Hard Time

Hard Time by Cara McKenna

Age: Adult
Category: Romance; contemporary
Rating: 4 stars

Marta Thinks: Thanks to ‘Hard Time’, I’ve started to see a typewriter as a terribly romantic object and love letters have gained significance. I’ve never seen much of a point of love letters; they’ve always seemed over-the-top, trite and essentially meaningless despite declarations of grand sentiments. No longer is that the case. If anything, I want my own love letter. Now if only I could find the right person…

Annie Goodhouse doesn’t have that problem. She has Eric. They start out as a perfect example of forbidden romance. Eric is in prison; Annie is the librarian who comes in to do sessions with the convicts. What follows is an exchange of heartfelt (and dirty) letters: “Darling, I missed you since our last visit. A few minutes a week with you is almost more cruel than it’s worth...I think about your mouth, and about kissing. And other things.” It’s easy to see the relationship slowly growing. And then Eric is released from prison and Annie has to decide whether to pursue what they have commenced.

Banner Credit: Marta

Cara McKenna is amazing; she is a very, very good writer, and especially brilliant at developing emotions and engaging the reader. I loved the character development and I completely understood Annie’s doubts. Despite Eric’s kindness, is it possible to accept the horrendous act he committed in order to receive his sentence? If I put myself in Annie’s place I think it’s easy to empathize with her position and I don’t think her doubt and cautioness was not at all reasonable. My favourite character, however, was Eric, who was an utter sweetheart and, as Annie put it, ‘the most honest man she has ever met’, despite having met said man in prison.

I started reading this book with reservations as it deviated quite a bit from my usual read. All I have to say is that I’ve been rewarded for stepping outside of my boundaries. I hope you feel that way too.