SONG OF THE FIREFLIES
by J.A. Redmerski
(September 2, 2014; Forever Trade Paperback; $14.00)
THE TRUTH WILL SET THEM FREE
Brayelle Bates has always been a force of nature. Even as a child, Bray's wild and carefree spirit intimidated everyone around her. The only person who's ever truly understood her is her best friend, Elias Kline. Though every fiber of her being wants to stay with Elias forever, Bray can't bear the thought of him discovering her agonizing history. She's done everything she can to keep him at arm's length, including moving away. But their undying bond was too strong a pull to deny, and Bray couldn't survive without him. Now she's back home with Elias, and things have never felt more right--until one night changes everything.
Elias vowed never to be separated from Bray again. So when she decides to flee in a desperate attempt to escape her fate, Elias knows he must go with her. As the two try to make the most of their circumstance, taking up with a reckless group of new friends, Elias soon realizes there's a darkness driving Bray he can't ignore. Now in order to save her, he'll have to convince Bray to accept the consequences of their reality--even if it means losing her.
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---Review---
The cover and synopsis got me from the start, then I after the first couple of chapters I become skeptical if the book was going to be good or not. After processing everything that happened, I came to the conclusion that it was indeed a good, that some might like and some might not like at all. There are a lot of topics and situations that the characters go through that makes it quite a roller coaster ride.
Ever since they were kids, Elias Kline and Brayelle Bates have been best friends. They are basically inseparable. But they soon realize that their friendship might start to become something more. Brayelle hasn't lived with the most functional family, and she has grown up to be carefree, which is not always a good thing for her. She is afraid to get too close to anyone, and when she realizes just how much she is getting attached to Elias, she moves away. After a while of been apart, Brayelle comes back only to realize that maybe she is meant to be with Elias after all. But just when they were getting their relationship back together, the both start facing a series of accidents that will test their loyalty to one another and their love.
I have to say that I didn't really liked Brayelle's character, she has a past that makes her the way she is, but it doesn't justified the decisions that she makes later in the story. Elias on the other hand, is too nice for his own good. He is in love with Brayelle and he is willing to follow her to the end of the world if he has to, just to be with her. Now, he is overly romantic, but because of that he faces a lot of trouble in the story. Like I mentioned before, the story is one big roller coaster ride. Everything that happens to both of the characters had me feeling a lot of emotions at once. Although the writing and how the story is structured that made the book a good read, the ending (towards the end) there was a twist that had me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't stop reading it, it became addicting. The very end tied everything really well and although the characters have a lot to face in the future, the conclusion worked very well. It was definitely an interesting book to read and I highly recommend it.
---EXCERPT---
Bray and I spent
the whole night in the field chasing the fireflies and laying on the
grass, staring up at the stars. She told me all about her sister,
Rian, and how she was a snob and was always mean to Bray. I told her
about my parents, because I didn’t have any brothers or sisters.
She said I was lucky. We talked forever, it seemed. We may have been
young, but we connected deeply on that night. I knew we would be
great friends, even better friends than Mitchell and I had been, and
I had known him since first grade, when he had tried to con me out of
my peach cup at lunch.
And before the
night was over, we made a pact with each other that would later prove
to see us through some very troubled times.
“Promise we’ll
always be best friends,” Bray said, lying next to me. “No matter
what. Even if you grow up ugly and I grow up mean.”
I laughed. “You’re
already mean!”
She elbowed me.
“And you’re
already ugly,” she said with a blush in her cheeks.
I gave in, though
really I needed no convincing. “OK, I promise.”
We gazed back up at
the stars; her fingers were interlaced and her hands rested on her
belly.
I had no idea what
I was getting into with Brayelle Bates. I didn’t know about such
things when I was nine. I didn’t know. But I would never regret a
moment with her. Never.
Bray and I were
found early the following morning, fast asleep in the grass. We were
awoken by three cops; Mr. Parson, who owned the land; and my frantic
mother, who thought I had been kidnapped from my room, stuffed in a
suitcase, and thrown on the side of a highway somewhere.
“Elias! Oh dear
God, I thought you were gone!” She scooped me into her arms and
squeezed me so tight I thought my eyeballs were going to burst out of
the sockets. She pulled away, kissed me on the forehead, embarrassing
the crap out of me, and then squeezed me again.
Bray’s mom and
dad were there, too.
“Have you been
out here all night with him?” Bray’s dad asked with a sharp edge
in his voice.
