Running Back to You by Suzanne Sweeney #authorpost #bookreview @goddessfish

The Running Series
by Suzanne Sweeney

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Running Back to You:

Juliette Fletcher is a girl with a plan. Not one to sit back and wait for life to happen, she moves back home after graduation and begins to carve out a life for herself.

Evan McGuire is desperate for a fresh start. His career in the NFL depends on it. Years of partying and carefree living have caught up with him. After buying a beach house in need of renovations, he begins to rebuild his life and his reputation.

What Evan doesn’t expect is a chance meeting with Juliette out on an early morning beach run with her dog. A strong mutual attraction draws them together, but fear of scaring her away keeps Evan from revealing his true identity. Evan finds himself in an unfamiliar situation – forced to work harder than he ever has before to prove himself worthy of her affections.

Tragic misunderstandings and unexpected obstacles threaten to derail a fragile relationship. Someone is watching, waiting, and tormenting Juliette, desperate to destroy everything. Can they find the strength to overcome jealousy, insecurity, and fear before it’s too late?

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What’s Your Reading Personality?
By Suzanne Sweeney

Do you feel compelled to finish a book you’ve started, no matter how you feel about it? Or maybe you read a chapter or two and put it aside in search of the perfect read. You might be more of a window shopper, grabbing titles that look or sound good, but never finding the time to read all your treasured finds. I understand. I have a confession to make. Sometimes I engage in three-ways, four-ways, or even orgies of reading, in which there are so many books that I’ve started, frankly, I might not even be keeping track. Please don’t judge me (you know what they say about people who live in glass houses). Remember, for as many books there are in existence, there is also any number of different reading personalities a book lover might demonstrate. What kind are you?

1. The Ridiculing Reader. When you read a review, you find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out if you read the same book as the other reviewers. Five stars? Seriously? You shout to anyone listening about how the author can’t put two sentences together properly, or that the book is dragging hopelessly in the middle, and what kind of plot twist is that? These characters are so poorly drawn it’s comical! You call that a conclusion? If you are a ridiculing reader you will finish each read down to its very last word, and you may even close the covers and toss the volume across the room, but you will do it with a great, secret frisson of satisfaction because it feels so good. You may be an aspiring, disgruntled novelist yourself. Suggested ridiculing reads: Twilight; Fifty Shades of Grey; Divergent; any much-celebrated novelist’s latest offering that’s bound to be arguably less than all the hype.

2. The Pathological Reader. The joy is in the journey. You prefer to savor every moment with a good book. Once you find an author you can connect with, you will read each and every title until you’ve exhausted their collection (preferable read in the same order they were written, of course). You might discard a book, but only if there is very good cause, and it will bring you a sense of deep unease, so you’ll give the author a mulligan and try the next title. Suggested pathological reads: Crichton, Cornwell, Sparks, Christie, King.

3. The Wandering Eye. If someone asks you what you’re currently reading, would they get a list of titles rather than just one? If so, you might actually be a promiscuous reader. It’s not that you don’t love your books. In truth, you love them all equally. You might have one book on your Kindle that you read occasionally. There might be a hardcover book sitting on the table beside your bed. You may have a third or fourth paperback in your purse or backpack waiting to be finished. Do you confuse characters or plots? Perhaps. The point is, you’re not ready for a book commitment just yet, and you’re doing a brilliant job dating them all in the meantime. Suggested wandering eye reads: Short story and essay collections, novellas, blogs.

4. The Book-Buster. Do you have so many books that it’s been suggested that rent a storage unit to contain them all? Does the idea of parting with a beloved book cause you hyperventilate? Are there books in every nook and cranny of your home? You are a destroyer of books, but you love them so. You just want to hug the books, squeeze them tighter and tighter, you adore them so much that you really don’t know you’re hurting them. You take your books in the bath or out into the sun and their pages bleach away to nothing, but you keep them anyway, because they are books and you love books. Suggested book-buster reads: Whatever you like, but buy a Kindle.

5. The Bibliophile. Books aren’t just mean for reading, they’re meant for appreciating, especially the old ones. Have you ever removed a book jacket because you prefer to look at the binding? Your books are not only chosen for their literary enjoyment, but also for their aesthetic value. You like books rescued from the street as much as signed first editions. You just like books. To you, they are an object of beauty, and you would never, ever hurt them in any way. Suggested bibliophile reads: Anything you can get your hands on. God, that’s gorgeous, isn’t it?

