Good For You (Between the Lines #3)

Good For You by Tammara Webber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finally Reid Alexander has met his match.

In this third installment of the Between the Lines series, reckless movie star Reid Alexander finally messes up enough to get sent for some serious rehab. It isn't drug or alcohol addiction rehab as one might think - it's community service for having run his car through the house of a family in poverty. And it's about time.

We've gotten to know Reid as charming, self-absorbed and selfish in the previous books in this series. He's had a cavalier attitude about life and been focused on his own amusement. He's lived a pretty hedonistic life. He's a jerk. But he meets his match when he's sent to put in a month building a house through Habitat for Humanity. He meets Dori, who is unimpressed by him and is both a little star-struck and equally irritated with herself for being so. She's the daughter of a pastor and down-to-earth. But she's also the high-minded one when it comes to the relationship, which is a nice departure. Reid doesn't want to be there but mostly just doesn't want to stop being himself. Of course he can't help but be himself, his charming self, and Dori finds herself required to rise to her own standards and expectations.

It's nice to see Reid's character evolve here. The second book in this series was a bit unbelievable, light, fluffy, even silly. This book brings the story back to a level that takes the characters seriously. There is real change that happens in the life of this guy who ultimately finds himself lost in his life. That potential everyone thought they saw really emerges here. The best part is that Reid himself is the most surprised by it.

Dori is a girl who has lived a life of faith, doing what is expected but not to meet those expectations that are imposed by others. Instead they are ones she places on herself. When real disaster strikes in her life, she is forced to question that faith. She gets hit with the old "why do bad things happen to good people" slap. She begins to work through it and we get to see that in real life, faith is a journey and not a destination. And sometimes that journey can take a road that goes completely the opposite direction of the ultimate destination. Belief doesn't solve the problem, it provides a way through and it is never easy.

This series previously was a lighter look at romance and celebrity. This book brings out real emotion - heartbreak, gratitude, the gladness of potential beginning to be realised, the struggle of the stages of grief. It delves far deeper than just a teenage romance. This story has weight.

On audio the book is narrated by Kate Rudd and Todd Haberkorn. They are simply wonderful, giving just the right voices and emotional gravity to the characters. They were the perfect choices to narrate this series.

This series has gotten markedly better with this third book. If that's any indication of the quality of the fourth book, I can't wait for it.

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