S.D. Hendrickson – Waiting for Wyatt – Release Blitz + ARC Review + Giveaway

 

 

Title: Waiting for Wyatt
Author: SD Hendrickson
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ New Adult
Cover Design: The Cover Lure
Release Date: January 12, 2016

 

Synopsis

My name is Emma Sawyer.I met Charlie and Wyatt on the same sultry, summer day. It was unexpected, leaving a feeling in the pit of my stomach like the time I drove too fast over Beckett Hill. The moment happened out of nowhere, all fast and quick and a little strange. Or maybe that was just Wyatt’s personality.

It was Charlie that brought us together. Little Charlie with those ridiculous ears. I found the dog, waiting in a pool of his own blood. Waiting for someone. Waiting for me.

Now Wyatt, he wasn’t waiting for anyone. At least that’s what he said, except I saw something different in the broken guy all alone out in the woods. I knew he needed me before he knew it himself.

Wyatt with his hidden dimples. Wyatt with his warnings to stay away. He was a hard lump of coal, ready to burn everything around him. The more he burned, the more it pulled me into the pain I saw etched on his troubled face.

I wanted to help Wyatt. I wanted to save him like he had saved all the Charlies in the world. He told me not to fall for him, but I did anyway. I fell hard and fast and deeply in love with Wyatt Caulfield.

But that was before I knew his secret.

Author Note: Waiting for Wyatt is a 112,000 word Standalone, Contemporary Romance / New Adult Novel, which features rescue animals.

 

*ARC was kindly provided by author in exchange for an honest review*

Véleményem a könyvről

Ez nem egy fekete-fehér a történet. Bántalmazott kutyusok, egy rejtélyes megtört srác a semmi közepén, egy makacs lány, aki meg akarja fejteni és segíteni elűzni a démonait? Könnyen lehetett volna ez egy cukorban és klisékben meghempergetett, újabb sérült lelkű fiatalokról szóló történet, mégis tudott valami újat adni az írónő, méghozzá a sok-sok réteggel és a sok-sok árnyalattal, amivel felépült ez a könyv. Vannak rossz emberek, vannak jók, vannak akik hibáznak, vannak akik elveszítenek valakit, vannak akik sebeket hordoznak, vannak akik megtörnek az úton amit úgy hívunk élet, és vannak akik új utat tudnak mutatni és újra fényt hoznak a sötétségbe. Ugyanakkor ez a könyv szépen rávilágított arra, hogy nem minden fekete vagy fehér, és az írónő ismét egy kiváló tehetséggel megírt kötettel ajándékozta meg az olvasóit, döntésekről, következményekről, emberi és állati sorsokról, sötétségről és fényről.

A történet in medias res kezdéssel indul, amikor is Emma egy sérült kutyussal az ölében menekül az ijesztő és agresszív házmester elől, akitől gyakorlatilag megmentette a kutyát. Az öreg szomszéd bácsi segít neki kisurranni a házból, de nem nagyon tudja, hogy hogyan tovább, hová vigye a sérült kutyust, akit értelemszerűen nem tarthat meg, amíg ugyanabban a házban él, mint a házmester. Végül egy állatmenhelyre viszi, ahol viszont sajnos már nincs több hely Charlie számára. Mikor a menhely vezetője meglátja szegény lányt a véres felsőjében, a remegő, nagyfülű, furcsa kis kutyussal, megesik rajta a szíve és azt javasolja, hogy menjen ki egy “farmra” a városon kívül és keresse Wyattet, ő majd segíteni fog. Emma elindul és nagy nehezen megtalálja ezt az eldugott helyet, ahol egy hallgatag, rejtélyes fiút talál, sok-sok bántalmazott és kidobott kutyával, akik mind őket befogadó családokra várnak. A srác egyáltalán nem örül Emma megjelenésének, és nem is túl kedves a  lánnyal, azonban ott és akkor Emma meglát valamit Wyatt-ben. Meglátja a szemében a fájdalmat és a megtörtséget és ki akarja deríteni, hogy vajon mi történt vele és, hogy miért él egyes egyedül a semmi közepén, sérült állatoknak szentelve az életét. Wyatt végül belegyezik, hogy Charlie maradjon, és mikor látja, hogy Emma mennyire szomorú a búcsúzásánál, kiszalad a száján, hogy a lány meglátogathatja a kutyust, ha szeretné. Amint kimondja, már meg is bánja, de ekkor már az egyébként is makacs és megállíthatatlan Emma fejéből nem tudja kitörölni a meghívást.

Minden szereplőt nagyon megkedveltem és nagyon tetszett, hogy Wyatt és Emma kapcsolata lassan épült, és nagyon szépen bontakozott ki az eleinte zárkózott és mogorva fiú megnyílása a lány felé. Ahogy már említettem, a történet egyediségét a komplexitása adta. Úgy gondolom, hogy mind Wyatt, mind Emma karaktere kidolgozott és sokrétű volt, a történetnek pedig igazi mélységei voltak. Az írónő csodálatosan bontogatta ki Wyatt érzelmeit és fájdalmát és mutatta be hogyan emészti fel önmagát Wyatt a mélységben, ahova nem enged be senkit. Ugyanakkor darabkáról darabkára megismerhettük, hogy micsoda szíve van, hogy minden este felolvas a kutyusoknak, hogy mennyire vigyáz Emmára, hogy mindent megtenne érte, a könyv közepére beszúrt néhány fejezet Wyatt szemszögéből pedig segített megismerni a múltját.  Minden egyes felfedésre került darabkával egy darabot  az én szívemből is ellopott. Nagyon megkedveltem a mellékszereplőket is, Emma kissé paranoiás ikertestvérét, Wyatt családját és az idős szomszéd bácsit Mr. Hughes-t.

Rengeteg érzelem volt ebben a könyvben, ugyanakkor a történet fordulatokat is tartogatott. Őszintén szólva meglepett Wyatt titka, és nem erre számítottam, de maga a cselekmény is tartogatott izgalmakat. Az írónő igazán magával ragadó stílussal ír, ráadásul azt hiszem, minden állatbarát szíve megdobban, a történet olvasása közben. Minden elismerésem a írónőé a témaválasztás miatt, és hogy az emberi sorsok mellett, végre igencsak nagy hangsúlyt kaptak az állatok is. Igazán szép történet volt múltról, szerelemről, megbánásról és második esélyekről.

elválasztó

My Review in English

This is not a black or white story: Abused dogs, a mysterious broken guy in the middle of nowhere, a stubborn girl who is determined to figure him out and to help him chase away his daemons. It could easily turn out another story about “broken young souls” with a lot of clichés and sugar, but the author could give something really new with the lot of layers and shades of the story. There are bad people, there are good ones, there are the ones who make mistakes or lose someone, there are those who carry wounds or who break on the road what we call life, and there are those who show them new paths and bring light for the darkness. This book beautifully highlights the fact that not everything is black or white and the author once again gave to her readers a heartfelt story written with an excellent talent about decisions, consequences, human and animal destinies, darkness and light.

The story starts in medias res when Emma tries to hide from her creepy and aggressive landlord with a wounded dog in her hands, who was rescued from him. Mr. Hughes, her old neighbor helps her to escape from the building but she doesn’t know where she should take the dog, because she obviously can’t keep him while she lives there. Finally, she finds herself in a shelter but unfortunately at the time the rescue is already full. The women in the shelter looks at Emma in her bloody clothes with the shaking little dog with big ears, and she takes pity on them and gives an address to Emma outside the town, where she has to find a kennel and a boy named Wyatt who can help her. Emma hits the road and finally she arrives at the hidden kennel, where she finds a mysterious, silent guy with a lot of rescued dogs who all wait for a loving adopting family. The guy is not happy at all that Emma came to the kennel and he is not friendly with the girl, but Emma sees something in Wyatt. She sees the sadness and pain in his eyes and she wants to find out what happened with him and why he lives in the middle of nowhere, devoted his life for wounded dogs. Wyatt finally agrees that Charlie can stay, and when he sees how hard the goodbye is for Emma from Charlie, he accidently blurts out that she can come back to see her dog. He immediately regrets his invitation but he can’t take it back from the already stubborn and unstoppable Emma.

