Mission accomplished!

It’s a 3-star review, but I’m proudest of this one. I started Now & Forever to be inspirational for both the sorts of parents and teens that the story is about, but also for their friends and families. To see a positive review from one such parent of one such teen is very warming:

Sandy Grassini‘s review

Jul 10, 13

3 of 5 stars

It’s a week before her freshman year when Lauren Conners is thinking, for what feels like the billionth time, of breaking up with her boyfriend of the past couple of years. In a seeming answer to her fervent prayers for guidance she looks up into the hypnotic eyes of the quiet little Washington town’s exotic, dark, and alluring new addition.The two fall immediately for one another when their eyes meet. But Lauren can’t be sure – is this love at first sight? An answer from God to her prayer for guidance? Or is this simply lust as she wrestles with newborn passions and desires for the beautiful creature that has entered her life?

The relationship is fraught with other issues on top of the poor young ballerina’s internal and spiritual uncertainty: the two attend the best school in the area, a private school, Immaculate Conception, a Catholic school Lauren has attended since she was in sixth grade and where she has a reputation as a pious, studious, bright, Good Girl. So … what’s the problem here? Oh, her newfound love (or is it lust?) is a girl.

The author has done a fabulous job with each individual character. both girls and parents have great sense of humors. Both parents are very laid back and easy going and suport both their children as they embark on their journey to see if what they have is real.

Sally is a young freshman who saw Lauren and thought it was love at first sight. Lauren feels a connection as well. Even though Lauren isn’t sure about her sexuality, she embraces her feelings towards Sally. Puppy love is so sweet, isn’t it? I call it puppy love because we are talking about 2 14 year old kids. Do they even know what real love is all about. Lauren questions whether or not she’s only lusting after Sally due to her looks and not feeling that same love in return.

Sally has the best sense of humor and I love the way she makes everyone laugh.

Lauren is a sweet freshman who is having difficulty trying to figure out why she does not feel more toward her boyfriend then just friendship. She is confused. Until she meets Sally. Sally also has a great sense of humor. You will see this throughout the book. They are both so sweet, I would ben honored to have them as my own daughters.

As a parent with a daughter that was younger than these two are and faced with the same situation, I thought I was a good candidate to read and rate this book.

Now back to the additional characters. You have both parents, who have been very supportive of the girls new found love. I can relate with these parents, because I have an open communication type relationship with my daughter and she knows she can come to me for anything. I did love these characters, because they were very laid back and easy going. Both loving their daughters very much and the huge key here is the support. They were also very encouraging and helping the girls deal with their sexuality. i would be happy to call them as friends if it were my daughter in this situation.

I rated this book 3 stars. The book was well written, great format. Its basically the day and the life of 2 teenage girls trying to figure out who they are. There wasn’t really any excitement to this book, just normal teenage stuff. I do get what the author was trying to accomplish here, but I would have liked to see more of a story line versus just every day life.