Just a Little Series: Part One

Just a Little #1-4

by Tracie Puckett

A compilation of the first four parts in the series: Just a Little Crush, Just a Little Embrace, Just a Little Sincerity, and Just a Little Promise.

JUST A LITTLE CRUSH
When a class assignment requires seventeen-year-old Julie to shadow someone on the job, she's overwhelmed by the decisions she'll have to make. After all, she has no clue what she wants from life post-graduation. So when her Uncle Charlie, Oakland's Chief of Police, suggests Julie fulfill her twenty hours of required job shadowing at the local police department, she's thrilled at his solution. Thinking she'll spend her days filing paperwork behind a desk, she finds herself quickly agreeing to his proposition. But Julie's expectations are quickly turned upside down when she meets Luke, the young and handsome (albeit somewhat stubborn) officer she's assigned to shadow on patrol.
With every hour she logs with Luke at the wheel, her feelings stir deeper, and Julie can't help but wonder if what she's feeling has developed into more than just a little crush.

JUST A LITTLE EMBRACE
Gone are the days of police patrol. With ten hours to go before completing her job shadowing project, seventeen-year-old Julie Little's assignment has switched gears, and now she's required to start living the lifestyle of every man (and woman) in uniform. Under Luke's command, Julie is obligated to complete her remaining hours through early morning exercise training. And despite her distaste for physical exertion, Julie's crush on her mentor continues to grow by leaps and bounds with each passing day. And just when she's certain that she's making progress in her relationship with Luke, Julie learns that the new guy in town has taken an interest in winning her heart... and as far as she's concerned, there's only room in her heart for one man... even if he still hasn't figured out that they're meant to be.

JUST A LITTLE SINCERITY
Plans for the Oakland Fall Ball are officially underway, and it's up to seventeen-year-old Julie Little to pull off a night her classmates will never forget. But with the recent tragedies that have torn through her life, Julie can't stay focused on the task at hand. With the added stress of the dance, family, and fragile friendships, she continues to struggle with the pain that comes with love and loss. And with the fate of her love life hanging in the balance, a close friend finally lays it all on the line; Julie will never be happy... until she finally lets Luke go....

JUST A LITTLE PROMISE
In the beginning, all she wanted was a sense of direction. Now, she's fighting in the name of love.
Seventeen-year-old Julie Little is under constant scrutiny. Try as she might, she can't make a single move without her uncle's permission--and Charlie will stop at nothing to keep her from Luke (even if that means putting her behind bars for an hour or two). But Charlie's overbearing behavior is the least of her worries. Derek is consumed with guilt. Luke is struggling to overcome his past. And Julie is on a diehard mission to change things that are completely out of her control... even if that means betraying the man she loves.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Collections, Chick Lit

ebook

First published December 4, 2012

About the author

Tracie is an award-winning stage actress, an international bestselling author, and the proud mother of two beautiful boys.

Her debut novel, Breaking Rules, was selected as one of iBooks Best of 2014 in Young Adult.

In the rare occasion that she's not playing matchmaker to fictional characters, you can likely find Tracie zooming down the hills of America's greatest roller coasters!

Reviews

[Sarah Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a Little Crush
MATT: "So you do like him?"
JULIE: "It's crazy, Matt...there's just something about him that makes my heart beat way too fast and my nerves a little too jumpy. But then there are times when he makes me feel so...angry. I mean, I have literally wanted to smack him since the moment we met. But then...there's a tiny part of me that only wants to smack him so I feel his skin under my palm. And I'm just so infuriating-"
MATT: "Julie, that's enough. Not necessary, I get it-"
JULIE: "And there's this look that he gets in his eye when he's being sincere that just makes my knees buckle-"
MATT: "Okay, Julie-"
JULIE: "And his hair. Oh my god, his hair. What I wouldn't give to just run my fingers through every strand-"
MATT: "Julie-"
JULIE: "But that's what trips me up, Mattie. He's the most beautiful man on the face of the Earth, but I can't figure him out. He's impossible to read. There's no way to interpret what's going on in his head. He's just...just so...just..."
LUKE: "What? Just so what?"

(Julie is saying all these things without any acknowledgement of Luke standing right behind her.)

Just a Little Embrace
"Luke," I cried, watching his blood seep through my fingers as I applied more pressure to his chest. "Luke. Please...please don't leave me." Through jagged breaths and tears, I tried to find the strength to continue. I had to tell him. He had to know before it was too late. "I love you, Luke. You can't leave me. I need you."

Just a Little Sincerity
JULIE: "You know that feeling when you're driving down the road, and you arrive at your destination, but you can't remember for the life of you how you got there? Obviously you found your way, you got there safe, but...the whole idea of how you actually arrived is a mystery even to you?"

