Book Info
Title - The Boy
in the Woods
By - Jen Minkman
Publication Date -
December 1, 2013
Blurb
Julia fell down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her
heart filling with dread as she noticed the left side of his face was covered
in blood. He had fallen off the motorbike, hitting his temple on a sharp-edged
rock. His head injury looked really, really bad.
“Michael?” she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on
his forehead. “Can you hear me?”
Julia has been in love with Michael for years. He’s the
hottest guy in school, and she can’t believe her luck when they finally hit it
off during Senior Prom. Her dream doesn’t last, though: after a few dates, he
callously dumps her out of the blue. Summer vacation starts with Julia feeling
heart-broken and miserable.
But then she rescues Michael in the woods when he has a
motorcycle accident in a heavy thunderstorm. From that point onward, her life
is turned upside down. Michael has changed completely after the blow to the
head that nearly killed him... and he wants her back. But why is he so
different? And will she be able to trust him this time around?
Can the boy who broke your heart ever win it
back again..?
Excerpt
Julia wiped the raindrops from her cheeks and trudged
doggedly on. The rhythm of the song spurred her on and made her run faster, her
heart beating wildly in her chest, tapping out an indeterminate fear. Her hands
clenched into fists and her eyes squinted against the rain falling from the
sky. Only a few more minutes and she’d be home.
And then something caught her eye. She froze. In the light
of a bright lightning strike setting the forest ablaze with cold fire, she saw
there was someone lying on the ground. The black stain of a person on the edge
of the path. A motorcycle on its side, smack in the middle of the forest trail.
Julia came to a standstill, her breath ragged. With
trembling, slippery fingers, she fumbled with the player to turn off the music.
She’d ended up at her favorite oak tree, the place suddenly looking sinister in
the gloom. Her throat turned dry as she peered at the unconscious figure on the
forest trail. Step by step, she shuffled forward. Her eyes followed the tire
tracks that the motorcycle had made in the muddy soil. Julia’s heart stopped
when she came even closer and recognized the Honda bike.
No – this couldn’t be happening. She
rushed the last few yards separating her from the boy on the ground. Julia fell
down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her stomach filling with dread as
she noticed the left side of his face was covered in blood. He’d hit his head
on a sharp-edged rock. His head injury looked really, really bad.
“Michael?” she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on
his forehead. “Can you hear me?”
He lay very still, his lips almost blue in the macabre light
of the thunderstorm flashing occasionally. If only she could see whether he was
still breathing! She couldn’t hear him breathe over the din of the rain and wind
in the woods.
With shaking hands, she grabbed her cell phone from her
jacket pocket, setting the camera to permanent flash. The bright light
illuminated Michael’s face, and tears welled up in her eyes. He looked so
lifeless… so vulnerable. For just a moment, she forgot all about the horrible
way he’d treated her. She’d wished for all kinds of nasty things to happen to
him, but not this.
“Michael,” she sobbed, her voice breaking. “Please, please wake up.”
Her heart skipped a beat when he suddenly inhaled sharply.
She took his hand. Very slowly he opened his eyes, green like the forest leaves
he was lying under, his pupils dilated and black like the treacherous darkness
that had caused him to slip and fall in this severe weather.
“Julia,” he whispered in a soft, yet clear voice.
She swallowed.
Why did he sound so different? He pronounced her name with
so much emotion that she could almost believe he was seeing her for the first
time.
“I’ll get help,” she managed to stutter before his eyes fell
shut again, her words making him smile faintly.
Links
Book Trailer
Soundtrack to the
Book
Author Bio
Jen Minkman (1978) was born in Holland, in the town of
Alphen aan den Rijn. When she was 19, she moved between The Hague, Salzburg
(Austria), Brussels (Belgium) and Cambridge (UK) to complete her studies in
intercultural communication. She is currently a teacher of English, career
counsellor and teenage coach at a secondary school in Voorburg, Holland. She
tries to read at least 100 books a year (and write a few, too!). She is a
published author in her own country, and translates her own books from Dutch
into English for self-publication. In her spare time, she plays the piano, the
guitar and the violin. For every novel she writes, she creates a soundtrack.
'I have always been drawn to writing. My first book was a
sci-fi novel at the age of eight, which I painstakingly typed out on my dad's
typewriter and illustrated myself. Nowadays, I stick to poetry, paranormal
romance, chicklit and/or fantasy. In my home country, I am the first-ever
published writer of paranormal romance, and I will gradually make my books also
available in English (seeing I have to re-write and translate the books myself,
this will take some time!).
Links
No comments:
Post a Comment