“We’re sorry to announce that this will be Elizabetta’s last review for Love Bytes. She will be missed.”
Reviewed by Elizabetta
Title: In Too Deep
Author : Kate Sherwood
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 234 pages
Blurb:
At first glance, Cade and Aiden hardly seem like a match made in heaven. Their worlds couldn’t be further apart. Cade is quiet, serious, and determined to succeed; Aiden’s a party-loving frat boy. Cade comes from a rough home and worked hard to get the scholarships that make it possible for him to attend college; Aiden’s had it all thrown in his lap by supportive, kind, and wealthy parents. Cade wants nothing to do with Aiden, but from the moment they meet, Aiden is determined to find a way to bring their different worlds together.
Aiden manages to persuade Cade he’s a decent guy, and a tentative friendship becomes much more. But a trip to Aiden’s family cottage puts Cade in the path of a ghost from his past, and a dark secret he never expected to face again. Cade did what he had to do to escape his dead-end life, but now he sees he didn’t leave it as far behind him as he thought.
Review:
So, I already know what’s up with Cade and Aidan since I’ve read and reviewed the free short story, In Over His Head, that it is based on. Written for the Goodreads Love is Always Write 2012 event, that one is a brief chapter out of these guy’s story. I gave it five stars, I liked it that much: “…a tightly written, well-paced, atmospheric short story about how secrets can eat away at a relationship.”
So, I was anxious to see if this more developed version would work out as well.
Cade and Aidan are undergrads at Purdue and, man, these guys couldn’t be more different. Cade is the dark and closed-off loner to Aidan’s sunny extrovert. Cade works in the cafeteria to earn money to pay for school, while Aidan– with all his friends and money at his fingertips– wants for nothing. Except Cade.
Aidan wants Cade. He pursues him relentlessly. Why? It’s not clear, because Cade goes out of his way to be antisocial, bordering on rude. He constantly rebuffs Aidan’s efforts at friendship.
The short story doesn’t give us Cade and Aidan’s early relationship whereas, here, we see the courtship. We have to guess about just what it is that attracts Aidan. Maybe Cade’s looks or his mysterious bad-boy, loner demeanor? Whatever it is, Aidan is determined. Even when he witnesses this exchange while Cade is working in the cafeteria…
Paul, Cade’s freshman-year roommate, nodded back, “Hi.” He tried a bright smile. “Still determined to be antisocial, huh?”
(Cade) “What kind of bread do you want?”
(Paul) “There’s no one behind me in line, Cade. Can you not take a second to talk?”
(Cade) “About what?” Me being antisocial? You want me to be more social about my antisocialness?”
While it would be really easy to dislike Cade for all that unfriendly behavior, the author lets us see where it comes from, how he’s had to build walls to protect himself. His backstory is full of loneliness and fear and shame and desperation. It just made my heart hurt, learning about Cade.
But, never fear. The golden boy, Aidan St. John, with all his privilege and opportunity, only wants to pour his sunny sweetness all over Cade. He’s determined. Somehow he sees inside the that lost boy, recognizing Cade’s need.
But… for all that he has, Aiden is in need too…
“I’m shiny and happy and easy to get along with. Whatever. That’s my surface. And then? Yeah. Hollow. No depth, no core, nothing real inside me. Just emptiness… Until you… you’re inside me…”
There is a glimmer of scary darkness there in Aidan that doesn’t get fully explored in the story, but I suspect that would take a whole other book.
So, reading this, you know there has to be a crossroads– will there be a breaking point for Cade? If he gives in to Aidan, can it all last? How can a nothing person like him deserve a golden boy like Aidan?
So how does this longer work hold up to that shorter story? I like both, but for different reasons.
I really liked the emotional punch of the short story. It just felt more atmospheric and there was a tenseness that built up nicely… we’re dropped into Cade and Aidan’s relationship, we know they are very much in love, but there’s that sense of something not quite right. What was going on with Cade was more of a mystery. His secrets and his discomfort were played out nicely there..
With this longer version, it’s made clear why Cade shuts himself off and away from social interaction. I liked getting to know him better, but that atmospheric stuff is lost here. Also, Aiden really comes on strong in this longer version… it’s riskier. He’s not a stalker but he comes close to being a bit overdone in his pursuit of Cade.
I loved the short story, In Over His Head, for how well crafted it was. In Too Deep gives us more of an indication that Cade and Aidan are in a strong, solid place. My advice is… read both, but maybe read the short first.
Rating: 
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