Review of The Boy in the Woods By Jen Minkman

Title: The Boy in the Woods
By Jen Minkman
Publication Date: October 4th, 2013

Blurb:

Julia fell down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her heart filling with dread as she noticed the left side of his face was covered in blood. He had fallen off the motorbike, hitting his temple on a sharp-edged rock. His head injury looked really, really bad.

"Michael?" she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on his forehead. "Can you hear me?"

Julia has been in love with Michael for years. He's the hottest guy in school, and she can't believe her luck when they finally hit it off during Senior Prom. Her dream doesn't last, though: after a few dates, he callously dumps her out of the blue. Summer vacation starts with Julia feeling heart-broken and miserable.

But then she rescues Michael in the woods when he has a motorcycle accident in a heavy thunderstorm. From that point onward, her life is turned upside down. Michael has changed completely after the blow to the head that nearly killed him... and he wants her back. But why is he so different? And will she be able to trust him this time around?

Can the boy who broke your heart ever win it back again..?

Soundtrack to the Book: Youtube & Youtube

Excerpt:

Julia trailed behind her boss as she walked over to the cash register, looking left and right to catch a glimpse of her other colleagues.

"Kolbe!" her brand-new boss shouted toward the entrance. "Come and help me out, will you?"

Julia stopped dead, frozen in her tracks. Was she going deaf, or had Martin just said… Her heart hammered ridiculously fast as her eyes zoomed in on the front door.

"He'll come and help you at the register." Martin's voice sounded as though it was coming from far away. He left her standing there, rooted to the spot.

Julia tried to snap out of her paralysis and stumbled the final few steps to the counter. Her breath hitched when she saw an all-too-familiar figure walking in her direction. She swallowed. But surely it couldn't be. Oh God, no. No, no, no. This was not happening.

And then, she couldn't look anywhere else but up, straight into two eyes green as the forest.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Julia stared at him in alarm.

"I work here," he replied unfazed, a half-smile tugging at his lips.

"Since when?" It was simply not possible that she, in her unfailing stalker mode, had somehow missed this: Michael holding a job at the same bookstore she'd applied to two days ago.

"Since last week."

His smug composure quickly turned her initial befuddlement into outright infuriation.

"Why?" she demanded fractiously.

He raised an eyebrow. "To earn some extra cash?" he declared in an 'isn't-that-really-obvious' tone.

"But why here?"

Michael started to chuckle. "Why are you giving me the third degree?"

"Are you following me or something?" she grumbled, her heart treacherously leaping in her chest for a moment as she considered the possibility.

"Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble here, but I think it's the other way around. First, you turn up at the pub I always hang out at on weeknights, then, you decide to take a jog near the place where I almost had a fatal accident, and now you turn out to have applied for a job at the same store I've been working at for the past week. What does it look like to you?"

Shucks, he was right. Julia resisted the urge to stamp her foot like a little girl. "In your dreams, you arrogant bastard," she muttered. "Everybody says I should stay away from you."

In the silence that followed, she could still hear her heart beating in her throat.

My Review:

I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Julia is a young girl who lives in a small town where everybody knows everybody as the saying goes. Julia is in her last year of school. In the fall she will be going to the University where she lives. A while back Julia went out with this guy and ended up at his house in his bedroom with him. Julia gave herself to him and had never heard from him since. He hurt her very badly and now Julia doesn't really trust anyone especially him.

But even after everything that she has been through she still has feelings for Michael. She knows she should stay away from him even her best friend Gaby tells her the same thing but at the same time Gaby is like you know it is your life and I can't tell you how to lead it.

At the beginning of the school year a new guy Thorsten moves in the house across the street. Julia's little sister Anne and Thorsten's little sister Sabine are best friends. Julia likes Thorsten and thinks that he is a really great guy but she is still being drawn to Michael. Julia feels as if she is sending mixed signals to Thorsten and really she is.

Julia gets a job for the summer at a bookstore. She thinks this is real cool as she loves books and reading. She finds out on her first day of her new job that the guy that hurt her is working at the same store that she is. She loves her new job and figures she can handle working with him.

