"Are you still with me Jumper?"
"Yes," I said, snuggling closer against him. "There's nowhere else to be."
"Good," he whispered back, and though there was a hesitation in him, I wasn't sure of it until I felt his Adam's apple as he swallowed hard on top of my head. "Because I am so in love with you." ~ William O'Reilly
When I read these words in the novel Breakdown, by Amanda Lance, I nearly melted into a puddle on the couch. It was so sweet and so touching that I read it over and over again.
William O'Reilly and Charlotte Ferro's first meeting is definitely not as sweet. William, comes across Charlotte as she's getting ready to jump off of an overpass. Yes you heard right, Charlotte is trying to end her life. She's come to a point in her life where she just wants to end it for the pain to go away. William isn't absolutely sure she's going to jump, but he doesn't want to take any chances. Somehow that night he convinces Charlotte to come with him. Promising he'll take her anywhere she wants to go at the end of the night.
Charlotte has carefully planned her jump off the overpass. Strategically parking her car where it won't be discovered for a while. Making sure her parents weren't home. There are several reasons for Charlotte's decision and they come out as she grows closer to William.
William and Charlotte come from completely different worlds. William, a mechanic who dropped out of college and Charlotte a college girl with a wealthy family don't seem like they would mix. But William understands Charlotte better than her parents ever did.
The pair wind up at an illegal drag race. In the area of California where they live these drag races are a pretty big business. William races his car Bloody Mary and he's good at it. He includes Charlotte this particular night and introduces her to some of his friends. For the first time in ages, Charlotte doesn't feel like a freak. When she meets Williams friends, they're genuinely nice to her. It seems people Charlotte thought were her friends, really weren't which is part of the reason she considered jumping and these brand new people are totally accepting of her. Weird right?
As they spend more and more time together, William learns the reasons why Charlotte was thinking of taking her life. What I liked was William wasn't Charlotte's automatic fix. Charlotte still struggled with her depression and she still considered suicide. I was impressed because William helped her. He was always there for her. He texted her everyday, stopped by to see her and most importantly made Charlotte promise she would seek counseling. He didn't do it just because he felt sorry. William catches some genuine feelings for Charlotte.
Yes, William O'Reilly is a totally swoon worthy book boyfriend. He's very nice to look at with a fit body and tattoos (oh what a few tattoos do to me). But the way he looks is only one part. Charlotte spends a lot of the book calling William a do-gooder and sometimes she gets annoyed at him for that. As time goes on, she feels attracted to him and it's kind of a shock to her.
William has his own secret that he's hiding and Charlotte finds out what he's got going on. William wants to keep Charlotte away from this part of his life, but Charlotte is going all in with this boy.
I think Charlotte's story is an important one to be told. She came so close to the ultimate ending and one small act of kindness from a stranger literally saved her life. What I also like is Amanda Lance didn't make life perfect at the end of Breakdown. There's always going to hurdles to get over in life. Hopefully, everyone in Charlotte's situation finds a William to come to their rescue.
A bonus to Breakdown is the relationship between William and Charlotte. It's sweet and sometimes sassy (well Charlotte's definitely a sassy one) and definitely sexy. When I go back to read the sexy parts over again, it's always a good sign. Anyway, I'm giving Breakdown a four lip smack review. It's a story I'm not going to soon forget.
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