These Characters Are Real – Review of “Swept Up”

Recently I had a pleasure of reading a book by a fellow indie writer, Kayla Dawn Thomas. It’s her recent release and it is called “Swept Up“.

Before I go into any of the details I have to say right away how impressed I was with the characters of this book. They are real people with very real issues, desires, problems and aspirations. Many of the demons they are facing are very familiar to me from my own experience or experiences of close friends and relatives. There is nothing phony about the people you meet in this story, they are destructive, they are creative, they are caring, they are hateful, they will tell you how to live your live and they will make you walk your own path. Author is not protecting the main characters in any way, there were many times when I gasped out loud at what was happening to the them or straight up yelled at them for doing something really stupid.

This story is a modern romance set in a small college town, it introduces us to Web, street sweeper by night and book reading recluse by day. He had a share of a heartbreak in his college days and is not in a hurry to get involved again. Anti-social by nature, he’d rather be on the sidelines of human drama even though his sister tries to set him up with her gym-going friends, without any success.

One night he is out on his street-cleaning run, when a woman named Kara runs in front of his street sweeper. She is disoriented and hurt and he decides to help her and take her home. After taking care of her he leaves, but she doesn’t leave his thoughts. She is, however, caught up in her issues, relationships, complicated situation with her parents and a denial of a habit. She keeps on making bad choices and he keeps on being in the right place at the right time to rescue her yet again.

After life knocks her out (literally), she finally decides to give him a chance. Web is different from anyone she has ever dated and she is all he can think of. Thinking of her brings up his previous relationship, the one that broke his heart. He can’t help but compare them and he is yet to find out how similar the situation is going to turn out. Kara carries a secret that will break his heart and make him think long and hard about the viability of their relationship.

Will they survive the roadblocks the life threw at them or will they find a way to come together? Read and find out.