What We Thought We Knew

by Bridget Bloom

Rowen Bennett is living a fabricated life. Choosing to ignore anything that will threaten the version of her she wants people to see. Then her boyfriend does the he goes to war with Jax Montgomery, her arch nemesis. After an unfortunate series of events, Rowen decides to take matters into her own hands to get her revenge on Jax. Only, she was playing right into his hands the whole time, and he has plans for her. Jax has lived the last three years emotionally closed off, constantly moving from one target to the next. People move out of his way when he walks by and he prefers it that way. When Rowen, the physical representation of a trust issue is once again too close for comfort, Jax will do anything to keep reminding her that she’ll never be forgiven for what she did to him. Together they will shake each other to their cores, erasing everything they thought they once knew. Rowen and Jax will learn that adjusting isn’t the same as healing, and that sometimes it’s okay to not be okay. That maybe the people they’ve been avoiding are the ones they should have been looking for the entire time. I look around the packed cafeteria for my brother Zach. I haven’t seen him all day and he hasn’t responded to any of my texts. I pull out my phone to text him again, when I hear Toby yell, “Yo, Jax!” The muscles in my back tense as my defenses go up. I look over Blake’s shoulder to see Toby and his t-ball pals coming towards us. I’ve been waiting for this confrontation all day. “Well, this is going to be fun,” Blake mumbles. He may joke around a lot, but I know I can count on Blake to throw down next to me without even having to ask him to. I lean forward on my elbows. “What can I do for you, Toby? Need some relationship advice? Don’t know how to make your girlfriend heel? Need me to tell you what she likes?” Toby’s face turns bright red, making his blond hair glow almost white. “I know it was you who egged my car.” I give him a bland look. “And?” He takes a step closer then stops, prompting my friends to stand up and get into his space. At least Toby has the good sense to stop before he crosses a line he won’t easily recover from. He points at me. “You have no idea what you started this time. Watch your back.” I stand and openly size him up. I’m a few inches taller than he is and have more muscle, but he’s prideful and stupid enough to keep coming at me anyways. “You watch your girl before you lose her. We’ll be spending a lot of time together.” The crowd around us gasps. This is exactly the bullshit drama that gives me and the rest of the hockey team a bad reputation. I don’t have any plans of taking Rowen from him, but I don’t see any problem with working him up by making him paranoid that I’m trying to get in her pants every time we’re alone together. “She’s mine,” Toby growls. “Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?” Something purple reflects off my arm and I look down to see that there’s a piece of purple glitter on my sleeve from when I got too close to Rowen earlier, and the moment I see it, I know Toby does too. His face contorts with fury. “Stay away from her.” I stare him down. “Go play along with your little friends before you get hurt.” Him and his two friends size us up but don’t make a move. Toby holds my stare. “We’ll see, Jax. We’ll see.” Yes, we will. Over Toby’s shoulder I see Rowen enter the cafeteria. Her straight hair now pulled up into a messy knot.

207 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2020

Reviews

[Wende · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

I read this not expecting much but I was surprised. Sometime when you read a new author you get a chaotic mess and a book that is hard to understand. This book was wonderful. Was it perfect? Far from it but more important to me it was entertaining. I enjoyed it. I really hope she writes another book. I can't wait to read another book she has written. I love finding new authors to enjoy. Highly recommend this book.

[Robert Capp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great new YA book by a new voice

The book to be true in so many ways. An enjoyable read. And, of course Mrs. Lou the teacher got me tearing. Enjoyed the relationship between R and K, reminds me of another R and K. It all works and the plug for Mocha House was good, maybe a bit autobiographical?

[george shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author displays great potential in her first piece of work and I look forward to her next offering

I chose 4 stars because it was an entertaining book and I will recommend it to my daughters . One is a teacher and the other one is a school psychologist that works with young people from preschool through high school. I think they will enjoy reading the book.

[Gloria king · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

The characters really drew me in. I felt like I was right there with them. I love when books do that.

[Vi]

Apparently I read this book but i can't remember anything about it