Candy Colored Sky by Ginger Scott is live!
“This book is coming of age PERFECTION. You’ll see pieces of yourself, of your heart and your soul in this story. This is a top read forever for me. There aren’t enough stars. HIGHLY recommend!” – Bestselling Author Dylan Allen
Amazon | Apple | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google
Blurb
Jonah Wydner has been in love with his neighbor Eleanor Trombley for years. He has watched her life play out from the sidelines—homecoming dances, football parties, and first dates. Her life seemed easy…simple…perfect. The complete opposite of his own.
But when Eleanor’s younger sister goes missing and the national media sets up camp in the middle of their street, the girl with the seemingly perfect life shows up in Jonah’s garage in search of a place to hide from the hurt and chaos. What begins as one night becomes many filled with unexpected surprises and unveiling, healing truths about Jonah’s own messy past.
Soon, Jonah gets to know the real Eleanor, and discover all the ways they’re the same. Friendship blossoms into more, plans turn into promises, and hopes and dreams become shared under the warm glow of the fading Midwestern sunsets. But how far can a kiss under a candy-colored sky take them? And what happens when the clouds close in?
Review
“I see you. I have always seen you, Eleanor. Always. More than anyone ever has.”
5 beautifully heartfelt stars
Ginger Scott writes beautiful YA romance, and she’s created something really special with this book. A real, raw, heartfelt coming-of-age story that I lived with these characters. This book sucked me in and didn’t let go, and I absolutely loved it.
The story is told entirely from the POV of Jonah Wylder, a 17 (almost 18) year old high school senior who has been in love with the girl who lives across the street for years. Eleanor is larger than life – beautiful, popular and kind, while he is the shy math nerd who has never been brave enough to talk her.
When Eleanor’s young sister goes missing, her life is turned upside down, and their whole street becomes a media circus. Seeking shelter from the chaos, Eleanor turns up in Jonah’s garage one night while he is working on his car, and he hides out with him – something that becomes a habit the longer the search for her sister goes on. Slowly they become friends, getting to know each other, making each other laugh, and revealing their true selves.
“You haven’t seen me that much.” … I’m her solace, and I’m okay with that, but she and I weren’t much of anything before she wandered into my garage.
“I see you now.” She smiles up at me and I reflect her expression as best I can, nodding.
“That you do,” I say, my voice a hoarse whisper.
It’s a beautifully developing love story that is sweet and swoony, full of awkward teenage moments, and a whole lot of cute. I could feel it as Jonah and Eleanor fell for each other, and was completely swept up in their beautifully sweet and honest romance.
I lock onto her touch and relax my fingers to let hers find their way into the spaces between. It’s such a light touch, and it might be all the energy she has to give, but it’s enough to refuel me and remind me why I will walk through fire for this girl if that’s what she needs. Eleanor Trombley is special. Always has been, always will be. And the more I get to know her, especially all of her broken bits, the more I think we’re finding each other at the exact moment we’re supposed to.
Jonah is just the kind of guy you would want for your first real boyfriend. He’s sweet, kind, gentle, understanding and supportive. He is shy, but he has a wonderful sense of humour, and the way he protects and cares about Eleanor just melted me! He has been through his own trauma in his life, and he has some learning and growing to do, just as Eleanor does as she faces her darkest fears. It’s dramatic and emotional as real life continually shadows their little bubble of happiness, but watching these two work through it all is a beautifully written journey.
“She’s heartbroken, scared, and stubborn. And she is every bit the girl I would die for.”
There’s a wonderful cast of side characters who form an important part of Jonah’s and Eleanor’s lives, their family and friends bring a lot to the story – particular shout out to Jonah’s fabulous grandfather, and his hugely entertaining best friend.
This book is written in a way that makes the whole story feel very real. Jonah and Eleanor are authentic characters, and their story is honest and heartfelt. The drama is realistic, and I felt every bit of emotion along with them And, of course, their love story is so sweet.
This book brought the feels, and parts of it were really emotional, but it made me smile so much. I loved it.
5 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt
“You know, it’s an excellent time to climb up on the roof and watch the sun go down.” Her fingers slip away as she makes the suggestion, and I find my hands frozen in place for a moment all on their own. I shove them back into my pockets.
“Is it really that late?” I lift a brow.
“It’s almost four.” She winces and I join her.
“I don’t think I’ve slept this late since I had the flu sophomore year,” I admit.
She laughs at my response, then hits the button for the garage door.
“This used to be a regular Saturday morning occurrence for me,” she says.
“I’m pretty sure you can’t call it morning,” I add.
She spins on her heels as she moves out of the garage and points at me.
“You are probably right.”
We cross my driveway to the very dead grass in our side yard. Eleanor leaps up to grab the eave but her fingers slip at her first attempt. She crouches to jump again but stops, spinning to face me as she points over her shoulder with her thumb.
“You been sunset watching without me?” she asks.
The ladder is still out. I haven’t touched it since the last time we went up there.
“That would sound a lot better than admitting I’m too lazy to put it away, but sadly, I’m a lazy ass.” I mush my lips together and shrug.
“Well, my muscles are not feeling it today, so let’s just say you were planning ahead.” She marches to the ladder and scales it two rungs at a time. Even at her laziest, she’s got me beat.
She waits at the roof’s edge for me this time, and I’m a little embarrassed because I climb ladders the same way my grandfather does—like one wrong move might break a hip. I crawl onto the shingles as she stands and holds a hand out for me.
“I can’t run and leap over there like you do,” I say, waving my hand just out of reach. It’s like I’m about to shake on a deal and I want to make sure I know the terms.
Eleanor leans her head back and the sound of real laughter pours out with the rasp that I’ve missed.
“It’s fine. I’ll go slow,” she says, taking my hand and helping me to my feet.
I sway a little, only half joking that I’m searching for my balance. I notice that she walks along the rooftop on her toes, almost like a ballerina making her way to center stage. I move with the grace of a Clydesdale.
We settle in the ridge this time and I lower myself carefully, dividing my weight over both sides of the roof. Eleanor seems to collapse into a sitting position, her legs knotted together as she perches at the apex facing me. I breathe out a laugh at how different we are.
“What?” she asks.
“Just, you can tell you do things like gymnastics and stuff. It’s pretty clear I work out math equations.” I shrug.
“You’d think that would make you more confident up here, being able to compute the exact angles and all that junk,” she argues.
“Huh,” I say, taking her reasoning to heart. I glance to my left and then my right, but before I can fully take in the angle of the descent behind me I grip the roof’s surface beneath my thighs.
“Nope. There’s no math logic for this,” I say.
She giggles, an actual giggle. It’s the best sound, like a children’s birthday party with a petting zoo kind of glee.
About the Author
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, The Girl I Was Before, Wild Reckless, Wicked Restless, In Your Dreams, The Hard Count, Hold My Breath, A Boy Like You, A Girl Like Me, Memphis and Cry Baby.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.
When she’s not writing, the odds are high that she’s somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork ’em, Devils).
FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | YOUTUBE | GOOGLE | GOODREADS | WEBSITE
