This was really quite good for such a short story. I like reading books with mental disorders and especially OCD as a topic, as I have some personal experience with these things and I always like to see how the author will handle it - I thought this was done pretty well here and I liked the way Jude has to make an effort to progress on his own, nothing is magically solved.It was quite sad at times as I could sympathise with some of the things Jude was feeling, and the frustration with himself, but it was also hopeful. My only real complaint is that I never felt I knew Devin at all and I didn't really understand why he would go to so much effort for a stranger? Obviously as time went on it was more obvious he must care about Jude, but what drew him initially? Did he just fancy his new neighbour? So yeah, I would have liked a bit more explanation about that. I enjoyed the writing and look forward to checking out other books by Nash Summers, especially something a bit longer. This was a very sweet story, lovely with some heavy undertones, but nothing so melancholy that you don’t want to read it. Jude struggles so with his personal demons and by a very lucky coincidence the perfect neighbor moves in across from him and slowly draws Jude out of his private world. I truly enjoyed this book, but with so many conveniences it was a little tough to swallow. I actually expected Devlin to turn out to be an undercover psychiatrist or something, he just had ‘all the right moves in all the right places’, who says and does everything exactly right to be able to help Jude. And yes, you can get a lot of information from reading, but the average person isn’t going to magically get it right all the time every time (and for someone who works as a swim instructor, he was home an awful lot of the time)! In the end, Jude was someone I could sympathize and root for, and Devlin was just a ball of sunshine, and for the fantasy that this book was I thought it was just the right amount of angst and moreso just the right amount of romance!
What do You think about Carte Blanche (2014)?
Very tender and hopeful story. I just wish the ending wasn't that rushed.
—FrankieLovesMCR
Don't let the subject matter put you off, this story is gorgeous.
—kat
