Emery Lord’s When We Collided is a standalone novel. Veronica Cove is a tiny coastal town quietly tucked into California’s coastline. Spotted with perfect beaches, sweet shops and gorgeous wild flowers, the town is loved by its summer tourists, but treasured by its locals. Jonah Daniels grew up in Veronica Cove and spent his entire life adoring his hometown, but he and his five siblings recently experienced a loss in the family. Vivian (Vivi) Alexander hails from Seattle but has a history of moving around. After a series of unfortunate events forces her to flee from home, she seeks a summer refuge in the quiet town of Veronica Cove. These two broken souls collide in a bombastic summer that changes the two of them forever.
Vivi can best be described as a whirlwind of emotion. This artsy girl is full of life and infectious energy that spreads to everyone around her. She is bright, eccentric, and a joy to those around her, when she is on medication for her mental disorder. As she stops taking it, her actions become more selfish and erratic. Although Emery Lord tries to make Vivi likable and tries to use her to shine a light on people dealing with mental illness, I have trouble liking her. She is extremely self-centered, unreliable, and often oblivious to others. She is not a likable, but her eccentricities are the perfect thing to help Jonah grow and develop in this book.
Jonah is rock steady, so much so that Vivi likens him to a tree. After his father passed away and his mother locks herself away in grief, it is up to him and his older siblings Silas and Naomi to take care of the three younger siblings Isaac, Becky and Leah. As Naomi is often away for college and Silas is often working towards college, a lot of the responsibility of policing the siblings falls on Jonah. He is weighed down by a heavy burden of responsibility and grief, until Vivi picks the perfect moment to walk into his life. She helps him manage his siblings, deal with his emotions, and pushes him to try new things.
When We Collided is a beautiful romance novel. As with most contemporary romance novels, the plot follows a predictable pacing. The beginning is steady and cute, but, as the relationship builds, so do the conflicts challenging the couple. Eventually, everything culminates in an emotional and impactful climax before petering down into a slow resolution. This novel does not deviate from this formula, however, its setting and characters make it special.
Each character in the story is unique and special. The two leads are complete opposites in terms of personality, but grow into a relationship strengthened by all the supporting characters. Everyone from the town police officer to Jonah’s lovable little sister Leah as a unique personality. They all provide support for the leads and help them overcome their personal demons in the little ways they can, while also working to build a sweet almost isolated setting for events to unfold.
As previously mentioned, Veronica Cove is a tiny town tucked away from bigger cities. The town itself is beautifully described and contains an underlying tone of quiet healing. Emery Lord’s stunning prose makes the story come alive with color and beauty.
It also gorgeously communicates the artistic way Vivi’s mind works and gives her a voice that differs from the grounded voice of Jonah. But as the character’s interact, their voices change. Jonah becomes freer as he embraces Vivi’s artful thinking, while Vivi spirals out of control as she fails to take her medication.
The romance between these two is absolutely stunning, and my only complaint is how quickly it happened. These two immediately fell in love, but later realize that they know almost nothing about each other. They fight, argue, kiss, and love each other in a way that helps them both deal with their individual hardships.