In Love, Carry My Bags, we felt Camryn Johnson’s joy and pain during her heart wrenching and heartwarming journey through life’s circumstances, poor choices, and difficult lessons. Through her relationships with both Glenn and Reese, she became the person she wanted and needed to be.
Now it’s Glenn’s turn.
Glenn, who feels chronically misunderstood, shares his side of the story in the stand-alone novel
I Loved That About Her, revealing his own inner struggles and showing what it’s like to live at the mercy of forces beyond conscious control. These forces take him and his family to the edge when college arch nemesis, Raine Babcock, wreaks havoc on their lives. Glenn shows us that all is not necessarily what it seems, even to himself.
Walking a mile in his shoes, may change hearts and minds about the bad boy from Love, Carry My Bags that readers loved to hate.
Recommended for mature audiences 17+ for language and sexual situations.
So I found out this girl’s name was Camryn. I helped her carry a stack of boxes up to her apartment and stood there looking around until she told me where to stick it. Well, she didn’t exactly tell me where to “stick it.” That would be rude, and she seemed like a nice girl. She kindly told me where to put them. Sometimes I know what I want to say in my head, but the words come out wrong. It’s not until I hear what comes out of my mouth that I realize my eloquence has failed me, and sometimes that eloquence-detection system fails too, leaving me and everyone else frustrated five ways from Thursday. Goes along with the territory.
Camryn had nothing, not even a bed, only a mattress to sleep on. Funny thing was, she didn’t even seem upset about it. She actually seemed happy. I invited her to an icebreaker event at the school, told her I’d pick her up after I did a few things, but I got there late and when I knocked on her door no one answered. I decided to go without her, after all, no sense sitting around the apartment alone. Then when I walked into Kitty Hawk I saw her talking to some guy, Raine, I think his name was. I immediately didn’t like him just because he was talking to Camryn, so I walked right up to them and put my arm around her shoulder, “Sorry, I got hung up in traffic,” I said even though it was a lie. I’d simply lost track of time. The sun shines on some people and everything goes their way, but I’m not one of them. Me and the “time?” We weren’t friends. I fully intend to show up on schedule, but the rain cloud of lateness pours down on me for inexplicable reasons, and I’m running behind. We have a long, sordid history, and I’ve come up with ways to hog tie that time-bitch. Still, those ways aren’t foolproof. I’m cursed. It’s embarrassing. And I’d never admit it in a million years because it’s truly not my fault and the best way to deal with my curse is to fib. Lie is such a strong word. I explain the unexplainable with reasons people will buy without the blame being on me. I’ve had enough blame too. It sucks.
We played several games at the icebreaker, including lacing arms together while back to back. We then had to sit down on the floor and get back up, each of us standing on our own two feet again, arms intertwined the whole time. Falling down was the easy part. We pressed against each other, trying to be careful at first, but three-quarters of the way down, Camryn’s legs gave out and my weight landed us on our asses in an unceremonious plop.
“That kinda hurt,” she said, but she was laughing, so it was fine. Getting back up was more of a challenge. She leaned her back into mine, trying to get up, but not getting anywhere, obviously, without my help. I leaned into her, but ended up pushing her back down with my weight, so she pushed harder and I backed off until we found some sort of balance and stood back up, leaning on each other the whole time. It felt like a huge accomplishment.
“That was hard,” she said. She looked worn out from all the pushing and pulling between us. I felt exhilarated, having reached our goal together. I got the feeling I’d like to reach goal after goal with Camryn if it meant I’d get to touch her more often.
Our last icebreaker was a staring contest. Raine stood right next to Camryn, and Camryn stood across from me as my partner. Some homely chick stood next to me, giving me the heebie jeebies. Thankfully, she was the one staring into Raine’s eyes and not mine.
“Ready, set, go,” the event coordinator instructed. I was hell-bent on bringing Camryn down, having her blinking in no time, outlasting her. But when her gaze fell into mine, it felt as if she peered into my soul, which caught me off guard because I’d never had that feeling with anyone. I was shaken and taken at the same time. I had to look away.
“You’re determined,” I said to Camryn, making it seem like just a game, covering up my unexpected feelings. “Congratulations.” She smiled back at me, seeming satisfied with her victory. Raine had taken his partner down, but in his case, his gaze seemed cold, at least to me, but when we left for the evening, he turned on the charm for Camryn and asked for her number.
“Maybe later,” she told him. Was she playing hard to get? My job was to make sure later never came. I made sure I got to her first.
INTRIGUING AUTHOR’S & THEIR BOOKS REVIEW:
Ok, WOW!! Where do I start with this book? If you read Love, Cary My Bags get ready for a whole new take on how you think about Glenn and Camryn, with that said be prepared to be a little frustrated and emotional. I Loved That About her is a story that helps you to see an alternative POV, to find who, and what make up Glenn.
After reading Love, Carry My Bags I really did not like Glenn. I knew he had some learning difficulties, but the way he coped with it and treated the person he is supposed to love, it just drove me nuts and made him unlikable to me. Reading his story, from his POV, helped to change my mind. I still wish he would have treated Camryn better and told her the truth way before he did, but I can understand. Glenn has ADHD and dyslexia which was extremely difficult and frustrating for him. I may not like his personality a whole lot, but C.R. Everett has written another amazing read.
C.R. Everett has crafted a book in which the reader gets to view the wonderful emotional journey of two people's life; not just the good moments, but the whole journey bad and all. She brought to light a subject, while not life threating, can still be a sensitive and troubling topic. Children get bullied for all kinds of things and not being able to read, opens doors for some people to be called all kinds of names. Not only does this traumatizes them, but it follows them into adulthood.
I Loved That about Her pulled me in from the beginning and held me captivated till the end. This book really pulls the reader into the story and lets them feel and experience what its characters are going through. I cannot wait to see what C.R. Everett writes next.
C.R. Everett was born in Northern Illinois and has lived in various places over the years, currently residing in Utah. For twenty years she worked in finance, but today devotes her time to writing. She lives with her husband, two kids, Shiba Inu, and cat. When not writing, she updates her website, connects with her readers, does the mom thing, or cleans up after unruly pets. In her free time she enjoys reading, usually at the gym while on a treadmill, baking, taking walks, enjoying nature, and going to Starbucks. Mocha is her favorite.
LOVE, CARRY MY BAGS
Camryn Johnson’s world is turned upside down when long lost love, Reese Dahlgren, re-enters her life at a pivotal point in her already challenging marriage. She faces an excruciating predicament: choose between a broken home for her daughter or a broken life for herself. After her parents' divorce, Camryn first meets high school basketball star, Reese, at the Harvard Milk Day Festival bed races. Reese hides baggage of his own…until Camryn melts his heart and learns secrets entrusted only to her. Still, the weight is too much to bear. Unable to cope, Reese unwittingly backs Camryn into a corner during his air force enlistment—love him from afar, or leave him. Enter aerospace engineering student, Glenn Conroy. Persistent and savvy, he woos Camryn during her junior year of college and wins her heart. Or does he? When Reese re-enters her life, further disrupting her tenuous marriage, Camryn turns to best friend, Megan, for advice, but refuses to believe Megan’s suggestion that she’s caught in a “simple” love triangle. Camryn unveils hidden mysteries and secrets as she embarks on a life-changing journey of revelation and forgiveness, transcending doormat qualities inherited from her mother, and in the process finds what life's struggles are really all about.
C.R. Everett's heart-wrenching debut novel takes the reader on an emotion-packed journey that lingers long after the last page is turned.
