Fun Summer YA Read: Trouble from the Start

Remember those book reports you used to do when you got back to school in the fall. I’m going giving you a before summer ends book report. Here’s a delightful YA I read last month that would be a fun summer read. It features an absolutely dreamy hero, he’s wounded and yet noble, and when he watched graduation from under the bleachers I cried. I’ve included an excerpt that’s written in his POV.

 

TROUBLE FROM THE START

Companion book to The Boyfriend Project

Harper Teen

Some boys should come with a warning label.

Meet Avery: six-foot-tall college-bound brainiac (just don't call her that to her face), and daughter of a cop—which is not helping her dating life. Currently playing third wheel to Kendall, her best friend, and Kendall's boyfriend.

Meet Fletcher: six-foot-three motorcycle-riding bad boy, who is one class shy of a diploma. He can ruin a girl's reputation just by saying hi, but one flash of his grin and they usually don't mind.

Coming from such different circles, it's no surprise that Avery and Fletcher don't cross paths until the end of senior year. But once they do, neither of them can ignore the tug they feel.

On paper, they make no sense, but sometimes you have to throw out the rule book and let your heart lead the way . . . even if it's flirting with disaster.

***

“This novel would appeal to female readers who enjoy romance as well as high school drama, which makes it a positive addition to teachers’ and librarians’ shelves.” --Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“...the perfect formula for a lazy afternoon.” –Booklist

EXCERPT:

 FLETCHER

I did know her name.

I'd known it since sophomore year when I'd gotten held back because I'd missed too many classes to meet the state requirement for attendance. Even when the counselor warned me that I couldn't have any more absences, I hadn't cared. I'd been too embarrassed to show up to school with bruises.

When I was a sophomore for the second time, I'd spotted her in the hallway, all bouncy and happy. Pretty in a simple way. She didn't. paint her eyes or her lips or her cheeks. She didn't look like a plastic doll. She appeared real and touchable.

She'd said hi to me in the hallway as though I didn't have a reputation for trouble, as though I wasn't a year older than everyone else in the class, as though I mattered.

But then slowly the wariness crept in. I knew she was hearing the rumors, accepting them as truth. The smiles and greetings became fewer. Then they were completely gone.

I didn't know why I'd come to her rescue tonight. The irony was that she'd never realize that I had. Which was probably for the best. Most girls loved when I gave them attention. But not Avery Watkins. She was smarter than four hundred and forty-eight people in our graduating class. And she threw
around fancy words like novice. She was probably waiting for Mr. Right-someone equally good, naive, and smart, which I definitely was not.

We hadn't had many chances to talk over the years. Had no classes together, and other girls were usually occupying my time in the hallways. I hadn't expected Avery to stand up to me the way she did. Or maybe it had all been the booze talking, making her daring.

Didn't matter. It wasn't like we'd be crossing paths in the future.

I needed to stop thinking about her, figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of the night. I could always go back to the party, but it had been kind of boring, and none of the girls there had really caught my interest.

Except for Avery. And here I was thinking about her again. Her long, willowy body, the way her head fit in the crook of my shoulder, the way I could slip my arm around her without having to hunch over. I liked that she was tall. I liked the way her blond hair caught the moonlight. There hadn't been enough light for me to see the color of her eyes, and I'd never paid particular attention before. But I'd still seen the irritation in them when I first approached her-and the sparkle when she climbed off my bike.

The sparkle made me want to kiss her. I almost had.

What a mistake that would have been.

Read a Longer excerpt at Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00MEJP2QM

★Win the ebook★

If you would like be put in our drawing to win an eBook copy of TROUBLE FROM THE START just make comment and tell us what book (or books) you plan to read this summer.

 (Don't forget to leave an email if it isn't part of your blogger profile.)

 About Rachel Hawthorne

Rachel Hawthorne  is the daughter of a British beauty (her mom won second place in a beauty contest sponsored by Max Factor® during which she received a kiss from Caesar Romero--Joker on the original Batman TV series) and a Texan who was stationed at Bovingdon while serving in the air force. Lorraine was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, but soon after moved to Texas. Her "dual" nationality has given her a love for all things British and Texan, and she enjoys weaving both heritages through her stories.

When she received her BA degree in psychology from the University of Texas, she had no idea she had gained a foundation that would help her to create believable characters—characters that are often described as “real people.”

In addition to writing as Rachel Hawthorne, she writes as Lorraine Heath, Jade Parker, and with her son as J. A. London. 

★Win the eBook★

If you would like be put in our drawing to win an eBook copy of TROUBLE FROM THE START just make comment and tell us what book (or books) you plan to read this summer.

 (Don't forget to leave an email if it isn't part of your blogger profile.)

Your host today, Kathleen Baldwin, has also written a great summer read: A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS, which New York Times Book Review says is “enticing from the first sentence.”
See it on Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00OXHDPS0/