The Light Between Us by Beth Morey

For twenty-something Boston school teacher Ruth, she's gotten by just fine on playing it safe, thank you very much. But now her risk-free life and nice-girl demeanor are leaving her increasingly heartsick. So when she meets bad boy Derek, she's willing to overlook her “no romance” rule and give him a chance to prove her fears wrong. Because he, also, is plagued by a sense of ennui and pointlessness, wanting to change his fast-and-loose living but not knowing how.

Neither can deny the inexplicable, illogical attraction drawing them together, and they are hard-pressed to resist it. But what will their unlikely relationship cost, and who will be caught in the crossfire?

The Light Between Us is a sassy and sensual romp. Part love story, part comedy of errors, and part coming of age tale, The Light Between Us is a delicious read for fans of the romance and new adult genres alike.

The reason I decided to review this book, aside from the general plot description, was the use of the word “ennui” in the book synopsis.  The real question is if the rest of the book lived up to my lofty verbal expectations, I’m sad to say that it really did not.

This is the story of Ruth and Derek.  Ruth is afraid to color outside the lines in life, and Derek is all like “there are lines I’m supposed to be coloring in?”  They meet and the sparks fly, but Derek being a bad boy and Ruth being a good girl don’t make for a love at first sight happily ever after kind of tale.  Basically, this is a story of two people trying to find their way in life, to find where it is they fit in and with who.  They recognize that they fit with each other, but must look outside of themselves in order to find real happiness.  The question is: can they?

I’m not sure what I really expected from this book.  As far as plot goes, it was what I expected.  Good girl meets bad boy, shenanigans ensue.  There are real moments of hilarity in this book, but for me the character development was just really lacking.  It all just moves so fast, and the book is relatively short.  I wanted more from Ruth and Derek than just your run-of-the-mill surface romance.  They really had the potential to be deeper characters but it just didn’t happen. What I did find was two very unhealthy characters that seemed to enter into some kind of co-dependency at first sight relationship, and it just didn’t resonate with me at all.

Another thing about this book was that I just didn’t get into the writing style at all.  It needs to be polished by an editor, this is true, but the way it was written just did not invest me in the book at all.  I found myself really having a hard time finishing this one.

Overall, I would give this author another shot, but this book just isn’t for me.  I’m going to have to give it 2.5 stars.

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