Amends
a love story
Shanda Fisch
AMITY is a prickly high school outcast who dreams of a better life in college. A tragic accident puts her future on hold. When she attends an elite university three years later, she falls for Laird, the enigmatic son of a notorious billionaire. Soon she learns that Laird, who grew up just a few miles away from her home town, has a secret that could hold the key to her past and future. And she has a secret of her own.
LAIRD is devastated when he loses his mother at age eighteen. Shortly afterwards, he fights with his girlfriend on the way to a party, and they drive straight into a nightmare. They walk away from the accident, but the other driver isn't so lucky. Three years later, Laird is still haunted by that day. When he connects with Amity, hoping to make some kind of amends, he feels something unexpected. And terrifying.
Will Amity and Laird build a relationship that transcends the past? Or will secrets, lies, and guilt tear them apart?
So today I was supposed to do a review for this book, but I haven't quite finished the whole thing just yet. Yikes!! I'm really enjoying it, I just don't want to post a review until I'm completely done, ya know? So for today, I'm going to post an excerpt from the book, and in a day or two I'll have the review. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
*Liz
Laird often refers to Amity as the girl of his dreams and his nightmares. Before he meets her in real life, he meets her in dreams where his guilty conscience constructs a frightening new world. Here's a brief excerpt:
After what feels like an eternity, heavy hands take hold of my shoulders and haul me up. I stumble to my feet and find myself facing Coach. He slowly shakes his blocky head. "Son, you've lost the game. Give it up already. It's time to walk it off."
My face burns with rage. "Someone's dead. How can I walk it off?"
"You just do it, Laird. Go that way." He points towards a dirt path leading into dense, swampy woods. There's a shadowy figure standing beside it. "Follow her," he says.
I squint and try to make out the hazy form. It's hard to see details in the moonlight, but I can tell it's a tall girl around my age wearing a T-shirt and baggy shorts. I think she looks at me, but I'm not sure. Before I can get near her, she takes off like a frightened deer, disappearing into the trees.
I run after her, my breath turning ragged. Eventually, I get close enough to see her more clearly. She has long, wild hair. Tendrils fly behind her like pennants. Although she's fast—faster than any girl I've ever known—her gait is strangely off-kilter. She looks like she's falling and catching herself with every stride.
I know I'm not going to catch her. She moves like liquid mercury. So I simply yell, "Stop! Please!"
My face burns with rage. "Someone's dead. How can I walk it off?"
"You just do it, Laird. Go that way." He points towards a dirt path leading into dense, swampy woods. There's a shadowy figure standing beside it. "Follow her," he says.
I squint and try to make out the hazy form. It's hard to see details in the moonlight, but I can tell it's a tall girl around my age wearing a T-shirt and baggy shorts. I think she looks at me, but I'm not sure. Before I can get near her, she takes off like a frightened deer, disappearing into the trees.
I run after her, my breath turning ragged. Eventually, I get close enough to see her more clearly. She has long, wild hair. Tendrils fly behind her like pennants. Although she's fast—faster than any girl I've ever known—her gait is strangely off-kilter. She looks like she's falling and catching herself with every stride.
I know I'm not going to catch her. She moves like liquid mercury. So I simply yell, "Stop! Please!"
Author Shanda Fisch is a New England native who fondly remembers the exhilaration and seemingly endless possibility of young adulthood. She enjoys the New Adult genre because she can relive the excitement of her late teens and early twenties without all the angst and uncertainty.
When she's not in front of the computer, Shanda can be found playing with her one-year-old daughter, running with her three dogs, and attempting to garden.
Find Shanda Online
