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Return to Us by Julie Cross – a Review

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Return to Us by Julie Cross – a Review

 

return to usAmazon / Barnes & Noble

Description:
Summer is definitely heating up…

So yeah, that really happened. Karen’s fist connecting with TJ’s face.
Not only is TJ dealing with a decent sized bruise on his face where Karen gave her best attempt at a knock-out match, now he’s got some explaining to do after Jordan finds out what happened.

Karen’s not ready to forgive TJ for his tough-love tactics to help get her bar routine back in full swing, but she is ready to figure out how to get through to Jordan. He’s being a complete idiot, not dealing with his health issues, forcing her to keep things a secret from Coach Bentley.

With her teammate, Stevie’s, help Karen comes up with a plan to steer Jordan in the right direction—all she needs is a night alone with him and the hiking and camping expedition he promised her weeks ago might be the perfect opportunity.
Or her plan could backfire and he could slip further away from her.
While Karen and Jordan are out playing lumberjack couple in the Pocono Mountains, TJ is dealing with a stranger trying to give him advice on his tumbling, some pretty overt advances from one of Nina Jones’ gymnasts (aka: off limits), and a random hook-up that will most likely end up being a big mistake.


Review:
In Return to Us by Julie Cross, we return to the lives of our wonderful heroes, Karen and Jordan from her full length novel, Letters to Nowhere. To give you an update, Julie Cross has been giving us glimpse into their lives, with short stories that pick up pretty much after the last novella. The Letters to Nowhere series has a gymnastic background theme, with watching Karen and Jordan fall in love and learn to deal with the hectic and demanding life of a gymnast, as well as trying to cope with their sexual feelings for one another. In the last novella, the story left off Karen angry at TJ (he has a bigger role in this story), as well as her trying to cope with Jordan’s refusal to take care of his health issue.

In Return to Us, we spend some time in the gym, as they continue to practice to prepare for the Olympics trials, but the main focus of this story was more about Karen and Jordan working around their feelings for each other, and Karen’s determination to force Jordan to talk to his father to get help. The side story is also about TJ and Stevie, who continue to antagonize each other; but you find yourselves rooting for them to be together.

It is always a joy to come back to Karen and Jordan and their friends. I love the gymnastic background, and look forward to finding out if Karen, Stevie and the others will make the team, not to mention watching Karen mature in her feelings for Jordan. I would prefer this to be a full book, rather than these short stories, since they are too short & fast; we don’t spend enough time with them, nor enough of the story. I always find these short stories to be very difficult to write reviews, as the description tells a lot.

Julie Cross is a fabulous writer, and her honors for Letters to Nowhere prove it. If you have not read Letters to Nowhere, I suggest you do so now. Perhaps when you do, Julie will put all the short stories into a full 2nd book for LTN.

Reviewed by Barb

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Return to Sender/Return to You by Julie Cross – Reviews

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Return to Sender/Return to You by Julie Cross – Reviews

 

Return to Sender

Links to order Return to Sender:  Amazon / Barnes & Noble


Description:
If only summer could last forever…

Karen and Jordan might be out in the open with their relationship, but that doesn’t make it any easier for them to face events looming in the future. Like Jordan leaving for college halfway across the country. Or Karen’s win at a big international gymnastics competition setting the bar high for her future and adding pressure like she’s never experienced before.

But when Nina Jones (aka-US Gymnastics Dictator), makes plans for Karen and teammate Stevie to train at a gymnastics camp for a month—the same camp where Jordan coaches—romantic summer interludes replace their fears of being apart. Both Jordan and Karen know that when fall comes, some very tough decisions will have to be made, but for now, it’s stolen kisses, racing hearts, and whispered words

 

