Today I’m happy to welcome YA author Beth Steury! She’s introducing her main character today, and I can hardly wait to read the book!
Stay with us to the end for a chance to win either a print or ebook copy of before I knew you!
Welcome, Beth!
I’m so excited to be here today, to share the first book in my YA series with your audience. Now readers, before you get hung up on the YA label and conclude this is not the book or series for you, you need to know that adult women read YA as much (some surveys say MORE) than those in the YA age range. And why not?
So, let me introduce you to seventeen-year-old Maggie who stars in before I knew you. The chocolate-loving, grammar-accomplished, new-girl-in-town who has never had a boyfriend. I’ll let Maggie herself fill you in on the rest of her story.
Meet “Maggie”
“During my sophomore year of high school, my parents got the bright idea to drag me and my brother five hundred miles away from our friends, our school, our church—from everything I’d known my whole life. Who does that?? All so they could open a health clinic—their dream in life, not mine—in Pine Crossing, Indiana.
Now, I go to Madison High School which is huge compared to my tiny high school back in Minnesota where I knew everyone. After six months, I’m still not thrilled about the situation, but I’m trying to make the best of it. The one bright spot has been Chelsea, my new best friend, whose mom also works at the clinic. I can’t imagine adjusting to this move without the crazy, know-everyone Chelsea Carter.
But I want a boyfriend! I was so sure that this year it would be my turn to be in an amazing relationship with an awesome guy. An awesome Christian guy who would respect my white-wedding-dress future. But . . . I guess not.
Thanks to Logan Wallace and the worst first date ever, the pursuit of the perfect guy is completely on hold. If all the guys at Madison are like him, junior year will definitely not be the year of the boyfriend.
Unless . . . by some absolute miracle, Preston is interested in me. Chelsea insists he doesn’t have a girlfriend, she says I should “go for it”. Which is soooo not me. Anyway, it’s ridiculous to even entertain the thought of us as a couple. He’s popular, charming, and hot. He could have any girl he wanted, so why would he ever be interested in me? He’s actually a lot more than incredibly handsome, he’s sweet, funny, and a gentleman to the nth degree. Nothing like that creep Logan. But he’s so out of my league . . .”
before I knew you will hook you, so it’s a good thing book two in the “Choices Matter” series is available! Book 2, because I know you, picks up the story the very next morning. No spoilers except to say that if Maggie thought life was complicated in before I knew you, she hasn’t seen anything yet.
More About before I knew you
After a series of bad choices rocked his world, seventeen-year-old Preston charts a new course as far from his ladies’ man ways as he can get. He distances himself from the dating scene and avoids his party-loving friends—the things that once dominated his life. Then he meets Maggie, the new girl in town, the first day of their junior year. She’s beautiful on the inside and out, knows nothing of his past, and he can’t get her out of his mind.
When a disastrous first date leaves her skeptical about the guys at Madison High, Maggie slows down her pursuit of a guy to trust with her white-wedding-dress future. She wants a boyfriend, sure, but he’d have to be nothing like the jerk who forced her first kiss. Someone more like Preston, who’s been nothing but sweet and helpful, not to mention, easy on the eyes. But he is so out of her league.
Can Maggie afford to let her guard down around the charming Preston? Will Preston’s past jeopardize his chances with the one girl who could anchor his future?
About Beth
Beth immerses herself in the YA world via substitute teaching, connecting with the teenage staff at the fast-food joint where she claims the back booth as her office, and reading YA fiction.
She’s a cheerleader for saving sex for marriage. Her “Waiting Matters … Because YOU Matter” blog helps people of all ages navigate the choppy waters of saving sex for marriage and “renewed waiting.” In her “Choices Matter” YA series, a relevant cast of high school-aged characters face real-life choices and consequences in the often-messy, rarely simple world of friendship, family matters, and dating relationships. The mini-books of the “Waiting Matters” series offer practical, candid advice for making wise life decisions.
Beth is also a genetic genealogy enthusiast who used DNA to find her birth parents. Her journey to find and connect with her biological family is chronicled in “A Doorstep Baby’s Search for Answers”. Her “Slices of Real Life” posts find GOD in the day-to-day moments of real life.
All of Beth’s writing endeavors can be found on her website at https://bethsteury.com
Connect with Beth
- Facebook: Beth Steury, Author
- Twitter: @Beth_Steury
- Pinterest: Beth Steury, Author
- Goodreads: Beth Steury, Author
Purchase links
- Amazon Author Page:amazon.com/author/bethsteury
Giveaway
For a chance to be entered into a drawing for a copy of before I knew you, comment with the answer to one simple question:
What’s the worst part about being “the new kid” in school? If you were never in that position, what do you THINK would be the answer?
Me? My family moved to another state in November of my Junior year, so I think I might be able to identify with Maggie in some aspects! I’ll share MY answer in the comments!
Stay safe and well, and READ!!
Updated Mosaic Collection booklist! Miss one? Click on the picture!
Thanks for hosting me (and Maggie!) today. I was never the “new kid in school,” thankfully. I would not have handled it well. Even with an out-going Chelsea by my side. But Maggie is a trooper and . . . that’s all I can say. 😀 Thanks again, Regina!
It’s great having you today, Beth! My family moved us from Western KY to Central Indiana when I was a junior in high school. I had all my friends, my boyfriend, and my family there, and we moved to Indiana to work at the denominational state church camp there. It was great, but I was NOT! LOL! You can only imagine. I know, now, that God used it to shape me for what was to come, but it certainly wasn’t easy for a 16-year-old!
Oh wow, Regina, you and Maggie definitely have something in common! But God knew what he was doing like always, aren’t we glad for that?
I went to three different schools, never moved once. Township school 1st thru 3rd grade, it was closed down, so to city school, much larger, was there for 3 yrs then the county line was moved, once again I changed schools. It was scary for a shy girl.
What an interesting scenario, Jane. I would not have liked any of those circumstances!
I was never “a new kid” but I was always shy (introvert), so it must be hard for a shy girl to fine a niche… I grew more confident over the years with God’s help 🙂 Thank you for the post! Blessings <3
Natalya — Shy does describe Maggie. And boy was she upset with her parents . . .
I was the new girl NINE times in thirteen years of schooling! As a little kid, it was fun, but by the time I was ten, I worried who would be my friend. Some communities were kinder to shy girls like me than others. Junior high held the most cruelty. My parents kept us in the same high school though. To move as a junior in high school had to be the worst for missing old friends and boyfriend. I feel for you, Regina. And Beth, my dear Scrib buddy, for never having experienced a childhood move yourself, you did a great job with Maggie’s character!
WOW! You win the “movers” award, Linda! I can only imagine how those experiences prepared you for life in the years ahead, even though at the time you weren’t thinking that would be the case.