The Harper Effect
by Taryn Bashford
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Publication date: May 15, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Sixteen-year-old Harper was once a rising star on the tennis court–until her coach dropped her for being “mentally weak.” Without tennis, who is she? Her confidence at an all-time low, she secretly turns to her childhood friend, next-door neighbor Jacob–who also happens to be her sister’s very recent ex-boyfriend. If her sister finds out, it will mean a family war.
But when Harper is taken on by a new coach who wants her to train with Colt, a cold, defensive, brooding young tennis phenom, she hits the court all the harder, if only to prove Colt wrong. But as the two learn to become a team, Harper gets glimpses of the vulnerable boy beneath the surface, the boy who was deeply scarred by his family’s dark and scandalous past. The boy she could easily find herself falling for.
As she walks a fine line between Colt’s secrets, her forbidden love, and a game that demands nothing but the best, Harper must decide between her past and her future and between two boys who send her head spinning. Is the cost of winning the game worth losing everything?
Sneak Peek
‘Get out,’ I yell, pulling her up. ‘Get out right now.’ But she’s only wearing a boob tube and panties and I ditch her wrists as if they’ve scalded me.
‘Jesus, girls, keep it down, would you?’ Scratching at his new beard, Colt traipses in the direction of the bathroom.
‘This is a decent neighbourhood.’ The door slams. The shower cranks, making the pipes groan.
Kim flops back onto the sofa, pulling the blanket over her.
‘Who made you the boss?’
Everything speeds up and I’m choking on too much air.
I swoop around the house in a rage, collecting empty bottles and rubbish into a bin liner and scrubbing dishes. When Colt emerges from the bathroom, a shaving cut on his chin and a towel wrapped around his waist, I dive at him, fists slapping at his chest. ‘Is this your answer? Getting boozed up and sleeping with girls? Throwing your life away like your dad did?’ I intend every word to hurt.
He captures my wrists. His glare takes me apart, limb by limb, organ by organ. ‘I said you should go, Harper. I don’t need your help.’ He pushes past me.
‘Yeah, get going, Harper,’ pipes up Kim from the sofa, snorting.
‘You should get going too, Kim,’ Colt calls from the bedroom, his voice firm and cold. ‘Thanks for the company.’
I lean against the hallway wall, repeatedly knocking the back of my head against it. I can’t just walk away – I have to stop him self-destructing.
A door to the left is ajar. Inside, the walls are lined to the ceiling with cardboard boxes that also block out the window.
In the middle of the boxes is a single bed. It’s the saddest thing
I’ve ever seen. Jamie Jagger, tennis superstar, reduced to living in that miserable room, imprisoned by his own love letters and never able to leave behind the ghosts of his past. Never able to move forward.
I storm into Colt’s room. He’s perched on the edge of the bed, elbows on knees. He looks like a door that fell off its hinges.
Meet Taryn Bashford
Taryn lives the typical writer’s life alongside supportive husband, teen children, and characters from her latest book insisting they help make dinner. This can be disconcerting as Jacob is always sticking his fingers in the cheese sauce and Harper can’t cook.
Taryn’s been an English Literature Honours student, an advertising sales rep and a CEO of an internet company, but writing is her first love. The Harper Effect is her debut novel.
Giveaway!
Eep! I love that cover 🙂
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
I don’t think I’ve read a story with a tennis theme before but the book sounds good.
Thanks so much for being a part of my blog tour. Especially as I’m a book sniffer too
Oh this one sounds cute. Might have to try this one.
I like the sound of this and the cover is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
sherry @ fundinmental
New one for me, thanks for sharing 🙂