Inseverable (Carolina Beach #1) by Cecy Robson #BookReview #BookoftheMonth

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence!***

Inseverable is the perfect mix of youthful hope and excitement, steady and mature self-sufficiency, and that vital rush of emotion and intensity the New Adult genre is so well loved for. But unlike other—what I personally find to be annoying—NA books, Inseverable is grounded and responsible. The characters are likeable, relatable, entertaining, and have depth. I believed them, and I followed them across the pages like I was part of the crew. When someone who is nearly forty can so strongly relate to twenty-somethings, the author has done something very, very right.

Anyone else passing him on the street wouldn’t notice the darkness he’s experienced, and how it squares his shoulders, tightens his stance, and evens his stare. At least I don’t think so. But I see it, and maybe know it a little better now too.
I only hope I can help him through it, and that he’ll somehow use me to be his light.

My initial impression of this story was mixed. Straight off, we get an up close perspective into the harrowing military career of the male lead, Callahan Sawyer, that ends in a brutal, violent cliffhanger. The very next scene is one of youth and life-guarding summer fun at the beach with friends. It’s all high spirits and post-college talk about life decisions and direction. I thought I was in for yet another annoying New Adult story with angsty situations and poorly motivated characters. I don’t read that sort of NA, so my first instinct was to quit the book immediately. Then Callahan met Trinity Summers, and I was thoroughly entertained.

“I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Trinity, Trinity Summers.”
Of course it is.
She waits, still smiling, I suppose for me to shake her hand or something. When I don’t, her smile fades a little and she glances over her shoulder to where her friend, the tall blonde is sitting. Her friend taps on her ear and quickly turns away.
I don’t know if it’s some secret girl code she’s doing with the blonde until she yells, “I said I don’t think we’ve met. My name is Trinity. TRI-NI-TY SU-MMERS. You know, like the season?”
Right now, I can do little more than blink, wondering if there’s some kind of hidden camera trained on my face and what the hell she snorted before she walked in here. No one is this high-strung sober. No one.

That glaring disparity of tone in the intro sets the mood for this couple’s entire relationship, and it highlights the vast difference between them in life experiences: innocence of spirit vs hardened cynic. Told from dual first person perspective, this story carefully portrays each character uniquely. Callahan’s voice is hard, distinct, a little sarcastic, a lot no-nonsense. And—satisfyingly—very convincingly male. Trinity’s is hopeful, optimistic, sweet, determined—a candy shell around an old soul.

With the gravity of Callahan’s traumatic past, this story could easily could have been dark or depressing. Instead, thanks largely to Trinity’s insuppressible spirit, Inseverable is liberally laced with refreshing humor and sometimes almost slapstick-style comedic antics.

My gaze falls to his beard. The beard looks…thinner as if freshly trimmed.
I reach up, mostly because I can’t help myself, and attempt to stroke it lightly. Thing is, we are running, so the stroke turns into more of a slap and I sort of ram my middle finger up his nose. (…)
When he turns back to face me, that now familiar scowl is set firmly in place. “Did you just slap me?” (…)
“Of course not. Why would I slap you?”
He regards me like I’m the stupid one. “You seriously need medication,” he tells me.

I rarely fall in love with a New Adult book—and both Trinity’s (and her friends’) age and life experiences put this story firmly in NA territory—but I couldn’t stop reading Inseverable. The emotion is so well grounded and layered, the characters rich and believable, the conflict complex with just the right amount of hopelessness. Inseverable is a beautiful romance and a story worth dedicating a weekend to.

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