Synopsis
Jude has spent the whole twenty one years of his life running. From what, he wasn’t quite sure. His mother tried to keep him safe; a low profile, a constant move on the horizon, a week’s pay always stashed away. She tried to instill in him that he was special somehow, though would never elaborate. He never felt different. He was so completely normal and vanilla that he wondered if it had all been in her head. But then she was murdered and all he saw was a running silhouette of a man as his mother said three final words to him. Three words that changed his whole being.
Never stop running…
Now he’s semi-settled into a big town. The college is huge and easy to blend into. It’s been three months since he had to move because ‘Biloxi’, as he calls the man who killed his mother, found him once more.
Then Marley, an eighteen year old girl who is as infuriating as she is blissfully ignorant of her gorgeousness, smashes into his car with hers. Then smashes into his life as he realizes that whatever it is he has that Biloxi wants, she has it, too. And now, they’re after them both.
Get Smash Into You
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Jen’s Review
WOW! Wonderful! I really enjoyed reading Smash Into You. This book has romance and it was not over done. It has some edge of the seat suspense, which I totally LOVE! As the story begins, I am thinking this Jude is a total womanizing jerk. I loved how Jude evolved and began to heal after he met Marley.
While reading, when Biloxi was mentioned I kept picturing Mr. Bubbles from Lilo and Stitch. LOL
I tend to get really into the books I am reading, especially when they are as good as Smash Into You was. I end up yelling at my Kindle. LOL, Mike just loves to tease me about that. I was shouting out all kinds of “No , No, No, No’s” and “How could she” type things. 🙂 I got so excited I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling Mike what was happening since I was ahead of him in the book.
Mikes’s Review
Shelly Crane has worked her magic once again. As soon as I picked this book up I didn’t want to put it down. My phone (which I do all my e-reading on) was mocking me at work all day long that I couldn’t read it and Jenny was getting a head start on me! (Make sure to read her review to see why that’s an issue!)
Smash Into You was such a wonderful blend of so many elements. Part action, thriller, romance, and comedy. It had a very unique voice for a Shelly Crane story too as it’s entirely in the point of view of our main male character Jude. I would call this romance “Sweet but Surly” as he seems determined to push her away while fate does its best to keep them together.
There’s plenty of of jaw dropping moments mixed in with action and suspense to spare as they do their best to stay one step ahead of the mysterious “Biloxi”. I can usually spot a twist coming but I got surprised by a number of them!
This poor couple have both spend a lifetime being kicked around in one fashion or another, it’s nice to see their journey together into becoming humans again. (Read the book, you’ll get it).
About the Author
Shelly is a NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling YA author from a small town in Georgia and loves everything about the south. She is wife to a fantastical husband and stay at home mom to two boisterous and mischievous boys who keep her on her toes. She loves paperbacks, coffee, and candy corn, and to spend time with her family and friends, go out to eat at new restaurants and site see in the new areas they travel to, listen to music and also LOVES to read.
Her own books happen by accident and she revels in the writing and imagination process. She doesn’t go anywhere without her notepad for fear of an idea creeping up and not being able to write it down immediately, even in the middle of the night, where her best ideas are born.
LINKS: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Inteview with Shelly
Besides origami, what other hidden talents do you have?
Ha! Well, I used to love to sew. I made myself skirts and pillows and always fixing stuffed animals and such. I haven’t done much of that in a while. I have a pretty good throwing arm, if I do say so myself, and like to toss the ball around with the hubs and our boys. I have a talent for making a hundred book ideas that I’ll never ever get to or have time to write because my brain will not stop working. I have notebooks full to the brim of book ideas and notes. It’s a sickness.
What’s your favorite bit of useless trivia?
All the clocks in the movie “Pulp fiction” were stuck at 4:20
You’re trapped on a deserted island with a book boyfriend. Who is it?
Probably Dimitri from Vampire Academy. The reason is pretty obvious, I mean he could totally kick pirate butt and all that jazz. Keep me safe from the animals. Build a fire. Yep.
Out of your own books, which is your favorite and why?
Collide. Not just because it was my first book, but because it definitely has the action and tons of things going on at once. It was so fun to write.
What are your writing inspirations?
Music, when I watch a movie and think of how I would have ended it instead,
Do you have any must haves, while you’re writing?
Music. Coke zero, regular or cherry. I tend to forgo meals because I don’t want to stop writing when I’m really in deep, in the zone on my deadline, so snackage is key.
If you could choose anyone to play Mason in a movie, who would you choose?
Hmm… Matt Bomer would be good.
Are the names of the characters in your novels important to you?
Yes! I research the names probably more than anything else. It takes the longest unless I’m hit with a name early on that I just know is perfect. Lots of times they mean something or have a story behind them, but only a few people have ever noticed the secret meaning.
Can you give an example of a negative comment or review that you turned into a positive?
Well, bad reviews hurt, but it’s one thing if they just didn’t like the book. Every book isn’t for everybody and that’s OK. But if there’s something that more than one person says is an issue, or something that they want to see or don’t see… I don’t know. That’s touchy and I try to steer clear of that. But if it’s an issue that doesn’t involve the plotline, I always look into those. Like the way everyone hated the MASSIVE cliffhanger in the 3rd Collide book, Catalyst. LOL I personally hate cliffhangers myself, but all my books even the series books end in a way that you at least feel satisfied to some degree. But that whole ‘Merrick’ situation was just set up so perfectly and I figured I needed to do a big cliffhanger, at least once! 🙂 So I did it. I know that’s a big thing with authors right now – to do the awful cliffhangers and people complain about it, but the authors keep doing it and people keep rushing out to buy them so… But I did it. I can say I did it now, but I don’t foresee any huge ones in my future because it was mentioned in almost every review how much they hated that cliffhanger. 🙂
Taken out of context, what would be the thing you’ve researched for a book that would raise the most eyebrows?
Ah, for Collide, I searched all the ways to make home bombs and then all the churches in the state of Illinois because I didn’t want to use an actual church name since the town name was a real place, and all kinds of military tactics and jargon and base locations. Honestly, I figured I was at least going to get a nasty email from them saying, “We see you,” or something. LOL but nothing. Truthfully, I was a little disappointed that they didn’t even consider me as a threat.