How can anyone be so lucky as to have two guys be in love with you at the same time? Julia is very lucky in this department because she has both Michael and Thorsten in love with her. They don't fight over as a matter of fact they get along just fine. Now that is two very grown up people you know when they can get along with each other for the feelings of a girl. They both care so much for her that they will both sacrifice their own feelings just for her.

The Boy From The Woods will keep you in suspense all the way through the book wondering who it is that Julia really cares about. Is she in love with Michael or is she in love with Thorsten? Who will she chose? Will she choose the nice guy Thorsten or will she choose the bad a** guy Michael? Or does she even have to make the choice? Want to find out? Well then you are going to have to head on over to Amazon there and pick up a copy of The Boy From The Woods and find out. You won't regret it because it is a book that is just filled with a whole lot of mystery and suspense. You will fall in love with all of the character as if they are your best friends too.

About The Author:

Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg (Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch into English for self-publication.

In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.

'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal romance, chick lit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself, this will take some time!).

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Book Blitz: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

by Marie Landry

Release Date: 11/05/13

Summary from Goodreads:

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, right? At least that's what twenty-year-old Ginny Bailey's grandmother always told her, and Ginny believed it until Grama died. She even put on a brave face the following two Christmases, carrying on Grama's traditions and decorating her house and café with Grama's favorite decorations.

But Ginny can't pretend any longer. When she finds out she's going to be alone for the holidays this year, her Christmas spirit goes out the window, along with her luck. Everything that can go wrong does, and Ginny just wants to spend the holidays hiding under the covers...until Dean Riley comes back into her life. With their shared past, old feelings begin to resurface almost immediately, and Ginny thinks Dean might just be the Christmas miracle she's been waiting for to help her remember why Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Available from:

    

What people are saying about The Most Wonderful Time of the Year:

"While The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is a quick read, it is an adorable one. This story shows the value of friends and family and the importance they have in our lives, no matter what time of the year it is…If you're looking for a well-written, heartwarming story for those cold days, pick this up."

~ Jessica Sankiewicz, author of If Only We

"Marie Landry delivered the perfect little holiday novella with The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It has a small-town coffee shop, memories of Christmas with Grandma, snowballs, hot cocoa and a yummy man from our heroine's past. Mini review: romantic, sweet and filled with holiday spirit."

Kimberly from Caffeinated Book Reviewer

"The Most Wonderful Time of Year was quick and sweet, just how I like my holiday reads."

~ Christy from Love of Books

Excerpt:

When the concert finally ended and people began to file from the hall, Dean put his arm around my waist and led me out the door into the cold night.

"Was that the lamest thing ever to do on a first date?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, it was fun. And you have quite the voice, Mr. Riley. When they did the sing-along, I thought you might just sort of lip synch along, but you were belting it out. I'm impressed."

Dean chuckled, covering his face in embarrassment. "There's something about a group of people all singing together," he said. "You should see me at concerts. Or karaoke."

"Well, maybe that's what we should do for our next date…" I bit my lip, hoping I'd sounded casual.

"Maybe," he said slowly. "Although I think I'd like to go somewhere I can actually look at you and talk to you." He glanced over at me, his gaze unwavering. "You know?"

I nodded. He was still looking at me, and the intensity of his gaze made me go warm all over, despite the chill in the air. I was about to reply when I slipped on a patch of ice and skidded forward, letting out a little shriek.

I braced myself to hit the cold, hard sidewalk, but Dean managed to catch me before I reached the ground. He was laughing as he helped me straighten up, his arms wrapped loosely around my waist.

"Well, that was embarrassing." I buried my face in the shoulder of Dean's coat. I could feel the laughter vibrating through him, and I started to laugh too, shaking my head. "I feel like I should make some cheesy crack about how I'm falling for you."

Dean's laughter stopped abruptly, and I whipped my head up to look at him.

"Oh god," I groaned. "I should just…stop talking. Forever. Then I wouldn't embarrass myself anymore. You know, unless I fall on my ass in the snow or trip over my own feet or spill coffee on you like I've already almost done twice now."

