Monday Book Review: DEEP BLUE, by Jules Barnard, #NA

Deep Blue, the blue series
By Jules Barnard
Published 2014

About the Book:

In the Blue Series, love in Lake Tahoe means looking beneath the surface.

Recent college grad Cali Morgan thinks she has her life all figured out, until she returns to Lake Tahoe and runs into an old crush she barely recognizes. A serious accident pushed Jaeger’s life in a new direction, but he’s hotter than ever, his presence rocking the foundation Cali staked her future on. 

My Take

First let me say, I totally thought this was going to be a mermaid book. I know there is a series of mermaid books set in Lake Tahoe, and when I first purchased this, I thought I'd found it. It's not, and has nothing to do with paranormal or mermaids. FYI, that series starts with EVERBLUE and is written by Brenda Pandos. But that's another review.

This DEEP BLUE is a quick, contemporary NA read, set on the sunny shores of Lake Tahoe and narrated by a recent college grad. She starts the book a little self obsessed, and a little too sure of herself amidst the casino scene she grew up with. The first person POV is a little clunky and overly stuffed with adjectives, but I enjoyed the story and most of the characters. There are enough plot twists to keep the reader turning pages, though some of them are predictable... But then again, they're predictable because these things happen in real life, too.

The author introduces us to two recent college grads, the narrator and her best friend. The pair have come to Tahoe just for the summer to earn money for grad school.  It's the narrator's home town so they quickly get jobs and have people to hang out with. They also grapple with cheating boyfriends, issues with exes, bad bosses, old crushes, and some angsty what-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life blues. Some of the secondary characters are interesting but most are wooden cut outs. I suspect the interesting ones get their own stories later in this series. (In fact, the author says as much in the Goodreads write-up.)

Not my usual cup of tea, but enjoyable enough. Really, the book title itself is what caught my attention and the cover drew me in. If you like contemporary NA that takes you away from your own angst and submerges you in someone else's (with not a whiff of the paranormal in sight) try throwing this one in your metaphorical beach bag. A quick, easy read, but not tempting enough to make me seek out the rest of the series.

This first book in the series is  currently free on Kindle, so grab a copy while the sale lasts.

AMAZON LINK