
by Jo Noelle
Summary
Cassie is going to heaven—if she can get amnesty from hell in the next twenty days. Her assignment is to change the eternal destination of a girl in Albuquerque to earn admittance into heaven.
No sweat.
But when Cassie returns to earth during her three-week, mostly-mortal assignment, her old habits get in the way, (apparently habits don’t die when you do), the partners assigned to help her are anything but helpful, and it turns out the girl she is supposed to help is the only enemy she made on her first day of school.
Oh, I’m so going to hell.
Things aren’t all bad—it helps to have a hot angel on your side. Mmm-Marc. Even though he’s all about heavenly business, Cassie would like to make it personal.
Excerpt
If
closing my heart were as easy as closing my eyes, I’d never see again. Heaven
and earth could pass away and I wouldn’t know, wouldn’t care. Instead, I open
my eyes to my face filling the mirror, trying not to really look, but I do. I
see my mom’s eyes, so blue they were nearly black in striking contrast to her
golden hair. My dad’s sweetheart face shape, though his had a stronger jaw. I
only see their faces in mine now, and maybe I’m imagining it, trying not to
forget. My hand quivers before I press my finger to my lips and smooth gloss
over them. Knowing my eyeliner would smear if I gave in to thinking about my
parents, I distract myself to think of something else—the music blasting from
the hall, the slight hum from the lights around the mirror, the smell of beer
tainting the masses Reece and I burrowed through to get to the upstairs
bathroom. Breathing. Think about breathing.
Reece
pulls the shirt down over her head, then shakes out her hair, twisting toward
me. “What do you think, Cassie?” Like always, she’s changing as soon as we get
to the party, having shopped in my closet before school. The flowy blouse has
three triangular cutouts along the front and more in the back, definitely
putting it in the sexy category, which is why I own it and not Reece. Her mom
would have a breakdown if she saw the clothes her daughter really likes to
wear—and her mom thinks I’m the bad
influence. The royal blue makes Reece’s eye color pop and her face more
vibrant—natural beauty the rest of us work hard to fake.
“Amazing,
which is what I told you when you talked me into buying it.”
“Trade
you for my riding boots.” She’s already sitting on the toilet lid, pulling them
off.
“Deal.”
I sit on the side of the tub and kick off my ankle boots. “Remember when we had
friendship bracelets in seventh grade?”
“Yeah.
Now we have friendship boots.” Stepping her heel into the second boot she asks,
“Is Hugh coming?”
“Don’t
know.” Don’t want to see him since he dumped me today.” My hand drifts to my
stomach, but as soon as I notice I pull it away, not sure where to put it. I’m
not telling Reece until the morning—why ruin the evening for both of us? My
plan is to party tonight and sort it out tomorrow.
Reece
steps to my side, looking at my eyes in the mirror. “Why don’t you know?”
“I
just don’t. He messed up. Or I blew it. Who cares—we aren’t talking
anymore—it’s over.” Thinking if I begin digging through my purse, maybe she’ll
drop it, I pull my bag into the sink and rummage around.
“Like
you broke up?” Her face looks sad, devastated, as if my breakup with Hugh would
be as traumatic as a breakup between her and Korbin. “Maybe you’ll get back
together tonight.”
My
face makes a grimace before I can stop it. “So not happening. We weren’t all
lovey, like some couple I know. I
barely liked him.” Reece begins to open her mouth. I imagine she would make
some encouraging comment like, “It takes time.”
But
before she speaks up, I finish, “It’s too late now.” Hoping that closes the
subject, I begin straightening my shirt. I’m not ready to talk about how much
of a disaster that relationship has become.
She
hugs me and whispers, “It’s never too late for love.”
When
I fake a gag reflex, she punches my shoulder.
About the Authors
Jo Noelle grew up in Colorado and Utah but also spent time in Idaho and California. She has two adult children and three small kids. She teaches teachers and students about reading and writing, grows freakishly large tomatoes, enjoys cooking especially for desserts, builds furniture, sews beautiful dresses, and likes to go hiking in the nearby mountains. Oh, and by the way, she’s two people—
Canda Mortensen and Deanna Henderson, a mother/daughter writing team.
They began writing separately several years ago but found the process much more fun when they started collaborating. They are debut authors, with Lexi’s Pathetic Fictional Love Life as their first completed work. Other titles include Newbie and Damnation.
Deanna attended college before marrying and starting her family.
Canda received a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a Reading Specialist endorsement, and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership. Her day job focuses on teaching teachers and children about literacy.
Tour-Wide Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 6/1/15
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Thanks for sharing our giveaway and our book!
ReplyDeleteWhen we wrote Amnesty, we imagined a 14-17 year old girl as our audience. But
we know that many other people have also enjoyed it--I hope you and your
followers do as well. With this book, as with all our books, we want to make
you laugh and think a little as you spend a few minutes in someone else's crazy
life, or in this case, afterlife.
Thanks, Canda! I really liked the other two books I've read from the two of you. :)
ReplyDeleteAh, such a shame that this one couldn't work out for you the way you wanted it to :/ I have read one book by these authors and although it was difficult for me to get into at first, I enjoyed the second half of it a lot more. I think it was called Years and an Ocean.
ReplyDeleteI am huge fan of steampunk! So this already has me half sold and intrigued about trying it. And then throwing in fantasy elements as well... *drools* I am wondering though, is this a YA read or a MG one? I would want it to be YA...
ReplyDeleteOh you really loved this one! I have never heard of this series before, so I am glad to see it was so wonderful and worth waiting to see things from this side of the story, it being Jake's POV. I love the sound of the characters and the storyline. Sounds like my kind of book :3
ReplyDeleteThe YA one I read of theirs was like that too, but I ended up really liking it and it was good enough that I kept reading. I have Years and an Ocean on my tbr, so I'm glad you ended up liking it.
ReplyDeleteI do like the look of the dragon and I really like steampunk too. I'm thinking it's more of an older MG because the MC is 13. I prefer YA too, but my son would eat this up.
ReplyDeleteI liked that the inspiration didn't feel overly preachy either. Meant to Be Mine is my favorite from this series, but I really loved this one too. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the mention! I would call it older MG. Along the lines of City of Ember.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on reading this one with my tween and I'm planning on both of us loving it! Love the uniqueness of the plot and the cover is just cool. :) Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDelete