Naomi's Reading Palace: All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire ~ Review & Quote-tastic (@JamieMcGuire)

All the Little Lights releases tomorrow and it was quite the thrilling journey! I loved the way this story unfolded and how the little twists were revealed gradually. I was on the edge of my seat, I tell you!

Title: All the Little Lights

Author: Jamie McGuire
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Suspense

Published: May 29th 2018

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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jamie McGuire comes a riveting tale of first love that starts young but runs deep.

The first time Elliott Youngblood spots Catherine Calhoun, he’s just a boy with a camera, and he’s never seen a sadder and more beautiful sight. Both Elliott and Catherine feel like outcasts, yet they find an easy friendship with each other. But when Catherine needs him most, Elliott is forced to leave town.

Elliott finally returns, but he and Catherine are now different people. He’s a star high school athlete, and she spends all her free time working at her mother’s mysterious bed-and-breakfast. Catherine hasn’t forgiven Elliott for abandoning her, but he’s determined to win back her friendship…and her heart.

Just when Catherine is ready to fully trust Elliott, he becomes the prime suspect in a local tragedy. Despite the town’s growing suspicions, Catherine clings to her love for Elliott. But a devastating secret that Catherine has buried could destroy whatever chance of happiness they have left.

It's been a long time since I've read anything by Jamie McGuire, and when I came across All the Little Lights, it sounded a little different to what I usually read, so I had to snap it up! I wanted to know why Elliott and Catherine felt like outcasts, why they were forced apart and whether or not they would let each other in and get back together.

Watching Catherine struggle with the issues she had at home was difficult, but I was glad that she finally had someone to turn to. Elliott lifted her spirit and made her feel normal. It was sweet seeing them together, and realising that they had a lot in common in regards to dysfunctional families. They really connected but when Catherine needed him most, Elliott was gone...

I loved how Elliott worked hard to gain Catherine's trust again, although she did everything she could to keep him away. I really wanted her to find a way to let him in, because when I realised what was happening at home, I thought that she should never had shouldered that burden alone. It was heartbreaking seeing Catherine alone, but with Elliott back she slowly let people in and learned to trust others again.

All the Little Lights really is a touching story, as both characters deal with situations that are out of their control. There are tough events that they go to together, and as individuals, but I could see that their love and connection never truly died. Jamie McGuire really did a magnificent job at delivering this story. She created broken characters that needed one another to become strong enough to change their lives. She kept me on edge and guessing the twist right up until the very end!

This was a sweet moment between Catherine and Elliott that I just had to share...

I stared at her in awe, shaking my head and then cupping her face, planting a soft kiss on her lips. I leaned forward, touching her forehead to mine. She had to love me. She had to. I closed my eyes. “Promise me something.”
“What?” she asked.
“Please let this be something that lasts. Not like our parents. Not something trivial. I don’t want to be the high school boyfriend you tell your friends about when you’re an adult.”
“You give me too much credit, assuming I’ll have friends.”
“You’ll have friends. Lots of friends. People who adore you like I do.”
She lifted her chin and rose up on the balls of her feet to kiss me one last time before she pulled on the handle. It stuck, so I reached across and pushed on it hard enough that it opened.
I gently held her arm, stopping her before she stepped out onto the curb. The Chrysler was our space, a place where outside forces couldn’t touch. I felt more connected with her there and brave enough to tell her whatever was on my mind. “I love you, Catherine.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I love you, too.”

Kindle Arc Loc 2889

Hosted by Anna @ Herding Cats & Burning Soup

Award-winning author Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with the international
bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel, Walking Disaster, debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Beautiful Oblivion, book one of the Maddox Brothers series, also topped the New York Times bestseller list. In 2015 and 2016, the following three Maddox Brothers books, Beautiful Redemption, Beautiful Sacrifice, and Beautiful Burn also topped the New York Times, as well as Beautiful series novellas, A Beautiful Wedding and Something Beautiful. The fifth Maddox Brothers Series novel, A Beautiful Funeral, debuted at #4 on the New York Times, also making appearances on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

Novels also written by Jamie McGuire include: apocalyptic thriller, Red Hill; the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy; Apolonia, a dark sci-fi romance; and several novellas, including Red Hill companion novella Among Monsters, Happenstance: A Novella Series, and Providence trilogy novella Sins of the Innocent.

Jamie is the first indie author in history to strike a print deal with retail giant Wal-Mart. Her self-published novel, Beautiful Redemption hit Wal-Mart shelves in September, 2015. Her awards include 2014 UtopYA Best Dystopian Book of the Year for Red Hill, and iBooks’ 2016 Romance Novel of the Year for Beautiful Burn.

Jamie lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with her husband, Jeff, and their three children.

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