Title: Rewind To You
Author: Laura Johnston
Genre: Y/A- Contemporary
Publication Date: September 15, 2014
Add to: Goodreads
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Synopsis
WISH
YOU WERE HERE
One
last summer before college on beautiful Tybee Island is supposed to help Sienna
forget. But how can she? This is where her family spent every summer before everything
changed, before the world as she knew it was ripped away.
But
the past isn’t easily left behind. Especially when Sienna keeps having episodes
that take her back to the night she wants to forget. Even when she meets the
mysterious Austin Dobbs, the guy with the intense blue eyes, athlete’s body,
and weakness for pralines who scooped her out of trouble when she blacked out
on River Street.
When
she’s with Austin, Sienna feels a whole new world opening up to her. Austin has
secrets, and she has history. But caught between the past and the future,
Sienna can still choose what happens now…
My Review
Wow this story is a journey and a half. This book will stay
with me for years to come, and will make me look at my loved ones in a whole
new light. While reading this book I found myself needing to phone my friends
and family just to say I loved them. I hugged my kids a little tighter and
loved my husband a little harder. The journey that these two characters take is
one of forgiving, standing on your own, and loving whole heartily for whom the
person really is and not the person they appear to be. Laura Johnston was able
to show us what the relationship between two people can really be and how even
in death the love you share with family and friends can transcend it.
Sienna is just two months away from turning 18, she is with
her mom and brother on a last summer vacation but this vacation is different than
others. This is one that’s meant to heal; it’s the first one they have taken
since the loss of her father. She blames herself for her father’s death and the
guilt is tearing her apart. Her mother has her life planned out, even down to
who she should marry. Sienna has such guilt that she lets her mom dictate her
life because she feels she owes it to her mom. But then she meets Austin. He
opens her eyes to the possibilities of what life and love should really be. He
comes to her rescue one night when she is being harassed by two guys and then
takes her out and buys her shoes. (Really how could you not swoon over a guy
that buys you shoes;) ) During this time Sienna keeps having fainting spells
where she “rewinds” to a point in life with her dad. She can’t explain it but
it brings her peace in a sense.
She and Austin continue to grow as a couple, the only problem
is that she has a boyfriend back home but it’s one that she really can’t see
being with but it’s the guy her mom would choose. But what happens when you
heart calls out to another? The relationship with Austin is real and pure; it
makes her feel alive and ready to move on in life.
Austin is suffering his own private hell as well. He is
spending his last summer before college with his aunt and uncle. He never
dreamed he would meet someone like Sienna but he feels unworthy of her due to
their different life styles. Austin is amazing and I fell in love with him instantly,
if you could judge a man by the love for his dog then holy crap Austin and his
dog Turbo make the marker way too high to grasp.
Even though this book is not steamy or super-hot sex, it is
a beautifully written story that will haunt you at night and make you think of
your own rewind moments in life and how you wished you had stopped to take it
all in so you could visit that moment again. I really can’t say enough about
this book but I don’t want to ruin the read for anybody with any spoilers, so
in summery if you’re looking for a book that will have you feeling every
emotion possible and yes make sure to have some tissues handy, then this is one
for you.
★★☆4 Rewinding Stars ☆★★
Review By Angela Deforge
EXCERPT
EXCERPT
“Can
you hear me?” someone asks. I feel a hand on my shoulder and another one
cradling my head. I open my eyes, totally confused as the blurry outline of a
figure bent over me comes into view. And the baseball cap.
“Hey,
there you are,” whoever is holding me says, his voice lowering into a tone of
relief. With a twinge in my heart, I realize it isn’t my dad. My balance
stabilizes, my body grounded again in reality. Besides a pounding headache, I’m
pain-free. My shin is fine.
“Ugh.”
An ugly-sounding something stumbles from my lips as the nausea dissipates. I
blink, remembering that I need to get home. I try to push myself into a sitting
position, but before I can, he scoops me off the ground. Startled, I reach for
his shoulders for balance. And oh my. Something about the muscles
beneath my fingertips makes me draw back and then wish I hadn’t.
