Since fall of 2011, I’ve been writing (and rewriting, and rewriting, and developing a love/hate relationship with) my second contemporary YA romance novel, entitled The Crush. The Crush, will be the first book of *drumroll* my first trilogy, and I’m super excited to share the premise for The Crush with y’all today!

Premise

The Crush follows Emery Brooks: an old-fashioned hopeless romantic, thanks to the legacy her grandparents’ fifty-year marriage left on her heart. After the passing of her Grandma Adeline, aka her biggest role model, Emery vows to abide by the advice Grandma Adeline reminded her of in Proverbs 4:23:

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

By adhering to that advice, Emery promises herself that she will never settle when it comes to love; that she will allow God to write her love story and will not allow her heart to be trampled by the wrong guys. Not like her older brother, Rider’s, future was trampled due to a relationship that drove him off the rails.

But, that may also be why she can’t, for the life of her, write a love song.

Enter Sawyer Alston, a misfit love cynic who moves to Grahamwood after his parents’ divorce. Due to their mommas being best friends in high school, Emery and Sawyer are forced to spend time together the summer before Emery starts high school. Emery swears she can’t stand being around Sawyer and his anti-love spewing propaganda. That is, until an experiment with her best friend reveals a possibility she never before imagined.

Will she fall for someone who doesn’t believe in falling at all, or will the advice Grandma Adeline gave her prevent her from such heartbreak?

History and Goals for Publishing

Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve been working on The Crush since late 2011. The story I began writing back then has been redesigned into a completely different story than the first unfinished draft. Currently, I’m working on the third draft, and after reaching the 50k word count point as of the end of March, I am aiming to have it finished by the end of June. If all goes well, I am aiming to release it sometime between November 2019 and February 2020. I will then start writing the sequel, which is tentatively being titled The Waiting.

Writing Style

If you are a fan of YA contemporary published by Blink YA (Stephanie Morrill, McCall Hoyle, Nicole Quigley) or Jenny B. Jones, my writing style is similar in nature to those authors: no explicit language, but not afraid to tackle tough issues.

The Crush does not currently have a Goodreads page set up, but I will post one after the book is complete.

2020 Update: Add The Crush to your Goodreads TBR here!

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

I really hope this didn’t sound lame. XD There’s actually a lot more to this book than what I let on, as I tried my best not to spoil anything.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for The Crush? What is your favorite contemporary YA romance book?

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