Title: The Traveling Man (Traveling, #1)
Author: Jane Harvey – Berrick
Release Date: January 27, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
I was ordinary. Nice. He was extraordinary. And he wasn’t always nice.
Moody and difficult, brilliant and beautiful, Kes scared me and he protected me. He could be incredibly hurtful and incredibly thoughtful. He wasn’t perfect, but he was perfect for me. He challenged me, he took me out of my safe little box and showed me the world could be magnificent. He was everything I wasn’t.
Aimee Anderson is ten when the traveling carnival first comes to her nice little town. She doesn’t expect her world to change so completely. But meeting Kestrel Donohue puts her life on a different path.
Even though she only sees him for the two weeks of the year when he passes through her home town, his friendship is the most important of her life. As a child’s friendship grows to adult love, the choices become harder, and both Kes and Aimee realize that two weeks a year will never be enough.
Meagan’s 5 Star Review
A story about a traveling carnival didn’t really appeal to me, but since I love Jane Harvey-Berrick’s novels I knew I had to give it a try. I was first drawn in by the relationship between Kes and Aimee but before long I had fallen in love with the entire story, carnival and all.
His smile was mischievous and I should have known better. Perhaps I did. But when I was ten, I didn’t care.
The novel starts when Aimee and Kes are both ten-years-old. While they only get to see each other two weeks out of the year every summer the friends form a strong bond. Each year Kes and Aimee wait for those magical two weeks. At first their relationship is more friendly than anything, a quick peck on the cheek but nothing more. As the years go on their relationship progresses and friendship blossoms into first love. Taking into account the pair only sees each other once a year, the author does an amazing job of progressing the story smoothly. The transitions are flawless and you hardly remember that we miss out on the other fifty weeks of the year Kes and Aimee don’t get to see each other.
I felt as if I’d met my soulmate, but he was always being taken away from me.
We follow the characters as they go from ten to twenty-five. It was interesting to watch Kes and Aimee grow into themselves. Kes was always on the edge of control. He wavered between confident daredevil in the carnival to insecure boy uncertain of how to show his feelings. When Kes felt cornered he was scary and dark, but lord was he still beautiful. Aimee started out as a little girl in need of some courage, but with the help of Kes she grows into a young woman who, at least two weeks a year, is vibrant and confident. Aimee definitely matured the most as she grew. She was always spirited, but as she became an adult she learned to hold her own and stand up for herself.
So if all we get is now, then I’ll take it . . . he’ll always be a part of me
The love story is absolutely beautiful. Watching the two bumble through their first relationship was sweet, funny and insanely hot. It was young love at its finest, new and full of hope. But as much as you plan life is never what you expect and Kes and Aimee’s journey is a hard one.
Kes will never be easy, and the person who loves him won’t have it easy. But if he loves you back, it’ll be worth it, because he’ll love you with every part of him.
I can’t decided which relationship I loved more, Aimee and Kess as kids, or Aimee and Kess as adults. I guess it doesn’t matter, as both were spectacular. The newness and awe they felt as kids was magical. But the passion and intensity they had as adults blew me away. As adults they also struggled with baggage. It was like they were trying to walk through an emotional minefield. Kes had secrets and wouldn’t let Aimee in. Aimee had her own life, a “normal” life that had nothing to do with the carnival . . . or Kes. They were two characters who were perfect for each other, if only they didn’t have other lives that were completely different.
I couldn’t see my future; I couldn’t see which road led to Kes.
Besides Aimee and Kes I fell in love with the carnival. I was definitely leery of it at first, but the kindness of the characters drew me in. I liked that the author gave us the good with the bad. The carnival was a tight-knit family and they loved what they did, but they could also be suffocating with almost no time to be alone. I adored the secondary characters too. Aimee’s sister and nephew, as well as all of Kes’ carnival family added a richness that created a well-rounded story.
I saw wonder, desire, pleasure, and I saw love. I was sure I saw love.
This is an absolutely beautiful, painful, emotional, wonderful story. I loved everything about it. I stayed up to the late hours of the night reading and fell asleep only to dream about it. I can’t stop thinking about Aimee and Kes, and I’m dying to read the conclusion of their story in The Traveling Woman, releasing this spring.
“Better than my dreams,” he whispered.
Purchase The Traveling Man today!
About the Author
Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Twitter
I lived in London for over 10 years and have a love affair with New York. It’s only since I have moved to the countryside, that the words have really begun to flow.
I live in a small village by the ocean and walk my little dog, Pip, every day. It’s on those beachside walks that I have all my best ideas.
Writing has become a way of life – and one that I love to share.
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