Where You Are (Between the Lines #2)

Where You Are by Tammara Webber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Emma, Graham, Reed and Brooke are all back again. The cast of School Pride continues on as the movie premiere approaches and things get a little bit sticky. And once again we have an innocent girl and a responsible boy vs. two really screwed up kids with entirely too much money and celebrity.

This is essentially the story of the romance between Emma and Graham. In the first book, we met Emma Pierce is a young ingenue. She gets a big break to star in a movie opposite Reed Alexander, the current hunk of the moment. In this sequel, she has decided to leave her successful film career behind and attend college at NYU. Having survived a failed romance while shooting the movie with Reed, she runs into Graham Douglas while visiting NYU. They had been friendly during the filming of the movie and upon meeting, quickly decide they feel a lot more than friendship. A romance ensues, complicated by Graham's young daughter Cara.

The story is told from four alternating points of view: Emma, Graham, Reed and Brooke. Reed is the spurned superstar, unbelieving that any girl could turn him away. Graham has always considered Brooke a good friend, saving her from disaster at times. When Brooke decides that she and Graham are meant to be despite Graham's disinterest, she enlists Reed's help to sabotage Graham's relationship with Emma. Things get interesting from there.

While this was supposed to really be Graham's story, he didn't take center stage. Instead, the focus is the struggle for honesty between he and Emma despite circumstantial evidence to the contrary. Brooke is devious and spiteful. While her actions are understandable, they are not sympathetic. Reed just wants to have what he can't have and freely admits how shallow this makes him. All these relationships are complicated. Even so, Webber is able to untangle the mess beautifully. The plot never lags and although things get a little crazy, well, it could happen, right?

On audio this book was made fabulous by Kate Rudd and Todd Haberkorn. These two are spectacular narrators. Haberkorn especially was able to give Reed a cocky swagger that would never have translated from the page to my brain. The turn of the phrase, the interpretations of the sentences, these were all acted rather than simply read. It was voice acting at its finest.

This is a full-on soap opera that just gets better. It will be interesting to see what Webber does next with the character of Brooke. Oh, the secrets we will uncover!

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