Reckless Blog Tour: Review, Excerpt, + Giveaway

‘Are you going to ask me in?’ he replied, a cheeky smile forming on the edges of his lips. Then he leaned towards me conspiratorially. ‘We aren’t strangers, you know.’

Milly Benton wants it all to go away. Wants to flip the bird to the nightmares and her parent’s grief and the incessant questions about when she’s going to make something of herself.

But when her parents exile her to the country, Milly has to cope with her annoyingly helpful aunt and three cousins instead. Bitter at the hand she’s been dealt, Milly has stopped dreaming of a future.

In steps Jerome with his tormented blue eyes. Familiar from her childhood and as broken as she. They need each other. But how can they forget?

 Amazon  |  Goodreads

Author Bio:

 Danielle Weiler loves all things written. She has her best story ideas in the middle of the night when there’s no chance to remember them the next day. Her first YA novel, Friendship on Fire, was published in 2011. Reckless is Danielle’s first novel for new adults. She has lived and taught high school in New South Wales and Victoria but prefers the sunny weather in Perth. She is kept company by her husband, son and naughty cat, Ginger.
Website  |  Goodreads  |  Facebook  |  Twitter




Excerpt:

A visitor came to the farm the next day. He was young, tall, and handsome, in an I’m-not-a-boy-but-not-a-man-either kind of way. Familiar.


Haunted, sapphire eyes.


He stood at the door, hands in his pockets, as if I’d invited him and he wasn’t just showing up out of the blue. I had an apron on that used to be white, my hands smelling like garlic from the pasta sauce I was attempting to make.

How did he find me?


‘It’s a small town,’ he answered my unspoken question simply, and shrugged, looking around him. Anywhere but in my eyes.

‘So it is,’ I murmured, subtly searching his body for any scars, signs of the past. The parts of him that were exposed, that is.

‘Besides, I asked around,’ he continued. ‘Most people know your aunt’s property. It’s on the way into town. She has lived here for fifteen years.’

‘Then you’re a good tracker.’ Still nothing obvious that I could see on him. Had he really been there?

He cocked his head. ‘Am I imposing on you? I just thought we could talk. We didn’t get to.’

Tell me what happened.

‘Who is it?’ Charmaine called from the kitchen, dishes clanging.

How was I supposed to word it?

Charmaine, this is the boy who was in the car with Christian when he died.

‘Jerome,’ I called back, repeatedly wiping my hands on the apron.

This is the boy who Christian nearly killed because of his reckless driving.

‘Oh. From the university?’

This is Christian’s best friend in the whole entire world. Was.

‘Yeah.’


‘I’m a friend of her brother’s,’ he offered.

I wanted to glare at him. Charmaine was quiet. The dish-water in the sink began to empty.

‘Well, are you going to ask him in?’ she called finally, like it was so obvious to everyone else except me.

‘Yeah, are you going to ask me in?’ he replied, a cheeky smile forming on the edges of his lips. Then he leaned towards me conspiratorially. ‘We aren’t strangers, you know.’

‘I know,’ I said quickly. Then, because I had no reason not to, I invited him inside.

***

Mum, Dad, this is Jerome, Christian says. He’s just moved in down the street. Guess what? We’re both seven. And this is just Milly, my twin sister. He says it like it’s poison on his tongue.

I stare at the stranger, Christian’s new friend, who will now compete with me for my brother’s attention. He’s scruffy, with messy brown hair and blue eyes, the colour of the deepest oceans.

Hi Milly, he says in a small voice, but not shy. It’s cool that you have a twin.

It is, hey. Especially because we’re not identical, I say back, liking this new boy already. Christian must have sensed this.

Well, we’re going to go play, Christian announces, and I wait for the invitation. It doesn’t come. I hang my head, look at my parents, hope they can read my mind and force them to include me.

You wanna come? Jerome offers, and Christian rolls his eyes.

She’s a girl, he complains, when even I know it was just for show. Christian sought out my company just as much as I sought out his. But for his new friend, he has to seem tough. I have to become a useless girl.


Jerome shrugs, gives me a small look that says I tried, and they go off to play with their trucks and cars in a make-believe boys’ world that I’m not allowed in.

Review:
First line:

I am reckless.

----------
Source:

ecopy from author

---------
Rating:

3 stars out of 5

----------
At first, my feelings about Reckless were

But as the story went on, I came to appreciate Milly's struggle. Her brother was dead and she felt like her parents despised her for being the twin that was still alive. She didn't a have a place she belonged. She only had a manipulative best friend, a jerk of a "boyfriend," a sister who reminded Milly of her brother, and parents she thought hated her. Seems like a crappy life, right?

Milly didn't like to confront her problems. All she did was run away or ignore them. That really bothered me about her character. She also never admitted that anything was her fault. It was always someone else's fault. I liked the character of Jerome. He was sweet and you could tell he was hurting from what had happened.He just wanted to heal, both himself and Milly.

Reckless is an emotional read and definitely worth the time. It deals with a lot of hard issues that most authors don't like to write about. Check it out :)


Giveaway 1:
International
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
Giveaway 2:
International
a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Check out the rest of the tour: