Seven shots
Five siblings
Two boys
One heartbeat …
***
Stacey is good at pretending.
She pretends that the boy she’s in love with doesn’t exist.
She pretends that she’s happy to live and die in this small town.
She pretends that her life is carefree while her best friend’s world crumbles before her very eyes.
But Stacey’s got a secret …
And it’s going to ruin everything.
Eleven Weeks
by Lauren K. McKellar
Series:
Crazy in Love #2
Genre:
New Adult
Contemporary Romance
Publisher:
Independent
Publication Date:
January 25, 2015
Recently I read, and reviewed book one in this series, The Problem With Crazy. I loved the whole thing and also liked the best friend’s character, Stacey. Eleven Weeks is Stacey’s story, and although it starts a couple of weeks before The Problem With Crazy starts, it pretty much overlaps quite a bit of the time period that one takes place in, as well. Not a retelling, this is truly Stacey’s own story.
Stacey has always been the screw up among her many siblings, to the point that nothing is really expected of her. All of her siblings are high achieving, not something that Stacey has ever aspired to. She’s a good, caring person, but also a party girl, pretty and very popular at her school. But with graduation looming, and major problems happening in her best friend Kate’s life, she knows she needs to start figuring out her own life. When a huge problem of her own, enters her life, she has no clue what she is going to do to solve it. Embrace it or not? That’s the big question here.
In addition to really caring about Stacey’s character, I loved the character of Michael. As the guy that Stacey has pretty much loved most of her life, he was such a sweet, good guy. He’s a member of a rock band, one that is poised to take off. But it hasn’t gone to his head, and he has also loved Stacey for years. Neither has really informed the other, so the book was fun to see how they dance around each other. Anytime Michael mentions something about liking Stacey, she immediately thinks he is teasing her. And she doesn’t feel worthy of him.
So yes, Stacey and Michael together, in any scene, was my favorite of this read. We also meet the members of Stacey’s family, and see the dynamics of her relationship with all of them. That was pretty sad, especially her relationship with her mother. It was easy to see why Stacey makes some of her decisions, due to how she is treated by her family.
I have left out the main premise of the story on purpose. No spoilers. But I will say that I was completely pulled into the story, and enjoyed the whole thing. It pulls out a lot of emotions from the reader, as did book one, not quite as bad of course, but bad enough for Stacey’s character.
Fantastically as well written as the first one, in my opinion! I have already purchased the third in the series, The Problem with Heartache, and hope to read it soon.
I highly recommend this to older young adult readers through adults. Great read!
The review copy of Eleven Weeks was purchased by the reviewer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren McKellar is a writer and editor of fact and fiction. She has worked in publishing for more than eight years, editing a national magazine named PETS, which is cute, fluffy and fun, as well as editing manuscripts that range from sweet romance to raunchy thrillers.
Lauren loves to write for the Young and New Adult markets, and her debut novel, Finding Home, is a YA Contemporary. She is a member of the YA Rebels (vlog) and the Aussie Owned and Read blogging team. In her free time, Lauren enjoys long walks on the beach with her two super-cute dogs and her partner-in-crime/fiancé.
You can speak with her on twitter via the handle @LaurenKMcKellar or check out her website and blog at http://www.laurenkmckellar.com.
AUTHOR LINKS
