Thrown

Promise Cove #1

by Tabi Wollstonecraft

An emotional New Adult Romance

Amy is trying to get over the death of her mother and aunt. Promise Cove offers her a new start and an escape from the pain. She is closed-off emotionally and avoids relationships with others. Her only emotional outlet comes from self harm.

Then she meets Dean Stoker, a local mechanic and friend of Amy's aunt. Stoker has a secret. He wants to be an artist. But he can only paint in secret because his father wants Stoker to be more like his dead brother James and forget about anything creative.

Amy and Dean recognise a shared pain and become close. Barriers must be shattered and walls must come down before they can find real love.

Genres: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, Romance

198 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2013

About the author

Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/zQqKL

I'm a New Adult Romance author and my book 'Thrown' is the first in my 'Promise Cove' series. The second book is called 'Promise'. The books can be read as standalone but some characters crossover between the stories. :)

I really love the Goodreads community...it's like being in one big library with a bunch of great friends!

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't judge a book by its cover. I probably should have gotten the memo every time I heard that phrase, but I didn't. I saw a reasonably attractive dark-haired boy on the cover of this book, and I had to read it.

So I'll start by addressing the very misleading synopsis of this book.

How the HELL is Stoker the bad boy of Promise Cove? He's your average broody nice guy! I don't understand where the "attitude, muscles, and leather jacket" came from. Did he even have a leather jacket? I'm not sure. But he definitely did not have an attitude or intimidating muscles. GAHH. How was he a cliche bad boy? He paints, he offers to teach Amy how to drive, he has a secret place all to himself called "The Cave of the Mermaid," and he's an overall nice guy. Sure, he got into fights at one point, but that isn't who he is now. Tabi Wollstonecraft tried way too hard to make Stoker (ugh, cliche motorcyclist name) your typical misunderstood bad boy--and she failed.


(^See what I did there? "Cave of the Mermaid" --> "The Little Mermaid"? ;) )

I probably should have abandoned this book at some point. I wanted to at times. But I read a lot of books about self-injury, so I was curious about how Tabi Wollstonecraft would address the topic in her book. Would she portray it correctly? Would it be a prevalent part of the book? Would Amy overcome her self-injury? If so, how? If not, what would she do about it?

Amy started cutting herself when she discovered her father had died in a car accident. She did it because it made her feel something--otherwise she felt numb. And all of that makes sense. But cutting did not become a very prominent part of this book, much to my surprise. The author tried to incorporate mystery into this book as well, and I think that was a mistake. This book was not that long to begin with, and cutting is not a topic that can just be mentioned and then shoved into the corner with all the dust bunnies. And yet, that's exactly what happened. We only hear of Amy's cutting a few times. All of a sudden Amy and Stoker's relationship has progressed to sex, and she's showing him her scars, and we're sitting there like, "What just happened?". And then, before you know it, the book is over. And how does Amy get rid of her cutting?

It was because of [Stoker] that I stopped cutting myself.
A month after the conviction of Max Stoke for the murder of Beth Anderson, I threw away all my blades. I don't need them anymore.



Okay, stop. You know what that looks like to me? An easy way out of addressing the issue. Cutting is not something you can just quit. It's an addiction, just as powerful as any drug addiction. I'm not making a blanket statement and saying there aren't people who could just "throw away all their blades" and be done with it, but that's not the typical way things work. People who self-injure are addicted to what they do, whether it's to the feel of the blade against their skin, the sight of blood, the searing pain, or the scars left behind. And yet Tabi Wollstonecraft seems to be saying, "Hey, are you a cutter? Well, get yourself a nice boyfriend, and you won't want to cut anymore!" But that is not the way it works!





I'm frustrated with this author, because she has become another of the many authors who have failed to portray self-injury correctly. If someone reading this review did find it easy to quit, then I apologize, my rant doesn't apply to you. But I know that for many, quitting is not as simple as getting a nice boyfriend. It's a struggle. And to say otherwise is a fallacy.

[Sarah Covington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It's a story of how two broken individuals have to work through their painful pasts to be able to be whole for the other person. Amy has recently lost her mother and now her aunt mysteriously dies. While Stoker is dealing with the loss of his mother and brother, and with the disapproval of his father. They find peace in each others company and work to solve the mystery of Aunt B's death. This book was incredibly moving and showed how you have perhaps the old saying "You have to be able to love yourself, before you can truly love someone else," is backwards. These two needed to be able to love each other to be able to find a way to love themselves. A great read; I would highly recommend it.

