{"id":2817,"date":"2015-03-01T06:42:37","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T14:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2817"},"modified":"2016-12-26T06:45:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T11:45:48","slug":"review-the-traveling-man-traveling-1-by-jane-harvey-berrick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2817","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Traveling Man (Traveling, #1) by Jane Harvey-Berrick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/b><\/h4>\n
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Review<\/b><\/h4>\n

5 Magical Stars<\/b><\/p>\n

OMG, this story is so, so beautiful! Jane Harvey-Berrick has painted a magical world (in the non-pnr sense) which sets the stage for an amazing love story that spans 14 years, and the combination is exciting and passionate. The writing is wonderful and the feels are intense, and I was captivated the whole way through. You know those books that have that special ‘feel’ to them that is what die-hard readers crave? Well, this book has that. So be warned \u2013 my review is gushy and quote whorey \u2013 but it\u2019s all totally deserved.<\/p>\n

Ten year old Aimee\u2019s birthday wish is to go to the carnival which is visiting her town. Her life is quiet and boring, with painfully strict parents, but something about the carnival excites her, and she wants to experience it more than anything.<\/p>\n

I was old enough to know that magic didn\u2019t exist, and young enough to hope that I was wrong. I was sure that if magic belonged anywhere in the world, it was living and breathing right across the road in Mr. Peterson\u2019s field. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is there that she meets Kes, a ten year old boy who has been raised in the carnival and who is cheeky and mischievous, and who in one day, gives her an experience that changes her life forever.<\/p>\n

Kes gave me his shy smile again and my heart was captured from that moment. I didn\u2019t know it then; I didn\u2019t understand what it meant, but whenever I looked at him, my skin felt warm, like my own personal sun was shining just for me.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kes and Aimee spend every possible moment they can together for the two weeks that he is in town, and again each year when the carnival returns, and the two of them develop a very special friendship. And as they grow and the hormones start to run wild, that friendship turns into blissful, all-consuming first love.<\/p>\n

He reached out and brushed his thumb along my bottom lip.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re my girl, Aimee. No one else.\u201d
\nThen he leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am a total cougar over teenage Kes. Gorgeous, intense and uninhibited with a hint of danger, he is total YA crush material, and I was completely swept up in the intensity of their romance! But young love does not run smoothly, especially with the constant separations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to explain what those two weeks every summer meant to me. I lived for them, I breathed for them, and the rest of my life seemed to be spent waiting.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And when Kes and Aimee are torn apart, it absolutely broke my heart. But\u2026 it makes it all the more epic when they reconnect as adults, and OMG, the longing, the sexual tension and the drama of their time apart leads to an absolutely sensational reunion. But they are not the same, idealistic kids that they once were, can they make it work the second time around?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still love him.\u201d
\n\u201cI love the boy he was. I could love the man, too. I don\u2019t know, and that\u2019s why I have to find out.\u201d
\n\u201cOh, Aimee,\u201d she said sadly, pulling me into a tight hug. \u201cPlease be careful.\u201d
\n\u201cToo late,\u201d I whispered.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love a swoony, perfect book hero as much as the next person, but Kes is far from the perfect, romantic leading man. To put it bluntly, he\u2019s an asshole \u2013 but not in the fun, jokey way that so many book heroes are. He\u2019s moody and sometimes mean and he often says and does hurtful things. That\u2019s not to say he\u2019s abusive, because he\u2019s absolutely not! He\u2019s had an unusual upbringing, and he is flawed, and it\u2019s is just the way he is, and I love that! It\u2019s different from a lot of books but it\u2019s realistic, and it creates a bit of a darker mood for the story and I thought it was really well done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI care about you !\u201d he roared. \u201cChrist!\u201d He took a deep breath. \u201cI\u2019m trying here, Aimee. Maybe I don\u2019t say it pretty enough for you. But this is me, trying.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the rough side of him just makes his softer side so much more incredible! You can see that he truly cares for Aimee, he cherishes her and they have some beautifully sweet and funny moments together, and the little glimpses where we get to see his vulnerability made me fall harder and harder for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dreamed of this so many times, I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s real\u2014that you\u2019re real. You were always there, just out of reach, and I\u2019d wake up and find my bed empty. But now you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Aimee is an incredible heroine! Kes is the love of her life, and of course she wants to be there for him, to help him in whatever way she can and to shower him with all of the love that she has for him, but she\u2019s not a doormat either. She\u2019s strong and independent, she doesn\u2019t put up with his shit, and isn\u2019t afraid to give back to him, and that dynamic is fantastic! They have so much passion and intensity, and it\u2019s evident in each and every encounter – whether they\u2019re in bed, arguing, or just bantering together, I loved every moment!<\/p>\n

