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I'm looking for a beta(s) reader for my contemporary YA novel, which is complete at 82k words. I've just finished a revision for an agent and want a fresh pair of eyes to read it before I send it back to her. Please message or tweet me @AbigailsWriting if you are interested. Here's the description:
Even though it’s another sweltering summer in Arizona, sixteen-year-old Jill Whitaker can’t remember the last night she spent under her roof instead of on it. Some things, like her parent’s constant fighting, are more oppressive than heat. Not even the prospect of fixing up her dream car, a 1970 Spitfire, with her dad can make her happy for long. And she’s definitely not smiling at her best friend and crush, Sean, after she catches her mom undressing him. Jill’s left with a post-it goodbye note from her mom, a suddenly cryptic dad, and a strained Sean. Meeting her neighbor, Daniel, a guy with a scarred past and an even more toxic home life than hers, shouldn’t change anything, but it does.
When Jill intervenes one night after Daniel’s mom hurls a lamp at his head, they become each other’s escape. During the day, she runs cross-country and loses herself under cars in her dad’s shop. At night, the first flickers of an impossible romance kindle while she and Daniel count stars and scars. But the more time she spends with Daniel over that long, hot summer, the more Jill realizes that escaping hurts more than confronting her life. Especially when Daniel’s inexplicable love for his mom forces Jill to deal with her own. Facing her life head on means learning that the father she idolizes isn’t perfect after all. Sean may have an explanation for what happened with her mom. And hatred, no matter how justified, is the hardest thing to escape of all.
Even though it’s another sweltering summer in Arizona, sixteen-year-old Jill Whitaker can’t remember the last night she spent under her roof instead of on it. Some things, like her parent’s constant fighting, are more oppressive than heat. Not even the prospect of fixing up her dream car, a 1970 Spitfire, with her dad can make her happy for long. And she’s definitely not smiling at her best friend and crush, Sean, after she catches her mom undressing him. Jill’s left with a post-it goodbye note from her mom, a suddenly cryptic dad, and a strained Sean. Meeting her neighbor, Daniel, a guy with a scarred past and an even more toxic home life than hers, shouldn’t change anything, but it does.
When Jill intervenes one night after Daniel’s mom hurls a lamp at his head, they become each other’s escape. During the day, she runs cross-country and loses herself under cars in her dad’s shop. At night, the first flickers of an impossible romance kindle while she and Daniel count stars and scars. But the more time she spends with Daniel over that long, hot summer, the more Jill realizes that escaping hurts more than confronting her life. Especially when Daniel’s inexplicable love for his mom forces Jill to deal with her own. Facing her life head on means learning that the father she idolizes isn’t perfect after all. Sean may have an explanation for what happened with her mom. And hatred, no matter how justified, is the hardest thing to escape of all.