In Another Life by C.C. Hunter

Summary from Goodreads:

Chloe was three years old when she became Chloe Holden, but her adoption didn’t scar her, and she’s had a great life. Now, fourteen years later, her loving parents’ marriage has fallen apart and her mom has moved them to Joyful, Texas. Starting twelfth grade as the new kid at school, everything Chloe loved about her life is gone. And feelings of déjà vu from her early childhood start haunting her.

When Chloe meets Cash Colton she feels drawn to him, as though they're kindred spirits. Until Cash tells her the real reason he sought her out: Chloe looks exactly like the daughter his foster parents lost years ago, and he’s determined to figure out the truth.

As Chloe and Cash delve deeper into her adoption, the more things don’t add up, and the more strange things start happening. Why is Chloe’s adoption a secret that people would kill for?

Review:

I guess I don’t like Hunter’s contemporary books as much as her paranormal ones. I loved the Shadow Falls series, and I was really looking forward to this one. I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it either. I read it really quickly. And I still enjoyed the romance. There were just a few other things I did not enjoy at all.

For starters, there were a few chapters in the point of view of a kidnapper/murderer. The rest of the book is in Chloe’s and Cash’s point of views. I guess the bad guy point of view always felt so strange. Why just include a tiny bit of it? And also, if there will be any of it, I’d like to see something redeeming. There wasn’t. The bad guy was just a bad guy, with no redeeming qualities. In fact, he was a pervert, a racist, and an overall terrible human. Why include his point of view at all?

I liked Chloe and Cash. I felt for Cash, though I found his reaction to a possible scam a little too strong…I get it. I get that he was protecting his foster parents. But, it felt like there needed to be more motivation for him to react as strongly as he did. Also, I felt for Chloe. I thought her adoptive parents were pretty awful.

I was supposed to not love the dad because he cheated on his wife and was living with a much younger woman, but I weirdly ended up liking the dad more than the mom. The mom was terrible. She was a cancer survivor, so I get that there was a lot going on, but…she was terrible to Chloe. She was depressed, angry, hostile, and neglectful. Throughout the book, Chloe thought of herself as the mom. There was a possible suicide scare that Chloe lies to her dad about. And I honestly felt like Chloe wasn’t safe living there in such a toxic environment.

I also had trouble believing the whole kidnapping/adopting element to the story. Some things really didn’t add up for what happened. Like adoption does not work that quickly! I know this is YA fiction, but I feel like more research should have been done about the adoption process.

I did like the two main characters, and I certainly felt sorry for them. I read the book super quickly. And I enjoyed the romance. I enjoyed the suspense of it all, particularly in the last quarter of the book. There were just a few too many things that did not add up. I was confused by the short bits of perspective from the bad guy. And I hated the main character’s adoptive parents. I give this one a 6/10.