seriously romantic: something in the way by jessica hawkins

when lake meets manning in something in the way she’s riveted. possessive. he’s hers in a way that will never let him be anyone else’s. except that would be too easy. and lake is sixteen. and manning is twenty-three. and he knows that lake can’t be his.

it’s too messed up. those seven years wouldn’t make a difference except for timing. and lake has plans. she’s going places. and manning knows that he won’t ever be the guy to take her there. he can’t be even though when he’s with her he’s understood and wanted and needed in a way that calls to his soul. 

he will do anything to protect lake from hurt. from loss. from the pain of life’s disappointments. even if he has to give up what little hope he has of making a better life for himself. because that way leads him further away from lake than he is willing to go. 

it’s twisted and messed up and angsty and forbidden. lake and manning suffer every time they are in a scene together and can’t reveal themselves. even though everyone around them knows. even if they know without knowing. 

in that sense you feel the most for tiffany. she’s lake’s older sister who pushes her way into a relationship with manning. he lets it happen because he likes tiffany. he’s attracted to her. he also knows that a relationship with tiffany isn’t inappropriate. she’s not jailbait. she’s not temptation personified. but she needs him. she needs him in a way he likes to be needed. and that can be a heady thing too. 

nothing is resolved. everything is a mess. and the story continues in somebody else’s sky, which i am reviewing next. 

**something in the way published on february 27, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/jessica hawkins in exchange for my honest review.