From critically acclaimed author Katie McGarry, comes SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME—a story of two people from different worlds pushing themselves, and each other, to get what they deserve!
SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME releases on January 30, 2018. Pre-order your copy today!
SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME
by Katie McGarry“Doesn’t matter who did it. Not anymore. I did the time. It’s over.”
When Drix was convicted of a crime–one he didn’t commit–he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the Second Chance Program, the governor’s newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.
Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor’s daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn’t may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.
When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle’s parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix’s messy life.
But sometimes love can breach all barriers.
Fighting against a society that can’t imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves–Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence–and each other to finally get what they deserve.
Preorder SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME here!
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REVIEW
4.5 stars… nearly perfect!
It’s been ages since I’ve read a straight up contemporary romance, without a gimmick or a twist, no bells or whistles. And it was exactly what I needed! I devoured it within two evening sittings. Katie McGarry is my go-to for sweet romances without all the teen angst. I could feel the characters’ frustration, but it didn’t have the same hormone-driven desperation that you find in a lot of teen love stories. Entirely clean, McGarry proves that you don’t need sex or swears to create a swoon-worthy story that will appeal to both teens and adults.
The chapters are split between Elle and Drix, star-crossed (or is it politically-crossed?) lovers who meet through the Second Chance Program. Elle’s father is the governor, and is trying out a new program to help rehabilitate teens who have committed crimes. Drix was handpicked to be the poster boy, shown to be compassionate and a natural leader. What they don’t know is that Drix, though a womanizer and a drug user, was wrongfully convicted of the crime. It’s hard to properly judge how his character changed, since we jump into the story after the Program has already finished and don’t get any flashbacks to his past behavior. I definitely adored his rehabilitated character though! I felt so much sympathy and compassion for him, for his dedication to his family, even when that meant getting a raw deal.
Elle was also a character I could sympathize with. Her parents keep such a tight leash on her, constantly making her decisions for her “best interests”, when really it’s more about keeping up appropriate political appearances. I was so frustrated for her! I wanted her to just tell everyone where to shove their well-meaning choices for her future. What I loved about the alternating chapters is that they never felt wasted. Sometimes when a book alternates chapters like this, it feels imbalanced, where a chapter is slipped in for the sake of going back and forth, but the scene feels pointless and empty, like a token. However, when McGarry does it, the voices and scenes fall into a kind of harmony, giving me the inner voice I need most in that scene.
EXCERPT
~Ellison~
The sights and sounds of the midway fade, and all I hear is buzzing. I close my eyes as more pissed-off tears fill my eyes. Why won’t they go away?
“You okay?” a guy asks.
I open my eyes and focus on the ground. My eyes are red, I know they are. I can feel the puffiness of my skin. I take a deep breath, look up to explain I’m okay, and freeze.
Holy hell. It’s the boy from Whack-A-Mole. He’s so much more breathtaking this close, and I have no idea how that’s possible.
“Are those guys bothering you?” he asks.
My forehead furrows. Yes, they are, but telling him the truth and inviting him into my problems seems wrong.
“Since you’re so talkative, I’ll start the conversation,” he says. “If you want to get rid of those guys then stand here and talk to me, and I’ll stand here and talk to you. You can smile like you know me because it’s tough to make me smile, and it will seem fake. Then I can try to win you a stuffed animal. Won’t be a snake, but it will do. Those losers will catch on we’re friends. Eventually, they’ll keep walking, and then they’ll return to their loser frat house where they’ll play with themselves for the rest of the night because they don’t know how to properly talk to a girl.”
I blink because all thought processes have taken a mini break. Either that or I’m having a stroke.
“Just a smile. Maybe a few mumbled words. Tell me anything. Doesn’t have to be poetic. Just your lips moving in my direction without your current blank expression.”
I blink again, many times, as the sights, sounds and smells of the midway blast back as if someone had pushed the play button on my life. I flash the perfectly practiced public smile I’ve used too many other times in my life.
“I don’t know how to get them to leave me alone.” I pause, then the bitterness leaks out as well as a grim grin. “At least not without a baseball and a well-placed throw. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to continue their genetics.”
The right side of his mouth tips up, and my eyes narrow on him. “I thought you didn’t smile easily.”
“I have a twisted sense of humor, and I didn’t think a girl like you could make me laugh. You’ve done it twice now. That’s a record for the past year.”
I bristle, still on the dangerous edge of anger. “A girl like me?”
“Yeah, one that’s out of my league. Listen, if you want to get out of this situation without it escalating, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll take a step back, and you can do whatever you need. I’m all about helping, but I’m not looking to get into a fight. Your call on how this goes down, but if it’s violence, you’re on your own.”
He says he doesn’t want to partake in violence, but there’s an essence about him that says he could drop anyone at any time and do it without breaking a sweat.
He’s looking at me, I’m looking at him, and the flutter in my chest returns.
Add it to your Goodreads Now!
Pre-order SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME, register and you will receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER, a novella that features your favorite Pushing the Limits and Thunder Road characters!
From the Pushing the Limits series, Noah, Beth, Isaiah, West and Logan are all grown up. Catch up with your favorite characters as one of them finally says, I do.
Pigpen, Eli and Addison from the Thunder Road series: Three separate personalities who still needed to find love…and still had someone important to meet.
This is a limited time offer! So hurry! Registration ends on February 3, 2018! You must register your pre-order to receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Katie McGarry’s SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME – Tour Schedule:
January 22nd
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Boyfriends
January 23rd
January 24th
January 25th
January 26th
MrsLeif’s Two Fangs About It Book Reviews
January 27th
An Asian Chick & Her Cat Walk into a Book Blog
January 28th
January 29th
Rants and Raves of a Bibliophile
January 30th
January 31st
Fictional Rendezvous Book Blog
February 1st
Katy and Zetti’s Book Ramblings
February 2nd
Angie and Jessica’s Dreamy Reads
February 3rd
About Katie McGarry:
Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.
Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine’s 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.
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