Teaser Tuesday (191)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers


Echoes (Kindle 10%)
   - Laura Tisdall

Echo is right, The Asker replies. Cyber Sneak is the one who hacked the Pentagon. There's a pause.
Why do you ask about her? Mallory writes.
Because she's disappeared.

The Way We Fall

Maybe we shouldn’t have fallen so fast and so willingly.

Maybe we shouldn’t have moved in together before we went on our first date.

Maybe we should have given our wounds time to heal before we tore each other to shreds.

Maybe we should have never been together.

Houston has kept a devastating secret from Rory since the day he took her into his home. But the tragic circumstances that brought them together left wounds too deep to heal.

Five years after the breakup, Houston and Rory are thrust together by forces beyond their control. And all the resentments and passion return with more intensity than ever.

Once again, Houston is left with a choice between the truth and the only girl he’s ever loved.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Cassia Leo writes of dark, twisted love and life in her novel, The Way We Fall. When someone's world crashes, those surrounding will feel the blow and experience the chaos. It's just a matter of time until the ripple reaches them. For Rory and Houston, the suicide of a friend and sister destroyed them. And the only way they could move on was to be together, to keep each other from completely falling apart. 

Aurora, aka Rory, and Houston aren't the most likeable characters. They have real flaws, some that are so deep it's hard to see pass them. Rory has loved Houston since she was a little girl but she tried to ignore her feelings because his sister was her best friend. Rory has grown into a self-sufficient woman. She has a decent job with dreams of more, a dog, and her own apartment. She built a life after she and Houston broke up five years before. A life, in which, she is happy, at times. But when Houston comes back into her world unexpectedly, she stands to crumble once again. Rory seems a bit naive when it comes to trusting others. She still considers herself damaged, yet, she sets herself up for more heartache. 

While I grew to like Rory more and more as the story went on, I did not like Houston at all. To me, he's selfish, slightly rude, presumptuous, disloyal, obsessive, and distraught. Though he does have the right to be happy and leave his marriage if he isn't, he's bad news for Aurora. He's toxic to her. A hurricane that destroys everything she builds. Their relationship is an 'easier said than done' situation, but if Rory wants a chance at a truly happy life, she needs to steer clear of Houston. 

Houston raised a lot of questions for me. I understood parts of his character, but other traits and actions I was unable to wrap my head around. Mainly, they have to do with his wife. Yes, Houston is married and he is still going after Rory. I didn't understand why he ever thought Tessa would be enough for him if he was still in love with Aurora? If he always believed he would find his way back to Rory, then why even marry Tessa? Was he trying to feed her mental instability? Or was she supposed to be Houston's chance to save someone since he feels like he should have saved his sister? Sometimes his line of thought comes into view, but I can't make complete sense of it. 

The plot of the story is two-dimensional: the present and the past. In the present, Houston has his sister's suicide note that he never showed Rory and it's been five years since their break-up. Houston wants to leave his wife, but her mental instability creates issues for him. Meanwhile, Rory has never stopped loving Houston, but she meets sweet Liam and wonders if he's her future. But Houston won't let Rory go without telling her the truth of his sister's death and their relationship. In the past, Houston and Rory are slowly moving towards each other, falling in love, dreaming of a future. But as time moves forward so does Houston's sister's plans in ending her life which throws Houston and Rory together in to swirling chaos of loss, love, pain, and the desire to escape it all. Cassia Leo writes a very entertaining, twisted story of two people life has thrown together, fated to tragedy. The idea of a sequel to this madness intrigues me, but, honestly, I don't know if I want to know how this story ends.

Rating: 2.5/5 Cups

Cover Reveal: Dear Diary

Dear Diary,

E. P. Thompson here.

Worst. Year. Ever. First semester in sixth grade, and my best friend Debbie has dropped me because my boobs aren’t big enough. Well, she didn’t say that exactly, but I just know that’s the reason. Then I got paired with Adam Berry, the biggest pencil-protecting geek of the decade, for the never-ending, semester-long math project. And as if that’s not bad enough, Thomas Maxwell, the cutest boy in my grade, only pays attention to me when I’m making a total fool of myself. Ugh.

Weirdest thing of all: it seems Lucas C. Tanner Middle School has a full-on, bona fide thief! Now all the teachers are going crazy and all the students are too, because Mrs. Peule has promised to make this year a living nightmare until the culprit is caught. We have to find out who is ruining sixth grade. Like, now!

Well, at least the criminal activity has taken the focus off my lack of bra ownership. Sigh.

I have to go. I’ll write again soon. Promise.

Meet the Author

Judith Natelli McLaughlin grew up reading a solid diet of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, and Shel Silverstein. Her mom was famous for telling her, "You are never alone if you have a book," and her dad, a lover of words, was always reciting poetry to her.

She went on to write, illustrate, and publish her own poetry book,Poems on Fruits and Odes to Veggies—Where Healthy Eating Starts With a Poem. Her other works include a women’s fiction novel titled This Moment and a soon to be released children’s chapter book, Mackenzie Goode Makes A Mistake—A Big One.

She lives in New Jersey with her husband Brian; her three daughters Katie, Lindsay, and Maggie; and her faithful writing companion, a Westie named Duke.

Find Judith Online:

GOODREADS / TWITTER / WEBSITE / YOUTUBE

And the big reveal...

WWW Wednesday (182)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

          

01. Currently Reading:
Afternoon by Robert Lampros. A novella about faith and courage. Starting this one today if I can get the file to work. I'm not as tech savvy as I would like you to think.

02. Recently Finished:
The Way We Fall by Cassia Leo. An interesting novel about the past and future of a couple who can't seem to let each other go, even though their relationship was and is quite toxic.

03. Reading Next:
Echoes by Laura Tisdall. Hacker novel! So so so looking forward to this. Mallory's online friends/ other hackers start disappearing. Cyber security mystery established.