Juilliard or Else

Description:

 Abigail McCall has been accepted into Juilliard for Ballet. Being nineteen, she’s ready to move out of her tight shell at her parent’s house and in with her new roommates. Abigail finds herself distracted with things she never saw herself doing.

'Hey, I’m Tucker.
That’s all it took. His own name rolling off his tongue.'

With no job and coming from a broken home with a mother who doesn’t care what happens to him, could you blame Tucker for being so secretive? The dark and mysterious Tucker has his sights set on the prim and proper ballerina. So he knows he has to change his self destructive ways in order to keep Abigail in his life. Which means, betraying his closest friends.

Obstacles are thrown at them. 
They don’t approve of the ballerina and the poor boy.

The world won’t let Abigail and Tucker be together. What do they have to sacrifice to stay together...

Can the good come out in the bad? Or does someone always end up hurt and alone?

Tucker has nothing, but Abigail has everything to lose...

Review : 

I have to start by saying, this is another brilliant but different story of two people falling in love. Although this story does have a beautiful ending, it's not always so lovely in between. As said in the description of the book, 'obstacles are thrown at them'. 

Abigail is a very quietly beautiful character. Her father is very caring towards Abigail and you can see himself and Abi have a close relationship at the beginning. Abigail's "Mother" on the other hand, is a rather different story. She isn't happy until Abigail has done her best, even then she doesn't show much affection towards her. When Abigail discovers a secret both her parents have been hiding from her. She is more determined than ever to leave for Uni. Then she meets Tucker. 

Tucker has had a tough life, and still living one when he meets Abigail. As soon as the two start talking, you can feel their connection and can't help but get overly excited about how their relationship is going to develop. I fell in love with Tucker and his and Abigail's relationship. It's impossible not to. Nichele Reese does an amazing job of developing the characters, and giving them each their own story but showing that both characters are more similar than they realise. Although Tucker's secrets begin to ruin his relationship with Abigail, the love they share is much stronger, and not easily broken. 

The other characters flow nicely into the storyline, and you can't help but fall in love with them and their own stories as well. They each have their own individual story, bringing relationships together.

I loved this book and it is DEFINITELY worth reading. It will make you smile, laugh, cry. 

 Abigail

Tucker

A scene from something I've been working on

I like to write my own stories now and again, and I am recently working on a few different things. Any feedback would be great. Enjoy!

Description :

 Camille is 21, fresh out of university and working in the small book shop around the corner. Living in a small apartment she shares with Ivy, her best friend is safe and quiet, just the way she likes things. Ivy grew up with her Dad, as her mother died at birth... at least that's what her dad always told her. Going out with Ivy one night leads to more trouble than she expected, when she meets Chris. But it all leads to Sam. 

Sam is 24, and home after serving a few years in the army. He joined at the age of 20, unable to stay at home any longer with his abusive farther. Living in an apartment alone, except for his best friend Leo who is a regular for crashing on his sofa, Leo finds a job at an old bookstore. 

When a bad incident brings the two together, will they learn to trust? Or will secrets and the reason they find it hard to trust, tear them apart.

Sam meats Camille

Camille

“Chris, I have to go. I’m going to be late for work,” I replied as confidently as my shaky voice would allow.

Chris brought his face even closer to mine and narrowed his dull green eyes, “You mean you can’t hang out with me because you’d rather spend your time at that crappy book shop?”

“I work there, Chris. It’s not something I can change in a matter of minutes, and I like working there.” I wasn’t lying, I really did like working there. I’d rather work as a bin lady than spend time with Chris at the moment. We’d gone out on four dates before he started pushing me to do stuff that I wasn’t ready for… not with Chris anyway. I told him I wanted to take things slow, but he didn’t listen. So every Saturday morning he shows up at my doorstep as if I had already made plans with him. He’s not exactly easy to get rid of either.

“Just phone and say you don’t feel well. You agreed to go out on another date with me, and I want that date to be now.” His voice grew harsher and the hand holding my wrist tightened painfully, I found it hard not to let the whimper leave my lips.

“I’ll go on the date with you when I don’t have work,” I stated, not making eye contact. A loud ringing noise saved me. It was Chris’ phone.

