Book Review: PS by Caraway Carter

Blurb:

Looking back, it was kind of crazy to put a down payment on a fallen-down train depot I’d never actually seen, in a state I’d never actually been to, and use it to build a life with a guy I’d never actually met, but love makes people do crazy things. If you’ve ever been in love, you know what I mean.

But before the plane had landed, I found out that Sam—the guy I’d met online and had been talking to for four years—wasn’t really Sam. He wasn’t even a guy.

I already own the little train depot, and I can’t go back to my old life. And Fairville is such a lovely welcoming town. Did I mention James? He’s made sure that I’ve had a really warm welcome.

All I want is to build a great little bookstore, and have a relationship based on humor, honesty, and hardbacks. I see some tough choices ahead of me.

Or maybe I don’t have to choose…

My rating:






This book was given to me by the author at GRL 2017 in hopes that I'd read and enjoy it, and write up a review.

I read it and enjoyed it, and here's my review:

Gus, our protagonist, is in his early 40s and decides to change his whole life for Sam, including buying an old train depot up in Vermont, sight unseen, to restore and open a bookstore/cafe.

Except Gus is the victim of catfishing, and Sam isn't who he claims he is. Which Gus doesn't find out until he's already in the air on his way to the small Vermont town.

PS stands for Post-Sam here, and Gus jumps headlong into the adventure. The premise is cute, even if the beginning is horrid (for Gus), and I enjoyed myself reading this book. Slightly unbelievable that folks in this small Vermont town would drop everything to help a guy out, and even more unbelievable that they'd be okay with deferred payment for renovating/rehabbing the old train station. Or offering Gus a place to stay. Then again, I haven't been to Vermont so I really couldn't say how realistic this actually is.

I had some issues with the characters, and those are the main reason for the lower rating. The author's word choices were mostly fine, even if dialogue tended to be a little awkwardly phrased on occasion, but there are some plot points that didn't work for me.

- Sam the catfish supposedly being a 21 year old creative writing student, yet the relationship is supposed to have gone for 4 years - am I supposed to believe that Sam was 17 when he/she first started playing WoW with Gus?
- the relationship between Gus and James was a little too quick for my taste, and it felt as if Gus was able to move on from Sam just a little too rapidly. Also, the history between James and Sam felt too convenient.
- Sam being a real person - so weird, that part. Also, Sam's behavior in general. Pretty odd for the most part, and gross on one occasion. What the fuck was that? Sam felt to me like someone who really really really could have used some serious therapy.

My biggest issue was the lack of depth. I needed more, especially for Gus and James. I never got a real good feel for either of them - what made them tick, what drove their actions. I also didn't really get a spark between them, so their relationship progression didn't work for me.

Caraway Carter spins a decent tale, and the writing itself is likable and enjoyable. I'm interested in reading more by this author.


** I received a free copy of this book from the author. **

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