In Another Life

January 15, 2019
Chloe's life is falling apart.Her dad has a girlfriend, her mom is suffering from depression and the aftermath of cancer, and she's had to move with her mom to the town of Joyful, Texas, where she has only one friend, Lindsey, whose mother is lesbian. When she meets Cash, things seem to be looking up. But Cash comes with a host of complications, not the least of which is the fact he's convinced that Chloe is the same girl his foster parents had kidnapped from them as an almost-3-year-old. But how could that be? Chloe's parents love her and have never hidden the fact she was adopted. As the two of them dive deeper into the mysteries of the past and the dangers of the present, they also dive deeper in love. But can their fledgling romance survive the onslaught of brutal reality? Hunter (This Heart of Mine, 2018, etc.) deftly delivers a complicated back-and-forth point of view between Chloe and Cash, building suspense along with a steamy sense of attraction between the two teens. Occasionally the plot and dialogue feel canned and forced, sprinkled with clichés and tired exclamations such as, "I swallow the lump in my throat and jerk back, removing my B cup boobs from some guy's chest." The book assumes a white default.An entertaining tale that breaks no new ground. (Romance. 15-17)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-Despite being adopted when she was just three years old, Chloe Holden has led a pretty good life-right up until last year. That's when her dad decided to have an affair with a woman who could be Chloe's older sister and her mom got cancer. Now she's been uprooted, from her home and friends in El Paso, to Joyful, Texas, just in time for her senior year. It's not easy to be the new kid your last year of school but when she meets Cash Colten she thinks, maybe, her luck is finally changing. Then Cash fesses up to the real reason he sought her out; he believes that she is the daughter of his foster parents, a daughter that was kidnapped and disappeared 15 years earlier. As the two start to dig deeper into her adoption, it becomes apparent that someone in Joyful is willing to kill to keep the secret. The story unravels at an even pace. The characters are all well-written and fully developed, from the main characters to the smallest of support roles. It is this attention to character detail that sets this apart from some other YA thrillers. The mystery itself, while compelling in nature, seems fairly obvious from the beginning and the story is more a matter of finding out the why and the how events occurred. The characterization really is what propels the story. VERDICT Add this compelling mystery to thriller shelves.-Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 10, 2019
In this YA novel perfect for fans of Caroline B. Cooney, Chloe Holden, 17, has always known that she was adopted, but she always felt a secure sense of belonging in her family until she moves to Joyful, Texas. Her new town’s name feels bitterly ironic to Chloe as she adjusts to new realities: her father’s girlfriend is only a few years older than she is, her mother is shaky from her battle with cancer, and Chloe is starting her senior year at a new high school. Then she meets broodingly handsome Cash Colton, who recognizes her from the age-enhanced photos his foster parents have posted of their daughter, who disappeared 14 years earlier. Cash, with a tangled history of his own, pushes Chloe to question the circumstances of her adoption, triggering a series of events that put the teens in a killer’s crosshairs. Chloe’s first-person narration alternates with Cash’s third-person passages, providing readers with the perspectives of two appealing characters struggling with difficult circumstances. Author Hunter (This Heart of Mine) delves into numerous issues, including bad friends, bullying, and dating angst; if the teen characters’ perspectives occasionally stray into sounding a little too adult, the fast pace keeps the story from collapsing under its own weight. Ages 13–up. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary Agency.