Title: Long Strange Trip
Author: Vicki Gaia
Published in May 2007 by Samhain Publishing
Genre: Romantic Mainstream, 20th Century Historical Fiction
ISBN: 1-59998-046-0
Other Books by Vicki: Cradle the Light: Warring Hearts - Book 1 Fragments of Light: Warring Hearts - Book 2
Kenneth Hailey considers himself a man in control. He is the kind of person who believes that problems can be solved rationally, and he feels the same toward love. His approach to life is that anything can be translated in a pragmatic way. The traditionalist, who often hides behind his conventional clothes, is shocked to learn that his fiancé has left him for his best friend. Living most of his life inside a shell, he departs Manhattan and heads to the West Coast for a new change in his life. What he finds along the way in the year 1967 is a year of discoveries for him, one being a free-spirited girl by the name of Rose Red.
Rose Red is her own woman, always sharing her vocals to anyone. She doesn’t mind speaking her mind. When she meets Ken, she finds him a bit reserved and can instantly tell they are different from night and day, but there is a kindness about him. She has been dating Mark, but it’s not a deepening relationship and there are moments that she would rather not even be with him. Whenever she is with Ken, she feels he is a challenge that she would like to just get in his head and prick his brain, and turn him into a person that should get out and have some fun. Yes, the more time she spends with Ken, she feels it is time to loosen him up no matter how different they may appear.
As a flower-child, Rose Red lives her life with the motto, living and loving in her tight hip-huggers and muslin embroidered shirt. She enjoys rally protests, rock concerts and anything happening in the sixties. The minute she sees Ken, she would love to get him out of his stiff behavior pattern and into a relaxed person learning to enjoy life. In the summer of his love, traveling three thousand miles away, Ken soon feels like a male version of an Alice in Wonderland. He feels security in his life and really doesn’t wish to conform to Rose’s way of life, but the more she sways herself his way, it appears that the turtle shell he carries around is about to be broken.
Finding love along the way, they both learn from each other about the meaning of love, uplifting enthusiasm and discovering a big world in a whole different pattern. He ends up asking will she still remember him in twenty years, to which she lets him know he will always be an enigma to her. Rose assures when he becomes famous, she will show up for one of his lectures. He only insists she will find him boring to which she lets him know that he is a mystery she will never figure out. When Rose is able to finally fulfill her dreams and go to college, the one person that has made a world of difference within her life is Dr. Kenneth Hailey and she wants to make sure the world knows.
Long Strange Trip is a fascinating story that takes a reserved man and allows him to open up and discover feelings that are buried. Rose and Ken both go through an untried phase of discoveries that allow each to find something at the end of the tunnel that leads to surprising findings. Both are forceful in their actions, thoughts and ways.
Vicki Gaia sketches a story where the reader can feel the emotions and the adventure of the characters. She stirs an engaging read that reaches out and touches the reader in a way that many can relate. Sometime rocky, sometimes wild and loving, this is one venture that carries the reader on a roller coaster ride that is quite remarkable. She captivates her audience by incorporating the sixties, then the present and molds characters that are quite refreshing. Ken and Rose come alive in the story with a sexual energy in life that should be shared and enjoyed by everyone in this enchanting read.
Sincerely good reading,
Linda
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