Dean's lips quirked slightly as he placed a finger over my lips to stop my rambling. "Are you falling for me?"

"It's too soon," I said. "I can't be. I mean, you don't just fall for someone this fast, right? We knew each other when we were kids, but that was a long time ago. And even though I was in love with you then, I don't even know you now. So I can't be falling for you. Right?"

"You were in love with me when we were kids?"

Crap, had I actually said that? I had been right: I did need to stop talking forever. Maybe I could become a nun and take a vow of silence. Or since I wasn't Catholic, maybe just the vow of silence part. "Y-yeah, I think so," I said finally.

"Huh." Dean released me and took a couple steps away, then came back and repeated the process. He was pacing in a tiny, tight circle, and after a few turns I put my hand on his arm to stop him before we both got dizzy.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, although I wasn't quite sure I wanted to hear his answer.

"I was thinking…" he said slowly, meeting my gaze again. "I was thinking how mad I am at myself for not coming back sooner. I was thinking of all the time we wasted when we could have been together. I should have come back that summer, and the next, and then moved here when my granddad was still alive."

I was so shocked I didn't know what to say. I could feel my eyebrows up around my hairline somewhere, and my lips were parted in surprise.

"I mean, I knew I had feelings for you when I was sixteen, and I knew you had a crush on me, but I thought that was it. Two years age difference when you're that young seems like a big deal, you know? And then the next year when we were older and we talked until I went to college, my feelings for you grew, but I didn't see how it could work since I was there and you were here. But now…now there's nothing stopping us. Not distance or a miniscule age difference, or anything. Unless…"

"Unless what?" I asked breathlessly.

"Unless you think this is just some…I don't know, some leftover childhood feelings or something." He shrugged. "That we're both remembering how it was back then and imagining that there's something between us now."

Was he right? My mind whirled like the snow around us, and I closed my eyes, trying to gather my thoughts.

No. This pull, this attraction, the way I felt whenever he looked at me or touched me or smiled at me, wasn't imagined. It wasn't some remnant of feelings from six years ago. I had been a child then, but I wasn't now. "I have a pretty good imagination, but I don't think it's that good," I told him.

He let out a little laugh. "Me either." Gripping my shoulders, he pulled me closer so our bodies were pressed together. "I think I know how we can know for sure, though," he said, his eyes sparkling in the dim light.

"Like an experiment?" I asked, trying to hold back my laughter.

"Something like that." With a smile flitting across his face, he lowered his mouth to mine.

For six years, I'd imagined what it would be like to be kissed by Dean Riley. Even when I'd told myself to forget about him and had moved on after we stopped talking, he still slipped into my dreams and fantasies from time to time. But every dream, every fantasy, couldn't compare to the reality of Dean's warm lips on mine, his hands gripping my shoulders, his tongue touching and then entwining with mine.

And I definitely wasn't imagining the warmth that blossomed inside me and spread in tingling waves to every part of my body.

"I'd consider that experiment a success." Dean spoke softly, but I could hear an underlying huskiness that sent a delicious shiver zinging through me.

Laughing breathlessly, I threw my arms around his neck and closed my eyes as I hugged him. "Are we really going to do this? See if what we felt all those years ago could turn into something real?"

"I'm willing to try if you are," Dean said, his breath tickling my ear. "And I think we've already made a pretty good start."

About the Author

Marie Landry is the author of BLUE SKY DAYS (contemporary YA-January 2012), THE GAME CHANGER (women's fiction-November 2012), WAITING FOR THE STORM (contemporary YA-April 2013), and THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (a new adult holiday novella-November 2013). Marie has always been a daydreamer; since early childhood, she's had a passion for words and a desire to create imaginary worlds, so it only seemed natural for her to become a writer. She resides in Ontario, Canada, and most days you can find her writing, reading, blogging about writing and reading, listening to U2, wandering around with a camera in her hand, watching copious amounts of TV on DVD, or having grand adventures with her nephews and niece.

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