Drowning In You by Rebecca Berto
Publication date: April 12th 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Secretly crushing.
Crushed by a tragedy.
Charlee May’s been crushing on Dexter Hollingworth since she was fifteen. Five years later, a horrific skiing disaster at Mason’s Ski Lift Resort leaves her millionaire dad critically injured and her mom dead at the hands of Dexter operating the lifts. Charlee is suddenly the sole caretaker for her little brother while their world falls apart.
Dexter couldn’t be more different from Charlee. He’s tattooed, avoids exclusive relationships and his Dad has a fair share of illegal dealings. With Dexter’s reputation, almost everyone believes he planned the Mason’s skiing disaster.
And after all these years he’s still crushing on Charlee May, the girl who’s too good for him.
When this cruel twist of fate ties Charlee’s family and Dexter’s reputation together, Charlee and Dexter wonder if their feelings are reciprocated, while Dexter discovers his dad is trying to steal the May’s millionaire fortune.
But like an addiction, one look, one touch, one taste—they’re hooked no matter the consequences.
Best New Adult fiction
It’s a given. I guestimate that New Adult
novels take up over 50% of my reading and being the New Adult junkie I am, I
wrote a little book called Drowning in
You. I remember what made me write it: Beautiful
Disaster and Easy.
New Adult has a special place with me. When
I wrote the first draft of Drowning in
You, I was 21. I’m now 22 and these characters in these sorts of books are
around my age and though I’m more of a mature, old woman inside than some
part-animal freak, they’re going through a similar stage of life as I was at
that stage: discovering love, life, careers—what is my purpose?
So, I wanted to share my favorite New Adult
literature. Some are wildly popular, selling 500,000+ copies and some are
lesser known, but after reading them, all deeply touched me. All 5+ stars in my
eyes.
And, no. I won’t do a ten to one countdown
because I can’t order my favorites. Sheesh!
Here are my equal favs:
Beautiful
Disaster, Jamie McGuire
This book was loved or hated because of
Travis’ bad ways and Abby’s acceptance of him. For me, when I still have a book
hangover nine months after reading said book, I know it’s a special one. I
loved Travis as per so many others in the female population.
Easy, Tammara Webber
One of the first ever New Adult books I
read, and what an introduction to the genre! Lucas is one of my top book
boyfriends, and I so adore the mixture of not only sexual chemistry between
Lucas and Jacqueline, but also the emotional punch this story delivers and the
serious message behind it all.
[Anything by Colleen Hoover], Colleen
Hoover
Need I explain myself? All three of
Colleen’s novels—Slammed, Point of Retreat and Hopeless—are standouts in fiction. I
find myself saying “butterflying” and “I live you” in my life when
non-book-junkies think I’m simply crazy. Colleen has wormed in her way as part
of my life.
The
Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski
Part of the wonder of this book is the
slow, creeping-up-on-you romance. It changes from contemporary to romance to
almost erotic to break-your-heart and by the end, author Jessica had drained
all my emotions. I was so connected to Andrew and Cam’s story.
Ten
Tiny Breaths, K.A. Tucker
What a creeper! I put off this book for no
reason for almost half a year. God, I wasted so much time! *sulks* Author
Kathleen has a way of writing some serious punch across many platforms. I
laughed (even snorted), cried, and had to turn on my fan for many of hot, hot
scenes.
(Thompson Sisters series), Charles
Sheehan-Miles
This man can write like a woman. Better
than most women! It’s strange, in retrospect, that I realized two of the
strongest female characters I’ve ever read are written by a male author in both
his books in the series, Just Remember to
Breathe and A Song for Julia.
Lovee.
The
Sea of Tranquility, Katja Millay
Blew me away. I couldn’t think straight for
days? Weeks? I pre-ordered the paperback, like, 130 days before publication.
Josh and Nastya are two of my favorite characters both separately and together.
TSoT made me ugly cry and after much
torture, awwww.
The
Enchanted Orchards, Kristin Maddock
I found this little book on a random Amazon
search for a romantic literary novel. Like I do with Hopeless, I can’t help but rant and suggest (force) my bookish
friends read this. It’s told in a direct style and a poetic voice that had me
in love with it from the prologue.
(The Dark Duet series), C.J. Roberts
What a cruel human being. I am disgusted in
myself since becoming a C.J. Roberts fan. I love Caleb, the torturer. I like
the hot, erotic scenes with him and the beautiful, Olivia. I love everything,
which hurts a damn lot considering C.J. loves to torture her readers. Gawd!
Just wow.
Charade, Nyrae Dawn
Did NOT expect to cry and fall in love with
this book in any way as significantly as I did. Chey and Colt turn out to be
such an amazing couple from what started out as lies. It turns from fun, to
heart-breaking and romantic and definitely gave me a similar OMG-I-adore
feeling as The Edge of Never did.
***
If I may be so bold, I’d recommend Drowning in You for fans of Hopeless and Charade, as it gave me a similar feeling when I wrote it. :)
About the Author:
You can contact the author by:Rebecca Berto is the author or the dark contemporary/literary novella, PRECISE and the upcoming new adult contemporary romance novel, DROWNING IN YOU. She is also a freelance editor.She writes stories that are a bit sexy, and straddle the line between Literary and Tear Your Heart Out. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her stories, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.
Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.