Just a Little Promise
He leaned down and whispered something, but I couldn't make out the words. Even this close, the band was still far too loud.
"What?" I yelled. He smiled, shook his head, and whispered again. "Luke," I yelled again, pointing to my ears. "I can't hear you, it's too loud-"
"I love you!" he yelled...and this time everyone heard it. The band had stopped at the most inopportune moment, and now everyone in the line-up, and even a few members of the gathering crowd, watched us with wide eyes.
I took a long, deep breath as I looked around, failing to meet his gaze.
"Julie," Luke said, his voice much quieter now. He lifted his hands to cup my face. "Did you hear me?"
I couldn't help but smile. Of course I heard him. The whole town heard him.

"What do I have to do to get through to you, Julie?" he asked, grabbing at the roots of his hair. "Stop - chasing - Luke. He's no good for you -"
"I know you think that," I said, pulling myself up to take a stand. "And I know you've thought that since the day he came here to talk to you." A questionable look swept across his face, but he bit his tongue and let me continue. "But you know what, Charlie? I don't care anymore. I'm not gonna keep pretending that what you're doing is okay. You can't keep bending over backward to keep me from seeing him. You can't follow me around, question my every move, and lock me up in jail cells for the rest of my life, I love him-"
"I don't care," he said. "As long as you're under my roof-"
"I live by your rules," I said. "Yeah, I know. I've heard it a million times."
"You and Luke...that combination is out of the question-"
"I don't understand why you hate him-"
"I don't care if you understand!" he yelled. He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "Luke is a damn good cop; he's an even better person. I couldn't ask for someone better on my force. My feelings about this situation have nothing to do with me not liking him. I love that kid like he's my own. My problem, Julie, is that I don't like the idea of you with him."
"If he's so great," I said. "Why are you so recklessly determined to keep us apart?"
He glared at me, wearing his typically stern expression, but I refused to falter. For once in my life, I had something worth fighting for, and I was going to fight for it. Charlie must've sensed the determination in my stare, because he finally dropped his head.
"Because," he said. "if you keep running after him, you'll finally get what you want."
"And...getting what I want is a bad thing?"
"Yes," he admitted, and I had to give him credit for honesty. But I still didn't understand. "You're beautiful, Julie. You're so intelligent, and sure...Luke would be an idiot to ignore all that. So yes, if you go after him, he'll fall. Hard. And maybe someday you'll get married and have a kid of your own."
"I'm failing to see the problem with this picture," I nearly whispered, imaging the joy, that would come with spending an eternity with Luke.
"What happens when you get that call?" he asked, his eyes welling up with tears. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Reibeck, your husband won't be coming home. He's dead." He choked down a sob, and I could see him reliving his very own past. A tear escaped from his eye and he quickly wiped it away. "Then what, Julie? Then you have nothing!"
"Charlie-"
"No!" he yelled. "Why haven't you learned? Don't you remember what you went through the night Luke was shot? Don't you remember the hell it put you through? Multiply that by a million and maybe you'll understand what it would be like to fall in love with him, marry him, have a family with him...then have it all ripped away in one fell swoop."

A few silent moments passed before another sound came from either of us. This time, it was Luke.
"Jules," he said, shaking his head. "Promise me something."
"Anything."
"That you'll never stop."
"Never stop what?"
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Loving me the way you do."
I nodded as a tear slipped from my eye.
"I'll always love you, Luke," I said. "I promise."

When he pulled away, he brushed my face yet again, this time just to feel the warmth of my cheeks beneath his fingers.
"Promise me something," I whispered.
"Anything."
"That you'll never stop."
A small smirk lifted the corner of his lip. "Never stop what?"
"Kissing me the way you do," I said, trying to restrain a smile.
A low groan escaped from his throat, and I couldn't help but flash him a daring smile.
"Julie Little," he said, shaking his head. "I will hold you, love you, kiss you, and protect you...forever. I promise."
And with that, our lips fell together again. Luke held me close against his tight body. Even through the layers, I could feel the heat radiating from his body. We were lost in a kiss that felt far too right, and completely unbreakable...until the front door swung open and Lonnie stood at the threshold.

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trigger warning for this series: suicide, child abuse, and alocoholism

The writing style was nice, but I can’t move past the fact that this series is a romance between an adult cop and a teenage girl. The romance irked me and not only is the age issue illegal, it also felt insanely wrong to me. Luke also started out as sort of a mentor with her job shadowing project, so there’s also a little bit of a power imbalance there that didn’t sit right with me.


