2 stars - DNF 47%
Iris Fleming wants to make it big as an actress, and an audition brings her to Atlanta. After a terrible encounter with the director, she runs into Taylor Finn, a wannabe stunt driver. Despite getting off on the wrong foot (Iris throws water in Finn's face), the two of them end up enjoying a day together. When circumstances prevent Iris from flying back to LA, the pair decides to embark on a road trip across the country.
...And that's as far as I got. I really could not get into this book. From the start, I knew it wasn't for me, but I persevered through 18 more chapters, and now I'm ready to definitively say - "I quit."
The main reason - The writing! This author's writing style may work for some, but it did not vibe well with me. It felt like she wrote this with a thesaurus next to her. There are only so many different ways to say the same sentence, and Missouri Vaun employed many of them. A lot of the wording just seemed repetitive, which is probably why I got kind of bored. I'm also a big believer in showing, not telling, and I wish Missouri Vaun had just shown me the chemistry and the tension between the two MCs rather than expounding on it in great detail from both Iris and Finn's POVs.
Other reasons - The dialogue. There was too much included, like every hello and goodbye, but nothing that really held my interest. I wanted to hear them flirt, but instead they talked about car machinery and what landmarks they were passing.
- The characters. Up to the point where I stopped reading, neither of them was particularly likable to me. Apparently they're both really attractive, but that's pretty much it. There were some good characteristics that Iris and Finn apparently saw in each other, but I had trouble seeing them.
- The pacing. The road trip starts around the halfway mark, and the first half of the book takes place over 2 or 3 days. Which is to say, the plot dragged a bit. Again, I wish there was a bit less detail on the mundane, and more spice.
I hate to write a negative review, and I see that there are actually many positive responses to this book. I think Missouri Vaun's writing, or maybe this book in particular, is just not for me.
*** I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***