Rusty Nailed
picks up the story of Caroline and Simon, the hilariously sexy couple from
Wallbanger. The first part of the book jumps quickly through snippets of their combined
life for nine months– still neighbors, still a couple, still hilarious and fun.
While the story starts to move a bit slow, it’s really an insight into the
lives of two busy people trying to merge into a couple.
He’s still
trotting all over the globe doing his photography thing, and she’s just been
asked to take over a larger role at her work as her boss, Jillian, is getting
married and going on an extended honeymoon.
“I gazed out of
the window of my new office, realizing that with the bigger office came not
only bigger responsibilities, but bigger headaches…I was frazzled, freaked, and
fucked.”
As Caroline
takes on a major design project in Sausalito, life gets complex. Jillian has
asked her to not only take over the office, but house-sit while she is gone.
The couple finds they’re splitting their time on both sides of the bay, in
their own apartments, together in either his or hers, and now, in the fabulous
home of a friend. A trip back to Simon’s hometown for his high school reunion
gives some insight into his past, and makes him not so distant.
Seems
like his trip home, seeing old friends and his old home makes Simon think of
different times. While playing house, it appears that Simon has a bit of a shift
in perspective, and stops taking jobs. He’s home more – and making Caroline
freak out!
“he was…around. And the thing was, I wasn’t.”
Caroline is working
non-stop. She’s tired, stressed, and not telling Simon anything about it. She’s
having some adjustment issues as well.
“Okay, I’m going to say the thing you’re not
supposed to say. I’d be glad when I had the bed to myself again. I hate to say
it, but sometimes I slept better when he was on the road. But you’re not
supposed to say that, right?”
Oh how I can
relate! For over a decade, my man has worked an evening shift, and half of the
year, weekends. I had my own time. I hogged the bed until he got in it. Now he
works days – and is home every night. Every single night. Talk about
adjustment! I feel ya, Caroline!
Their friends, Mimi
and Ryan, and Sophia and Neil are still around and add to the hijinks. At times
the story seemed to focus on the break-up of Sophia and Neil, but it didn’t
overshadow the awesomeness of Caroline and Simon. Plus, Sophia delivers the best string of curse words known to man. I absolutely laughed out loud at her rants! The dialogue is sharp as
ever, and again, the focus on couple-hood, boundaries, and trust comes through
while dealing with their friends drama.
And of course,
Clive is there. I hate cats but that little shit is awesome! I’m so excited that there are more
books coming in this series. While the next one focuses on Simon’s high school
friend, I hope to see more of all of these people that I’ve come to love.
Alice Clayton’s
writing is honest, funny, and smart. I fell in love with Wallbanger – at first because
I could relate to the late night noise coming from the upstairs apartment while I was living in Berkeley (although, said neighbor was nowhere as sexy as Simon!), but after, because she
makes me laugh. She makes me long for the city by the bay. How I miss living in
SF. While she mixes up some of the local landmarks (The Claremont is in the
Berkeley hills, not Sausalito) and I have to believe this is intentional as so
many other aspects of the locale are spot on so, she’s forgiven for this :)
And yes Alice, I
do agree:
“A bowl of Pho
on a chilly evening was the best thing ever”
Check out her other works on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/pdat5am
and Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/lp3owqf
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