Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins (review)

Dragged off to a wealthy oceanside town for the summer, brooding Cassandra forgoes garden parties for petty crime. Lawrence chafes under his father’s controlling ways, desperately wanting to become a poet rather than the lawyer his father envisions. The lives of the two teens are separated by nearly one hundred years, but a cosmic glitch allows them to meet on a stretch of beach near their house (rented by Cassandra in 2015, and home of Lawrence in 1925). Romance inevitably blossoms, but when Cassandra learns from an old newspaper article that Lawrence ends up murdered just a few days after they meet, she becomes intent on saving him. Cassandra and Lawrence are charming in their separate chapters; a wry wit gives strength to Cassandra’s voice, while Lawrence manages to be both cocky and vulnerable, with amusing 1920s slang seasoning his narration. Unfortunately, when they get together, their personalities dissolve into vanilla blandness and their declarations of love are both melodramatic and generic, taking much of the life out of the novel. The twist behind Lawrence’s death, however, sets in motion a series of intriguing events that will compel the reader forward, and the conclusion may appeal to readers of romantic mysteries.