4.29.2015

Special Announcement by Cora Carmack

HERE’S THE SCOOP!

Fans of Cora Carmack’s Rusk University, we have a SUPER exciting announcement:
ALL CLOSED OFF, Book 4 in the Rusk University Series, is coming!!!

Check out this message from Cora!

*WARNING: This letter contains spoilers for All Broke Down. If you haven't yet read that book, read at your own peril.SECOND WARNING: this letter talks about fictional characters as if they are real people. Sorry I'm not sorry. THIRD WARNING: The letter below broaches a serious topic that could be a trigger for some people*
Hello beloved readers!

The first person who read one of my Rusk University books was my older sister. I gave her All Lined Up when I finished, and her first question was "Are Ryan and Stella going to be together?"
At the time, I told her no. I had plans for both of them that included their own storylines. I thought they were too much alike. They'd make great friends. They might even hook-up, but in the end... I couldn't envision anything serious for them. So I actually rewrote some of their scenes trying to make that aspect of their connection more obvious. And still, when All Lined Up released, amidst the chatter about sweet Carson and sassy Dallas, I had people asking if Stella and Ryan were next. I denied it again (and again and again).
But sometimes in writing, the stars align and a character will become bigger and more real than you could have possibly imagined. It's a wonderful experience, but in Stella's case it was also incredibly heartbreaking. While I was writing All Broke Down, the news was inundated with information about the Steubenville rape trial and other tragedies and injustices like it. Tragedies where women have been violated first by an attacker, then by judgmental and hateful people, and finally by a justice system that repeatedly fails survivors of sexual assault. Having grown up in Texas, where too often football stars are treated like gods and can get away with just about anything, it hit particularly close to home. And since All Broke Down featured a passionate activist heroine, I felt compelled to reference this chronic dark underbelly of elite sports.
I can remember vividly sitting on my couch, brainstorming how I would incorporate such an event into the book. I had thought the assault would happen to an unknown character, and maybe I would focus on the way it divided the team and the school and the town. But like I said... Sometimes a character will become bigger and more human than I anticipated. And it sounds crazy, but in my mind, I felt Stella push her way forward and say, "Mine. This is my story." I immediately began to cry. Sob, really. Because I loved her as a character. She was hilarious and strong and didn't take crap from anyone. She was everything I always hope to be. And I didn't want her to go through that. Even as I cried, my brain began to tell me that it made sense. Stella was vibrant and enjoyed a wild party. She was not afraid of her sexuality, and she had no problem with casual sex. She was the kind of girl that probably had a reputation. The kind of girl who could be heinously and violently taken advantage of, and people would STILL blame her. Because she was in the wrong place, wearing the wrong clothes, behaving in the wrong way. But just because it COULD happen to her, didn't mean I wanted it to. But once again, Stella was there in my head saying, "Someone needs to tell this story. And I'm strong enough to do it. Let me." And when Stella chose her story, she also chose the man I'd been adamant wasn't right for her. Because as it turns out... Those two characters who I thought were too alike aren't so alike anymore. And Stella needs Ryan to help her hold on to that vibrant and strong girl she was before.
So I let go of all the plans I had for her, and allowed her to tell me her story, which is about more than just sexual assault. It's about the aftermath. Depression. Shame. Guilt. Anger. Injustice. Victim-blaming. Slut-shaming. It's about the way that kind of event can change everything-- how you relate to people, how you think, how you dream, how you love. It's about the way the rest of the world moves on to the next big tragedy, and you're still left holding the broken pieces of who you used to be, with no idea how to put them together again or even if you want to. It will be the most difficult story I ever tell. And the most important. Because it’s a story that belongs not just to Stella, but to millions of people around the world. It’s a story that belongs to a new person every 107 seconds*. And that’s just in the United States. Think about that for a moment. 107 seconds. Stella’s story won’t be any easier to read than it will be to write. But I hope you’ll help me drag this story into the light.
So now I’ll step off my soapbox and just tell you about the book…


