It’s that time again! I was lucky enough to con my way into… ahem I mean, acquire an ARC of my darling Em Shotwell’s BLACKBIRD SUMMER. And holy crap kids, this was a FANTASTIC debut. Seriously I already want the sequel. No really.
If you want a glimpse of just wants in store for you in this small town Southern paranormal romance, here’s one of the Twitter pitches that caught attention for Em from her publisher in the first place:
“21yo Tallulah only wants a normal life. Impossible when your backwoods family has powers like a bunch of redneck x-men.”
Seriously, that pitch is damn near perfect for this book. I retweeted the hell out of it during the final Twitter pitch party Em entered, and I’m so freaking thrilled that it got picked up by Owl City Press. Completely aside from this review, let this just be your PSA to toss a pitch or two into the ring if you’re in the query trenches – seriously, it can do wonders!
So anyway, back to my review of this blast of a book.
Tallulah (Tully) was such a delight of a narrator. I really felt for her dreams to find something different for herself, even though she loved her family like crazy. The weight of their expectation is something that was totally relatable, as was the sense of being out of place in a small town (even if it’s not for something like the Caibre Gifts).
And Logan, oh lordy Logan was a doll. Talk about a man with epic amounts of chill who’s willing to do whatever it takes to be with the woman he’s falling for even in the face of some crazy abilities and horrible tragedies occurring all around them. This romance had me sighing – all the chin hands as I read it, all of them I tell you!
I will warn you all though – you will want tissues. Spoiler free zone here, but the book does get dark and good people are lost along the way.
Speaking of good people, the entire Caibre family held some incredible characters. Everyone felt fleshed out and whole and someone I could have grown up with in the small town where I was born.
Seriously, I can’t wait for more books to get to know some of the side characters even better!
If you weren’t lucky enough to snag an ARC, here’s the easiest way to get the paperback! http://www.amazon.com/Blackbird-Summer-1-Em-Shotwell/dp/0986251674/ I believe the ebook will be out shortly, but trust me – this one is worth a physical copy!
So, what have y’all been reading? Anyone else through with BLACKBIRD SUMMER and want to flail with me over DM? Hit me up on Twitter! @C_L_McCollum