What do you do when the future is wide open? Scarier than the frigging Navy.
Lost, no clue what to do with the rest of his life, Zane Harris follows his Navy SEAL buddy to Foothills, an absurdly beautiful tourist town nestled in the mountains outside Seattle. Freya Marks risks her career to settle in her hometown, but it feels so good to be with her family, to gaze at the Cascades every morning. The last thing either needs is to get caught up in off-the-charts pheromones that blind them to everything else.
But one night in Tahoe...
Assessment:
Plot: Carrie Thorne writes her romance The Next Day as a note on survival and how others can aid that course. It is sensual, playful, and tender. With a bit of dramatic irony, the reader feels privy to the anticipated outcome, while watching the characters grasp the ending to their own stories.
Prose/Style: The author pleasantly blends dialogue with the characters’ perspectives into a natural pacing that mimics real life. In the moments of intimacy, the language sometimes becomes stale and would benefit from fresh descriptions. However, the dialogue is short and clipped, capturing the conversational style used in everyday life.
Originality: Despite the alternating perspectives, Thorne’s book encompasses all the qualities of women’s fiction. With the occasional critique of gender norms, it introduces subtle feminism and departs from the accepted romance trope of a female character pining for love—introducing an equal relationship where both individuals are mutually independent.
Character Development/Execution: Guided primarily through an internal monologue, readers become voyeurs of the characters' troubled pasts. Thorne crafts characters that are emotionally guarded yet equally fierce. The book focuses on an exploration of truth, while portraying steady, personal growth.
Date Submitted: April 01, 2021