ALL CLOSED OFF:
Stella Santos is fine.
Maybe something terrible happened to her that she can’t even remember. And maybe it drives her crazy when her friends treat her like she’s on the verge of breaking because of it. Maybe it feels even worse when they do what she asks and pretend that it never happened at all. And maybe she’s been getting harassing emails and messages for months from people who don’t even know her, but hate her all the same.
But none of that matters because she’s just fine.
For Ryan Blake, Stella was always that girl. Vibrant and hilarious and beautiful. He wanted her as his best friend. His more than friends. His everything and anything that she would give him. Which these days is a whole lot of nothing. She gets angry when he’s there. Angry when he’s not there. Angry when he tries to talk and when he doesn’t.  
When Stella devises an unconventional art project for one of her classes all about exploring intimacy—between both friends and strangers—Ryan finds himself stepping in as guinea pig after one of her subjects bails. What was supposed to be an objective and artistic look at emotion and secrets and sex suddenly becomes much more personal. When he hits it off with another girl from the project, Stella will have to decide if she’s willing to do more than make art about intimacy. To keep him, she’ll have to open up and let herself be the one thing she swore she’d never be again.
Vulnerable.
*****
ALL CLOSED OFF will be releasing sometime in early 2016. I don't have a date yet for several reasons. The first and most important, is that I want to do this story justice. And as such, I have no intentions of rushing the process. Secondly, I'll be returning to indie publishing for the remainder of the Rusk series. As you can probably tell, this story means a great deal to me. And by having the ultimate control over everything from timing to editing to price, I'll be able to ensure that I'm able to create exactly the story I envision. Unfortunately, that means you won't be seeing the paperback of ALL CLOSED OFF on the shelves in most stores. Nor is it currently available for pre-order. But I hope you'll add the book on goodreads, follow me on social media, and/or join my newsletter. I promise to shout it all over the place when I have a set release date or pre-order links.
Thank you for listening as I told you the evolution of Stella's story. When it's finished, I hope you will feel as passionately about it as I do.
All my best,
Cora Carmack
*Statistic from RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network)

And an opportunity to add your voice to Stella’s…
Stella’s experience is only one story of many. She was with someone she trusted when it happened, and the only memories she has are pieced together from her own blurred recollections and the things people have told her.  Not everyone’s experience with sexual assault is the same. Each person reacts, copes, and overcomes differently. And while this book is about one specific character’s journey, I would like to tell as many sides of this story as possible. As Stella grapples with her thoughts and emotions she’ll be searching for advice, for comfort, for a place where people understand her and can identify with what she’s experiencing. There will be room for truth within the fiction, and if you’d like that truth to be yours, this is your chance.

If you have a story like Stella’s, and you want your voice to be heard….

If there’s something you wish more people understood about what you’ve gone through….

If there’s something you’d like to tell people struggling with a story like yours…

I’d like to give you the opportunity to add your voice to Stella’s. Use the hashtag #WhenItHappened and let your voice be heard on your own by posting on your own social media, or if you’d rather I share your words fill out this google document and tell me your story. You can fill out this form anonymously or not. I’d like to begin this discussion now because April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. But my hope is to include as many stories as possible within the book itself.

So many have stories of #WhenItHappened. Your voice and your story deserve to be heard. I’m listening.

#WhenItHappened Google Form: http://goo.gl/forms/4VRjWgZYSW

Cora Carmack
Cora Carmack is a twenty-something New York Times bestselling author who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She now splits her time between Austin, TX and New York City and spends her days writing, traveling, and spending way too much time on the internet. In her books, you can expect to find humor, heart, and a whole lot of awkward. Because let’s face it . . . awkward people need love, too.


Links

WoW [119]

Waiting on Wednesday [WoW] is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

If You’re Lucky by Yvonne Prinz
Expected Publication: October 20, 2015
Publisher: Algonquin BYR

Synopsis
Is Georgia’s mind playing tricks on her, or is the entire town walking into the arms of a killer who has everyone but her fooled?

