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Contemporary YA Clean Romance
A
convict’s daughter should never fall for an FBI agent’s son, certainly not a
feisty teenager like Julianna Schultz who is furious over her mother’s
incarceration and the injustice of it all. But that’s exactly what
seventeen-year-old Julianna finds herself doing when Cody Rush, the cocky son
of the FBI agent who put her mom behind bars, moves into her hometown of
Gilbert, Arizona.
Cody Rush—studious,
principled, athletic, good looking and blond to boot—is everything Julianna
hates, or so she thinks. Yet a series of ill-fated events one night brings them
dangerously close, entangling the futures of two people who were never meant to
be…
Excerpt—Photo Booth
JULIANNA
We listen to the monotone voice
reel off instructions. Four pictures. A light will flash before each picture is
taken. Etcetera. How I ended up in this position I’m not sure. We both sit,
staring at our reflections on the dark plastic and, no doubt, both stuck on the
same thought that crosses everyone’s mind when they’re on this seat.
“Quick,” I say, “what should we
do?”
A flash of light. Picture one down.
Both of our mouths were hanging open, blank stares straight ahead.
We burst into laughter and can’t
stop. A second flash. Picture number two: both of us laughing.
Our gazes meet and we pull
ourselves together, his eyes never veering from mine. He leans toward me,
coming halfway before pausing, his eyes seeking permission. I regard him with
equal parts terror and anticipation, the intimacy of the situation whispering a
thrill. He closes the distance between us and glides his nose through my hair.
My heart rattles around as though this is the first boy I’ve ever been close
to.
“Now smile,” he whispers into my
ear. Even if I should be creeped out, forget it. My cheeks burn despite myself
and I feel the corners of my lips tugging upward. A flash of light signals the
third picture and I am totally seduced.
About the Author
Laura
Johnston lives in Utah with her husband and three children. Growing up with
five siblings, a few horses, peach trees, beehives and gardens, she developed
an active imagination and always loved a good story. She fell in love with the
young adult genre both through her experience in high school as well as her job
later as a high school teacher. Laura enjoys running, playing tennis, sewing,
traveling, writing, and above all, spending time with her husband and kids.
About Writing BETWEEN NOW & NEVER
My husband was a special agent for five
years, and while I’m sure he would have loved it if I’d written an intense
thriller about Special Agent Johnston thanks to all of his crazy stories
(sorry, babe…maybe someday!), I wrote a romance instead.
The convict’s daughter and the FBI
agent’s son—I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Couldn’t resist.
Soon, characters began taking shape.
And then a certain photo booth scene that had been on my mind for years came
back to me. For so long, I couldn’t shake the image of two strangers meeting in
the mall at a photo booth. I frequently wondered why I couldn’t stop thinking
about these two mysterious people.
The two characters now had a face, a
name.
Julianna,
the convict's daughter; Cody, the FBI agent's son.
Julianna
doesn't realize who Cody is at first. Yet he does—Cody knows who she is, knows
his dad put her mom behind bars. And he's into her. And Julianna is into him. However,
Cody knows it won't last...as soon as she figures out who he is.
Add to
all of this the fact that Cody knows Julianna is in danger and we have their
first meeting, near a photo booth, right after Julianna gets off work at the
mall.
Their story was something else to
write, and I’m so excited to see it in print!
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