[Gia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. Once I started reading I didn't want to put it down.
The book is listed as a New Adult Romance novel. It has romance in it but it also has a mystery. The main characters, Amy and Stoker have both suffered great losses in their lives. Their story was beautifully written. The book is a great read and I would definitely recommend this book.

[Lisa Survillas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story! So many important coming of age issues. I love when two broken characters find each other and help each other heal. Amy was all alone in the world and had to find a way to cope after her mom died. Dean was also struggling with the loss of loved ones. When they meet, Amy is so reluctant to even allow Dean to be a friend. Watching him chip away at her heart was touching. Lots of emotion in this book. Highly recommended!

[JoAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

***I received this book in exchange for an honest review***

I will give this book a 3.5 Stars. It was a romance with a mystery. It was about 2 lost souls finding love...and following there dreams. I liked the characters and I liked the writting style...it was just missing that IT factor for me.

[All-Things-Books [Whairigail]]

Eeeeeeeeek, excited for this :) the blurb sounds AWESOME x

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about 2 young adults ; Amy & Stoker who both had there share of tragedies in life. Both feeling depressed, and not wanting to share the struggles because they felt that those tragedies made them ugly and unwanted. Amy came back to her old stomping ground of Promise Cove, and the Promise house due to the sudden death of her Aunt Beth. Mystery surrounded this unusual death of Aunt B and Amy is constantly wondering how she died by plotting out different seniors throughout the book. There was a mystery of what kind of relationship Stoker and her Aunt Beth had because Stoker seems to slip up with knowing her a little to well. A romance kindles between Amy & Stoker , and both feel safe with one another but when the moment comes to be intimate both share there tragedies , and scares that they where keeping from each other.

Overall I found this book to be a lovely light read, it carried some suspense, mystery, and romance. Found it to have a well blend mix of these three elements. Unsure if this is what the author was portraying when she wrote the book but for my that is how would describe the book. I am not normally interested in stories that flip back and forth between character views because sometime they can confuse the reader BUT this is the first book where I felt the switching was well played out, and shared feelings from both characters in a well written way. *THUMBS UP* The area that I felt had a bit of lacking causing a bit of a lower Plot/Story rating was that I felt some scenes could have been played out more. Time period seemed to jump a tad but not to much that I didn't enjoy the book. I had feelings of wanting more of the scenes. I would have also liked to have known more of the background of why the Promise House was called the Promise House. What drew me into the book more is that I found it related to life. You sometimes read stories that seem so far fetch from life that it's purely fantasy. The author brings valid points across in the book that you find happening in our everyday lives. I enjoy when I can relate to books, or feel life relates to it. Suicide, murder, self-harm are all areas that happen everyday as much as we don't want them to be. Jealousy was shown within the book from Stokers father against Aunt Beth for believing in Stokers hopes and dreams of painting/drawing. It was a well rounded book in my thoughts, and I enjoyed it. Kept me on my toes, and wanting to turn each page to find out more. I would diffidently be interested in book 2 in this series.

Cover Rating, normally reviews don't talk about the cover but for me it plays a role because the title, and the cover are the first 2 things readers look at before they turn the book for the description/blurb. At first I was unsure what the cover had to do with the book itself, as I read I did keep flipping back to the cover to see if I could see a relationship. I came to the conclusion that possible its representing Amy, and how dead and numb she felt to the world. After finishing this book I personally felt possible a scene of the Promise House, or a view from the Promise Cove Cliffs would compliment the story. Just my personal view.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


The thing that made me want to read Thrown is the fact that the protagonist, Amy, cut herself. I'm a fan of angsty plotlines and broken souls so I figured this book would be a good addition to my angst-ridden, broken-soul-filled reading list. I ended up quite disappointed. In fact, I decided not to finish the book because there wasn't much keeping me motivated to finish reading it.