When seventeen-year-old Georgia’s brother drowns while surfing halfway around the world in Australia, she refuses to believe Lucky’s death was just bad luck. Lucky was smart. He wouldn’t have surfed in waters more dangerous than he could handle. Then a stranger named Fin arrives in False Bay, claiming to have been Lucky’s best friend. Soon Fin is working for Lucky’s father, charming Lucky’s mother, dating his girlfriend. Georgia begins to wonder: did Fin murder Lucky in order to take over his whole life? 

Determined to clear the fog from her mind in order to uncover the truth about Lucky’s death, Georgia secretly stops taking the medication that keeps away the voices in her head. Georgia is certain she’s getting closer and closer to the truth about Fin, but as she does, her mental state becomes more and more precarious, and no one seems to trust what she’s saying.

Why I Can’t Wait
I sense some mystery and the synopsis sounds really good. I’m definitely interested in seeing how this story line plays out.

4.28.2015

Release Blitz: A Match Made on Main Street by Olivia Miles


A Match Made on Main Street [Briar Creek 2] by Olivia Miles
Published: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Forever Romance
Add to Goodreads

Synopsis
Anna Madison has faithfully avoided her old flame for six years, even though their Main Street restaurants are only a few blocks apart. The sting of his rejection was enough to make her swear off dating for good, but when her successful restaurant is damaged in a fire, she's left to the mercy of the one man she's spent years proving she doesn't need...and convincing herself she doesn't want. Mark Hastings can't say he's happy being alone, but at least his heart is safe. Burnt out from running the Briar Creek diner, he's ready for a change. He tells himself he's just being neighborly by letting Anna use his kitchen, but being by her side again stirs up temptations he might not be able to resist a second time around. 

**GIVEAWAY**
Blitz Wide Contest
Win 1 of 10 copies of A Match Made on Main Street
Click HERE to Enter

About Olivia Miles
Having grown up in New England, Olivia Miles attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec before settling in Chicago where she lives with her husband, their daughter, and two ridiculously pampered pups. When she is not chasing after her little ones, she is hard at work creating feisty heroines and alpha heroes with a heart. A city girl with a fondness for small town charm, Olivia enjoys highlighting both ways of life in her stories.

Connect with Olivia


Excerpt
Mark leaned in, catching a whiff of her sweet scent as he did. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to capture the single sense. When he looked up, Anna was staring at him, her gaze hooded. He could lean in, just another inch, remember what it felt like to kiss her mouth, to feel her soft curves pressed against him.
He pulled himself back in the stool instead. He was here to find her friendship again. Nothing more. “The bookstore’s doing fine now; I see people in there all the time. It’s never looked so great.”
Anna sighed through a small smile. “It does, yes. But…that’s not what has me worried.  I took out a loan to match Grace’s investment. She’s covering rent and the bookstore renovation; I’m covering well…everything else. For now. It was all going to be fine. More than fine. And then--”
“The fire.”
She nodded. “The fire.”
“How bad is it?”
She met his stare. “Bad.”
He let out a low whistle. It was exactly the kind of situation that made Hastings to appealing. The place was paid up; they owned it outright. A new venture, of any kind, could never offer the same security. One day it could be booming, the next…
“Does Grace know?”
“No,” said quickly, “and I don’t intend to tell her.”
He leaned into his elbow. “So what’s your plan, then?”
She looked at him quizzically. “I intend to win this contest!”
He burst out laughing, hearing his own foolish desires in her preposterous statement. Until now, winning had been a vague notion, not something he was banking on, but hearing her say it aloud, a desire to not only compete but to win, made him suddenly believe it was possible. That anything was possible.
“I do intend to win!” Anna cried, but even she couldn’t stop from laughing. The sound rolled through the room and pulled at his heart, filling holes he didn’t even know were there.
He didn’t realize he’d stopped laughing until she did. The air went still, punctured only by the sound of his heart beating in his chest, and he knew he couldn’t hold back any longer. Without thinking, or daring to consider the consequences, he leaned into her and her eyes flashed with surprise, her lashes fluttering quickly as he slid off his stool and closed the distance between them.
A gasp of surprise escaped her throat as he brought his lips to hers and his hands came around her waist, pulling her close to his chest until he felt her body relax on each kiss. He sensed her hesitation, but he couldn’t pull back, not when her lips were on his, her sweet taste filling his senses. She parted her mouth, and he pulled her closer, feeling the soft swell of her breasts against his chest. His groin pooled with warmth as her thighs rubbed against his. He pressed his palms deeper into her back, and lower, resisting the urge to explore her hips, knowing if he did he wouldn’t be able to stop.  And he should stop--he should. But…he couldn’t.
He kissed her, as if for the first time, tasting the forbidden fruit, knowing it was wrong, wrong, wrong, even thought it felt so damn right. He tore his lips from hers, letting his mouth roam her neck, burying himself into her hair, that coconut-scented hair, and breathed into her ear, wondering if she would run, if she’d push him back, tell him to go.
He pulled back, watching the way her eyes searched his. He should say something, explain himself, but there was nothing to say.
Anna’s cheeks were dotted with pink as she picked up a knife and pulled the vegetables from the basket. His gaze lingered her on a few moments more, watching the way she expertly chopped and diced, the way they’d been instructed in school, fingers tucked.
“Anna.” His voice was low and husky.
He should tell her it was a mistake, that it couldn’t happen again. That he wanted to be friends, to make her understand once and for all that it was all they ever should have been.  
“We should get to work,” she said abruptly, and he hated the slight quiver in her voice. “We still have a lot do and we leave for Cedar Valley tomorrow afternoon.”
They’d be at the lodge for two nights; he’d have time to talk to her then. For now, she was right. It was time to get to work, put all personal matters aside, and focus on winning this contest. And getting what they wanted at long last.

