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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

BACK TO YOU BLOG TOUR ~ REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY



Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the Back to You Blog Tour! The tour is being hosted by AToMR Tours, you can find the complete tour schedule here. My stop includes a review and tour giveaway.


Back to You
 
Series: Stand alone
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: 10/20/12
Format: ebook
Pages: 328
Source: Received from author for review.

When Lauren Monroe first laid eyes on Michael Delaney back in high school, she had every reason to stay away from him; within minutes of their first encounter, his volatile actions confirmed his notorious reputation. But Lauren saw something in him that caused her to question his bad-boy persona, and against her better judgment, she took a chance. She had no way of knowing that the unlikely friendship they formed would become so important to her.

Or that it would end so painfully.

Eight years later, when Lauren begins her new job at Learn and Grow Day Care, Michael is the last person she expects to see. Refusing to revisit the hurt and confusion of their past, Lauren vows to keep her distance from him. But staying away from Michael proves to be more difficult than she thought, despite her lingering grief and her instincts for self-preservation.

As Lauren and Michael recall the friendship that changed them forever and the events that tore them apart, will they finally be able to heal? Or will the ghosts of Michael’s past prove to be too much to overcome?


A emotionally wrenching story of First Love and Second Chances.  
Michael and Lauren were the best of friends. Michael is the school's bad boy, with a demeanor meant to cover his private pain. Hostile, quiet, and seemingly dangerous, only Lauren can see the boy behind the facade. As the two become friends, against the odds, Lauren becomes Michael's safe place, a girl who sees his pain without pity, and keeps him in check. Michael becomes the boy who owns Lauren's heart, as she quietly and slowly falls in love with him. In a desperate move to get away from the home, the life, that has caused him such pain, Michael leaves Lauren behind, never to be heard from again. Until...eight years later, when Lauren and Michael again cross paths. Michael is a changed man, with a small daughter and years of regret. Lauren is also changed, determined to keep Michael at bay, and spare her heart another devastating break. Back to You is a love story, told in the past and the present, and is a story of a love that won't be denied.

I have a soft place in my heart for stories of friends who fall in love. I also have a soft spot for stories in which, after a bad split and many years apart, two people reconnect and rediscover love. Back to You gave me both. Instead of just telling the reading what happened in the past, author Priscilla Glenn did a lovely job of moving between the present and the past, and letting Michael and Lauren's story unfold.


Michael and Lauren both stole my heart. I am an easy sell for broken boys, which makes me seem kind of cruel! I guess it's that I can relate to loving someone a bit like Michael. The pain he experienced as a child and teen made me want to love and shield him.

"His face, like everything she knew about him, was purely contradictory. That cherubic mouth with those penetrating eyes: he was too lovely to be menacing, but too intense to be innocent."

Then, to see what kind of man Michael became made me love him even more. I also loved Lauren. Quiet, but strong, she is a girl who almost always does the right thing.

"She was one of the most genuine people he'd ever met, and he knew at that moment that if he did nothing else in his life, he wanted to be friends with Lauren Monroe."

Lauren could have easily been a bland character, but she wasn't in the least. Her huge heart, understanding nature, and determination made her completely endearing.


I'm so happy that I took the time and had the opportunity to read Back to You. It was a beautifully written, engaging story that made me feel so much. For lovers of Contemporary Romance, or those who simply love a sweet, emotional story full of  love and redemption, Back to You is a must-read.

Favorite Quote:


  Because something about him, something in his eyes, divulged the secret; there was a whole world in there somewhere, thriving just below the surface where no one could see it.


  He looked so young in that moment.
  So vulnerable.
  And right then, her heart broke for the little boy who wasn't taken care of, but it swelled for the person who, despite everything was able to maintain such kindness inside him, regardless of what everyone else thought they knew about him.
  And she realized right then, even if she never felt it again for the rest of her life, she knew what true, unadulterated love felt like.


  She closed her eyes, remembering the incapacitating pain. The double loss. Not only was her love unrequited, that in itself would have been painful enough to deal with, but in the same shot, she also lost her best friend in the world.
  And she never could figure out which one hurt more.  

Purchase Back to You at Amazon.

