Reading Write Now: More Than This by Jay McLean with Giveaway

Synopsis

*Mikayla*

In one night my fairytale ended. Or it may have begun. This is my story of friendship

and love, heartbreak and desire, and the strength to show weakness.

*Jake*

One night I met a girl. A sad and broken girl, but one more beautiful than any other.

She laughed through her sadness, while I loved through her heartbreak.

*This is our story of a maybe ever after*

He was right. It made no difference whether it was 6 months or 6 years.

I couldn't undo what had been done. I couldn't change the future.

I couldn't even predict it.

It was one night.

One night when everything changed.

It was so much more than just the betrayal.

It was the Tragedy.

The Deaths.

The Murders.

But it was also that feeling.

The feeling of falling.

Excerpt

My eyes widen and snap to Jake. He looks down, and shakes his head, with laughter in
his eyes. He removes my hand that was covering his mouth, entwines our fingers, and
gives my wrist a chaste kiss before Logan adds to the story.

"That's not all that happened, tell her the rest, Jake."

I look at him. Oh my god. He slept with her.

"Oh my god, you slept with her?" I gasp out.

"NO!" he yells, and everyone cracks up. "NO! What? God... No!" he says again, shivering
and making a disgusted face.

"Then what?" I ask.

He presses his lips together, as if refusing to speak. I make an exasperated sound, and turn
to the rest of them, eyes wide, pleading someone to finish the story.

Heidi starts to giggle, and everyone joins in.

"What? WHAT HAPPENED?" I need to know.

Heidi calms herself down. "Homegirl had an engagement ring on the dash board - a male

engagement ring. She proposed to him!" She's struggling to keep talking through her
laughter. "She proposed to him, naked in the back seat of his truck, with people all around!"

"NO!" I gasp, looking at Jake, bewilderment clear in my voice. He just nods his head
slowly, his thumb stroking my stomach.

"What did you do?" I asked him, but he just shakes his head. I look to everyone else.
"What did he do?"

"This is the best part," Cam continues. "He gets so freaked out, he jumps out of the car,
and starts to run home. It was an away game! It took him five hours to walk home. He
left everything in his truck. His phone, wallet, gear bag, everything. He couldn't call
anyone. He was so freaked to go back to the truck, in case she was still there waiting for
him, or if the ring was still there. We didn't drive out to pick it up until a week later.
He went a week without a car, because he was so freaked out."

"That's just one of the stories," Dylan adds. "There's like, a hundred more just as crazy."

I'm laughing so hard now my sides hurt.

I'd almost forgotten what we're all doing here.

And then I remember, and stop myself from laughing.

Because today is not a laughing day.

Jake brings his hand up to my face and kisses my temple. "You can laugh and be happy,

Kayla. They would want you to be."

I smile and kiss him on the cheek.

Logan takes a huge gulp of his beer and then belches, fingers pointing between Jake and me.

Heidi and Lucy groan in disgust.

"I'm going to ignore this epic, ovary explosive, sexual tension thing you guys have going on
and ask a question."

I stifle a laugh against Jake's neck, while he rolls his eyes at Logan.

"Ask your question, asshole," he says as he rubs his nose against my jaw. God, that accent,
and that voice. My eyes close for a second. I think my ovaries will explode.

"Why does he get to call you Kayla, and everyone else calls you Micky?"

I shrug. "Because my family called me Kayla."

Review

What a surprise read this was! This story is Mikayla’s story and her journey to find her

happy ever after. She meets Jake after a less that ideal situation reveals itself. And the

rest they say is history.

Well not quite – I did not expect the twists that unfolded early on in this book – so didn’t

see them coming that they smacked me in the head!

This story pretty much starts around Prom time – and what a prom night it turns out to

be for Mikayla, one she will never forget! Mikayla is out with her best friend and boy

friend on their way to Prom, when events unfold, leaving her without a ride! Step in Jake

and his group of friends who show Mikayla that its ok to have a good time.

Mikayla and Jake end up spending lots of time together, and their relationship grows –

but it is never quite clear what it grows into, but the journey to get there is worth

the wait.

Jay McLean writes in a manner and tone that I love – there were moments where I

laughed out loud – had to re-read bits because I was seriously asking “Did they really

just say that?” and moments of real emotion… there is one part that was so emotional

and sweet and it just broke my heart, but I can’t tell you that bit – because that would

mean a spoiler.

Mikayla, Jake and the guys are seniors but at different High School's – ready to go off to

college – they are 18 year old's, and they party and interact like any 18 year old's would,

but Jake is a “kind of a big deal” in the baseball world… so there are some added

pressures for him.

This book has angst, sexual situations, alcohol and associated behaviours and so many

other elements of life. This book however is not a complete feast of young unbridled

sex, but a journey to find love.

What I liked was the character development and interactions, the characters for their

ages were very insightful, but this came across in an age appropriate and believable way.

The bond that the friendship groups have was very real and I was able to picture their

parties in some pretty good detail, while I was singing karaoke with them! The tone of

the story gave respect to the life experiences and the decisions and reactions that came

as a result of those experiences.

I loved Logan and Lucy the most as secondary characters – and would love to learn

more about their stories. Oh and the aussie-isms… very good – I mean don’t we all

have pet kangaroos? LOL it was a nice touch, and I enjoyed reading the explanations –

especially about AFL and Baseball.

What i didn’t like so much (and their wasn’t too much) is that the angst started to

drive me a bit crazy, the are they aren’t they, will they wont they battle went on a little

long for me – I think I would have rather they get together, get it on, and then deal with

the consequences of that to create the angst as opposed to how it unfolded. Don’t get me

wrong – I really enjoyed ‘Kayla and Jake’s story, it just started to piss me off that little

bit when everything was so bleeding obvious! I also though the Epilogue was pointless,

It would have been nice if it had a bit more details, personally the book could have done

without it…. But the snippet about Logan – that has me intrigued!!!

About the Author

Author of Mature YA / New Adult contemporary novels, MORE THAN THIS and a soon to
be released sequel, MORE THAN HER. I enjoy reading and writing books that make people
laugh, cry and swoon for dreamy book boyfriends. When not doing either of those, I can be
found looking after my two little boys, and trying to avoid house work at all costs.