Until Harry

by LA Casey

I thought I was going to love this and I know that I might be firmly entrenched in the minority here but I just couldn’t.

I found that I just couldn’t warm to Lane at all, I read the whole story thinking that is I was in a room with her I would be able to say nothing else other than get a bloody grip and grow up.

Lane and Kale had known each other their whole lives, they were closer than friends in fact her family almost considered Kale as a son, he was best friends with Lane’s brother but that didn’t mean that he was oblivious to the fact that he had feelings for Lane but taking any action on them, well he knew he would be treading a very fine line, Lane although fell head over heels for him and there stems a relationship that was far from straight forward and in the end it proved to be more than either of them could cope with.

Seeing Kale in love with someone other than her had her taking off for refuge on the other side of the Atlantic, her heart couldn’t stand the pain of him playing happy families. Now I sort of got this but surely there comes a point when you are growing up that you have to look at perspective, he was in a relationship and about to become a father…could she not have then accepted that he was happy and been happy for him? Moving to America and almost cutting herself off from her whole family in the process said more about her than I wanted to accept, and at that point I really didn’t like her.

But now, her Uncle Harry has passed away and she has little choice but to make her way back to York for his funeral. Facing everything and everyone that she ran away from has her feeling apprehensive and early on in the story I couldn’t help but think they had a point for being mad at her. But then I thought about how I would feel facing my family after 6 years of isolation and at a time of great loss and I sort of understood her state of mind.

The story was emotional as in the fact that the author cleverly flipped between past and present to give the details of not only was happening now but the history behind their turmoil. There were elements of the story that will break your heart, Kale has been through so much, he had experienced an event so painful that as his friend she could have helped him to overcome, and while she can now regret her decision, he is just so glad that she is back that he doesn’t bear her any ill, but can she forgive herself?

In true LA Casey style, she nailed her characters, she gave enough of them that you had those you will love and others that you will be able to sink you claws into. I especially liked Kale, his ways, his mannerisms, they were realistic and that brought so much to the story because I think it made Lane evaluate her actions and in all honesty I think it was her that had the most to regret. She had missed out so much on what was happening not only with her family but also with him.

I would say that this is as the blurb says unlike anything you will have ever read before by this author and while I can appreciate the story for what it is, it wasn’t one for me. I found it difficult to strike up any sort of meaningful affinity with Lane as the main character and in turn that left me wanting more from the rest of the story.