I
open my mouth to assure him I can walk, but I glimpse his sharp jaw and strong
chin, and the connection between my mind and my mouth floats away. My eyes
travel over his lips and then to his eyes, and my heart freaks out. Skips a
beat. The most impossibly blue eyes I’ve ever seen stare back into mine, and I
lose not only my train of thought but all control of my gaping eyes as well.
One
side of his mouth pulls into something of a grin, his face inches from mine.
His eyes trace the outline of my forehead down to my chin and linger on my
lips. Then his gaze meets mine again. He raises a brow. “Are you all right?”
“Y-y-yes.”
My voice comes out like a frog’s croak. “Fine. Thanks.”
“You
sure?”
“Mm-hm.”
Another attempt to steady my voice. I try to get my flirt on, flashing a smile
as I assure him, “The ground can walk just fine.”
That
puts a smile on his face.
“I
mean, I can walk just fine. On the ground. You can set me down.” I bite
my tongue before I do more damage.
“Right,”
he says doubtfully. Something in the way he holds me, the brazen expression on
his face as he looks into my eyes, tells me I should be careful.
“I’m
good. I promise.”
He
sets me down at last. Now that I’m out of his arms and can think straight, I
finally get a rational look at him. Dark hair, only visible around the edge of
his baseball cap. Thick hair. Total girl magnet. He’s at least six inches
taller than my five foot seven. All right, even out of his arms, my heart
rattles around so fast I fear another blackout, or whatever just happened.
He
watches me as I wobble. “You gonna be okay?”
I
nod, even though I feel like a ballerina who rolled off a stage.“Where did
those, um, those—”
“Those
losers?” he asks.
I
nod.
He
smiles. “They bailed.”
No
wonder. Another glance at his—ahem—intimidating physique, and I decide I
don’t blame them. He’s hot, okay, hotter than any guy has a right to be. And
unfortunately, it’s impossible for him not to know that. He’s one of those
kind. He even looks amused, as though he’s reading my fascination from my
face. Meanwhile, I can’t do anything but stare into his blue eyes, feeling like
a dental patient after a heavy dose of laughing gas.
I
run a hand through my hair, suddenly reminded of the bird poop in there. And
the gum on my shoe. This keeps getting better.
Then
I flinch when I spot a swarm of gnats by my head, and one flies into my eye.
“What
the—” I mutter.
“You
okay?” he asks. Again.
“Yeah,” I lie, bending over and blinking. And
stepping right into the puddle of mud behind me. Sound advice to myself: Leave
now!
Reminding
myself I have a plan—buy Lucky Charms and head home—I let my one bug-free eye
jump between this cute guy and the display of fireworks behind me, gearing up
to leave. I always have a
plan,
my life a programmed route from A to B. It’s safe, predictable. Maybe that’s
why I haven’t budged.
“Thanks,”
I say, and turn to leave for real this time, but not without sneaking one last
glance at his gorgeous face. My stomach somersaults when I catch his eyes on
me. Fixed on me. And not in a you-are-a-ditzy-klutz-who-won’t-make-it-off-of-River-Street-alive
kind of way. Like, in a good way. His stare glues my feet to the ground,
holding me near. Blood rushes to my cheeks and I smile, despite myself.
He
extends a hand with an unbearably charming smile, probably
practiced.
“I’m Austin.”
Buy it
Read it
Love it
About the Author
Follow the author at these links
Laura Johnston lives in sunny Arizona
with her husband and two children.
Growing up in Orem, Utah with five
siblings, a few horses, peach trees, beehives and gardens, she developed an
active imagination and always loved a good story. Laura enjoys running, playing
tennis, sewing, dancing (reduced to dancing around the kitchen while cooking
dinner these days), traveling, writing, writing and more writing, and above
all, spending time with her husband and kids. REWIND TO YOU, her debut novel,
was inspired by the loss of her father as a teenager.
Follow the author at these links
What a compliment! Thank you, thank you, Angela. I really appreciate your review!
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