REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
All of the Rogers
by Erin Lockwood
All of the Rogers by Erin Lockwood is currently on tour with Silver Dagger Book Tours. The tour stops here today for my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
"How can you love someone so much and need space from them at the same time?"
My alarm goes off at four am. It takes an hour to get to the studio, and then my ballet training begins. I go to school for a few hours, and then it’s back to the studio for more training. Go to bed. Repeat the whole process the next day.
I hate it.
My time at school is a blur, except for biology. I don’t rush through that class, because I get to see Roger Byrnes. He probably doesn’t even know I exist, but my heart beats a little faster when I see him walk through the classroom door with his messy hair and carefree attitude. He has so much energy. But then he stares off into the distance, and I wonder what he’s thinking. It’s the highlight of my day.
I wish I could quit ballet so I could be a normal teenager. Someone who Roger would want to be with. I could use some excitement in my life ... I bet Roger could give that to me.
Excerpt
Roger keeps running with me screaming over his shoulder, and I’m getting seriously worried he’s not going to slow down when he reaches the ice-cold Pacific Ocean. I can feel the freezing wet splashes on my legs, and as he runs into deeper water, some of the splashes reach up to my face.
I’ve been playfully kicking and screaming for him to put me down, but now, I’m gripping his upper back, not wanting him to lower me at all. Don’t let the turquoise water of Carmel fool you; it’s damn cold, even in the summer. Girls wear bikinis on the beach, and surfers wear wetsuits all year-round. Even I know that.
“You broke a promise,” he says while his arm grabs me from over his shoulder and moves me down.
The muscles in my legs bulge, and I clench them around his upper body, holding myself high up on his shoulder.
“What are you? A cat?” he says, confused, as he tries to figure out what I’m doing with my body.
I grab on to his head and use it as leverage to clench my thighs together over his other shoulder. “I never broke a promise,” I say, unashamed. The only emotion going through me right now is fear of going into the ice cold water. “I never promised to call you.”
“Oh, that hurts my feelings,” he says dramatically.
He reaches up and tries one more time to pull me off of him, but I’m too strong.
“How the hell are you stronger than me?” he exclaims, clearly frustrated that he’s tried twice to throw me in the water with no success.
All he’s been able to do is make me slip down his body a little. My one leg is still draped over his shoulder, and the other is wrapped around his back, holding on for dear life. My face has moved from over his head to right in front of his nose.
“Ballerinas are a lot stronger than you think,” I say with a calm, even breath. I’ve never kissed a boy before, and right now, I’m staring at one’s lips. They’re so full and colorful; they look as if they’re full of fruit punch. I wonder what it would taste like and feel like. If I just move my head a few inches closer…
“Maybe so,” he says, matching my even breath. “You might be stronger than me, but I’m more clever.” He spreads his arms out, as if he’s going to give someone a huge hug, and slowly, his body weight shifts back.
“No, no, no, no, no!” I scream once I realize there’s no stopping him from falling back into the water.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
"This book did me in! The emotions I had while reading All Of The Rogers had me feeling like I was on an emotional roller coaster. The ups, downs, happy, sad, worried and broken." ~ Tara
"This story is a powerful one, if you think it's going to be a cutesy run of the mill YA read, well yes, you have that stuff too but it's more than that! It's first love, heartache, learning about yourself and what you need, it's about self respect and family, and learning that it's okay to challenge things and ideas and it's okay to cry." ~ Sara Miller
"At its core it's an highly enjoyable read that offered some legitimately insightful commentary without ever feeling inaccessible or difficult to swallow. It was interesting. It was well executed. It was balanced. It was, you know, just right." ~ Danielle
"Heartwarming and Gutwrenching, 'All of the Rogers' was an emotional coin, flipping constantly from one happy extreme to the worst. Lockwood did an amazing job writing this story!" ~ M
"Beautifully written and a powerful message that I can’t thank her enough for sharing about. This story destroyed me and I devoured every page of it. I highly recommend this story for any ages teenage on up." ~ C. Vande Hey
My Review
By Lynda Dickson
After dedicating her whole life to ballet, Kerri has finally had enough. She deliberately injures herself to tank an audition for Juilliard and settles in for her final year of high school as a "normal" teenager. First on her agenda is attending a party, second is talking to her crush Roger.
I couldn't tell if Roger was super-nice or a creep in disguise, but reason for his fluctuating behavior becomes apparent as the book progresses, hence the title. Kerri's mother is heartbreakingingly uncaring and Roger's mother is even more useless. At least Kerri has her brother Bradley - he's the best. And Roger and Kerri have his godmother Diane.
Through the narrative, the author provides a lot of thinly veiled advice for teenagers on such pertinent topics as drink driving, sex, contraception, mental illness, and death.
Warnings: underage drinking, coarse language, sex scenes (not graphic), mental health.
About the Author
Erin Lockwood grew up in Castro Valley, California and attended the University of Oregon, where she graduated in 2003 with a degree in journalism. From there she moved to Denver and spent the next seven years searching for the love of her life and building the family of her dreams.
It wasn’t long until, with children starting preschool and more time on her hands, Erin refocused on her career, beginning with a successful entry into the world of residential real estate as a Realtor. Free time was spent reading book after book (and binge-watching the subsequent films) in the New Adult genre. Feeling hopelessly in love with her husband, she wrote him a short story leading up to their fifth wedding anniversary. That’s when she discovered her tireless passion to share her experience of falling in love through fictional characters. That story evolved into the first novel in the Angles trilogy.
Erin still lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, Phil, and their three children.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
Links
