Review: This one wasn't for me, I found it confusing. I also didn't connect with the characters or story at all.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2014
Review for Ramblings From This Chick. ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.comSick Day is my first read by Morgan Parker, and I will admit that this story was unlike any I have ever read before. I definitely wouldn't call this your typical romance, and it was really unique. This book flashes back and forth in time, with the present taking place in a single day. I will admit that I was interested to see what all had happened in the past that led to the point of where we were in the future, but I did have a tough time getting into this one. I kept having to put this one down and walk away for awhile, and a lot of the time I felt like I didn't have a clue what was going on.Hope and Cameron made a promise to each other before Cameron left for college. They would get married in five years and live their lives happily ever after. But then Hope starts pushing Cameron away and Cameron stops responding to Hope. Years go by without a word between them. Cameron moves on with Riley, who he met while in college. She was the bright spot that got him through, even if his feelings for Hope never went away. One month before Cameron and Riley's wedding, Hope reappears outside of their house and is standing in the rain watching Cameron. Three years after that, Cameron and Riley are married but he is still reeling from another encounter with Hope a few months back. He decides to take a sick day in order to convince Hope once and for all that they belong together, before she moves out west with her fiance.I'll be honest, both Cameron and Hope drove me nuts. They were both completely ridiculous at times, and made horrible decisions. Honestly, I found their relationship pretty toxic and I couldn't figure out why they each ran so hot and cold. Cameron seemed to be the warmer of the two, and he was determined to show her that they belonged together. He wouldn't take no for an answer this time around, and pursued her relentlessly. I liked that he didn't let anything stop him because he loved her so much, but I thought that he did handle things poorly on more than one occasion. Hope was a character that I didn't connect with at all. She was the one who had set this all in motion when she appeared randomly at Cameron's house, and yet she repeatedly pushed him away after that. I don't understand why she would continue to spend time with him and show up, when she would just flip a switch and run away right after. I thought it was clear that they had a connection, and there were always feelings between them. I really have no clue why they did the things they did, and it was hard to really get behind them. I also felt really badly for Riley and Matt. They didn't deserve what they got, and I couldn't believe that either of them put up with things for as long as they did.Besides the issues I had with the characters and the slow pacing of the book, my biggest problem was that I spent much of this story completely confused. I often times got lost between the switch from past to present with the many different timelines going on at once. We not only had the present and 3 years ago, but we also got parts from 2 months ago as well as high school and college. It got to be really hard to keep them all straight, especially with the addition of the story that Hope had sent to Cameron in an email. I just felt like it was too much to keep track of and it made this one hard to really ever sink into. It felt choppy and disjointed to me and was why this one didn't hold my interest for long. I will admit though that I was intrigued to see not only where they would end up, but how they got there and that is what kept me reading this one. I think that this book just wasn't for me, and wasn't what I had been expecting. I think if you are looking for a different story with a romance that takes place over many years and is about not only love found but also love lost and consequences that you might give this one a shot. I know a lot of people really enjoy Morgan Parker's books, and I think this one will be enjoyed by many. For me personally though, I will possibly try another of Morgan's books in the future in the hopes that I will connect better than I did with Hope and Cameron.**Complimentary Copy Provided by Author**