6. The Cross-Under. There was a time when adults shopping in the Young Adult section of the book store would be greeting with looks of concern, but those days are long gone. There is a place for you in society, finally. For you, there is an intensity of first time experiences — there’s something about the heightened emotions and this-moment-defines-who-I-am consequences that just feels satisfying. Suggested cross-under reads: Collins, Rowling, Alexie, Chbosky, Lowry.

7. The Nocturnal Reader. Do you own a book light so you can read with the lights out? Is late at night the only time you have for reading? Have you ever fallen asleep with a book in your hand? If you are a true nocturnal reader, you have stayed up all night more than once because you couldn’t put down a good book. But it was worth it, it’s always worth it. There is no one to witness your agony when you cry, except for the characters with whom you are becoming quite close. Suggested nocturnal reads: Whatever you like, just sit in a chair—unless you like falling asleep with a book on your face.

8. The Book Snob. You are hard to impress. You only read books that are well reviewed by critics that you have determined to be of the highest caliber. You would never stoop to read something on a best-seller list, or something sold in a discount department store. Paperbacks offend you; you only touch hardcover—preferably, award-winning in some form or fashion. Suggested book snob reads: Pulitzer nominees, even if no Pulitzer was awarded.

9. The Evaluator. Do you find deep meaning and metaphors for life in the pages of your favorite reads? Do you find yourself discussing plot points in your everyday conversations? You most likely adore a spectacular conclusion. You also take great pride in finding a unique read and waste no time in selling its value to anyone who will listen. But especially, you love something that you can sink your teeth into and discuss, but only with those of a similar intellectual bent. You love book clubs and might even have been the one to start one in your neighborhood. Suggested evaluator reads: Janet Malcolm’s The Journalist and the Murderer; anything by Haruki Murakami.

10. The Bandwagon Reader. Do you ask scores of people to make a book suggestion before buying a book? You listen to everyone, from your best friend to the person standing in line at the supermarket. And you believe them all. You camp out at the shelves of “Recommended Reads” in your favorite book store. Suggested bandwagon reads: Cheryl Strayed’s Wild; Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue; Caitlin Moran’s How to Be a Woman; Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Just because a lot of people recommend them doesn’t mean they’re not great!

I’m sure I missed more than a few archetypes. Have you identified yourself yet?

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My review:
I am torn as I write this review. I really liked this book for the most part. The characters were well developed, had great chemistry and were entirely relatable. Jette was a typically naive chick just fresh out of college trying to stake her independence in her home state New Jersey. She was optimistic and bubbly. Usually characters that start off that way turn me off, but something about her…I liked. I loved her roommate/ BFF Auggie. He was the token gay BFF in the book. She meets few people, including a hunky new dude named Evan. Their meeting was kismet and her dog Maggie sealed their relationship with her approval. Honestly the beginning of the book, the first few chapters felt rushed. Like you had a lot of information shoved down your throat at once and then the author kind of hits the brakes and you started to feel how lengthy the book is, 365 pages. It was mostly all the descriptions and details that I think bulked up the book, some of it could have been cut.

With out giving too many spoilers,the whirlwind relationship of Jette & Evan leaves a bit of devastation in its wake. They dive in but not everyone is as gung-ho and happy about the relationship as they are. When Evan’s celebrity status comes to light it cause quite a bit of turmoil and puts some people around him in actual mortal danger. I was impressed with the ending of the book and how terrific the pacing was.

I was really drawn to the story. It was a romance, mystery and coming of age story all wrapped up in one. It’s definitely a series I am in invested in now and I can’t wait to read the next one Running Home to You.

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Suzanne Sweeney is a graduate of Georgian Court University where she studied Elementary Education and Sociology. For some time now, she has been sharing her love of literature with the young minds who sit before her in class each and every day. After years of teaching the art of writing, Suzanne has finally taken her own advice and put pen to paper in order to produce her debut novel, Running Back to You. She writes what she lives, residing in the community she loves, Point Pleasant, with her family who provide a constant source of inspiration and support.

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