Title- The Boy in the Woods
By- Jen Minkman
Publication Date- December 1, 2013
Julia fell down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her
heart filling with dread as she
noticed the left side of his face was covered in blood. He
had fallen off the motorbike,
hitting his temple on a sharp-edged rock. His head injury
looked really, really bad.
“Michael?” she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on
his forehead. “Can you
hear me?”
Julia has been in love with Michael for years. He’s the
hottest guy in school, and she
can’t believe her luck when they finally hit it off during
Senior Prom. Her dream doesn’t
last, though: after a few dates, he callously dumps her out
of the blue. Summer vacation starts with Julia feeling heart-broken and
miserable.
But then she rescues Michael in the woods when he has a
motorcycle accident in a
heavy thunderstorm. From that point onward, her life is
turned upside down. Michael
has changed completely after the blow to the head that
nearly killed him... and he wants
her back. But why is he so different? And will she be able
to trust him this time around?
Can the boy who broke your heart ever win it back again..?
Excerpt
Julia trailed behind her boss as she walked over to the cash
register, looking left and right to catch a glimpse of her other colleagues.
“Kolbe!” her brand-new boss shouted toward the entrance.
“Come and help me out, will you?”
Julia stopped dead, frozen in her tracks. Was she going
deaf, or had Martin just said… Her heart hammered ridiculously fast as her eyes
zoomed in on the front door.
“He’ll come and help you at the register.” Martin’s voice
sounded as though it was coming from far away. He left her standing there,
rooted to the spot.
Julia tried to snap out of her paralysis and stumbled the
final few steps to the counter. Her breath hitched when she saw an
all-too-familiar figure walking in her direction. She swallowed. But surely it couldn’t be. Oh God, no. No, no, no.
This was not happening.
And then, she couldn’t look anywhere else but up, straight
into two eyes green as the forest.
“What on
earth are you doing here?” Julia
stared at him in alarm.
“I work here,” he replied unfazed, a half-smile tugging at
his lips.
“Since when?” It was simply not possible that she, in her unfailing stalker mode, had somehow
missed this: Michael holding a job at the same bookstore she’d applied to two
days ago.
“Since last week.”
His smug composure quickly turned her initial befuddlement
into outright infuriation.
“Why?” she demanded fractiously.
He raised an eyebrow. “To earn some extra cash?” he declared
in an ‘isn’t-that-really-obvious’ tone.
“But why here?”
Michael started to chuckle. “Why are you giving me the third
degree?”
“Are you following me or something?” she grumbled, her heart
treacherously leaping in her chest for a moment as she considered the
possibility.
“Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble here, but I think it’s
the other way around. First, you turn up at the pub I always hang out at on
weeknights, then, you decide to take a jog near the place where I almost had a
fatal accident, and now you turn out to have applied for a job at the same
store I’ve been working at for the past week. What does it look like to you?”
Shucks, he was right. Julia resisted the urge to stamp her
foot like a little girl. “In your dreams, you arrogant bastard,” she muttered.
“Everybody says I should stay away from you.”
In the silence that followed, she could still hear her heart
beating in her throat.
Soundtrack to the Book
About the Author
Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of
Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg
(Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in
intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career
counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She
tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a
published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch
into English for self-publication.
In her spare time, she plays the piano, the guitar and the
violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.
'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a
sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's
typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal
romance, chicklit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever
published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also
available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself,
this will take some time!).
Links
The Boy From The Woods by
Jen Minkman
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
***** I received an ARC copy for an honest review *****
Let me just say that this is the first book that I read from this author. and I have to say it is not what I was expecting I actually like it, like the characters and how it turned out bee. I am gone keep this short cause I don't want to give anything away. you just gone have to read the book and find out :)
Julia has had a crush on Michael for years. He's popular and arrogant. She thanks her lucky stars when he shows interest in her at their senior prom, after that they when out on few dates and on their last date they had sex, and he stop calling her she did not hear from him for an entire week, when she finally bump into him he acted like he did not know her like she did not mean anything to him, and he just broke her heart. When she went for a run through the woods towards her favorite oak tree she finds Michael on the ground with his motorbike next to him. after he open his ayes the first person that he saw was Julia and what was that for. After that accident he changes and Julia can’t wrap her head around it and yet she wants to believe that he is changed.
This book kept me on my toes through the this story, cause I just kept thinking he is gone do something and just mess everything up. Oh wow was I wrong what it did was to make me cried and yes cried like a baby.
I hope that once you read this story that you get to enjoy it and like it as much as I did.
Author Jen Minkman THANK YOU for introducing me to this awesome book, and this great characters.
