Incense and Peppermints
Cathrina Constantine
Publication date: March 10th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Peace demonstrations, sit-ins, and burning the U.S. flag following the escalation of the Vietnam War are leading to a catalyst known to the world as the Sixties, and a musical revolution, flower power, hippies, marijuana, and drugs are carrying the generations—young and old—into a new decade. All the while sixteen-year-old Mary Monroe is caught between being an innocent good girl and an autumn of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.
When her brother offers a solution to her dilemma in the form of a little pill, Mary ignores the rumba in her brain and takes a walk on the wild side. Plunged into popularity and a life she’s only imagined, she meets Michael Covington, the hot newcomer, and she’s instantly drawn in by his less than flawless exterior and bad boy sex appeal. Caught up in the danger and excitement as they drift from party to party, into underground fight clubs, and through a series of drug and alcohol fueled adventures, Mary follows her new crush into a world where young girls are never truly safe from the predators lurking in the shadows and young men are hiding from the harsh reality of war.
Feeling buzzed and as if her life is spinning out of control, Mary is assaulted by an unknown man at a party, and she’s left questioning if the enigmatic Michael is truly her hero or if he is the face behind the terrible attack. With every piece of information Mary learns about Michael, her doubts grow deeper, but with every minute she spends in his presence, so does her love.
With the war and her fear threatening to separate Mary and Michael forever, only the death of a friend, a crushing confession, and her own sensibilities can carry her over the threshold between adolescence and adulthood.
My Review:
I don’t read many books in the young adult genre alone. My
taste lies more toward young adult slash dystopian slash science fiction slash
paranormal creature or two. But after reading the summary for Incense and
Peppermints I was drawn in instantly. I loved that it was set during the
Vietnam War, flower child and hippie era. I had to know where the heroine Mary
Monroe fit in, in this era and how she dealt with it. I have always been
interested in this time period as I was born in the sixties, yes I am a baby
boomer but I am not old enough to remember any of it.
For a sixteen year old Mary had a good head on her shoulders
and was a very smart girl. She was very mature and handles life very well, a
lot better than most adults. Her brother introduces her to the life of drugs
and alcohol and they go from party to party with his friends and her new
friends.
A new guy Michael Covington comes to town and all the girls
want him including Mary. Michael is always looking out for Mary and taking care
of her. One night at a party Mary is in a room alone when suddenly she is
plunged into dark and his attacked but luckily Michael comes to her rescue but
the guy takes off before they have the chance to find out who it was. Mary
spends her days wondering who attached her and hoping she never runs into him
again.
Michael and Mary like each other a lot but Michael has a lot
of baggage in his life that he is not ready to share with anyone yet. His past
may just put a damper on his and Mary relationship. But Michael is not the only
one that is hiding things in their life; Mary and a lot of other people
probably have a lot of skeletons in their closets they would like to keep
hidden as well.
I would recommend Incense and Peppermint to anyone who likes
young adult coming of age kind of book. But of course you might want to keep
the Kleenex close by just in case they are needed and make sure you set plenty
of time aside because you are not going to want to put this one down for any
reason.
Author Bio:
Cathrina Constantine is the Best Selling author of Don’t Forget To Breathe. Her book won Readers’ Favorite International Book Award for 2015 and The Literary Classics Seal of Approval and Literary Classics Gold Award. Her Paranormal Fantasy, Wickedly They Come has been awarded the 5 Star Seal from Reader’s Favorite. Tallas from her dystopian series received Literary Classics Silver Award and Literary Classics Seal of Approval.
Cathrina resides in Western New York with her husband, five children, two Labrador Retrievers and her cat, Bones. Author @chbbpublishing. Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly. When not attached to her computer, she likes to take long walks in the woods with her dogs, drink way too much coffee, and is an avid movie watcher. She loves music and doesn’t need a dance floor to shake a leg.
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