Two Way Street - Lauren Barnholdt

Title: Two Way Street
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Pages: 288
Genre: Young Adult|Contemporary
Publication Date: 6/26/2007
Rating: ****

There are two sides to every breakup.

This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.

Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet.

It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.

But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.

Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.

Courtney and Jordan are on a road trip to Boston to go to college. You know this is going to a super-uncomfortable-awkward situation since they are broken up. They had a great relationship before, until Jordan dumps her for some internet bimbo, thus making things far more uncomfortable for them.

Except for one thing: Jordan has a huge secret behind the truth of why he really broke up with her.

I found it to be deeper than I expected. There were laugh-out-loud moments and such, but I felt like Courtney and Jordan were pretty realistic in their thinking and actions. I think it being told from both of their perspectives added to this. I really liked reading about how the other felt/thought and I must add that there were plenty of funny moments even through the more serious times. One of the better parts for me was how Courtney imagined his 'new internet girlfriend'. One negative was the amount of cursing. Some I really don't mind, most of the time it doesn't bother me, but I think there are times when it can be over used and this is one of those times.

I know that novels like this can be pretty predictable, but in this genre, you know what you're getting into most of the time, so in all honesty I can't complain about that too much. It didn't make it any less enjoyable and I still found myself wrapped up in their story.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a semi-light read (some of it is a good bit sad, or it was for me anyway) and a love story.