BEND IN THE ROAD

A teen rock star returns home to take a breather.

Seventeen-year-old Gabe Hudson has gotten himself into quite the pickle. His second album is trash, his Hollywood girlfriend has gone into rehab, and he’s dug himself a financial hole that seems impossible to get out of. Gabe retreats to his family’s farm in Minnesota to avoid the scrutiny and paparazzi only to discover that he, not his rocker-in-recovery father, has inherited the enterprise. This doesn’t sit well with Juniper Blue, the cute country girl who lives on the farm with her family and does all the work making sure it runs. Worried Gabe will sell the farm, Juniper does her best to get close to him, and, wouldn’t you know, these two teens who start off at odds end up being just the right person for each other. Readers familiar with romance tropes will be able to predict every bend in the road the book has in store, something that would be forgivable with stronger characterization. However, while the tertiary characters are decently rounded and the farmland backdrop is well detailed, the novel suffers from two unengaging leads: Gabe and Juniper have little chemistry and come across as two self-absorbed teens talking at each other and slipping into a relationship because the narrative dictates it. There’s no crackle or pop in their shared scenes, just a sense of obligation. Gabe and Juniper are presumed White.

A dreary affair.