Pretentious: Boxed Set Volumes 1-5

by Jena Baxter

Danny promised his dying father he would take care of the family, but a promise looks much different when someone is twelve than it does at sixteen. When his sister leaves for college, he realizes he’s trapped in his father’s dream. He runs the family restaurant with his mother and tucks his own dreams away, until he falls in love with Aryn, a girl in his chorus class. 

Volume 1 – Alfredo’s - Aryn shares Danny’s interest and applies at the restaurant so she can be near him. Danny manages to arrange enough time for a date and romance blossoms - until Aryn finds Danny with another girl he swears is just a friend. 

Volume 2 – Summer Shade – Aryn is forced to take business trips with her dad, leaving her sitting alone in hotel rooms all summer, and Danny covering her shifts. As the summer draws to an end she meets a man from Sound Bytes, the largest label in the music industry. 

Volume 3 – The Battle - Aryn has returned from her summer vacation and Pretentious is practicing for Battle of the Bands. Danny is considering moving their relationship forward, but Aryn has a secret. Will Danny find out what it is? 

Volume 4 – Murphy’s - Heartbroken, Danny and Aryn deal with a bad break-up, and her father's resistance to Aryn pursuing a future with Danny. 

Volume 5 - Expectations - Graduation has passed, and Danny and Aryn are married. But Kevin’s in town and he has his eye on Aryn, while Carly is pursuing Danny. Can their relationship withstand the attacks?

Pretentious is a series of YA/NA novellas that follow Danny and Aryn in their attempt to create a band and follow their dreams, while honoring Danny’s commitment to take care of his mother, a nurturing Italian woman everyone calls Mama, and his sister, Becky. It’s a story about family, commitment, love and the confusion of betrayal. 

425 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 17, 2016

About the author

Jena Baxter has always loved fantasy, history and time travel. As a child she liked to read, and often wrote poetry as a stress inhibitor while growing up, but like many other writers, she dreamed of writing a novel. So, she enrolled at the UCLA Writer's Extension, to gain the confidence and skill to move forward with that dream.

Today Jena has a middle school/YA fantasy novel, as well as a paranormal, historical romance novel, and an urban fantasy. She also has a book of short stories written by herself and Raven Williams, as well as a dragon anthology, and another to be released November 15th, 2017. Read her story, The Covens of Misty Haven, posted monthly in her newsletter, and website.

Born in Ojai, California, she now resides in Northern California with her husband, Blue-front Amazon parrot, Rain, her sassy-cat, Lissa, and a handful of Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy called Sigh.