Review ~ Confessions of a Carpool Captive by Dawn L Chiletz

Book Description:

My name is Liz Foley. I love my accounting job because I’d rather deal with numbers than talk to people. 

My best traits:

I have (RBF) Resting Bitch Face.

I give snarky come-backs.

I have no friends.

My worst traits:

I speak in run-on sentences when I get nervous.

I’m attracted to assholes.

I’m broke.

Enter Finnigan Walsh – the new guy at work. 

His best traits:

He’s kind of hot, I suppose.

He has a working car.

He sings to me and brings me coffee. 

Nothing ever gets to him, even when I add more people to our carpool.

His worst traits:

See above

I don’t like him. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. 

After all, it’s not about how fast you get there. It’s the journey. Right?

Damn this carpool.

You’d better buckle up.

Buy Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2noIYg6

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2mF9UYE

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~  5 stars

“Sometimes people paint themselves the shade they think they deserve and you have to dig deep to see their true color.”

I found Dawn L Chiletz in December with her quirky cover for The Fabulist and I adored that book. When I saw that she had another release I just had to 1click and dive in. Was ‘The Fabulist’ a one off or had I found another author that I just “clicked” with? I can honestly say, me and this author are going to have a whole lot of history, I adore this authors voice, I love her honest and relatable characters, I love the emotion that she manages to evoke effortlessly and I love that her stories are unique and inherently captivating. Confessions of a Carpool Captive had me in tears of laughter and tears of heart break but most of all I experienced this journey along with the rest of them, a journey I loved every single step of the way.

“‘There are many roads in life and we choose which path is right for us. Just remember, it’s not about how fast you get there. It’s the journey that matters most. Live for the journey.’”

Confessions of a Carpool Captive is a RomCom and contemporary romance with Dawn L Chiletz’s hilarious brand of humour smattered throughout. Our heroine is a woman that will test your patience, but a woman that you will inherently love and want to find her happy ever after. Our hero is the stuff that book boyfriends are made of and Finn has definitely left his mark and catapulted himself onto my BBF list.

“I think it’s time you finally show me how you drive.”

Liz is an introvert and loves nothing more than her own company, she hates idle chit chat and keeps herself to herself. Liz lives in the bubble of Liz, where her emotions are safe and her walls are firmly erect. Having been hurt in the past her heart is an impenetrable fortress and her unapproachable demeanour is the fallout from this and a reflection of her upbringing. Liz was an oops baby, born to relatively old parents who had long given up hope of the blessing of a child. As such, Liz was old before her time, but none the less, she adored her parents and when her father died, he took a huge piece of her with him.

“I stare at the man who could be my everything, or who could completely destroy me.”

Finn is a marketing manager and is the total opposite of Liz. He is the epitome of happy-go-lucky, he sees the best in everything and everyone, he is perpetually happy, charming, would do anything for anyone and had the hugest of hearts. Finn is also extremely persistent and it was this trait that he needed the most if he was ever to penetrate the walls of Liz.

“…when I met you, it was like finding the other half of my soul.”

These two meet on one fraught journey into work, Finn pulled over by a cop in the carpool lane and Liz a gawker laughing at Finn’s expense. Finn was new to the company and had only met Liz on the usual introductions round. Now knowing that he could take advantage of the carpool lane if he could persuade Liz to share his ride he was a man on a mission and Finn does not give up easily.

“Don’t you see how good we are together? We fit. Tell me you care about me as much as I care about you. Stay. Make the choice to fight for us.”

These two together were hilarious and yet totally captivating. The dry banter, the wit and sarcasm had me laughing out loud and yet both of their vulnerabilities brought me to my knees at the same time. Finn and Liz wheedled their way into my heart and it this character connection that made this book the gem it was. When Liz and Finn’s carpool becomes five, the shenanigans really begin and it is these friendships that really open up Liz as a person whether she was willing or not. These friendships were contagious and I loved the camaraderie between this group of misfits. Their union may have been an out for Liz, but forever friendships were made.

“He’s always been the captor and I, his prisoner, both of his carpool and of his game.”

I loved everything about this book, the comedic timing was on point, the dialogue was fantastic and the character connection was sublime. This was one of those books that I never wanted to end and characters I did not want to be separated from. I cannot wait to see what this author delivers next, I for one will be at the front of the queue.