Between You and Me

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com

Twenty-seven-year-old Logan Wade has built a life for herself in New York City, far from her unhappy childhood in Oklahoma. But when she gets the call that her famous cousin needs a new assistant, it’s an offer she can’t refuse. Logan hasn’t seen Kelsey since they were separated as kids; in the meantime, Kelsey Wade has become one ofFortune Magazine’s most powerful celebrities and carrion for the paparazzi. But the joy at their reunion is overshadowed by the toxic dynamic between Kelsey and her controlling parents. As Kelsey grasps desperately at a “real” life, Logan risks everything to try and give her cousin the one thing she has never known—happiness. As Kelsey unravels in the most horribly public way Logan finds that she will ultimately have to choose between saving her cousin and saving herself.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Goodreads.com/Simon & Schuster and was under no obligation to review this book.  I am receiving no compensation for this review.

This isn’t my usual type of book being that I read mostly YA books and the characters are in their mid-late 20′s and the themes are more mature than YA.  I don’t believe I’ve read a contemporary novel in general in a very long time, (me being my fantasy-loving self) but I was pleasantly surprised.  I seriously get Logan.  I get her mentality with guys, with her career, and with her family.  That’s one of the main reasons contemp. fiction isn’t my favorite — it’s hard for me to relate to characters my age when they aren’t like me.

Kelsey’s meltdown was classic Britney Spears, and it was interesting to see it all from someone else’s eyes.  To see how it affected someone else.  Logan’s loyalty to her cousin is commendable — I don’t think I could have done what her character did.  I don’t think most people could, which the authors made clear when Finn (love interest) confronted her with it.  He didn’t get it, but she didn’t back down and was loyal until the end.

The end of the book is what kind of let me down.  I just didn’t like it — it wasn’t my style and it left me a little irked.  But that says nothing about the books or authors, but more of my personal taste. (It also says that I shouldn’t stay up until 3:30am reading.) And although I am irked, I think the epilogue was very interesting and nice twist that makes it stand out from other books.