Release Day Launch: Desperate Chances by A. Meredith Walters

Sex changes everything.

And love can turn into an enemy…

Mitch Abrams, the bassist for the popular rock band Generation Rejects, has been in love with Gracie Cook for years. But Gracie, a complicated girl with a lot of baggage, was too blind to see how she felt about the man who had always stood by her.

Until one night of passion brought them closer than they had ever been before.

Feeling off balance and out of control, Gracie does the only thing a girl with self-destructive tendencies can do: end things with Mitch before they can really begin.

So Mitch moves on. With his band, his friends, and a new girlfriend.

Yet he can’t seem to forget about the girl who threw his heart away.

Gracie, who is still struggling to build a life after crashing to the bottom, finds it hard to forget about her one night with Mitch. And even as she tries to convince herself it was only sex, her heart knows differently.

But life is full of chances and desperate moments. And when Mitch and Gracie are thrown back into each other’s lives, will they seize at the opportunity to do things right?

Or will the rock star and the less than ordinary girl crash and burn?

 BAD REP

 PERFECT REGRET

 SEDUCTIVE CHAOS

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary and Paranormal romance including The Find You in the Dark and Bad Rep series as well as the upcoming stand alone romance, Reclaiming the Sand, and a dark new adult series for Gallery Books.

A. Meredith spent ten years as a counselor for at risk teens and children. First working at a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault program and then later a program for children with severe emotional and mental health issues. Her former clients and their stories continue to influence every aspect of her writing.

When not writing (or being tortured with all manner of beauty products at the hand of her very imaginative and extremely girly daughter), she is eating chocolate, watching reality television that could rot your brain and reading a smutty novel or two.

A. Meredith is represented by Michelle Johnson with the Inklings Literary Agency.

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Review: Reclaiming the Sand by A. Meredith Walters

Reclaiming the Sand by A. Meredith Walters
Published March 17th 2014

Bully and victim.
Tormenter and tormented.
Villain and hero.

Ellie McCallum was a bully. No connection to anyone or anything. A sad and lonely existence for a young woman who had come to expect nothing more for herself. Her only happiness coming from making others miserable.

Particularly Freaky Flynn.

Flynn Hendrick lived a life completely disconnected even as he struggled to become something more than that boy with Asperger's. He was taunted and teased, bearing the brunt of systematic and calculated cruelty, ultimately culminating in a catastrophic turn of events that brought Ellie and Flynn’s worlds crashing down.
But then Flynn and Ellie grew up.

And moved on.
Until years later when their paths unexpectedly cross again and the bully and the freak are face to face once more.
When labels come to define you, finding yourself feels impossible. Particularly for two people disconnected from the world who inexplicably find a connection in each other.

And out of the wreckage of their tragic beginnings, an unlikely love story unfolds.
But a painful past doesn’t always want to let go. And old wounds are never truly healed…and sometimes the further you try to run from yourself the closer you come to who you really are.

My Thoughts

He made me remember a lonely girl who had been drawn to a sad boy and had found comfort in him. I had to push him away. It’s what I did. It’s how I ensured my continued survival. It’s how I protected my heart.
Unforgettable...

This story was simply beautiful in the best and worst way. I struggled with the bullying aspect of the book and it broke my heart to see how much Flynn went through, but overall this story touched my heart. Beautiful!

Bully and victim.

Friend.

Champion.

Lover.

In Reclaiming the Sand, we get the honor of meeting Flynn who as Asperger’s Syndrome. As a result, he is constantly taunted, teased and bullied at school. When he meets Ellie, who has been raised in the foster care system and has suffered a different sort of torture, these two become unlikely friends. However, when Ellie’s friends bully Flynn in the most cruel ways possible, she does nothing to defend him, leaving him confused and hurt.

After a tragic event leads Ellie to spend years in a detention facility and later completing parole service, she runs into Flynn and they steadily begin to reform the friendship that was broken so many years prior. As she begins to allow herself to love Flynn and he shows her that he’s capable of building a relationship with her, these two learn how to speak each other’s language and form a bond once again.

I have to say just how much I came to adore Flynn. He was complex yet so tender and simple in the most resounding ways. To see that he was capable of love on a whole different level made this story magical and pure. It broke my heart to see how he suffered at the hands of ignorant people that taunted and teased him so cruelly, but it was hopeful to see how he was able to build a life for himself and learn to function in society on his own. Truly emotional!

As much as Ellie’s choices broke my heart, she still proved to be a worthy character. Her hard edges and callous ways for some reason didn’t make me angry, but rather sad. I completely understood why she made certain choices, and I believed her regret. To say she deserved Flynn took a lot out of me, because to juxtapose someone so innocent, pure and kind against a character like Ellie’s is tough to swallow. However, the ending proved to be the perfect blend of appropriate and hopeful.

Reclaiming the Sand was beautiful in so many ways. This story absolutely owned me!! He gave me a life I never dreamed I could have.

He had given me connection and belonging and acceptance.

4 Suns

Waves of Sunday #9

Welcome to our weekly edition of Waves of Sunday where each Sunday we spotlight a book that has been making waves in the book scene or has simply caught our attention causing a riptide on our TBR.

Today we are spotlighting:

Bad Rep by A. Meredith Walters 

Published December 21st 2012 

About the book
"Who gives a damn about their reputation? Oh, that would be me! Especially since mine had gone straight to hell in the span of thirty minutes".
 Maysie Ardin is soaking up the summer before her junior year of college, shopping, hanging by the pool and shopping some more. But when her black belt in spending lands her in trouble with her parents, she is forced to take a second job at a local bar to dig herself out of a deep financial pit.
 She thought she’d be miserable. But then Maysie didn’t count on Jordan Levitt, the hot, pierced and tattooed, drum playing bartender who also happens to be very interested in her. And the feelings are totally mutual.
 It had the makings of the perfect romantic set up. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Boy has girlfriend? Okay, maybe not.
 But attraction is a hard thing to ignore and soon Jordan and Maysie find themselves in the middle of a gossip induced firestorm. Maysie has to learn whether she can set aside her fear of public disapproval in order to be with the one she wants. Or will she let the opinions of others dictate her life and her heart?

My Thoughts

This book caught my eye for a few reasons. One being the eye-catching book cover. I LOVE the PDA they have going on there. Second being the fact that the male character is a drum player because there's just something about bad boy musicians that scream messed-upedness which is right up my alley of hot mess attraction. :) And lastly, the awesome reviews this book is getting. I can't wait to get my hands on this New Adult Contemporary to see what all the buzz is about.