Review:
Return to Sender by Julie Cross is her return to the lives of Karen and Jordan, whom we met and loved in Letters to Nowhere.  I loved Letters to Nowhere and was thrilled when Julie decided, due to the wonderful feedback, to continue their story.  However, in Return to Sender, Julie will be doing short stories, as we follow Karen in her quest to rise up in the Gymnastic world.  If you remember my review of LTN; being part of this world, watching them practice, and fight to make the National team and eventually make the Olympic team was great.  In the middle of this, we spend more time with Karen, as she recovers from the loss of her parents, and trying to move on.  We continue to fall more in love with Jordan, who is such a great character, as he is the perfect young man for Karen.  He wants to take things slow, as she is still very much deep in her emotional grief, and vulnerable.  Jordan loves Karen, and she too loves him.  But gymnastics is everything for her, and this is where she must concentrate, and Jordan is always there for her.

For her own counseling, Karen’s therapist still has her writing her letters to nowhere to allow her to express her emotions.  Very nice touch.  What is nice about this series is watching Karen daily, as she handles the pressures of her gymnastics hopes, especially after coming off winning an international competition; as well as trying to come to terms with her parents’ death.  One of the most emotional moments was when Karen went to help clean out her old home with her grandma, her best friend Blair and her therapist, Jackie.  We watched Karen fall apart as she put on her mothers jewelry, and especially when she sat in the closet surrounded by her mother’s clothes.  I loved when Blair joined her in the closet, then they both picked an outfit to try on.  It was the perfect cleansing of her soul. 

Return to Sender allows us to follow Karen and Jordan, as their relationship grows.  We also get to see how Karen will do on her quest to make the Olympics, as well as to follow the daily life of elite gymnastics.  Letters to Nowhere gave us a full story, and Julie now allows us to continue this story in what is probably the best way…a little glimpse at a time.  This is well written story of two young people slowly falling in love; a young girl trying to cope with tragedy and life; and a background of what it’s like to be an Olympic hopeful gymnast; it is family and friends being there for each other.  I look forward to reading more about Karen and Jordan, and learning more about this fantastic look at gymnastics.

 

Letters3 (2)Links to order Return to You: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Description:
How many dreams can you chase at once?

Even with bad boy, TJ, disrupting their morning workouts, Karen and Stevie’s daily battles with each other are sure to bring both of them closer to a national title at next month’s championships. It’s the kind of feud that creates winning results.

Until a fall from the uneven bars shakes Karen’s rock-solid confidence. Not only does she balk every time she so much as attempts a routine, she’s also facing all this without much support from Jordan. After receiving some bad news, Jordan’s reluctance to listen to reason causes Karen so much frustration she begins to avoid him, needing space to deal with her own issues. He needs someone to force him to make the right choice, he needs his dad to intervene and Karen knows this, but is torn between her loyalty to Jordan and her concern for her coach’s son. Even though both paths lead to the same person—Jordan—it feels like she’s choosing between two different people.

And then there’s the growing tension between TJ and Stevie. They’re obviously on the verge of either ripping each other’s heads off or ripping each other’s clothes off. It’s hard for either Jordan or Karen to tell where those two are headed. Tension is building from every possible outlet and there’s bound to be an explosion of some kind in the very near future.

 

Review:

Return to You by Julie Cross, continues with short stories the lives or Karen and Jordan, our heroes from Letters to Nowhere.  I really do enjoy this young couple, and watching them in their daily lives, especially Karen’s quest to reach the Nationals, and eventually the Olympics. The only problem I have with the short stories is that it is difficult to do reviews.  The description above more or less tells it all.

Karen and Stevie continue to practice under the eyes of the National coach, Nina. But the crux of the story is both Karen & Jordan having their own issues. Jordan is there with his friend T.J., helping coach young kids at camp.  Jordan is sick, with constant fevers, and Karen is having a difficult time, since she fell off the bars. With all this going on, T.J. and Stevie are at each others throats, but it is the arrogant T.J. who tries to help Karen, since Jordan is nowhere to be found. 

