I have loved Channing Monroe all my life.
In first grade, he asked for my Trapper Keeper.
I hit him in the head with it.
Third grade, we were best friends. We kissed in seventh grade.
Eighth grade, he turned into a bad boy and the rest was a tumultuous storm.
Growing up, the problem was never love for us.
Bad times. Good times. There were times when I felt our love in every inch of my body, vibrating, making me feel like it could bring me back to life.
The problem was us.
The problem is that we’re living in two different worlds now.
Fallen Crest and its millionaires for me. Roussou and their criminals for him. I was thriving in mine and he was running his.
But…
But there were nights I felt we couldn’t be further apart than we were, and there were nights I felt we shared the same heartbeat.
When was it time?
When was it time to either sacrifice, make a change, or walk away from the boy I grew up with?
In first grade, he asked for my Trapper Keeper.
I hit him in the head with it.
Third grade, we were best friends. We kissed in seventh grade.
Eighth grade, he turned into a bad boy and the rest was a tumultuous storm.
Growing up, the problem was never love for us.
Bad times. Good times. There were times when I felt our love in every inch of my body, vibrating, making me feel like it could bring me back to life.
The problem was us.
The problem is that we’re living in two different worlds now.
Fallen Crest and its millionaires for me. Roussou and their criminals for him. I was thriving in mine and he was running his.
But…
But there were nights I felt we couldn’t be further apart than we were, and there were nights I felt we shared the same heartbeat.
When was it time?
When was it time to either sacrifice, make a change, or walk away from the boy I grew up with?
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| REVIEW |
The Boy I Grew Up With by Tijan
For those who have read Fallen Crest High series & more recently Crew you will be familiar with Channing & Heather, this is their story.
Heather, outside of Sam, was probably my favourite female character Tijan has written & Channing is the big brother to Bren and is responsible for starting the first 'Crew' back when he was in High School. This story spans literally their whole lives from way back (through flashbacks) when they first met in first grade. 'He'd worked his way under my skin in first grade.
The epilogue finishes way in the future where we catch up with Sam & Mason too! So it feels like a really long book but the story is written so well the pages effortlessly turn.
He'd declared us best friends in third. We'd held hands in fifth. We shared our first kiss in seventh, and he'd been a headache ever since."
Heather & Channing are my favourite couple next to Sam & Mason. They have both had traumatical childhoods & this emotional baggage moulds their actions and life choices growing up and as adults. But throughout the whole story, which is at times frustrating, heartbreaking & emotional, one connection stands out Channing and Heather are not only best friends but soulmates who unequivocally love each other. You get some background into Channing's Crew and the reason Heather decides not to join which starts the rift between them and Heather's forced decision to take over running the family's restaurant & look out for her older brother.
Overall 4 stars a great read.Heather just wants Channing and is fed up with being put second to his Crew and Channing doesn't want anyone other than Heather but can't walk away from his Crew or the protection of the town. There are some fairly violent scenes with the local motorcycle club which gives an incite into how dangerous things get for Channing's crew.
4*
BUY ME
Benson Bayou Beauregard is the president of the Bear Bottom Guardians MC, and the grandson of the Sergeant at Arms for the Dixie Wardens MC. He’s a mountain of a man and the warden of a prison, and there’s only one thing that can scare him—being told that he’s the father of a three-year-old little girl.
A three-year-old little girl that has no clue who he is. Hell, he only finds out about the little cherub when a woman from child protective services comes by and rocks his world before leaving the girl in his shocked arms.
Every single thing he thinks he knows goes up in a cloud of smoke.
To make matters worse, the woman that he’s been trying to convince to give him a chance takes one look at the little girl and tells him that he’s just not in the right place to handle both of them.
But Bayou was never one to back down from a challenge.
He can handle a three-year-old girl that acts exactly like him, and he can more than take on the fiery red-head that sets flame to his blood while he’s at it.
Lani Lynn Vale is a USA Today Bestselling Author of over thirty titles. She is married with three children, two dogs, two cats, a donkey, and a couple (a couple also meaning over twenty) chickens.
When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up in her favorite chair reading.
Lani is married with three children and lives in the Great State of Texas.
The first time I met Jax Blackwood things went a little sideways.
In my defense, I didn’t know he was Jax Blackwood—who expects a legendary rock star to be shopping for groceries? More importantly, a blizzard was coming and he was about to grab the last carton of mint-chocolate chip.
Still, I might have walked away, but then he smugly dared me to try and take the coveted ice cream. So I kissed him. And distracted that mint-chip right out of his hands.
Okay, it was a dirty move, but desperate times and all that. Besides, I never expected he’d be my new neighbor.
An annoying neighbor who takes great pleasure in reminding me that I owe him ice cream but would happily accept more kisses as payment. An irresistible neighbor who keeps me up while playing guitar naked–spectacularly naked–in his living room.
Clearly, avoidance is key. Except nothing about Jax is easy to ignore—not the way he makes me laugh, or that his particular brand of darkness matches mine, or how one look from him melts me faster than butter under a hot sun.
Neither of us believes in love or forever. Yet we’re quickly becoming each other’s addiction. But we could be more. We could be everything.
All we have to do is trust enough to fall.
I clear my throat. “While I was eating my ice cream—”
He snorts, but remains tense.
“I thought about how you looked familiar to me.”
“It was the guilt haunting you.”
“Or … And I’m just throwing this out there. You’re Jax Blackwood.”
He actually flinches. “Fuck. You recognized me.”
“It was bound to happen. John? Really?”
His chin tips in a pugnacious angle. “It’s my name. John is … me. Jax is who I am onstage.”
I picture him performing, all electric energy and raw passion and sheer talent. It’s a sight to behold. Hell, a couple of really hot fantasies have been induced by that sight.
While I’m lost in a teen fantasy, his eyes dart around like he’s expecting someone to pop out from behind a snow mound and take his picture. Then his gaze snags on me. My expression must be slightly punch drunk, because his entire body leans away from mine. Not exactly flattering to realize he’s afraid I’ll try to lick his face or something.
I snap my gaping mouth closed. “Oh, calm down. It’s not like I’m going to start squealing and try to grab your junk.”
His expression lightens a little. “I think if you grabbed my junk, I’d be the one squealing.”
“True. I have surprisingly strong hands.” When he stares at me in horror, I hold them up and wiggle my fingers. “Yoga. It’s highly effective.”
“My balls just flinched in terror.”
“Consider yourself warned.”
He snorts but then glances at our building. “You really live here?”
“Do you really think I hunted you down?”
John—because I can’t seem to think of him as Jax—runs his hand through his damp hair, which makes his biceps bunch and twitch. “Yeah … that does sound crazy.”
Crazy. This whole situation is. One day, I’m offered a four-month home in a dream condo, the next I’m standing on my stoop talking to a rock star. The biggest legend of my generation. I honestly don’t know how I’m not stammering right now.
“I can’t believe we’re neighbors,” I say without thinking.
His green eyes glint in the afternoon light, but he pauses and looks at me more closely. “You know, not to sound conceited here, but you’re kind of leering at me right now.”
My chin snaps up like I’ve been hit, even as my body flushes with embarrassment. Shit. I totally had been leering. No, not leering. But I had been staring at him in awe. Ugh. “Well, you do sound conceited. I was simply making polite eye contact.”
Liar McLiar-Face.
