Title: Rae of Sunshine
Author: Micalea Smeltzer
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: November 23, 2014
It’s Rae of Sunshine’s ONE YEAR BOOK BIRTHDAY!!!!
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Blurb
What I remember the most about that day was that it was completely ordinary. Then with one stupid decision everything fell apart and nothing was ever the same.
Rae Wilder wants nothing but a do over—but life doesn’t work that way. She’s stuck living out the consequences of her actions. At times the burden feels unbearable.
College is supposed to be her second chance.
New place.
New people.
New life.
No one to know what she did.
Despite that, she has still vowed to avoid everyone and everything at all costs.
Unfortunately for her, an accidental run-in with the campus heartthrob, Cade Montgomery, derails that plan.
He’s determined to thaw the ice around her heart and expose the girl she used to be. He wants to show her that life is worth living for and that she really is a Rae of Sunshine.
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Excerpt
The thing about starting over is it isn’t as easy as people say.
It’s impossible to become a completely different person.
You can change your hair.
Your makeup.
Even your name.
But at the end of each and every day you’re still the same person you were yesterday, and the day before that.
I’d spent the last year trying, and failing, to become a different person. The shitty events of my life had certainly changed me and I wasn’t the same carefree girl I used to be, but I was still Rachael—or Rae as I preferred to be called now—because no matter how far we run we can never escape ourselves.
My Review
Rae is a girl with demons. Even after leaving her old life behind and trying to start over in a new place at college, she's still trying to outrun her past. Quiet, broody and purposely pushing people away, she literally runs into her future. She just doesn't realize it at first. Cade seems to be the exact opposite of Rae. He's happy, popular, and has everything at his finger tips. But as Rae learns, some scars are clearly visible while others hide below the surface. With help both can be overcome and Rae is about learn that the life she's been living isn't necessarily the one meant for her.
With a quiet intensity, Rae of Sunshine is a powerful story of overcoming mistakes and living the life you've been given when friendship and love are given freely. Cade and Rae's story was a slow building friendship that was never just quite friendship. Watching Cade quietly love and hold on to Rae even when she didn't want him to was so sweet. He was exactly what she needed in her life that she didn't think she deserved. When her secrets were revealed, the truth is a punch to the gut because her story could be my story. Watching the aftermath of something so tragic was hard to read at times but so important. Cade was the catalyst for her healing but Rae was also the catalyst for his. Cade had a life riddled with unfortunate events and people that left him hurt, but hid his pain differently than Rae.
I appreciated was that Micalea told their stories exactly as they were without any embellishments or unnecessary drama or angst. Together they worked through their own issues and came out stronger. While the beginning of the book had a YA feel to it, as Cade and Rae's relationship progressed, it began to transition to a more NA feel. While I wasn't exacting the slow build up, it was the perfect way to show real growth and healing within the characters and their story arc. By the end I was as head over heels for Rae and Cade as they were to each other and finished with a smile on my face.
Reviewed by Paige
★★☆4 "Sunny" Stars ☆★★
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Author Bio
Micalea Smeltzer is a bestselling Young and New Adult author from Winchester, Virginia. She’s always working on her next book, and when she has spare time she loves to read and spend time with her family.
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