Though you know how much they love each other, you can sense tension in Karen and Jordan’s relationship, mainly due to each of their issues.  They key element of this story is the main background of the gymnastics, and trying to prove they deserve to go to the Nationals.  Julie Cross is an excellent writer, and this is wonderful story that continues.  Return to Sender was a great continuation, and Return to You is good, but I felt it needed a bit more meat.  Perhaps I am not getting enough of this story in the short format, as I know that I love Karen and Jordan, and the fabulous gymnastics background.


Reviews by Barb

Copy provided by Author

 

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Catching Up with Julie Cross

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Catching Up with Julie Cross

julie cross
The Reading Cafe is happy to welcome back Julie Cross.  On August 1st, Julie will be releasing a special book close to her heart in Letters to Nowhere. She is here today to discuss discuss her new release, as well as what else we may have to look forward to in 2013

Before we start the interview, let’s refresh your memory about Julie.

 
About the Author Black and Green

I’m the author of the YA sci-fi trilogy, the Tempest series (St. Martin’s Press). I’m also the author of the YA contemporary novel, Letters To Nowhere.

I live in central Illinois with my wonderful husband and three kids currently between the ages of 7 and 12 (the kids not the husband). My writing journey began in May, 2009 with a short story in a notebook.

Within a year, I had written seven (some good some God-awful) young adult novels. Not being a college graduate and having spent the previous fifteen years teaching gymnastics and working as a YMCA Program Director for Recreational Gymnastics, professional writing wasn’t in my plans. Not even close. But ever since the day I started that short story, I haven’t been able to stop. It was love at first sight.

After about a year of writing, I had a three book deal with St. Martin’s Press, and a film option with Summit Entertainment. Crazy, right? I know. It wasn’t until August of 2011 that I quit working full time in order to be at home with my kids more and of course, write more. My young adult time travel debut novel, Tempest, released on January 17, 2012. The rest of my personal story remains unwritten.

Now lets catch up with Julie.

 

Interview beige

TRC: Hi Julie. Thank you for taking the time to revisit with us at The Reading Cafe to discuss your new release “Letters to Nowhere”, and what else you may have in store for us in 2013/2014.

Julie: In addition to Letters to Nowhere, I’m also the author of the YA sci-fi/time travel trilogy, the Tempest series. Right now, the first two books in the series (TEMPEST & VORTEX) are currently available wherever books are sold. The third and final book, TIMESTORM, will release in the US on January 28, 2014.

I also have a co-authored New Adult contemporary series that just recently sold. It’s not announced yet so I can’t give too many details, but it’s called HALFWAY PERFECT and my co-author is Mark Perini, who happens to portray, Jackson, my main character in the Tempest series, on the book covers. You can get more info about that on our joint blog  http://markandjuliegchat.blogspot.com/
Letters to Nowhere
TRC:  Letters to Nowhere is scheduled to be released next week. Can you please tell us the premise of Letters to Nowhere? 

Julie:  Letters to Nowhere is about a 17 year old elite level gymnast who’s just lost both her parents in a tragic car accident. Karen moves in with her coach and his teenage son so that she can continue training. And of course you can imagine that the “teenage son” becomes a major part of this story.

 

 

TRC:  Is this a standalone novel, or will this be part of a series?

Julie: Originally, I wrote it as a standalone but after much persistence from early readers and my own desire to keep writing characters in this world, I’m planning two more books now, RETURN TO SENDER and LETTERS TO YOU. Hopefully I’ll be able to release both of these this fall/winter.

TRC:  Can you please tell us how you came up with the idea of Letters to Nowhere, since this was totally different then your Tempest series?

Julie: The idea of writing a YA/NA novel set in the world of gymnastics is something I’ve wanted to do since I first began writing. But the actual premise for Letters to Nowhere came to me on a flight home from NYC right after my first novel, Tempest released. I kept thinking about a potential female gymnast main character and developing her. But I knew I needed something bigger for her to battle. An obstacle that would nearly make it impossible for her to reach her dream. Then I thought about how big a role parents of elite gymnasts play in their child’s life. And what would happen if I took away that support system? Is her dream really her own or a reflection of her parents? Even if it is her own can she find the strength and the drive to continue on her own?