4.27.2015

Spotlight + Giveaway: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Sue Monk Kidd’s #1 New York Times bestseller THE INVENTION OF WINGS
[Penguin; on-sale: May 5, 2015; $17.00; 978-0-143-12170-1]
now available in paperback 
A magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women. Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.

Hetty “Handful” Grimké, an urban slave in early nineteenth-century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimké household. The Grimké’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday in 1803, when she is given ownership of ten-year-old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty-five years, as both strive for lives of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.

As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimké, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved.

   About the author
Sue Monk Kidd is the award-winning and bestselling author of the novels The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair. The Secret Life of Bees spent more than 175 weeks on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, has sold more than 6 million copies in the U.S., was turned into an award-winning major motion picture, and has been translated into 36 languages. The Mermaid Chair spent 24 weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, reaching the #1 position, and spent 22 weeks on the New York Times trade paperback list. Debuting at #1, The Invention of Wings spent more than 25 weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. Kidd is also the author of several acclaimed memoirs, including the New York Times bestseller Traveling with Pomegranates, written with her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. Kidd lives in Florida with her husband.

Please visit suemonkkidd.com
Follow Sue on Twitter @SueMonkKidd and Facebook 

Also available as an e-book and audio (Penguin Audio)

**GIVEAWAY**
Click HERE to win a paperback copy of The Invention of Wings
U.S. Only

4.24.2015

Kids Corner [3] It's All About Spring!

Inside This Book by Barney Saltzberg
Published: April 7, 2015
Format: copy via publisher
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
Inside This Book is a tribute to self-publishing in its most pure and endearing form. Three siblings create three books of their own using blank paper that they bind together (in descending sizes to match birth order). One sibling’s work inspires the next, and so on, with each book’s text and art mirroring the distinct interests and abilities of its creator. Upon completion of their works, the siblings put one book inside the other, creating a new book to be read and shared by all!


Lovey Bunny by Kristine A. Lombardi
Published: March 3, 2015
Publisher: Abrams BYR
Format: via publisher
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis
 Lovey Bunny is the happiest little girl around. She loves just about everything—her family, art, watching her mama make things, and especially playing dress-up. But when she borrows Mama Rabbit’s new dress without asking and ruins it, Lovey Bunny learns that not everything always goes as planned. Will Lovey Bunny find a creative way to show Mama that she’s sorry?


