A perfectly placed wingback chair in a Texas book-lined coffee shop unites two wounded hearts in Take Me Home, a refreshing first novel by Melanie Sweeney. This simple set-up unspools into a tender rom-com--an enemies to friends to lovers story--that will entice readers to tag along eagerly on an armchair journey of their own with these likable, 20-something protagonists.
The push-and-pull of romance and burgeoning sexual chemistry begin when Hazel Elliot--a dramatic, frazzled psychology Ph.D. student--locks horns with Ash Campbell, a laidback architecture student who lives above and also works at the Living Room Café. The wingback chair in the shop is Ash's "regular spot," the place where he likes to unwind. The chair is situated next to an electrical outlet, which Hazel urgently needs for her laptop in order to submit a college paper on deadline. The inflexibility that manifests between Hazel and Ash is magnified by the fact they have suffered through a contentious yet flirty relationship with each other since high school. Ash was the best friend of Justin, Hazel's old flame. Ash always secretly felt Hazel was too good for Justin, and carried a torch for her.
With winter break and the December holidays looming, Ash becomes determined and desperate to get home to see his family. But with his car on the fritz, he needs a ride to Lockett Prairie, Tex. Hazel offers to give him a lift as she, too, has been summoned home--she is leery and reluctant to attend the second wedding of her rather estranged, weather-newsman father. Quelling their shared angst, Hazel and Ash set off on a road trip rife with amusing complications. In the process of the long ride, they get reacquainted and start to bond. They realize the friction of their former animosity is helping deepen passions in their budding romantic relationship--a relationship tested by secrets kept and emotional dilemmas each faces with their respective families once they return home.
Readers will be held rapt by these two fully drawn characters who struggle with distinct familial dynamics. Ash's family is happy, loving, and close-knit, while Hazel, an only-child product of divorce, feels very lost amid her father's large new family. This clear delineation allows Sweeney sensitively to probe the meaning of love and the many facets of "home." -- Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines
Shelf Talker: A feel-good rom-com about 20-somethings with a contentious past who share a ride back to their families in a Texas hometown, sparks flying along the way.