TRC:  Why did you decide to self publish Letters to Nowhere?

Julie: My husband is actually the one who really encouraged me to dip my toes into the self publishing world. I had been on submission and recently sold three new projects, and none of them fit the Letters to Nowhere mold exactly. And LtN obviously didn’t fit in with time traveling YA associated with the Tempest series. Then all the beta readers that had so kindly read draft one of Letters to Nowhere had been emailing to ask when it would be published. I never went on submission with traditional publishing houses for this book or anything. The timing was never exactly right or I was waiting to hear back on another project. And I finally decided that I just needed to get it out there. It’s the book of my heart and I wanted people to read it. Self publishing is hard work and it would have been impossible without the help of my husband doing all the technical and business type tasks.

TRC:  Was it difficult to switch between different genres like Letters to Nowhere, as opposed to your Tempest series?

Julie:  Letters to Nowhere was much easier to write than any Tempest series books. Contemporary or realistic fiction is always going to be easier for me to write. The challenges with genre switching for me only come with marketing myself as an author. Sometimes it’s hard to sell a book that’s so different than your debut novels.   

TRC:  With two books already released on your Tempest series (Tempest & Vortex), can you please tell us when we can expect the third book of this trilogy?

Julie: I’m actually quite proud of Timestorm (Tempest #3) and I hope readers feel a sense of satisfaction when reaching the end of the trilogy. Basically, I was able to answer almost all the remaining questions that had been hanging in the air over the course of two books and I was able to do so in the first 30-50% of the book. And then it’s new challenges and new battles to be won for the rest of the novel. It was exhilarating to finally write the pages for this huge plot that I’d planned almost three years ago.

TRC:  Can you please tell us what you are currently working on, and what are your plans for 2013 or 2014?

Julie: I’m currently working on a few projects that I’m feeling out. One is a New Adult called Third Degree and it’s about former child genius who, after being rejected for medical residency programs, decides to pursue a third college degree by enrolling again as a freshman, but this time she’s majoring in being 18.

I’m working on the sequel to Letters to Nowhere as well as the co-authored project with Mark Perini. I also have a Mature YA/New Adult crossover set in the world of professional baseball that should release sometime this fall. In addition, I’ve created a NA anthology that I can’t spill too many details about at the moment, but it’s got an amazing premise and an even more amazing line-up of authors.

TRC:  We know you love to write Young Adult.  Have you considered writing a New Adult novel, as that is also close to YA, but for the next age level?

Julie: I love to write YA because it’s my favorite genre to read but I think it’s the fast pace of the stories and it’s all the first experiences and that coming-of-age aspect. I just love that theme. I do have some New Adult titles coming up on my schedule soon, but I also consider the Tempest series to be New Adult because my main character Jackson is 19 and in college when the first book opens. All the characters I write fall between 17 and 19 years old so I’m almost always straddling that line between the two genres.

TRC:  Thank you, Julie for answering our questions. We wish you good luck with Letters to Nowhere.  We also look forward to working with you again in the future.

Julie: Thank you so much for allowing me to participate in this interview!

If you would like to learn more about Julie, you can visit her at the following links:
Website:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Goodreads:

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Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross – a Review

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Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross – a Review

Letters to Nowhere

Links to order Letters to Nowhere: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo


Description:
A Mature YA almost NA set in the tough world of Elite Gymnastics. Grief, love and pursuing dreams are at the forefront of this emotionally powerful love story.

Seventeen year old Karen Campbell has just lost both her parents in a tragic car accident. Grief stricken and alone, her gymnastics coach opens his home to Karen, providing her a place to live while she continues to train, working toward a spot on the world championship team.

Coach Bentley’s only child, seventeen year old Jordan is good-looking and charming enough to scare away a girl like Karen—someone who has spent ten times more hours on balance beams and uneven bars than talking or even thinking about boys. But the two teens share a special connection almost immediately. It turns out Jordan has a tragic past of his own, grief buried for years.

