IN THE AFTER by Elisa Dane is a hard-hitting and heart-warming story of tragedy, love, loss and redemption. It is recommended for readers 14+.
Title: In the After
Author: Elisa Dane
Published by: Swoon Romance
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Published by: Swoon Romance
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Publication date: February 2nd 2016
BLURB supplied by Xpresso Book Tours
Sadie Reynolds is a liar with secrets. At school, she’s part of the popular crowd known as AE, despite being broken inside. She hides it well. She has to. The slightest bit of imperfection will land her in the same shoes as her Geeky neighbor named Ian.
Ian and his only friend are the object of Sadie’s friends’ ridicule, ire, and entertainment. The AE rule the school with intimidation and retribution against anyone who would dare question their supremacy.
Sadie steers clear of most of it, terrified someone will find out her secret. She isn’t the least bit perfect. In fact, she suffers from PTSD stemming from the murder of her mother right before her eyes when she was a child. She can barely cope from day-to-day, hiding her truth and trying to fit in. But she knows it’s only a matter of time.
Hayden is a “Waverly,” a kid with the misfortune of living in the small farming town of Waverly that borders the very affluent Lexington Parrish. The AE doesn’t mix with “Waverlies.” Ever.
Desperate to get away from her oppressive friends, Sadie crashes into Hayden at a bonfire and the attraction that sparks between them is nothing short of electric. But Hayden’s an outsider and when things heat up, Sadie will be forced to choose between her friends and her new boyfriend.
Only Queen Bee Britt isn’t having it. She will not allow Sadie to cross her. Sadie can either do what Britt wants her to do or she will reveal Sadie for the PTSD freak that she is.
Sadie does some soul searching about who she is and who she wants to be. She can’t live her life like this. Not any more. One fateful night will help her see how much things have to change.
She’s determined to no longer allow the AE to rule her life. She will be strong, stand up for Ian and love who she wants in Hayden. Determined and invigorated, Sadie goes to school feeling hopeful for the first time in forever.
But, the unthinkable happens.
Shooters attack dozens of students before the two eventually take their own lives, leaving the school a decimated shadow of what it once was.
Suddenly who lives where, wears what or loves whom seems like the least of Lexington Parish’s problems as everyone and everything changes forever in the after.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
The pungent stench of
vomit and black licorice floated up from the brushy base of the large pine
tree. I held Jenna’s hair away from her face with one hand and covered my mouth
and nose with the other, dangerously close to losing the contents of my own stomach.
I didn’t do barf well. If the smell didn’t get me first, the horrible retching
sound usually did me in.
I pulled a tissue out of my cross-body bag
and thrust it in front of Jenna’s face once her gagging stopped.
She took the tissue from me with an agonized
groan. “Ugh … kill me now, please.” She braced a hand against the rough bark
and stood up, the light from the full moon making her already pale skin appear
ghostly. Mascara ringed her eyes, which were still glossy with tears. “God,
Sadie. I feel like I was just shit out of a fat man’s crusty ass.”
I wrinkled my nose and jerked my head back.
“Your breath pretty much smells like it, too.” I shoved my hand into my bag
again and procured a pack of gum. “Here.” I waved the half-eaten pack of
wintergreen at her. “I told you not to drink that last Jaeger bomb.”
Truthfully, I didn’t understand how she, or anyone else for that matter,
stomached the nasty stuff. I hated the taste of black licorice.
Jenna swiped her hand over her face and
moaned. “Ugh. I need to … ” She lurched a few feet to the left and sank to the
ground, resting her back against the base of a fallen tree. “There,” she said
with a breathy sigh. She let her head fall back against the tree and closed her
eyes. “Much better.”
I eased down onto the ground beside her and
tilted my head toward the sky. Away from the glowing lights pulsating from
every nook and cranny of Lexington Parrish, the dark skies above Woodland
Reservoir were shockingly clear. The stars shone so bright and big I gave into
temptation and reached a hand up, feeling as though I could pluck one from the
sky and hold it in my palm. But then, you’d have to have enormous power to hold
a star—and I was anything but powerful. Petulant? Yes. Perturbed? Definitely.
Powerful? Not so much.
Britt Kennedy held all the power in
Lexington Parrish. No, wait. I amend that. Britt’s dad held all the power in
town. A Supreme Court judge who came from old money, when he said jump, the
entire town yelled, “How high?” His daughter, Britt, ruled Atwood High. If
anyone were capable of wrangling a star out of the sky, it would be her.
Girlfriend could probably snap her fingers and sneer at the sky and the damn
thing would fall to her feet.
God,
I sound bitter. But then, Britt had dictated every
aspect of my life over the past three years. She dictated everyone’s lives at
Atwood. Regina George looked like a soft, huggable bunny next to the sheer
evilness that was Britt Kennedy. And it was that evil that had supplied my best
friend with the last shot of alcohol that tipped the scales from sloppy drunk
to full out shit-faced and stupid.
I wrapped my arms around my knees and
pulled them in toward my chest. “Wanna talk about it?”
I knew exactly what, or rather, who, was
bothering her, but didn’t want to push. She’d open up when she was comfortable,
and I’d be there for her.
Jenna laughed once. “Guys are dicks. What
more is there to say?”
Not
much. I placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“I’m sorry about Jason.”
She swiped at her tearstained cheeks and
cast me a wry look. “You’re sorry I caught him shoving his tongue down
Madison’s throat, or that you were right about him?”
My shoulders fell as I let out a deep sigh.
“Both.” Jason was an asshat, and I wasn’t sorry she caught on to his cheating
ways. I was, however, sorry that she was hurting, and that there was nothing I
could do to take the pain from her. “Jason is a douche nozzle. Just like Wes
was. I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’re better off without him.” I
knew I was better off without my dick-faced ex, regardless of what the rest of
our friends thought.
Jenna scrubbed her hands over her face and
groaned. “You’re right. I just … I need … ” She looked toward the raging
bonfire our friends were gathered around not too far from where we sat, her face
twisting as if deep in thought. “I really just need to—”
“Listen to me more often?” I said, cutting
her off with a sarcastic huff. There weren’t many people I could share my true
thoughts and feelings with in Lexington Parrish, and Jenna was one of those
precious few. I could get away with a little ribbing and an “I told you so” and
know she’d still love me afterward.
Jenna cast me a wry smile and lumbered to
her feet with all the grace of a newborn giraffe on roller skates. “Actually,”
she cast me a rather urgent glance, “what I really need is a bathroom.” She
nodded her head in the direction of the very public, very dirty, and very dark
bathrooms that sat a small distance to the left of the bonfire. “Go with me?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elisa is no stranger to the publishing world. She writes steamy paranormal romance under her real name, Lisa Sanchez. Her adult works include the Hanford Park series (Eve Of Samhain, Pleasures Untold, and Faythe Reclaimed), Obsessed (an erotic suspense), and a paranormal novella, Cursing Athena. Elisa lives in Northern California with her husband, three daughters, and a feisty Chihuahua who stubbornly believes she's human.
You can connect with Elisa at the following places on the web:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7450641.Elisa_Dane
***GIVEAWAY***
This is an International Blitz wide Giveaway
The Prize = $10 Amazon Gift Card & Ebook copy of In The After
***GIVEAWAY***
This is an International Blitz wide Giveaway
The Prize = $10 Amazon Gift Card & Ebook copy of In The After
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