Katie's Book Blog!!

Right of Way, the companion novel to Two Way Street, was high on my wishlist from the first moment I heard about it. Lauren Barnholdt is one of my favorite contemporary authors and I'm usually very impressed with her books. However, that just wasn't the case with Right of Way. I enjoyed it but it fell short of my expectations.Right of Way is a fun, fast-paced book that's perfect for a lazy day reading by the pool. It took no time at all for me to get sucked into the story and once I started, I couldn't put the book down. Lauren Barnholdt's style of writing is easy to read and easy to like. It's one of the main reasons why I love her books so much. It's a simple style of writing that gets the point across without giving unnecessary details.Peyton and Jace, the two main characters, weren't nearly as awesome as Courtney and Jordan from Two Way Street. I never felt like I really connected with either of them. Peyton was a little too whiny for me and she was so closed off. She didn't have very good reasons for keeping things to herself either. I understood that she didn't want to let people close to her because she was afraid of them hurting her but she just ended up hurting them by pushing them away. Jace had a near perfect life but it wasn't enough for him. He was valedictorian and going to college where he wanted but for some reason that didn't make him happy. Instead of preparing for graduation he runs away with Peyton the day of and has no plans to present his valedictorian speech. I just felt like Lauren Barnholdt tried too hard to make the characters have problems. As for Courtney and Jordan, they don't have a huge role in the story but they are there. I still like them although, to be completely honest, I'd forgotten about them between the time I read Two Way Street and now. It took me a while to realize who they actually were.The story is pretty fun. Part of it is your typical road trip story between two people who aren't quite sure how they feel about each other but there's also flash backs to Peyton and Jace's previous relationship. It's Lauren Barnholdt's standard style and it really works for her stories. You get to see how things started with Peyton and Jace and how they spiraled so out of control. While I didn't care all that much for them, I did enjoy their story.Overall, Right of Way is a fun read that will satisfy fans of Two Way Street. I would recommend not getting your hopes up though since it's not quite as great as the first.