And spoiler alert for book three:





Luke watching her sleep was lowkey really weird and reminded me of Twilight.

[Nuberia Barthell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Like words can't even explain how much I like this book. I am a teenage girl in middle school right now and I can relate so much to this book. Like u don't understand. This book all of her Just a Little books really help me in life. I like the advice she gives well the indirect advice she gives. Tracy Puckett is an amazing author and I hope to see more from her.

[Emily Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a Little Series is a cute and addicting story, however I never really connected to the characters or the romance :( Also, I got a little bored by the end.

I would recommend Just a Little Series as something light to read on a rainy day :)

[Carolina Colleene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language: PG13+ (15+ swears, 0+ "f"); Mature Content: PG13+; Violence: PG13+
I only got to the start of the third one before I had to stop. The constant back-and-forth, hot-and-cold feelings and signals was at least as annoying for me as it was for Julie. I couldn't do it anymore. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, and the violence rating is for gun use, murder, and mentions of suicide.

[perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

giving this 3 stars not because of the quality of writing but because of the nostalgia. i read this in high school and reading this series again is pure nostalgia for me,,, a fun and at times wild ride lmao,,,, reminds me of a telonovela. would recommend for tweens/teens or a quick beach read

[Molly 💌 · Rating 4 out of 5]

my fave little guilty pleasure <3

[Heather Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some language and violence. Not sure how I feel about her being 17 and dating a 23yr old. But when it was written, there weren't as many issues with underage dating.

[Jazz · Rating 1 out of 5]

The age gap is very creepy cause she is a minor. Easily could have aged every one up and put her in college instead.

[Sea Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Tracie Puckett, two books in row and both have given me a cheek splitting grin and an inability to put them down for more than a few minutes at a time. It's safe to say she has found a place on my favourite authors list.

I usually hate short stories. I hate falling in love with characters and only having less than a hundred pages or so to actually enjoy their story and then poof, they're gone forever. That or the characters depths are shallower than a shower, their development sometimes rushed and lacking, almost sacrificed for the sake of moving the story along quickly when in retrospect more time could have been given and a bigger story developed, and in that case I refuse to pay to read further into the series.

I don't know if it's because I read this series as a four part instalment, but I didn't have any of those problems with the Just a Little series. So far I've only read the first four but that was enough to get me hooked. Without a doubt I will be reading on.

Julie Little is a great leading girl, I loved her just as much as I loved Puckett's leading lady Mandy Parker from Breaking Rules but for extremely different reasons. Though I will say both girls carry very similar qualities. Julie, like Mandy, has a jaded past, though Julie most definitely got the harsher back story. But this is a review for Julie's story so I'll stop comparing and stick to her. She was a kind hearted girl, in desperate need to let go of her grief and in stumbling across Luke she found that. She's young and so could easily be accused of being naive and delusional but I don't see her that way. Her feelings for Luke are genuine, and time and again she proves that. I admired Julie because in times when I would have walked away, she held on, "determined" is definitely a word I too would use to describe her.

Luke Reibeck, like Julie, has a complicated past. That only gets more complicated. I really like Luke, there were moments he could of acted better but to be fair, he was a twenty-three year old cop falling in love with a seventeen year old. That's got to be a tough position to be in. So I could understand a lot of the choices he made. The six year age gap is what leads me onto my next thought.

I'm detecting a pattern in Puckett's stories where the guy seems to always be somewhat significantly older than the girl. I personally have no problem with that, as long as the younger of the two is old enough to understand the concept of what they're getting into and it isn't illegal. Unfortunately Luke and Julie borders on illegal, which I'll admit did pop into my mind every now and than. I probably would have preferred it if Julie were at least eighteen but then I don't feel as if Luke really crossed any boundaries, so props to Puckett for playing out the age gap well.

Seeing as this is the second book I've read and loved by Puckett (I'm counting it as one as although it was technically four I read it in one book) I look forward to reading more by her in future, and like her Breaking Rules sequels, I will be finishing the Just a Little series.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of books like the Just a Little Series when I was growing up. I hadn't read YA in some time, but was immediately transported back to being in my early teens, curled up with a good book. I devoured the four parts in one sitting (much like I would have at age 12 or 13). The characters were excellently drawn. I loved Julie's spunk and Luke's sometimes misguided attempts at being serious and mature. There were a couple times I even held my breath and read quickly trying to see what would happen next. Puckett has written a heroine who is strong and not afraid to be herself and should be applauded for this. Excellent job!

[Samhy · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Webster Grove I wanted to read more from Tracie Puckett. Here the rating will be for the overall series since I can't remember which installment I preferred or why.

