The
Outsider Chronicles, #2
(stand-alone)
New
Adult/Adult Contemporary
Release:
September 9, 2014
When
Liv Bennett said good-bye to her sinkhole of a hometown, she planned to leave
that chapter of her life behind forever. But forever turned out to only be
three years.
After
her addict of a mother up and disappears, Liv returns to what she considers her
own personal hell smack in the middle of nowhere Nevada to take care of her two
younger sisters, and she promptly reinstitutes the golden rule that got her
through her first nineteen years of life without getting knocked up, roughed
up, or messed up: don’t date the local boys and, god forbid, don’t fall in love
with one of them.
It
isn’t long before that golden rule is put to the test.
Will
Goods grew up in the next trailer over, but the wild, careless boy who used to
tear up the town with his three brothers has morphed into someone else so
completely, he’s almost unrecognizable. The quiet, contemplative man who works
on cars every night and takes care of his mentally ill mother every day is
nothing like the local boys Liv grew up avoiding.
But
when Liv considers suspending her golden rule just this once, she finds out
something about Will that will change everything.
Will
Goods isn’t who he used to be—he’s not even the man Liv thinks she’s gotten to
know over the summer. He’s become someone else entirely.
He’s
become . . .
Damaged
Goods.
4.5 Star Review by Nicole Lorenzo
“A person’s life
story could literally be written by the choices they’d made and the
consequences that had followed. I couldn’t be certain that I’d be able to put
aside my fear of making mistakes, but I knew I wanted to. I wanted to stop
living in fear and just live, and
knowing that was better than not knowing.”
Liv Bennett escaped her hometown the second she could get away. For
three years she has been working hard, reinventing her life. But a frantic call
from her teenage sisters changes all her plans in an instant. Their deadbeat
mom just up and left leaving the girls completely on their own. Going home
again is the last thing that Liv wants to do but she knows she really doesn’t
have a choice. Taking care of two teenagers is not as easy as it seems, and
within a few days the money runs out and Liv can’t find a job anywhere in her
small dilapidated town. The only upside to her situation is her neighbor. Will
Goods lives in the trailer next door. He was in the military but is home now
taking care of his mentally ill mother. He’s quiet and keeps to himself
spending his free time fixing cars in the garage. The second they meet there is
an instant connection and that terrifies Liv more than anything else she is
dealing with. Liv swore to herself that she would never get involved with
anyone in this town, she would not get stuck here.
“Will Goods may
very well have been the best man to have walked the planet, but I wouldn’t be
the woman to find out.”
When desperation sets in Liv is forced to take a job she never in her
life thought she would. Being a stripper is the last thing Liv wants to do, but
it’s a job that pays well so beggars can’t be choosers. Liv isn’t proud to be a
stripper but when she gets her first paycheck she knows she is doing the right
thing. Still she won’t admit to the girls or Will that she is stripping to put
food on the table.
Liv’s interactions with Will
are more frequent, and even though she is determined to stick to her guns and
not get involved, Liv feels her resolve slipping. There is something so honest
about Will. He is quiet and reserved and seems to sense what she’s thinking
before she even opens her mouth.
“Two weeks ago,
my knees had been about to buckle out at the thought of men touching my body.
I’d been so busy watching out for them that I’d missed the one who had slipped
by and touched my heart.”
When Liv finally decides to let her walls down and let Will in she
realizes that she can be truly happy with him. But then she finds out something
about him that changes everything. Feeling hurt and betrayed by what he has
kept from her, Liv no longer feels like she can trust Will.
“You
didn’t ruin me, Liv. Remember? I already came damaged.”
“I’m
damaged goods.”
Nicole Williams outdid herself with this book. I was sucked into the
storyline immediately and couldn’t put the book down until I finished. There is
a pretty cool twist to this story. I had it figured out early on, but I was
still wavering a bit until I was sure if I was correct or not. Damaged Goods is
about two people who are being held back by their pasts. Liv refuses to let
Will in, refuses to be stuck in her hometown because she’s scared she’s going
to turn out like her mother. Will doesn’t believe he deserves Liv, he keeps
things from her because he doesn’t want to be defined by them. I loved the
connection that Will and Liv shared. It proves that love holds no bounds. This
is a story about, family, love, trust fate and fighting for happiness. I loved
every bit of this story and I hope you do too!!
I’m
the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the CRASH series
(HarperTeen, S&S UK), LOST & FOUND series, UP IN FLAMES (S&S UK),
The EDEN TRILOGY, and a handful of others. I write stories about everyday kinds
of people who find themselves in extraordinary kinds of situations. I tell love
stories with happy endings because I believe in making the world a better
place, and that’s one tiny way I can make it so. I’m one of those people who
still believe in true love and soul mates, and would rather keep my head in the
clouds any day over having my feet firmly on the ground.
The author is offering a release giveaway! Visit
her Facebook page to enter!
No comments:
Post a Comment