I Read Indie: FROM THE WRECKAGE by Michele G. Miller {Release Day/Excerpt/Review}

*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*NEW RELEASE*.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*

From The Wreckage by Michele G Miller

Genre: YA, Coming of age

"In a matter of minutes on a Friday night, I lost my school, my identity, the security of my first love, the personality of my sweet fearless brother, my best friend, my town, everything as I knew it. Everything changed.”

"Minutes - that’s all it takes to change your entire life. How do you deal with that?”

For high school senior Jules Blacklin surviving the storm is only the beginning. Faced with the new reality of her life, she must find a way to rise From The Wreckage and answer the question - how do you get back to normal, when everything that

was normal is gone?

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1n73Ukn

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iTunes: http://bit.ly/1omACT9

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1kZbMWo

Smashwords:

http://bit.ly/1qrAsI5

“One of these days, Jules Blacklin, I’m going to kiss you again, but it’s going to be when you’re mine.” He moves this thumb from her jaw to swipe across her bottom lip and locks his gaze with hers as he adds, “Because when I start kissing these lips, I don’t want to know he gets to kiss them after me.”

***

One night is all it took to change Jules life forever. After emerging from the debris that was her shelter during the storm, Jules is overcome with emotion and grief. But there is one person that has been a constant sense of safety from the start. With West's help, Jules must work through the wreckage before it all comes crumbling down on her.

It may have been the recent tornado that destroyed my hometown in Arkansas, but from the minute the sirens went off (in the book) I knew this book would mean something to me. I literally had to force myself to lay my nook down last night. It was late, I had to get up early the next morning...so I just had to stop. I didn't want to. Lord, knows I didn't want to. But I had to. I, of course, picked it up the next morning and quickly devoured it. Yes, hands down, this is my most favorite of faves from Miller. This book owns me and I will be impatiently waiting for the next one.

I loved the way the book starts out. Jules is giving a video account of the night she lost the security of having a normal life. Her world as she knew it was flipped upside down. So while she tells the camera and us, all she experienced, we the readers experience it right along with her. I will admit I cried a few half a dozen times. Especially towards the end. My heart was caught in an emotional twister.

What I loved the most was the quickly developing feelings between Jules and West. It wasn’t the too quick kind that made you shudder and roll your eyes. It was the kind that melted your heart seeing what they went through and watching them fall in love. I was knee deep in the swoon!

Miller reminds me once again why I love YA books! One thing I always say when it comes to YA is that it reminds me of sweeter times. It reminds me of first loves and first kisses. And thanks to Miller and this book I was remembering all those things all over again. I was transported back to such wonderful, carefree times.

5 Heartbreaking and Earth Shattering Stars!

You can read CHAPTER ONE of From The Wreckage, here...

*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*Chapter One*.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*

"Is this on?"

Jules' eyes flick to the small television across the room as she takes her place in the faded velvet wingback chair. Her own face stares back at her from the screen, indicating the camera is indeed working. Out of habit, her hands run over her strawberry blonde hair. She twirls a curl around her finger and brushes her long bangs to the side. Satisfied with her appearance, she takes a deep breath.

"Okay, Hi," she says softly; her hand lifting in a small wave. "I'm Jules Blacklin from Tyler, Texas. Oh, crap. No, I shouldn't wave,” she tells herself.

Shimmying backward, she tries to find a comfortable sitting position; her sundress catching against the velvet nap of the seat cushion. With a low sigh, she moves to run her hand between her skirt and the chair. Freeing the fabric, Jules adjusts the dress again and crosses her legs daintily, while stealing another glance at the television screen to check her appearance.

She'd set up the small twenty-inch screen on a side table so she would be able to see herself as a video camera recorded her story. Although now the camera only makes her more uneasy. Sitting here, watching herself speak to nobody makes her question her sanity. It feels like something a crazy person would do.

With a thoughtful eye, she watches herself lean forward and rest her elbow on the armrest, and decides to go with the pose; thinking it makes her look studious.

"Okay, yeah...that's good," she speaks aloud.

With a demure nod of her head, she begins again.

"Hi. My name is Jules Blacklin, Hillsdale High class of twenty-fourteen. I'm making this video essay as my contribution to the class of twenty-fourteen time capsule. I..."

She pauses; her mind blanking out for a spell as she smiles into the lens recording her. She takes a moment to steady her thoughts before continuing. "I want to tell you about myself. About what I've been through, and what the town of Tyler has been through. Winston Churchill once said, 'Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer.' Rest assured — I have endured. I have endured, and now I am ready to conquer."

Jules gives herself a mental high-five for remembering the quote and releases a deep breath. With her hands clasped, she leans forward in her seat. Her blue eyes stare directly into the red blinking light used to indicate the camera is recording.

"I'm inviting you on a journey. A journey through my senior year. Actually, if you’re watching this, then I'm going to ask you to be a bystander. See, I'm not making this for you. I'm recording this for the ones who didn't live, the ones I will forever be mindful of. For the ones I knew, the ones I didn't...and especially for the ones I loved. This is for you."

Uncrossing her legs, she leans back in the chair again; her eyes continuing to connect with the nameless faces that will someday watch this DVD. She settles back for her long story, her finger tracing the scrolling pattern across her skirt. She gathers herself, her thoughts and memories. It’s only a few moments — a flash of time — but for her, in her mind she sees everything. Once more, her pale gaze meets the lens and she decides where to start.

"Let's begin with your ending. The last night my life was normal. The last night we were all normal."