Carrie has stopped taking chances, or looking for more, "a woman of a certain age" she has friends who love her, and a job she loves, but she feels a loneliness and a lack in her life. One night reading the free MetroLink singles ads amusing herself with the blunt, bold and naked language of need she finds herself captivated by one asking "for kissing only". Fascinated by his profile photo, a candid portrait that reveals both vulnerability and self-containment Carrie starts an IM conversation in the wee hours of the morning with the funny, witty but reticent "GearTattoo" and after he explains his ground rules. she surprises herself by agreeing to meet him. Their first meeting both excites and confuses Carrie and while she can't stop thinking about him, she questions the wisdom of meeting him again but her friend's Justin's unexpected advice to indulge herself because he might turn out to be "a story guy" and "Story guys are life highlighters. Your life is all these big blocks of gray text and then a story guy comes in a big ol' paragraph of neon pink so that when you flip back through your life, you can stop and remember all the important and interesting places." challenges her to go back to the park again.

Carrie and Brian's complex connection takes them both places they didn't expect and is at times heartbreaking and exhilarating. This is a debut novella and I am looking forward to reading a lot more from Mary Ann Rivers in the future.

Book provided by the Publisher via Netgalley for review purposes.

Originally Published on Goodreads