Just Shelby Blog Tour
JUST SHELBY
by Brooklyn James
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Young Adult, Coming of Age, Romance w/ a dash of Mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
A secret note square found in a handmade guitar proves that small town gossip is not only ubiquitous but occasionally true. This gossip comes with strings rivaling those on Ace Cooper’s guitar, the safest strings he will ever have around his heart.
Ace’s father warns him to stay away from the Lynn girl. Daughter of a deceased bootlegger and a barely living addict, Shelby Lynn is no stranger to small town contempt. She keeps her nose in the books and feet to the ground, a college scholarship the only escape from her tumultuous life.
As Ace’s heartstrings unravel, so does his family’s role in Shelby’s broken past. Thrust into a precarious journey of their roots brimming with music and betrayal, the two have never been closer…to the truth of how Shelby’s father died. One truth transforms every facet of their lives forever.
A dual POV friends-to-first-love story, Just Shelby is an unsuspecting mystery that depicts how growing together can sometimes hurt worse than growing apart.
Excerpt:
I close my eyes and breathe meditatively. With the wren feather in hand, Shelby fans over me the smoke—or the smudge. Then she starts chanting in a language I cannot make heads or tails of. I don’t think she’s got it down either. But I love her for trying. Talk about courage!
“Do you feel anything?” she asks sounding hopeful, breaking from her chorus.
Cold. I feel cold. Underdressed for the light snowfall the higher elevation is about to receive. But I know that answer won’t do. I dig deep and at least tell the truth. “I feel like I could be a better son.”
“Oh. Okay. Cool.” She fans faster. “What about colors or images. Do you see any?”
Feeling isn’t enough? I’m supposed to see, too. Smudging, feather, wren—too obvious. Birds, feathers, owl—“I see an owl.”
“An owl!” she screeches, much like the feathered avian. “I think that’s a bad omen. A symbol of death?” She extinguishes the herbs, crushing them and their embers to bits. “I must have done something wrong. Unelanahi, disregard everything I just sent you!” She shouts into the sky, as innocent as the stars.
I chuckle, sitting upright and sliding forward on the hood, my legs encircling her hips. “Yes, death. If you don’t kiss me, I just might die.”
Her lips, so alive, are the perfect antidote to the grim reaper. The smudging may have been a flop, but she is a healer.
Spending time with her has begun to heal things within me that I didn’t know needed healing. My future aspirations, my relationship with Mom, the emptiness—she fills it.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Brooklyn James is an author/singer-songwriter who savors any opportunity to blend books with music. Her first novel, The Boots My Mother Gave Me, has an original music soundtrack, making for a unique Audible experience. Out of Boots grew a platform where it was Brooklyn's honor to serve as a guest speaker with a focus on awareness and prevention of domestic violence and suicide.
Her latest speaking engagements centered around accessibility, rights, and choice in birth, as well as writing workshops on how to put pen to paper composing one's own birth story with the release of her birth memoir, Born in the Bed You Were Made: One Family's Journey from Cesarean to Home Birth.
Just Shelby gifted both the challenge and the thrill of this author's primary exploration into the Young Adult genre. She cherishes reader reviews, if you should be so inclined.
Moonlighting occasionally in voice-over and film, Brooklyn played a Paramedic in a Weezer video, met Harry Connick Jr. as an extra on the set of When Angels Sing, appeared in Richard Linklater's Boyhood for all of a nanosecond, and was a stand-in and stunt double for Mira Sorvino on Jerry Bruckheimer's Trooper pilot for TNT. Although reading, dancing, working out, and a good glass of kombucha get her pretty excited, she finds most thrilling the privilege of being a mother to two illuminating little souls and a wife to the one big soul from whom they get their light.
Brooklyn holds an M.A. in Communication, a B.S. in both Nursing and Animal Science, and lives in Texas Hill Country.
Sales Links for Just Shelby:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/brooklynjames
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H5LQZJJ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/just-shelby-brooklyn-james/1137585255?ean=2940164235871
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55133759-just-shelby
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1040997
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-shelby/id/1531475310
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-shelby
Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.brooklyn-james.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrooklynJamesAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooklynjamesauthor/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4RB28X3Ls71svP49y6dwA?sub_confirmation=1
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/brooklyn-james-author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooklynjames7?lang=en OR @BrooklynJames7
Review:
I gave this book three stars. I liked it, but it was slow to start for me. That could be my fault, I'm in a bit of a reading funk lately, but I pushed through wanting to know what happened between Ace and Shelby. Shelby wanted out of her hometown and it was painfully clear that Ace wasn't going anywhere. Sounds doomed right? Don't worry, they aren't but the journey of their relationship is definitely nothing shy of a roller coaster. Be warned, Shelby's family history may be a trigger for some but despite the hardships Shelby endured because of her mother, she is a beautiful strong character. If you like the slow burn tear your heart out stories, this one is for you.