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Published April 8, 2016
Coralie
Twelve years ago, I ran to stay alive.
Port Royal, South Carolina, was my home. I was born there. I fell in love there. And I nearly died there. I never thought I’d go back. Now, after so many years, I have to return to bury the man who made my life a living hell. Some nights, I used to cry myself to sleep, praying my father would die. Other nights were different. Other nights, there was him.
Callan Cross.
My first confidante. My first kiss. My first love. My first everything: Callan was the glue that held me together when everything else was falling apart. He was my savior. He was there for me whenever I needed him…
Until he wasn’t.
Every night, I’ve seen the love of my life in my sleep.
I just never thought I’d have to face him again.
Callan
Twelve years ago, I f*#@ed up big time.
Living life through a camera lens is sometimes easier than dealing with it head on. Scratch that. It’s always easier. For over a decade, I’ve been a master of my art, taking photographs all over the world. Yet despite all of the countries I’ve visited, the amazing things I’ve seen, the beautiful women I’ve screwed, my heart has remained in pieces.
Coralie’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, will ever love. And I’m determined to show her that we’re meant to be together. Even if it means unearthing the bones of the past in the process.
A lifetime and a thousand miles have stood between us.
Now, there’s no length of time I won’t wait, no distance I won’t travel, in order to make her mine.
This is what happens when you let injuries fester.
You get
scars that you can’t quite cover up. This book is all about what happens when
you have no choice but to face the injury. Callan and Coralie grew up together,
fell in love, endured pain. Then Coralie left. They both grew up, one in
California and one in New York. When they both come back to where they grew up,
they can stay away from each other, but they also can’t be together because of
the secrets they kept.
Okay, y’all. I’m just going to come out and say it. I
despise Callan. I maybe sort of liked him for a hot second. As CALICO progressed
I was annoyed, and, frankly, pissed off. Coralie was abused by her father for
almost the sum of her formative years. She didn’t tell anyone, which isn’t
uncommon for those being abused. Especially when the abuse is at the hands of
someone they’re supposed to be protected by. When she leaves, she tries to bury
all of her hurt, and her sorrow, and her pain. With all that she buried, she also
dug a hole for Callan.
The book follows how they deal with the secrets and with
their being in the company of the other again.
These two are toxic for each other. The wounds of the past
had not been dealt with, and personally I felt that they needed to deal with
all of that before they decided where they stood on the other person. They were
invaluable to each other as children, but not they’re adult who’ve avoided
things for too long. And it hurt them.
I was fed up with the situation. I wanted to show them the
door to therapy offices, not to the door of the other’s bedroom. Which seemed
to be the way they wanted to go.
I did not like the way abuse was handled in the novel. I did
not like Callan. I really did not like how fast they went back to each other
without really discussing what happened. The cover drew me in, but the contents
severely disappointed me. Emotional trauma is a real thing, and we can see how
deep in burrowed in Coralie. This girl just needs some more help, some more
time, and, I think, different people. (or more specifically, a different
person)
Obviously I’m in the minority with this one; read the other
reviews to get different opinions. Maybe you’ll see something in CALICO that I
didn’t.
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