“I need to take this,” he said looking at the caller ID and letting out a sigh of irritation. “Wait there.” He squeezed my already throbbing wrist once more, before turning around and taking a few steps towards his car. I moved my head to the right. I knew the book shop was about a five minute walk from here. I usually parked here when I was running late. I glanced back at Chris who was still captivated by the person on the other end of his phone. Could I run? Would he catch me? Is he a really fast runner? Could I out run him? These were the thoughts I should have probably considered before running, but I didn’t have time. My legs took me as fast as they could travel. I heard my breathing start to accelerate, more from panic than the running. I was nearly there when I looked behind to check if he was behind me, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. Checking one last time behind me, I felt my foot catch on a rough patch of pavement, my balance instantly faltering. I let out a cry and swear word as my hands slapped against the rough ground. I could feel the sting in my knees and palms, bringing tears to my eyes. The book shop was just around the corner. I pulled myself off the ground, sighing as I did so. How could I be so scared of a guy I had only been on a few dates with? Why did I agree to it in the first place? I questioned myself as I ran the last few steps, groaning at my new aches and pains.

As soon as I was inside the old book shop I let out a relieved sigh, and a strangled breath. I lent against the door, trying desperately to catch my breath and not let the tears fall from my eyes. I slowly slid down until I was sitting, resting my chin on my knees and wrapping my arms around myself. I wanted to make myself as small as possible and disappear from the rest of the world. I heard the footsteps before I saw them. Opening my tired eyes, I saw chunky, black boots. My gaze slowly travelled up the long legged person in front of me, before meeting a pair of very beautiful, very concerned blue eyes.

“Are you okay?” The God like man asked in a deep husky voice. I watched his full lips form the words. Did every word sound so beautiful coming from his mouth? He crouched down and raised an eyebrow as if waiting for me to say something. Wait, I was supposed to answer him! I was already acting like a complete idiot.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Are you sure? You don’t look okay…”

“I was running and I… err... I tripped.” Great, now I look like more of an idiot.

A ghost of a smile appeared on his gorgeous face, and I instantly wanted to make him smile again. “I guess I should look at the ground when I run.” I looked up to find an even bigger smile, his dark, messy hair falling into his eyes. I heard my quick intake of breath as I stared at the wonderful curve on his face.

“I’m Sam. I just started working here a couple of days ago.” He held out a hand for me to shake, which I quickly accepted. As his large, warm hand enclosed mine and gently squeezed, the pain from falling earlier quickly came back. Sam must have noticed me grimace, as he was quick to let go.

“I knew you weren’t fine. Did you hurt your hand?”

Sam gently took my hand in his, examining it with an amazing amount of concentration. I looked down at my hand and noticed the graze that was bleeding.

“I think we should clean these cuts, er...” I looked at him with question in my eyes, before realising he was waiting for my name.

“Camille, but most of my friends call me Cami,”

“Wow, that’s beautiful.” His words were a whisper and a slight blush covered his cheeks. He quickly broke eye contact and placed his hand under my elbow to help me up. 

Sam 

 Camille

I recently read 'Fading' by, E.K. Blair. I loved this book. I don't think 'love' is even a strong enough word to describe how amazing it was. This book will make you cry, laugh and smile. If you haven't read this book, you need to pick it up NOW! 

Book Description
Candace Parker is the main character. She grew up with a mother who thinks image is everything, and her daughter’s perfection will never be good enough. About to graduate college and pursue her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina, Candace decides it’s time to let go and have a little fun. But fun is short-lived when a brutal attack leaves her completely shattered. 
The memories that consume and torment Candace are starting to destroy her when she meets Ryan Campbell, a successful bar owner. He feels instantly connected and tries to show her that hope is worth fighting for. But is Ryan harboring his own demons? As walls slowly begin to chip away, the secrets that are held within start to become painful burdens. At what point do secrets become lies?


The relationship Candace forms with Ryan is sweet. He helps her learn to trust again. Candace goes through a lot of pain throughout the book, and it's impossible not to feel that pain too. Candace starts to feel ashamed of the attack and blames herself, which to everyone around her seems crazy. Because of this, her frienship with Kimber (her roommate) starts to fall apart. But it's Candaces' way of coping and hiding the shame and embarassment she feels. As Candace's relationship with Ryan develops, we start to know her smile and happiness. Not forgetting her lovely parents... Saying Candace and her parents don't get along is an understatment. During the book, it sometimes feels as if her parents are deliberately going out of their way to make Candace miserable. But that soon changes when the amazing Ryan visits with her. Just another reason Ryan tugs on our hearts. 

And of course there is Jase, who stands by Candace no matter what. He's the first person she calls when the attack happens, and he is the first person she goes to when she needs a shoulder to cry on. Jase comforts her throughout her break downs and moments of weakness and you can't help but love him as much as Candace does. He too has problems with his family excepting the fact he's gay, but moves past it when he realises he has Candace and Marcus (his new boyfriend). All four of them, Jase, Candace, Marcus and Ryan form a close knit friendship, almost like a family of their own. Each of them hold a different and individual story, which unfold when new relationships are formed. 



                                                                         Candace

 

Ryan                                                                                                                    Jase