The first thing that I didn't like about the book was how everything seemed so mechanical. Most times, I feel like the author was telling me things instead of showing them. And there's a big difference. So the stiffness in the dialogues and the surface level characterization made me feel iffy about it from the beginning. I simply did not buy what the story was trying to sell: a girl who lost all the people she loves and is now in a completely different place trying to start a new phase in her life despite (the literal) scars she has suffered from her past; plus, there's this broken hot guy to make her life more interesting. But even Stoker's character didn't seem like someone I can have an empathy link with. He seemed like a token hot guy for most of the book.

The author tried to explore telling the story using two POVs: Amy's and Stoker's. For most chapters, the POV was focused on Amy and sometimes, I find myself wanting to know more about Stoker since he seems important enough to have a POV in the story dedicated to him. His vantage point weaves in and out of the story erratically so there isn't a steady build in his character through the eyes of the reader.

Despite the book being a relatively light read, the events in the story seemed so fast. In fact, Amy and Stoker's relationship seemed borderline insta-love wherein there were a few moments of hesitation (in Amy's part) but after a few seconds, she was like oh okay yes to the hot guy. We find out that Stoker likes her from the first time he saw her so um yeah, that's pretty much instalove. What I would have wanted was to see how these two people struggled to put aside their brokenness and let each other in considering that they are attracted to each other. What we get is seven dates and sex on that same night. I honestly didn't feel any spark between the two characters. There was an occasional sweet moment but for the most part, everything seemed forced.

As you can see, I didn't really like the book because I guess I had my own set of expectations before I read it. But maybe you'd like to see the book for yourself if you like a story set in the British countryside, with hints of mystery, and of course, two broken souls finding each other.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

* * * 3.5 S T A R S * * *

Amy Anderson has just returned to Promise Cove, England to attend her Aunt Beth’s funeral. Having lost her mother one year earlier, her Aunt Beth was her last living relative. When she died, Amy inherited her house and a bookstore. She takes this as an opportunity to leave behind her “old-life�� of dysfunction and start-over. During the funeral, she meets Dean Stoker (“Stoker”), young, hot, mechanic with an interesting connection to her Aunt. They soon begin to realize they have a lot more in common than just being attracted to each other. They have both experienced a great deal of loss and have learned to cope with it in very dysfunctional ways. As secrets are uncovered and new questions surface about Aunt Beth’s death, Amy struggles to hold on to her “new life” without reverting back to her old ways.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this story… beautiful girl, chaotic life, moves to England and meets a hot “bad-boy”… I mean what’s not to like? Then almost immediately this story touches on some pretty serious topics. I thought I was going to be in for a very emotional ride but then this part of the story gets resolved pretty fast. Amy and Stoker have both been dealing with pain and loss for quite some time and both have been coping with it in very risky/dysfunctional ways. Then within the span of a few chapters, they both seemed stop their dysfunctional ways of coping. I guess I just wanted to feel more of their struggle or understand what changed within them that they no longer needed to use their old way of coping.

I did enjoy the relationship between Stoker and Amy. I had a different expectation when came to Stoker from the “bad-boy” description but what I got was so much better. The build-up and anticipation of what could be happening between them was great. They were very sweet with each other and I thought the dual POV’s enhanced their relationship for me. I also liked the added the mystery behind Aunt Beth’s death and the effect it had on Amy and Stoker. I would have liked to see a few more twists and turns with the mystery but either way I thought the final twist really tied together all the loose ends.

I received this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book for an honest review.

when I started reading this book, the first few pages go me excited, I was intrigued to read more.
"Thrown" is about two troubled teenagers, Amy who is coming to terms with the death of her mum and her auntie B, and Stoker who has lost his mum and brother in a car accident.

the first 50% of this book was setting the story, and introducing us to the characters.

I was really frustrated with this book as I feel that there was a great opening into what could have been a great story. there was a begin and an end but no middle. one minute Amy and Stoker were stealing glances at one another and the next there are in bed together after seven or so Dates. Which was described with in one sentence.

I wished I could have seen a relationship bloom and a connection being made, between Amy and Stoker. you could see that they liked each other, but there was never anything more that that.

The mystery of Aunt B death, again the plot was great, but there could have been more. Amy talks about how her Aunt would set up treasure hunts and set clues out for her, she would teach her to think outside the box,

I think this part of the story wasn't followed through as there was no clues, there was no story apart from detective Macbeth coming along.