As Karen’s gymnastics career soars, her nightmares and visions of the horrible accident grow in strength. She can only avoid facing her grief for so long before it begins to surface and ultimately spin out of control in a very dangerous way. Can discovering love and lust (simultaneously) help with the grieving process or will it only provide a temporary distraction while waiting for reality to hit full force.

 

Review:

This is an early reivew on Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross, which is a contemporary novel. Julie is in the midst of her successful Tempest trilogy, for which we await the final book.  However, Letters to Nowhere was something she had in the back of her mind for awhile, and finally decided to write what was in her heart, using her Gymnastics background, and is self publishing this book;  because it was totally different then what Julie Cross normally writes.  I loved Letters to Nowhere.  I am a fan of her Tempest series, but LTN was something totally different, and yet a fabulous close to home read. 

Letters to Nowhere is about tragedy, grief, hope, relationships, competition, and growth.

The heroine in this story is 17 year old Karen, an elite gymnastic athlete and we totally identify with her from the start. When the story starts, Karen has lost her parents in a car crash, and her life is in turmoil, filled with grief and anxiety.  Where will she go?  Will she be able to continue with her gymnastic dreams?  Can she rise above her anxiety attacks and live a normal life?  So many questions early on, but Karen’s Gymnastics coach, Bentley offers to allow Karen to remain with the team, and stay at his house with his son, Jordan. 

An agreement is made, and Karen tries to cope without her parents, with the hidden grief  & fears she tries to hide, as well as moving into a different environment.  But Karen most of all, wants to continue to reach her goal to make the Olympics in the future.  Throughout this book, we feel Karen’s pain, especially as her outlet, she writes short letters to her parents, her coach, and Jordan, who will become an important part of her life.  These letters are Karen’s ways of expressing her fears, but these go nowhere, as she keeps them for herself.  They are truly The Letters to Nowhere.  But each letter, though short, allows us to share her emotional grief, and we follow her every step of the way. 

There are so many wonderful parts of this story.  Karen and Jordan take a slow journey to friendship and then eventually something that could possibly be more.  But Jordan is the right person to help Karen get through her grief and anxiety. He helps her with basic things to get past it, as Jordan has gone through his own grief (as has Coach Bentley), having lost his mother and sister to a different terrible tragedy a few years earlier.   But this friendship between the two of them is beautiful and it is Jordan, who comes across as her savior.  What family wouldn’t want a Jordan in their daughter’s life. 

I am in awe of Julie Cross doing something so heartwarming, so emotional, and yet give us the enjoyment of seeing what it’s like in the world of gymnastics.  It was fun to be with Karen, Coach Bentley and the wonderful secondary characters that Julie has created.  Stacey, the assistant coach; Stevie, Ellen, …… her gymnastic friends, as well as other characters who play a large part in this book.  I just loved the practices, competitions, and how each of the athletes handle the daily stress of being an elite gymnastic athlete.  Julie uses her own gymnastics coaching background perfectly to let us see it all.  So well done.

But the heart of the story is Karen, whom we love from the start; and Jordan, who totally grows on us, as their friendship grows.  They are both wonderful, being so realistic, as both have to rise above their own flaws & tragedies.  The focus is though on Karen, if she can overcome her anxiety, come to terms with her grief, and not allow this to ruin her chances to make the US teams that lead to the Olympics.  Watching Karen’s growth in this book was amazing, as we felt her every emotion.  I can’t say enough about Julie Cross’s writing, as Letters to Nowhere is a wonderful and heart wrenching story. The ending does have resolutions, but I do feel there is so much more to go for Karen and Jordan;  the Olympic goal for Karen and her friends, and for those wonderful other secondary characters.  Please please…Julie, do another book.  Letters to Nowhere is a touching, emotional, & gripping story; and yet a fun read with the gymnastic background, the competitions and great the characters.  I never use ratings on my reviews here, but this one is a 5 star all way, it is a must read.  Well done Julie Cross.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author

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