I cocked my head on one side. \u201cIs that what we have? A relationship?\u201d
\nKes looked taken aback. \u201cWell, yeah.\u201d Then he hesitated, \u201cWhat would you call it?\u201d
\n\u201cWell, at the moment, I\u2019d say it\u2019s two old friends catching a ride together to go see the carnival.\u201d
\nKes nodded. \u201cOkay,\u201d he said. \u201cWorks for me.\u201d
\n\u201cJust so you know,\u201d I sniffed, \u201cthat\u2019s the wrong answer. We\u2019re totally in a relationship.\u201d
\nKes grinned. \u201cGood. So we\u2019re both clear on that.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

JH-B has done an amazing job painting life with the carnies. Every little aspect of their life on the road is portrayed with wonder and excitement, but also reality. It\u2019s not an easy life, but for those who love it, it\u2019s the only life, and that message is very clear. There are ups and downs, but it\u2019s truly a family environment, and I loved how closely it was tied into everything that was happening with Kes and Aimee\u2026 even the awkward times.<\/p>\n

Our sex life seemed to be of great interest to everyone, and I hated that. Other women slyly commented that they\u2019d heard us inside the RV. Well, they couldn\u2019t have heard Kes, because he was never loud, not even when he came. Embarrassingly, it must be my gasps and screams that they were hearing, unless it was the sound of me being thoroughly pounded. Yeah, not at all embarrassing.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I freaking loved this book! It truly does have a ALL the feels, and I laughed, cried, sighed and squeed my way through it. I couldn\u2019t put it down and read it in one sitting, stopping only to share my excitement with a reading buddy. It\u2019s an absolutely beautiful story, and I\u2019m so glad there\u2019s going to be another book because I can\u2019t wait to lose myself in this world again – although I could have done without the nasty cliffy because yep, it\u2019s brutal!<\/p>\n

<\/span>Spoiler <\/div>
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\u201cAimee, this is all of me. Stay. Please.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

*sniff*.<\/div><\/div>\n

I absolutely loved it \u2013 5 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Traveling\u00a0Series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"The<\/a>\u00a0 \"The<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"\"\u00a0\u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

The Traveling Man (#1) <\/strong>(Kes & Aimee)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

The Traveling Woman (#2) <\/strong>(Kes & Aimee)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Roustabout (#3)<\/strong> (spin-off, Tucker & Tera)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0| Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Carnival (#4)\u00a0<\/strong>(Zef & Sara)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a> |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Gypsy (#5)<\/strong> (Gypsy)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

See our Contemporary Romance Recommendations<\/a> page for more great reads.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback Review 5 Magical Stars OMG, this story is so, so beautiful! Jane Harvey-Berrick has painted a magical world (in the non-pnr sense) which sets the stage for an amazing love story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,173,50,49,9,24,29],"tags":[159,48,160],"class_list":["post-2817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-epic-romance","category-favourite","category-feeeeeeels","category-romance","category-second-chance-romance","category-steamy","tag-jane-harvey-berrick","tag-review","tag-traveling"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/The-Traveling-Man.jpg?fit=150%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-Jr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}