cute! It doesn't actually make sense regarding the scenery, or the type of car being driven, and Courtney never had to fix the car. But yeah, the cover is cute, I'll admit.
Overall Grade: C-
