Crossing the Line - Katie McGarry

Synopsis: "Lila McCormick first met Lincoln Turner when tragedy struck both their lives.

But she never expected their surprise encounter would lead to two years of exchanging letters - or that she'd fall for the boy she's only seen once. Their relationship is a secret, but Lila feels closer to Lincoln than anyone else. Until she finds out that he lied to her about the one thing she depended on him for the most."

Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry follows the story of Lila McCormick, best friend of Echo Emerson from Pushing the Limits, and her relationship with Lincoln Turner whom she met at the funeral of Echo's brother. The two have an unexpected connection and grow closer as they regularly write to each other in an attempt to forget that they live 12 hours from each other. But their relationship soon takes a sharp turn as Lila questions whether she can trust the boy she thought she knew.

This novella is a short and sweet read but isn't really much more than that, which really disappointed me as I'm such a massive fan of McGarry as she has the ability to make you feel so engrossed by a character and has a beautiful and unique writing style.

Saying that however I was immensely irritated by Lila in this novella, which is a shame because she was a really likable character in Pushing the Limits. I feel as if she was portrayed rather pathetic and childish manner - I was reading about a grown girl who couldn't hack a night by herself and gets angry and hurt over the most ridiculous of things. It was understandable that she was hurt by Lincoln lying to her but I was expecting something really explosive and gripping, instead it turned out to be nothing more than a silly teenage drama.

I was also frustrated by how short this novella was. Yes, novellas are meant to short, but I feel as if McGarry could have stretched to at least 100 pages so I could get more insight into what happens with their long distant relationship and whether Lincoln succeeded in Summer school to join Lila at the University of Florida.

Fortunately though McGarry seems to have mastered a style that many authors have failed at by introducing new characters and minor characters from Pushing the Limits in a way that refreshes your mind about who is who. I went into this novella having forgotten who Lila was but the way in which McGarry explained the first time she met Lincoln is just one example of how she cleverly refreshed my mind on who was who from the previous book, allowing me to understand any references made.

It was also nice to see how this novella links with the previous story, and future stories, with some references to Echo and Noah.

I give Katie McGarry and Crossing the Lines ★★★