Who She Was
(stand-alone novel) Release date: May 4, 2017
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Genre: Clean New Adult, contemporary romance,
social issues, suicide, music
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Paperbacks can be bought locally at Beaverdale
Books, Plot Twist bookstore, Raygun and Barnes and Noble Jordan Creek and
online at most vendors.
Who She Was
Synopsis:
Childhood friends reunited. One twisted by tragedy. The other
living a lie.
Trevor Adler just saved his former best friend from a disastrous dating auction, but he has an agenda: to find out why she cut off contact four years ago and if the girl he used to know is still buried beneath her too perfect facade.
Charlotte Logan is hiding from the truth and knows Trevor is the only person who can uncover it. He's the last person she needs and the only one she wants.
But Trevor has secrets of his own and when the police come calling, he must finally decide whose life he's living.
Fate brought them back together, but Trevor and Charlie must decide if saving each other matters more than saving themselves.
Endorsement for Who She Was: "Smith's novel is full of rich,
small details that bring her characters to life... A deft, emotionally resonant
tale about family, love, music, and finding oneself." – Kirkus
Reviews
Fast facts
about Who She Was
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Set in Des Moines – features hot spots like
Raygun, Up/Down, Wooly’s, Centro and the sculpture park.
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Tackles some tough topics today’s teens are
facing, including suicide, mental illness and family dysfunction. While those
topics may sound depressing, they are wrapped inside a story of two former
childhood friends who have found each other once again and must decide if
facing their own demons is worth their chance at a happily ever after together.
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Both main characters are musicians and the book
features actual lyrics from Iowa musician Dick Prall.
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month and is the
reason I chose to publish this month.
*****
This is more than a coming of age tale. This is a book about coming to terms with lose and love and dealing with life after a tragedy, and figuring out how to navigate in the world without losing all sense of yourself along the way.
Charlie is a freshmen and trying to look forward to starting her life. But after suffering a loss of someone she always thought would be there, she's not really sure what that life is supposed to look like now.
When she was a kid, she thought it would be her and her best friend Trevor, together forever playing the music they both loved so much. But now that's over, he's gone and so is the security she felt when she was a child.
Now she tries to figure out what her new life is going to be, and how much of her old self she can let survive and still make it through without having a total breakdown.
Trevor wanted to play music. With Charlie. That had always been the goal, but that was a long time ago and now that's all gone and so is she and there's no going back. Now he's left with his deadbeat parents bills he doesn't know how to pay, a dead end job, and the stress of keeping his grades up at school so he doesn't lose his scholarship. And somewhere along the way, the music became less of a passion and more of a chore, and he can't help but think that might be the saddest part of all.
So this book was just mind blowingly good. I've read my fair share, and then some, of coming of age stories. Most have some kind of twist to them and a love story thrown in and are good.
But this one...this one was fantastic.
This one not only told a story, it taught a lesson. It taught a lesson of love and family and how to move on with your life when someone you love is taken from it. It shows you that you will never really get over losing someone you love, but will just learn how to live around the pain that the loss brought. And it taught that it's ok to live that life. It doesn't mean you loved that person any less, but it can actually show just how much you loved someone when you really live the life you were given.
Most of all it taught that it's ok to lose yourself every once in a while, as long as you remember to find yourself again.
I'm planning on getting this book for my teenaged niece to read and recommending she share it with all of her friends, because this is a story that I believe can really resonate with teenage girls, as well as boys. I personally think that this book has many great life lessons to be learned, and I'm grateful that I got the chance to read it, and be reminded of them.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
What are
early reviewers saying?
"Who She Was is a heartfelt novel that will prompt frank and
honest discussions with the teenagers in your life."
"Stormy has achieved one of those really hard things to do - she
delivers an important social message which is close to her heart, wrapped up in
a fantastic story that you won't want to put down."
"It is teenage angst, self-discovery, and heart-wrenching mental
health awareness all wrapped up in one beautiful piece."
About Stormy and her work overall
All work is self-published.
Overall
Sales: More than 50,000 combined paid copies (e-book, print and audio) and
170,000 free downloads of the series starter, Bound by Duty. Bound by Duty has also
been ranked a number one best-seller in young adult fantasy on both Amazon and
iBooks charts.
Author Bio: A
word nerd from the very beginning, Stormy Smith has always had her nose in a
book or a pen in her hand. From a journalism degree to a public relations
career, crafting stories has always been her forte. She never expected her love
of books to translate into writing them, but one day the words were there and
couldn’t be stopped.
Stormy lives in Iowa’s capital with her husband, twin sons
and two crazy cats. When she isn’t working on, or thinking about, her books,
Stormy’s favorite places include bar patios, live music shows, her yoga mat or
anywhere she can relax with her family and friends.
Additional titles available
Available through Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Kobo and Audible:
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Bound series: Clean New Adult, Fantasy, Young
Adult, Romance, and Paranormal
Stormy’s
contact information
Email: authorstormysmith@gmail.com
Website: http://www.stormysmith.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stormysmith
Instagram: https://instagram.com/stormysmith
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