Priscilla GlennPriscilla Glenn lives in New York with her husband and three beautiful children. She has been teaching English Language Arts at the middle and high school levels for the past eleven years. Glenn has written three books, although Back to You is her first published novel. Her guilty pleasures include great books, good wine, anything chocolate, and Robert Pattinson :)





Giveaway
 
 
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37 comments:

  1. I love the sound of this, Andrea! I'm a sucker for people re-connecting too and I'm really interested in finding out what happens between these two!

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  2. I've been reading positive reviews about this book! Glad you enjoyed it. I will be adding it to my ever growing pile... Lovely review, Andrea

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  3. This sounds like a great read! Love books like this! Fab review as always!

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  4. This sounds like a touching and emotional story. I am a sucker for the broken boys in books too. Fab review babe!!

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  5. Great review. I love these kind of stories to.

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  6. Loved this book. Nice review love dove.

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  7. Sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Defintely sounds like a book I would like.

    Valerie

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  9. Great review. I love these kind of stories to.

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  10. Great review. I've wanted to read the book for a while.

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  11. This sounds like a great book! Hope I have good luck
    Great review by the way

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  12. I am such a sucker for best friend romance books. This one sounds really good. Is this NA or just Adult?
    Man, I keep missing out on these awesome AToMR blog tours. I still get the emails but for some reason I don't remember this one. Great review!
    Happy 2013 :)

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  13. I'm into broken boys too, well, at least in literature, heh. And I completely agree that Lauren became Michael's safe place. Ugh, I heart this story so fucking bad!!!! It was so good and your quotes are among of my favorites as well! Love this review, Andrea!

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  14. Yes, I do enjoy broken boys in books. This sounds really good! I will have to try to remember it when I'm ready to add more contemp romance to my kindle.

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  15. Great review! I've had this one on my TBR and it was great to see that you loved it! I know if you do, I most likely will too! This definitely sounds like my kind of read. Looking forward to reading it :-)

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  16. Oh this book sounds utterly heartbreaking, but I'm a sucker for a good old romance, especially where it concerns to friends who previously missed their chance. Brilliant review Andrea! So glad you enjoyed this! :)

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  17. This seems like a endearing romance story that will be easy to enjoy. Thanks for sharing the review, all the more reason for me to put it on my TBR.. Thanks ;)

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  18. This book sounds amazing! I love it when we get to see the past and the present.

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  19. I haven't read this yet. I have so many books on my TBR list. I'm sure you can relate, Andrea. :)

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  20. This definitely sounds like something I would like to read. I think it is on Alexa's tbr pile this month. I'm going to go add it to my tbr list on goodreads :D

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  21. I'm really looking forward to reading this! Great review :)

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  22. Oh this sounds wonderful, Andrea. I've seen this one somewhere just recently and now I can't remember where, but the story intrigued me. After your glowing review I must pick this up! Thanks for the wonderful giveaway.

    You commented on TSofT (don't want to come out & say name & spoil book for someone else) on our blog earlier and wondered if maybe I had a copy with changes. I wonder the same thing. In my version Josh didn't do "it" the one time, but when N breaks it off with him, he does. It happened after that party where she was almost assaulted & D takes her back to J's place and they walk into the sound of what's happening. :( That is what I had big problems with.

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  23. this sounds like a neat book. i wouldn't mind adding it to my book list!

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  24. Loved this book! Love your blog! Happy New Year!

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  25. I love the sound of this one! I'm a huge fan of friends to more storylines as well.

    This one is definitely going on my TBR pile :) thanks for sharing your wonderful review Andrea.

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  26. This sounds like the kind of story that once I pick it up I would be so emotionally invested in it that I wouldn't be able to put it down till I finished reading every last word.

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  27. I always appreciate that you include favorite quotes because I get a taste of the writing and end up really wanting to read a book that I had no inkling to read before. :) Great review, too!

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  28. I have heard so many great things about this book, cant wait to read it!

    Great Review & Giveaway!

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  29. Thanks for this giveaway! The book sounds great!

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  30. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  31. This sounds like a great book. What a great giveaway - thanks for the opportunity to win.

    Jill at Seaside Book Nook

    seasidebooknook at yahoo

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  32. great review thanks for the giveaway! - regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com

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  33. This book sounds really good, and I'd love to read it. Thanks for having the giveaway.

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

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  34. Ahh, I love this book!! Thank-you for the giveaway

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  35. Very nice review. It sounds emotional.

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