IN ANOTHER LIFE

Chloe’s life is falling apart.

Her dad has a girlfriend, her mom is suffering from depression and the aftermath of cancer, and she’s had to move with her mom to the town of Joyful, Texas, where she has only one friend, Lindsey, whose mother is lesbian. When she meets Cash, things seem to be looking up. But Cash comes with a host of complications, not the least of which is the fact he’s convinced that Chloe is the same girl his foster parents had kidnapped from them as an almost-3-year-old. But how could that be? Chloe’s parents love her and have never hidden the fact she was adopted. As the two of them dive deeper into the mysteries of the past and the dangers of the present, they also dive deeper in love. But can their fledgling romance survive the onslaught of brutal reality? Hunter (This Heart of Mine, 2018, etc.) deftly delivers a complicated back-and-forth point of view between Chloe and Cash, building suspense along with a steamy sense of attraction between the two teens. Occasionally the plot and dialogue feel canned and forced, sprinkled with clichés and tired exclamations such as, “I swallow the lump in my throat and jerk back, removing my B cup boobs from some guy’s chest.” The book assumes a white default.

An entertaining tale that breaks no new ground.