From the New York Times bestselling author of The Impossible Vastness of Us and the On Dublin Street series comes a heartfelt and beautiful new young adult novel, set in Scotland, about daring to dream and embracing who you are. Order your copy of THE FRAGILE ORDINARY today!

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About THE FRAGILE ORDINARY

I am Comet Caldwell.

And I sort of, kind of, absolutely hate my name.

People expect extraordinary things from a girl named Comet. That she’ll be effortlessly cool and light up a room the way a comet blazes across the sky.

But from the shyness that makes her book-character friends more appealing than real people to the parents whose indifference hurts more than an open wound, Comet has never wanted to be the center of attention. She can’t wait to graduate from her high school in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the only place she ever feels truly herself is on her anonymous poetry blog. But surely that will change once she leaves to attend university somewhere far, far away.

When new student Tobias King blazes in from America and shakes up the school, Comet thinks she’s got the bad boy figured out. Until they’re thrown together for a class assignment and begin to form an unlikely connection. Everything shifts in Comet’s ordinary world. Tobias has a dark past and runs with a tough crowd—and none of them are happy about his interest in Comet. Targeted by bullies and thrown into the spotlight, Comet and Tobias can go their separate ways…or take a risk on something extraordinary.

“Endearing and relatable, Comet-the girl who is searching for her place in this world-will shoot through the sky and into your heart.”

— #1 New York Times bestselling author Erin Watt

Review

4 coming of age stars

This is a beautiful and heartfelt coming of age story set in a seaside town in Scotland and tells the story of an extraordinary young girl figuring out her life, herself, and discovering the wonder of first love. It’s a gorgeous YA story by one of my all-time favourite authors, and I loved it!

Comet Caldwell is a 16 year old girl who is unique as her name. With a love of poetry, books, and a quirky sense of fashion, she is an individual who is comfortable with who she is, though she is shy and quiet and keeps to herself, preferring to escape into her world of books than pretty much anything. She has a comfortable homelife, though her parents are too wrapped up in each other to give any love or attention to her, but she has good friends and is about to embark upon her final year of high school before pursuing her dream of attending college in America so that she can get a fresh start and explore her love of writing.

And then along comes Tobias King. New to Scotland, the gorgeous American brings a dose of bad boy into Comet’s world. Tobias hangs with the bad crew, but he’s the new golden boy of the school, and though she can’t quite figure him out, Comet experiences her first real crush. And when the unlikely duo are paired of up for an English assignment, it gives them a chance to get to know each other. They see into each other’s worlds, and come to understand the difficulties that the other is dealing with, and as they grow close, their friendship slowly and naturally blossoms into young love.

“What if what I really want…is you?”
… My answer was instant and absolute. “Then you have me.”

Oh, I love these two together!!! There is something so easy and so beautiful about the two of them, and I reveled in both their friendship and their romance. It all felt so right!

We loved each other. This was real love, I decided as he hugged me close to his side. It had to be. Because nothing had ever felt more real in my entire life.

But their lives are far from easy. They are dealing with family drama, friend drama, bullying, and the usual teenager drama of trying to figure out who they are and what they want from life. Comet and Tobias have their ups and downs – individually and together as a couple. And their individual journeys are just as important as their journey together as they deal with all that life throws at them. It’s all beautifully pulled together into a very special story that had me reminiscing about my own teen years, and made me laugh, cry, swoon and sigh at the beauty of it all.

Before you, I believed real, true, glorious living was in adventure, was in the extraordinary. But I’ve learned that time is not so forgiving, and the real beautify of life is in the fragile ordinary.

This book took me by surprise with its emotion. I wasn’t expecting the feels, but I was easily swept up into Comet’s world, and I loved watching her story play out. She is brave and relatable, and she’s a wonderful narrator for her story. It ends well, though not everything is completely tied up…

…but it sort of fits the book, so I was ok with it.

This was a truly gorgeous read! 4 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Excerpt

As much as I was desperate to see Tobias and afraid to at the same time, I’d like
to think I’m not that self-absorbed. I did offer to spend the rest of the day with Vicki,
not wanting to leave her alone when she was feeling so down about her parents’
separation, but she insisted she had a ton of work to do for the show.
I knew the show meant a lot to her and Steph but I was kind of glad it would be
over soon. It had stolen all their time, and yes, as petty as it may seem, I was jealous
it had brought the two of them closer together.
Nerves returned with a vengeance as I made my way to the esplanade. Not only
was I jittery over my confusing conversation with Vicki about what it was Tobias
wanted from me, but I was tense over meeting up with Stevie. We were basically
about to hand him an ultimatum, and ultimatums usually didn’t turn out well.
As soon as I saw Tobias standing outside the Espy my heart started to pound, my
pulse thrumming hard in my neck. He turned and caught sight of me and began to
stride up the street toward me. His pace quickened and he seemed so determined
my knees quavered a little.
When he reached me I opened my mouth to say hello, but the greeting died on my
lips as he cupped my face in his warm hands and bowed his head to kiss me.
Shock, thrill, fear, want, all mixed inside of me as I closed my eyes and clung to his
arms. His lips were soft, coaxing, brushing against mine, teasing me. Heat flashed
through my body from the tips of my toes to my cheeks, and I leaned in, looking for
something beyond even this. This felt nothing like Ethan’s kiss.
It was lovely…and yet…I wanted more.
Tobias drew his lips from mine ever so slightly and murmured against them, “Open
your mouth.”
I flushed even hotter at the command but did so without hesitation. When his
mouth returned to my mouth he touched his tongue to mine, just a flick, a torment
that made me whimper in confusion. Everything within me seemed to tighten, coiling
into an increasing tension as his tongue danced more forcefully with mine. It was a
dance I easily followed, kissing him back with more fervor, my fingers digging into his
arms.
This was the more I’d been waiting for.
This was everything.
He broke the kiss, gasping my name against my lips.
I blinked, discombobulated. My whole body hummed with an urgency I’d never felt
before.
Tobias leaned his forehead against mine as we sought to catch our breaths and
equilibrium. “I should have done that last night,” he finally whispered.
Relieved laughter bubbled out of me in giggles that made him smile with such
affection that I wondered how I could have possibly doubted his feelings for me.
Tobias King liked me. Me. Comet Caldwell. If someone as special as Tobias could
like me so well, maybe I was a little bit special, too?

Giveaway

Samantha Young is giving away a signed hardback copy of THE IMPOSSIBLE VASTNESS OF US and THE FRAGILE ORDINARY for 3 winners.

ENTER GIVEAWAY

The Escapist Book Blog is not responsible for this giveaway

About Samantha Young

Samantha Young is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows. Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, was published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy.  Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us was published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook and hardback June 2017.

Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.

Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.

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