My mom immediately
went into defensive mode. She stood up the rest of the way with me
and wrapped one arm around the front of me, pressing my head against
her stomach.
“That daughter of
yours,” my mom said, and already I was flinching before she
finished, “she has a mouth on her. My son would never have snuck
out unless he was influenced.”
Oh geez…
I sighed and threw
my head back against her.
“Mom, I—”
“Are you blaming
this on my daughter?” Bray’s mother said, stepping up front and
center.
“As a matter of
fact, I am,” my mom said boldly.
Bray started to
shrink behind her dad and every second that passed I felt even worse
about her being blamed.
Before this got too
out of hand, I broke away from my mom’s arms. “Dammit, Mom—!”
Her eyes grew wide and fierce, and I stopped midsentence.
“Watch your
mouth, Elias!” Then she looked at Bray’s mom again and added,
“See, Elias never uses language like
that.”
“Stop it! Please!
I snuck out on my own, so leave Bray out of it!”
I hated shouting. I
hated that I had to put my mom in her place like that, but I spoke
what I felt in my heart, and that was something my mom always taught
me to do. Take up for the bullied, Elias. Never stand back and watch
someone take advantage of someone else, Elias. Always do and say what
you know in your heart to be right, no matter what, Elias.
I hoped she would
remember those things when we were back at home.
My mom sighed
deeply and I watched the anger deflate with her breath. “I
apologize,” she said to Bray’s parents. “Really, I am sorry. I
was just so scared something had happened to him.”
Bray’s mom
nodded, accepting my mom’s apology with sincerity. “I understand.
I’m sorry, too. I’m just glad they’re safe.”
Bray’s dad said
nothing. I got the feeling he wasn’t as forgiving as her mom had
been.
I was grounded for
the rest of the summer for that stunt I pulled. And yes, I met the
fly swatter that day, after which I vowed never to sneak out of the
house again. But whenever it came to Bray, from that time up until we
graduated high school, I did sneak out. A lot. But I never got caught
again after that first time.
I know you must be
wondering why after so many years of being best friends, attending
the same school, working together at the local Dairy Queen, even
often sharing a bed, why we never became something more to each
other.
Well, the truth is
that we did.
About the author:
J. A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today andWall Street Journal bestselling author lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children, two cats and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead.
---Here's a a sneak peek snippet and the cover for J.A. Redmerski's new book THE MOMENT OF LETTING GO, coming to e-book and print in April 14, 2015---
THE MOMENT OF LETTING GO by J.A. Redmerski
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author J. A. Redmerski brings us a heart-wrenching, stand-alone new adult novel that fans of her blockbuster The Edge of Never are sure to fall in love with. In THE MOMENT OF LETTING GO Sienna Murphy finally lands her dream job. It's everything she's ever wanted...or so she thought. When she's sent on a business trip to Hawaii, she meets Luke Everett, a guy who makes her want to forget all her responsibilities and give in to the promise of all the happiness they could have together. As their passion grows, Luke makes Sienna start to question whether the carefully constructed life she leads is really as perfect as it seems.
Pre-Order Now!
---EXCERPT---
He kisses me passionately
for three brief seconds, his hands gripping the sides of my face, and
we’re both breathless when he says, “I wanted to tell you about
Landon. I wanted to tell you a lot of things, but I knew you had to
go home and none of it would’ve mattered.”
I touch his lips with two
of my fingers. “You can tell me whenever you’re ready. I’m here
to listen, and I’m not going anywhere. There’s nothing you can
say to scare me away. I won’t leave again unless it’s what you
want. I still have four days left of my vacation and I want to spend
them with you.”
“I want
you to stay.”
“Then I’m staying.”
“What about after that?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
He gazes into my eyes,
searching for something, I could never know what, but I think he
finds it because his lips smash against mine and he kisses me
hungrily. I feel my body being lifted into the air, my legs wrapped
around his waist, and the air in the room hitting me as he carries me
quickly through it, never breaking the kiss. In seconds I feel the
comfort of his bed beneath my back and his lumpy pillows I missed so
much, around my head.
We strip off each other’s
clothes clumsily and Luke is on top of me before I can even catch my
breath. But I don’t need my breath when I have his, and his kiss is
deep and forceful and it alone makes my body dizzy with need.
---GIVEAWAY---
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Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her husband and three kids. She lives outside Cincinnati in the small town of Loveland, “Sweetheart of Ohio.” For more information or just to say hello, visit www.melissa-landers.com. 
