by Katie and Lisa (link
Genre het, drama, romance
Pairings Taylor/OFC
Length prologue, 20 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed (with sequel)
What a title, huh? Sometimes titles give me a good idea what to expect from a story, but this one is so strange that I’m not sure what to think. What I do know is that the story was recommended to me after I helped someone find it, but she did warn me that it was a nostalgic favorite–one she loved back in the day that probably wouldn’t hold up to reading now.
Katie and Lisa employ a not entirely unique but still not all that common framing device for this story; that is, the entire thing is meant to be Ashley telling her hairdresser the story of her relationship with Taylor. I don’t really mind the little interjections of the present into the narrative, since they help me remember that the framing device is there, but Ashley and the hairdresser’s conversations are fairly bland and just repeat little tidbits of what I’ve just read.
As for Ashley and Taylor’s story… well, it’s fairly bland, too. Except, it’s a complete and total fake out. The ending, which comes after several scenes of the typical girl-next-door story, takes me completely by surprise. Katie and Lisa did an incredible job of setting it up so that there was only one subtle hint of how the story was really going to end. I had wondered how a story that ended with Taylor and Ashley’s wedding could really need a sequel, but as it turns out, it doesn’t end that way at all… and I’m dying to see what the sequel holds for these two friends who should be so much more than that.
Review by Bethany (website)