I found the Webster Grove characters had somehow more depth. Had I read the Just a Little series first, I may have rated it higher. For me there was too much on again, off again thing going on between the main characters. And the uncle who started nice became quite annoying.

That being said it's still a nice read and a good way to cheer up one's mood.

[Michelle Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Tracie's other two series (Webster Grove & Breaking) first and absolutely LOVED them, so of course I had to read this series as well. From the very beginning I was hooked, but it was a love hate relationship. I was so anxious to find out what would happen next but I could have just strangled Julie and Luke several times. As much as I loved this series, I will say that it was a tad bit over the top sometimes, but like I said,I was hooked and I wasn't going to rest until I figured out how this latest love story ended.

[Latasha Carrasquillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out fine....

This book started off fine. Then after about 50% I got bored. Struggled through until about 62% got bored and skimmed a few pages. I really wanted to love Julie but I couldn't really connect with her character. Then Luke he was just down right mean and nasty to her at time. Cheers to her cause I would have never been that obsessed for him. She was only 17 but I didn't think their relationship was healthy and he always talked condescending towards her. Not the stuff for romance.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series made up of four novelettes. Part one is free through iBooks. I wasn't expecting much, but thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. The story was enjoyable and I was hooked enough that I bought parts 3-4. Although this is a fluffy read, the writing is good. The characters are developed well, and each one has their own individuality. Fill in the details, elaborate on the characters, and this compilation would be a great novel.

[Alex L Criddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these novelettes. Yes, I am a grown, married woman, but I don't think I will ever stop enjoying teen romance novels. The characters were relatable, the writing was well done, and I couldn't stop reading. I was smiling and chuckling throughout the series and my eyes even welled up a time or two. Hooray for teen romances! Thank you Amazon for the free Kindle edition; now I just need to wait until I have a few dollars to spare so I can buy the next part of the series.

[Amanda Scott]

I loved the book just a little series. It was a great book. I loved it . The book is about a girl named Julie who is in high school. She has to do a shadowing project for school and she goes to her uncle who is the chic of the police station. She has to shadow a policeman named Luke. He is a very nice man. Julie ends up having a little crush on him and he might have feelings for her also. A lot of things happen in this book and it all leads back to o
Either Luke or Julie.

[Chantelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this sitting untouched on my kobo for months now, so today I decided to give it a go and not expecting to like it much. I was wrong about that, and was hooked from the moment Officer tall, dark and mysterious was introduced. I loved the tension and the rapport between the two. And each character was likeable in their own way which I liked. (Well obviously apart from Hannah). Even when I wanted to dislike Derek I just couldn't.
Overall so glad I took a chance on this.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable Part of this series and is fine to just read Part1-4 by themselves no nasty cliff hangers just a nice rounded finish but as always there is more if you want it. But don't be too put off by the cover I thought it was going to majorly girly when I saw the blond on the cover but it is a good cop story with some interesting characters.

[Janice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am disappointed...

I didn't didn't like this one. I don't think I'll finish this series. The writing is trivial...the characters are cheesy...especially Luke. I was actually pulling for Derek because Luke was so annoying. And the way the author had Luke calling Julie kid or kiddo made me feel like I was in a bad Humphrey Bogart movie. Terrible book. Skip it.

[Leanne Crabtree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm... I think the love thing came about too quickly for my liking and the crazy neighbour thing totally caught me unawares though I kinda guessed her identity. As for the good; I liked Luke and Julie once they stopped fighting about the possibility of them.

And as for whether I want to finish the series...I haven't quite decided. Hmm... I'm not in any hurry to.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little more than half way in gave up and started to skim through and eventually skimmed the last chapter of part 4. At first it was entertaining and I didn't so much cared about it, but then Julie got extremely annoying and the events went by so fast that it became distasteful.

[Swash2249]

Can't wait to see what happens next!

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and addicting east, quick read.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, but glad I didn't have to pay for it. Not sure if I'll bother buying the last four novellas.

[Nerissa Ayala Lesko · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are like crack. I stop reading them. I read 8 volumes in one day. I recommended them. They have romance, comedy, and a little bit of suspense. Good read

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julie Little has a horrific past. She falls for her mentor, Trigger and it's all about their love/hate story! I laughed, I cried, I loved this series and can't wait to read more!!

[Lemonade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series was a nice little read to pass my time.

[Nikki W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book.
It had a interesting plot and a fair amount I plot twists just to keep you going. The character's were well developed, and the overall story is quite believable.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really cute story. A nice short read that had a good story plot with a dash of forbidden romance. It's a great book to read if you're running short on time.