The Thing about Spring by Daniel Kirk
Published: February 17, 2015
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Format: via Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis
Spring is in the air! Bear, Bird, and Mouse are all excited that winter snows are melting away, but their friend Rabbit is not. There are too many things about winter that Rabbit adores, and spring just seems to spell trouble. His friends offer an abundance of reasons to love spring and the changing seasons, but will Rabbit listen?

Bottom Line
A while back I was lucky enough to receive a huge box of books from Abrams. This was perfect for my little cousin whom I’m proud to say loves to read! While she loved all the books her faves were Lovey Bunny and The Thing about Spring, she loved the bunnies and said they reminded her of Easter. She laughed and loved the illustrations and wanted me to read them over and over. These books are the perfect new additions to any children’s library, as they bring a pop of color, great easy to read storylines and reminds us that Spring time is the perfect time to go outside and enjoy all that nature has to offer.

4.23.2015

Review: Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook

Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook
Published: April 21, 2015
Format: via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Challenges: 2015 NG/EW
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
Every Last Promise is a provocative and emotional novel about a girl who must decide between keeping quiet and speaking up after witnessing a classmate's sexual assault.

Kayla saw something at the party that she wasn't supposed to. But she hasn't told anyone. No one knows the real story about what happened that night—about why Kayla was driving the car that ran into a ditch after the party, about what she saw in the hours leading up to the accident, and about the promise she made to her friend Bean before she left for the summer.

Now Kayla's coming home for her senior year. If Kayla keeps quiet, she might be able to get her old life back. If she tells the truth, she risks losing everything—and everyone—she ever cared about.
My Thoughts
Every Last Promise was a great story dealing with growing up and dealing with issues no one should at a young age. Kayla was your avenge teen who spent her weekends with her best friends having slumber parties, hanging out and going to football games. All of this came to a halt when one night at a party Kayla was a witness to something that not only affects her but also someone she loves not to mention the whole town. After the tragedy that took a life, which changed another and one that could have ruined their future. Not really remembering what happened Kayla was sent away to recover and deal with what happened that night, once home she realized that everything has changed. She comes home to no friends and even worse that everyone blames her for what happened. Life is hard but Kayla is determined to move on and not let the town and her ex friends ruin her life. She knows what happened was wrong and wants those to pay for what they did even if that means having literally the whole town hate her. But first she must find out what exactly happened and most importantly talk to her friend Bean and honor what she wants.

This book deals with some serious issues and I felt that it dealt with it in a good way. It shows us that we should stand up for what is right and that people should pay for the wrong they do. Though it is hard to stand up for yourself sometimes it will only make you stronger. You might feel that your power has been taken from you but it takes a real strong person to make those responsible for what they’ve done. While this read has some serious issues there is a little romance but what I love most is the friendships and although there are bumps in the road when it comes to that, you always find out who your real friends are when the chips are down. Anyone can be around when it’s all fun and games but those who stick by you otherwise are the REAL friends.  

4.22.2015

WoW [118]

Waiting on Wednesday [WoW] is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams
Expected Publication: November 3, 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Son

Synopsis
Each of the three Schuyler sisters has her own world-class problems, but in the autumn of 1966, Pepper Schuyler's problems are in a class of their own. When Pepper fixes up a beautiful and rare vintage Mercedes and sells it at auction, she thinks she's finally found a way to take care of herself and the baby she carries, the result of an affair with a married, legendary politician.

But the car's new owner turns out to have secrets of her own, and as the glamorous and mysterious Annabelle Dommerich takes pregnant Pepper under her wing, the startling provenance of this car comes to light: a Nazi husband, a Jewish lover, a flight from Europe, and a love so profound it transcends decades. As the many threads of Annabelle's life from World War II stretch out to entangle Pepper in 1960s America, and the father of her unborn baby tracks her down to a remote town in coastal Georgia, the two women must come together to face down the shadows of their complicated pasts.

Indomitable heroines, a dazzling world of secrets, champagne at the Paris Ritz, and a sweeping love story for the ages, in New York Times bestselling author Beatriz William's final book about the Schuyler sisters.

Why I Can’t Wait
Simply put I LOVE Beatriz Williams’s books! I was never one for historical fiction but she single handily changed my mind and for that I’m truly grateful. This novel set in the 60’s sounds so amazing I simply can’t wait.

