Thursday, October 30, 2014

Review, Excerpt and Giveaway:Two Blue Lines by SC Montgomery



Two Blue Lines Synopsis:

His fear . . . Her secrets . . . Their choice.

What if the only girl you’ve ever loved lied to you?
Lied to everyone?
Those two blue lines changed everything for Reed Young and Melissa Summers. In more ways than one.
And now, he must decide for himself . . .
Man up or walk away?

SC Montgomery has created an emotional tale of first love, difficult choices, and impossible secrets. A deliciously angsty debut you need to read for yourself.

***Reader Warning*** Two Blue Lines is the emotional, honest story of two teenagers whose lives are about to change forever. While not glorified, or portrayed in detail, there are themes of sexual assault and teen pregnancy, as well as allusions to teenage drinking and some foul language. It is all meant to create an honest, relevant novel, but please be aware and read only if you’re comfortable.

***Note, while this novel is a standalone that deals with mature subject matter, it may be helpful to read Lines in the Sand first to understand what makes Reed Young tick and hear about the summer that changed his life forever. Well, before this one.
Buy Links: 
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Excerpt
I just knew that Mel was my compass. Had been for the past three years. She came into my life at my most emotional and had been my touchstone ever since. I’m not sure I’d know how to be me without her.

I ran home and showered again to get the popcorn smell off and put on clean clothes, including the shirt I knew Mel liked best. On the way over, I stopped at the store and cruised the floral department. 

What says ‘I love you’ and ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Thank you for being the mother of my unborn child?’

Red roses looked too Valentiney.

Sunflowers seemed too Get Wellish.
I finally settled on a mixed bunch with multi-colored carnations and roses with some frou frou things I couldn’t name.
Swallowing a knot of confusing nerves, I bounded up the steps and knocked on Mel’s front door. The nerves became a swirl of hording elephants when the door swung open and I stared up into her father’s scowling face. Oh, shit. Had she told him . . . ?
  

What I thought about Two Blue Lines

When I saw the synopsis for Two Blue Lines I was curious to see if the story of teenage pregnancy would be updated for 2014. While the plot was familiar,  there were things I liked about this story. 
Reed and Melissa are sixteen years old and in love. And she's just told Reed she's pregnant. The story is told from both of their perspectives, with most of the chapters in Reed's POV. Melissa's POV is delivered through the pages of her diary.  I thought this was a unique way of letting the reader see what both of these main characters were thinking, but really, this is mostly Reed's story.
There are some very difficult emotions portrayed very well as they tell their parents, discuss abortion and adoption, manage the meanies at school and just... deal. Although Reed is shaken, he knows he loves Melissa and he takes steps to prepare without a whole lot of guidance from his parents. It takes most of the book for them to warm up and start giving Reed the emotional support he needs. 
Melissa is having a rough time too, compounded by the fact she is keeping a huge secret from everyone. I could understand why she felt she couldn't tell, and yet it frustrated me that she didn't see that she had to, just for the sake of her unborn baby. 
When Melissa goes into labor early, she is forced to divulge her secret under devastating circumstances, keeping me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen to this young couple. 
Overall, I liked this story, although I did feel that parts of it were a bit contrived and much of it was predictable, including the big secret. There was a lot of emotion in Two Blue Lines, and I just loved Reed's maturity and how he handled himself most of the time during a really stressful time.  It was really Reed that made this story worthwhile for me. 

ARC received for review.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About the Author



S C Montgomery Bio:

SC Montgomery is a self-proclaimed nerd and readaholic.  She has dabbled in telling stories since she was very young by letting her imagination play out with her Barbie dolls and her bestie many a weekend.  She also writes Contemporary adult romance under the pen name Shauna Allen, and it was in one of those novels that the YA bug bit when she wrote in a teenager loosely based on her own son.  Her first story, Lines in the Sand, was penned as a gift for her mother, but was published with her blessing, and it’s just taken off from there.

SC is married with three teenagers of her own, who give her plenty of inspiration and advice, and are a constant source of laughter and new terminology.  Besides writing, she loves reading, movies, singing and dancing reality shows and going to the beach.
You can sign up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RLQQz

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review and giveaway!

Unknown said...

Thanks for having me!

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