MISUNDERSTANDINGS – Tiffany King
The Woodfalls Girls Novels, Book 2
Berkley Publishing
ISBN: 978—0-425-27479-8
May 2014
New Adult Fiction

Seattle, Washington – The Present

Melissa elicits a reluctant promise from her friend and former roommate, Brittni Mitchell, to attend her engagement party. It means Brittni must return to Seattle and the scene of her disastrous college love affair. She stops at Seattle's tallest office building to see Rob, Melissa's fiancé. That means an elevator ride to the fifty-second floor, and Brittni has a phobia about elevators. Avoiding a crowded elevator, she waits for the next empty one. Upon entering the elevator mischance allows her old boyfriend Justin Avery to enter behind her. A close friend of Rob's, he remains as hate-filled as the last time she saw him. The ride promises to be bad but shortly turns miserable when the elevator breaks down and the two are stuck together…for hours

Justin had been and, even after a two year separation, remains the love of Brittni's life. He tore her heart out and left her wounded. Her initial judgment when she first met him was of a tattooed bad boy, but Justin proved to be a wonderful artist, a loving son and brother, and a sensitive lover. Until they broke up. Traumatized, Brittni finished her college term and escaped back to her hometown of Woodfalls located halfway across the country.

The story begins with Brittni and Justin trapped in the elevator, both in emotional turmoil. Their bitter interchanges are interspersed with Brittni's flashbacks to two years previous showing their developing romance. The back and forth between now and the past is interesting but tends to pull the reader out of the moment. Eventually, Brittni and Justin discuss the long-ago misunderstandings which led to their present situation. Even if they can forgive each other for past actions, the question remains, where do they go from here? Reading as an older adult, I have to admit I had qualms about the outcome, but understand Brittni's choices. The story is very emotional with an enthralling, understated romance. Well-developed characters fill the story, and their witty and sometimes snarky comments add humor, insolence, vulgarity, and sincerity. The MISUNDERSTANDINGS make this a first-rate read. Once you start, you won't want to stop.

Robin Lee