Feel free to link me to yours.

4.21.2015

Blog Tour & Review: The Liar by Nora Roberts

The Liar by Nora Roberts
Published: April 14, 2015
Format: via publisher
Publisher: G.P. Putnam
Rating: 4/5
Add to Goodreads
Buy: Amazon / BN
Synopsis
Shelby Foxworth lost her husband. Then she lost her illusions …

The man who took her from Tennessee to an exclusive Philadelphia suburb left her in crippling debt. He was an adulterer and a liar, and when Shelby tracks down his safe-deposit box, she finds multiple IDs. The man she loved wasn’t just dead. He never really existed.

Shelby takes her three-year-old daughter and heads south to seek comfort in her hometown, where she meets someone new: Griff Lott, a successful contractor. But her husband had secrets she has yet to discover. Even in this small town, surrounded by loved ones, danger is closer than she knows—and threatens Griff, as well. And an attempted murder is only the beginning.

  About the Author
Nora Roberts was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children. After a school career that included some time in Catholic school and the discipline of nuns, she married young and settled in Keedysville, Maryland. Born into a family of readers, Nora had never known a time that she wasn’t reading or making up stories. During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of those stories. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981. Nora is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist.”

My Thoughts
Wow what an amazing story! I must admit I’ve never read a Nora Roberts book before…ok don’t hate me! Now all I can say is why haven’t I before?

This book is so great! Shelby was taken by her husband who showed her all that life was worth until he was gone. She soon found out he was liar and cheater and simply put she really didn’t know him at all. She is left with debt and all this mess that he left her with, in the mean time she does back home and with the love and support of family and friends she sets out to sort out everything. In the process she meets Griff who catches her eyes but who is he really and how exactly how does he get caught up in these web of lies she is trying to figure out?

I enjoyed the suspensefulness of the novel and the southern setting. This novel has a little bit of everything in it, it has some humor and suspense but I also loved the family aspect of it. I love the whole balance of the different genres mix in and while I did see some things coming there are plenty of things that caught me off guard and made this a gripping read. Nora Roberts is now an author I will seek out. I see why she one of those authors that people auto buy. She is a wonderfully gifted storyteller that draws you in from the start and doesn’t let you go until the very end. And while this read is a tad long don’t let that scare you away it doesn’t drag, there is so much story and going on that you will be done before you know it. If you are looking for a read this summer look no further than The Liar it has something to satisfy the pickiest reader. 

4.17.2015

Review: Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby

Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby
Published: April 21, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Edelweiss
Challenges: 2015 NG/EW
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
When Quinn Sullivan meets the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart, the two form an unexpected connection.

After Quinn loses her boyfriend, Trent, in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the pieces of her now-unrecognizable life. She hears back from some of them, but the person who received Trent’s heart has remained silent. The essence of a person, she has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then maybe she can have peace once and for all.

Risking everything in order to finally lay her memories to rest, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas—a guy whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn't want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they're connected—but their time together has made Quinn feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost…and all that remains at stake.

My Thoughts
In this novel all the story is laid out for you from the start. We know Quinn is trying to recover after the loss of her boyfriend Trent and that she has been trying to contact those who received his organs. All have contacted her expect one, the one who has his heart. She then learns that person in Colton and she sets out to at least see who he is since he doesn’t want to meet those in Trent’s life.

While this story could’ve been a loss since we know just about everything it isn’t by far! Although we know the main plot what we experience is...excuse the pun…the heart of the story. We learn what happened and we get to experience Quinn coming to terms with her loss, and maybe just maybe learning and wanting to love…again. And while all things don’t go according to plan for instance, falling for Colton and most importantly starting their whole friendship off with lies. But can both of them move on after everything is revealed? Or is all this just too much?

Things We Know by Heart is a wonderful written tale that will make you realize what is important in life and also shows us to love and live life to the fullest. Sometimes we are blessed to find that one love that we all dream of and if we are really lucky we find that again someday. Although this tale could have been tragic and sad it focuses on the healing power that is love.