I really loved all of the characters and I loved that the relationship between Wyatt and Emma was slow-building and how Wyatt opened himself for Emma bit by bit from his firstly uncommunicative and raw demeanor. I already mentioned that I think the uniqueness of the story was given by the complexity. I think that the character of Emma and Wyatt was so layered and developed, and there were real deepness in the story. The author beautifully unfolded the emotions and pains of Wyatt and she described so authentically how he eats himself in his darkness, where he doesn’t allows anyone. Meanwhile we get his true heart to know piece by piece; that how big his heart is, that he reads aloud his books every single night for the dogs, that he would give anything to protect Emma and would do anything for her, and with Wyatt’s POV in the middle of the book, we can learn about his past. With every single revealed piece in exchange he stole one from my heart. I think the minor characters were also so great! I loved Blair, Emma’s little paranoid twin sister, Wyatt’s family and also Mr. Huge, Emma’s old neighbor.

There were so many emotions in this book and at the same time there were some surprising plot twists. Wyatt’s past was not what I expected, and the plotline was also a page turner. I think everyone’s heart jumps a little during reading this story, who loves animals. All due respect to the author for choosing this topic, it is so admirable that she could show us not just destiny of humans but destiny of animals are really important. S. D. Hendricson has a really engaging writing style ant this was a really amazing story about past, love, remorse and second chances.

elválasztó

My Favorites Quotes From the Book

“I don’t know what scared me more when you left,” I finally whispered. “That you wouldn’t come back. Or that you would.”

“My heart flipped a little, and I fell deeper for Wyatt Caulfield, the mysterious guy who said he was dangerous and bad.”

“He was haunting. He was beautiful, pulling me down into the pit of his broken heart. I felt something strong and powerful, holding onto my soul.”

“I was drawn to him like a Band-Aid to a cut. I wanted to touch him, fix him, and make him better.”

“I don’t want you.” His words came with a vulnerable catch in his throat as he whispered, “It’s like I . . . I crave you. And it scares me. Because I think you make all of this better.”

“But that was the thing about the darkness. Once you allowed the light inside, the shadows exploded into a million pieces.”

“I couldn’t find the words to say back to Wyatt. He was making plans and promises again. He made me feel like I was falling right through the sky as he held me tight, while on a simple blanket spread out across the ground.”

“But we didn’t let go. We held on for another five minutes until I was the first to break contact. I didn’t whisper goodbye. And neither did Wyatt. Sometimes saying goodbye was harder than saying nothing at all.”

“That girl had swallowed me with her big heart. She had wrapped that love around me until I felt her in my mind and my thoughts. She had consumed me, making the darkness disappear. She had made everything brighter, softer, and sweeter. She had made me feel alive again.”

“I wanted more than anything to figure out Wyatt Caulfield. Hot and cold. Withdrawn and angry, and then a flash of dimples and compassion for his dogs, followed by pain. The poor guy needed someone or something. I looked back over to where he stood in the shade. Slowly. I had to remind myself to approach him slowly.”

 4.5 – Redemption – Stars 
4,5 stars
wyatt

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Music for the Book

This song was recommended by the author for the story. I love it so much! A Great Big World – You’ll Be Okay

About the Author

SD Hendrickson received a Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism and Public Relations from Oklahoma State University. She lives in Tulsa with her husband and two schnauzers. Currently, her days are spent teaching computer software to oil and gas companies. The Mason List was her first novel and it was nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards – Best Debut Author 2015.

Author Links

TWITTER     WEBSITE

 

Giveaway

There is a giveaway for a signed paperback of Waiting for Wyatt (US only)

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