Hydraulic Level Five by Sarah Latchaw-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 3, 2013

How does a woman get over her one great love? With whitewater rafting, bluegrass, and a touch of revenge…

Kaye is an extreme sports addict with a kind heart and an axe to grind with her childhood sweetheart and ex-husband, renowned writer Samuel Caulfield Cabral. While Samuel enjoys a celebrity life in New York, Kaye remains in their hometown of Lyons, Colorado, running her PR agency and chatting daily with Samuel’s family, the beloved Cabrals—first-generation Mexican-Americans who have embraced Kaye as their own.

But when Samuel returns home for his sister’s wedding with a new love interest, stunning editor Caroline Ortega, the gloves are stripped off. Kaye is determined to unearth the reasons behind the death of their marriage and why two people who lived to love each other were driven apart, all leading to startling revelations about Samuel, about life…and about herself.

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HYDRAULIC LEVEL FIVE is the first storyline in Sarah Latchaw’s new adult contemporary series focusing on extreme sport lover and PR business owner Kaye Trilby and world famous author Samuel Cabral. The focus of the story is one that is heartbreaking in its’ premise as two people who have known and loved each other for most of their lives suddenly become strangers when Sam decrees he wants to be alone. From childhood sweethearts to bitter exes, the storyline is awash in sorrow, heartache, disbelief and painful realizations.

Fast forward seven years and with the upcoming wedding of Sam’s sister and Kaye’s best friend, the story builds using flashbacks, memories and excerpts from Samuel’s novels. We are brought into the happy and glorious memories of two people who have known love with each other but have also known pain, and no one more so than Samuel. As the story unfolds, we are pulled into the tears and painful memories of the day Sam walked away and the ensuing weeks and months when Kaye had no idea what had happened or why. But a quick trip to meet Sam face to face will uncover a nasty truth that Kaye had never seen coming.

Hydraulic Level Five is a term used in white-water rafting when ‘water pours over an object hidden in the heart of the river, water reverses upstream and creates a whitewater hydraulic. River travelers are often trapped in its dangerous churn indefinitely’ (Hydraulic Level Five) and it is also a term applied to the fall out and demise of Samuel and Kaye’s relationship. Our couple become lost in the anger and resentment; the failure of their relationship and marriage; and the never ending feeling of being trapped without the ability to move forward. This is a story about a relationship failure when two people who knew each other intimately never really knew each other at all. Samuel called their relationship ‘symbiotic’ and inferred and compared it to feeding off of one another’s strengths and weaknesses. In this, Samuel is lost and is looking for a way out.

Hydraulic Level Five is a deep introspective look at one couple’s relationship demise and the ensuing hunt to find the truth. We watch as Kaye is once again pulled into the churning maelstrom that is Samuel Cabral and Kaye’s need to uncover the truth-why did he walk away without any explanation? You will be frustrated, angry, sad and hurt but in the end you will root for two people you know belong together.

Sarah Latchaw has written an amazing storyline that was once a piece of fan-fiction. The entire novel covers a few weeks in the life of a group of people who are all involved in Samuel’s sister’s upcoming wedding and the what ifs and whys of what happened seven years before. We are introduced to an eclectic mix of friends and family who have stood by Kaye during her darkest times; the Cabral family who are like a second family to Kaye and her friends who have supported her knowing that the truth will eventually be revealed.

My only concern or true negative is that there was NO mention about a second instalment and the reader is left hanging at the end of the story. You know there is more to tell; there are promises made, vows exchanged and scheduled dates and time for talking.

This is not a story with a happily ever after but a story with a friends for now, let’s see what happens. And in this, there is much more story to tell.

NOTE:  The author has contacted me and has let us know: Skygods, the sequel, is currently being edited and will be released in 2014. 

Reviewed by Sandy