I really wanted to love this book as like I said above, the plot was great. I thing it would have made a world of difference if this book was longer and there was a bit more focuses on the relationship between Amy and Stoker, and the mystery of Auntie B's death had more clues, so I could try and figure it out myself .

I think I will try another book from this author as there was some really good parts to this story.

many thanks x

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the start I was intrigued by this story and it kept my attention throughout. After Amy's Aunt B dies, she returns to Promise Cove to take over the bookstore left behind by her aunt. Amy have already lost her mother and now her aunt, only adding to Amy's pain and loneliness. The closest thing she has to a family is her best friend who lives in the states. Amy's self harm is her only release for her emotions and feelings. She meets Stoker (Dean) the day of her aunt's funeral and he immediately senses that she and him have a similar pain inside of each of them and he wants nothing more than to be there for her and know more about her. This story includes a bit of mystery that held my attention, but I wish the story could have been longer.

I loved seeing Stoker and Amy come together. I love the idea of how their pain brought them together and seeing Amy grow stronger and happier once she was with Stoker made me smile. I just needed more from this story! For example, I wanted more scenes from Amy and Stoker. One minute they are getting close, and the next they have already been on multiple dates and it seems as though so much has be skipped through.
Another thing that I wish was included was Stoker's declaration of his love to Amy - We knew he loved her, but we didn't get to hear him tell her and as a romance reader, I definitely appreciate those moments.

This is probably just below a 4 star rating for me. It had a lot of potential to win me over, since I loved the mystery as well as the characters however, just I need more from this story, especially during the second half.

*I received a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review :)

[JMV · Rating 3 out of 5]

**ARC** received for a honest review... Amy has no one left. She doesn't know how to feel. To everyone else, she is a normal sad woman that has not only just lost her mother but now lost the last of her family, her Aunt. But she can't seem to feel the pain and the only way to feel is to inflict her own pain. This is her secret that she has kepted for so many years. She hopes coming to England and running the bookstore her aunt left her will be her new start.
Stoker is dealing with his own pain. His father has blamed him for everything wrong his their life's. He feels he has no one, no future until he sees Amy. He can feel it and he hopes Amy feels it too!
Thrown has a good storyline but I feel it ran a little flat in places. As much as I liked the Amy -Stoker connection, I wanted a little more. Not sure what more was but..more. The book did a good job tiring up loose ends and was glad for HEA.

[Glitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book as a first reads giveaway. I enjoyed this debut book from a new author, and her influences are apparent throughout the book: Colleen Hoover, Abbi Glines, Nyrae Dawn all with some similar leading characters. The pacing and character development were good and her writing style keeps you reading and turning pages. It definitely kept me from getting around to working on my to-do list!!! But it did fall a bit short for me with it's formulaic NA elements: damaged girl meets bad boy and falls in insta-love. Dysfunctional souls find each other and learn to heal and cope quickly. I'm just looking for something a little different and fresh, ya know? Their relationship was sweet and I did enjoy getting to read both POV's. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would absolutely read her next endeavor.

[Kimberly Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

This story had potential. It wasn't terrible, but it did have some things that need work. The book needs serious editing. It was packed full of errors throughout to the point of being distracting.
I found the plot and characters to be a bit predictable.
I couldn't really understand Max Stoker. If he felt the way he did about his son then why did he care what he did with his life. If he would have had a change of heart and admitted his faults and love for his son in the end it would have all made more since to me but the way it went down....it made no sense at all to me.
Like I said in the beginning....it does have potential.

[Jaime Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really liked this book. Amy was brought back to her childhood home, due to the death of her aunt and she was taking over her bookstore. Then she met Dean Stoker, with a name like that he must be hot. I really loved both of the characters, I wish it was a little longer! it was a really fast read with a good story and great characters.

[Alwaysreadingbooks - Reading Drinking and Relaxing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book for my honest review

Just like the title I was thrown by this book. It was better than I thought it would have been and I loved the characters. The story line was interesting and the twist and turns I loved even more. Amy and Dean were the perfect messed up couple that you loved and rooted for. I look forward to reading more from this author

[Philomena Callan Cheekypee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Two wounded kids, a deceased aunt & a mystery. I read this in one sitting & enjoyed it.
Would recommend this as a quick beach read:)

Received from author through goodreads in return for an honest review.

[Tabi Wollstonecraft]

Thrown is now live on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Kobo and Apple! :)