Blurb:
They say there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Not everyone will grieve in this order, nor will everyone go through every stage. It’s during the stage of denial when Alex Hart meets Andrew Foster. He takes her one-step closer to acceptance: the stage when new, meaningful relationships are formed. The stage when the realization occurs that this is now the new state of normal.
Just when Alex thinks she is on her way to healing, she enters the bargaining phase. That’s the phase where you wonder what you could have done differently. You wonder “what if?” Specifically, what if the ones you loved hadn’t left you?
Leaving…this is what makes heading off to war so difficult and frightening for Alex. She knows all too well what it’s like to be the one on the losing end of life, which is why she’s made it her personal mission in life to save as many lives as possible. The extreme high she gets from treating trauma victims turns into Alex’s own form of therapy, or so she thinks.
When faced with her world being turned upside down, Alex may just find that her true therapy is in the one who has always saved her.
Excerpt:
He pulls my arm back like a slingshot and as we’re gaining momentum to release the stone, I hear, “Alex!” being proclaimed through the entire neighborhood. It causes my already racing heart to speed out of control. I lose complete concentration, virtually spinning myself around as the stone is released, plummeting me into his arms, our lips just mere millimeters away from each other.
We stare into each other’s eyes. Speechless seems to be my middle name for one reason or another today. I blink. “I...”
“You can’t skip a stone to save your life, can you?” He smirks.
I breathe for what seems like the first time in five minutes and start to laugh. “No. No, I can’t.”
He brushes a piece of hair out of my eye. “You will. I’ll teach you.”
“I am not sure I’m teachable. Been trying for years with Papa.”
“Come back to me. I’ll teach you. If it’s the last thing I do...” His entire face lights up. “I’ll teach you everything I know.”
I feel him, every inch of him. I know there’s more to that statement. I must admit that I’m curious. “Everything you know, huh?”
“Everything.” He caresses my cheek, just below my eyes. “Come back to me. I’ll teach you how to deal with those beautiful tears of yours. I’ll teach you how to breathe again. I’ll teach you everything.” He looks down to his pile of rocks. “I’ll share those with you. And I’ll teach you how to skip stones. It’s a promise, and I don’t break promises.”
Jenn's Review:
This book absolutely put my emotions through the ringer! You
know those books, where after you are finished you just sit there and stare at
nothing? Yeah, I was there. Skipping Stones is about losing those most
important to you but, it’s more than that. It’s about finding comfort in
another’s arms and making the best out of the worst. It’s about never giving
up, even if you want to. And, finding strength within yourself and those around
you, to help you get through. It’s about finding your first love and never
letting that love go, no matter the circumstances.
Alex lost everything as a teenager. Her world changed so
quickly that it didn’t even seem real. What was supposed to be a summer with
her grandparents turned into always. Alex needed some time alone and decides to
head to the creek. She takes solace there but on this day, someone else is
there. This is where she meets Drew and once again, her life is forever
changed. He brings a new comfort and she clings to these new feelings.
Sometimes guilt takes over. With everything she’s dealing with, she just wants
to spend more time with Drew. He helps her forget. Nothing wrong with that, I
say! It doesn’t hurt that he’s easy on the eyes either!
Alex is growing closer to Drew and he looks forward to
seeing her, whenever possible. He teaches her to skip stones when they first
meet. “Skipping Stones always helps me when I can’t talk about stuff, too.” Drew
really cares for Alex but she doesn’t know much about him. She knows she trusts
him and her grandparents learn to trust him too. When the time comes for Alex
to go back to her home and get her room packed, she is only gone for the day.
But when she gets home Drew is gone. Like gone, gone. The only things she has
that let her know he was real was the pile of rocks they used to skip across
the creek. So, I was like ‘what the what?’ Where could he have gone? My heart
broke for her all over again! She was beginning to put her herself together
again…
I could go on and on telling you about the story but, of
course, I’m not going to do that. I want you to read their story for yourself.
Skipping Stones is a clean romance that is so beautiful that I don’t think I
can handle anything else. The story sucked me in immediately. I’m usually reading
several books at once and every time I sat one book down and picked this one
up, I was quickly grabbing tissues and watching the story play out in my head. I
hope you love this story as much as I did! 5++++ stars!
Bio:
In 2005, the couple welcomed their first son, Noah. J.B. finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of South Carolina-Aiken in 2006. During her time studying children's literature, a professor had encouraged her to become a writer.
In 2007, she welcomed their second child, Jonah, and she became a stay at home mom/entrepreneur. In 2009, the found out their two children and J.B. have Mitochondrial Disease. In 2011, a diagnosis also was given to Chad. Please take a moment and learn more about Mitochondrial Disease. Awareness is key to this disease that has no cure or treatments.
J.B. McGee and her family now reside in Buford, Georgia, to be closer to their children's medical team. After a passion for reading had been re-ignited, J.B. decided to finally give writing a shot. Broken (This Series), is her first book and first series.
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