Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Shelf Live by Stephanie Lawton: Review and Giveaway








Title: Shelf Life
Author: Stephanie Lawton
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Publication date: December 3, 2013

*Mature situations and sexual content - recommended for ages 17+*

It’s impossible to focus on college biology when your family believes doomsday is imminent and the government is out to get you.

All Pete Wilson’s ever wanted is to become a veterinarian, but those dreams are going up in flames. Commuting to an urban college and helping his parents with their apocalyptic prepper crap is more than he can handle.

Worse, Pete’s asshole neighbor is stirring up trouble, his family’s stockpile has been destroyed and farm animals are turning up dead.

Lindsey Linger is the tomboy sister of his best friend. Now a sexy spitfire, she and Pete are liable to set the barn ablaze as their romance finally heats up. But she’s hiding a terrible secret, and rural life isn’t all bonfires and hayloft romps. That becomes clear one icy winter night when the survival of everyone Pete loves hangs in the balance.

Can Pete be the hero they need, or will this be the end of the world as he knows it?






I was already a fan of Lawton’s previous works, but I’m truly enamored with her most recent New Adult novel. Shelf Life is a painfully beautiful coming of age story that hits hard and peels back the layers of what it means to be a “grown up”. 

Pete is easy to love; a guy who’s honest and true, even if he’s a little naive and a lot stubborn.  The way Lawton handles his evolution from high school boy to college man is seamless. This is something the author has shown a talent for easing her readers through character growth in her previous work and I was pleased to see her deft handling of the transition in this tale as well.  

I enjoyed the way Lawton walked us through the unusual life of Doomsday Preppers in our modern world. Her descriptions of Pete’s life on the farm are rich and winsome. Their sharp contrast to his experiences at the local community college help paint an even more vivid picture of the backbreaking yet beautiful life with his parents. 

His relationship with Lindsey is as confusing and frustrating and scintillating as relationships truly are at the tender age of eighteen. And though their love isn’t the main storyline in this book, I’m hoping to see more of them together in the next book in the series. 

The end is rough, and I’m not being exaggerative. It’s a fast-paced whirlwind of dramatic  events that leave you breathless. Though there is one piece of the end I have sworn not to forgive (I will not spoiler it, just, *sob*), I eagerly await the continuation of Pete’s story in the next installment.

You can grab a copy in paperback or Kindle Ebook today!
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Join us all day December 3rd on Facebook as we chat with Stephanie, as she celebrates Shelf Life's launch day with giveaways, excerpts, special content, free downloads, & more! 






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About Stephanie





Always a misfit, Stephanie Lawton writes twisted romance that tugs the heart strings then punches you in the gut.

She has a tendency to psychoanalyze people, which comes in handy when creating character profiles. She has a fascination with teacher-student relationships, bullies, psychics, doomsday preppers and larger-than-life characters.

Making readers squirm is her greatest pleasure. 

Proceed with caution.



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