Next Stop, Boston
by Iris Dorbian
GENRE: Contemporary Fiction
BLURB:
Sixteen-year-old Geri Randall's life is turned upside down when her late sister's fiance, Dez Deacon, a washed-up rock star, is named her guardian. Whisked away from the only life she knew and taken on a rock and roll tour, Geri is initially desperate to win Dez's approval. That desire hits a sour note when Dez's treatment of her becomes too much to bear. What ensues is a battle of wills between her and her temperamental guardian, a collision course that will push Geri to do the unthinkable to get what she wants.
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Excerpt:
If there was one thing she’d learned with this tour, it was that time operated on a whole other scale. It wasn’t weird to go out and have a burger at two in the morning, or stay up until five, eat an early breakfast, and then crash until noon.
At first, she’d felt like a vampire, but after a month of this nocturnal schedule, she’d gotten so acclimated to the lifestyle, she wondered how she would ever be able to go back to a daily schedule that consisted of her going to sleep at ten o’clock at night, waking up at seven o’clock so she could arrive at school by 8:30, and be in classes until 2:30 in the afternoon. Then do it all over again the next day. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
“It’s a soulless existence,” Dez said to her a week into her attempt to adjust to life on the road. He was opining about the nine to five normies. “Absolutely brain-atrophying. These poor people are like ants. Hamsters on a wheel, doing the same thing over and over again. That’s why what we do is so important to these people. For two hours, Ger, we bring them the excitement and adventure that’s missing in their dull, defeated lives. We’re like saviors to them.”
Geri clicked on her personal photo gallery. She pored through an unending succession of shots of Dez, as well as shots she never would post on her account: various hotel rooms, desk clerks on phones or dealing with customers, piles of suitcases gathered in a mound in lobbies, regular people sharing drinks at a bar, working on their laptops. She loved the simplicity of these images, which captured life in hotels with an organic detail and vibrancy. She stopped at the bar shots, then zoomed in to snag a clearer view at the people in them. The barflies seemed to be swigging whiskey or scotch, she wasn’t sure—an alcohol connoisseur, she was not; however, she’d seen so many adults in her young lifetime down gallons of liquor, she might as well be.
She studied their features to see if Dez was right about these normies. No, he wasn’t. They didn’t look defeated at all, only tired.
My Review:
Sixteen-year-old Geri Randall’s sister dies in a car accident leaving Geri all alone and without a guardian. Geri’s sister names her fiancé Dez Deacon as her guardian. Geri’s world is changed forever when Dez becomes her guardian.
Dez is a washed-up rock star. Dez does not want to give up his lifestyle or his life on the road so he talks Geri into quitting school to go on tour with him and his band. Geri soon figures out that this is not a smart move.
Dez starts taking advantage of Geri having her do all his errands for him probably just to get her out of the way as there are things that he likes to do that are not suitable for the eyes of a sixteen-year-old. It is not long before Dez starts to take advantage of Geri in more private ways.
Next Stop, Boston is a sad and heart-wrenching story. The characters all have their own problems that they are dealing with. The band or at least one of the band members Val tries to help Geri. Val knows what goes on between Geri and Dez behind closed doors or at least he has a good idea of what is happening.
Next Stop, Boston as well as all the characters will grab your heart from the first page and have you hanging on every word as you can’t turn the pages fast enough to get to the end to see how Geri’s story will turn out. It will have you pulling for Geri from beginning to end.
I would recommend Next Stop, Boston to anyone who likes reading coming-of-age stories. I do give a warning as there are a few things that go on that could or would be triggering for some. If you think that Next Stop, Boston is something you would like to read then I invite you to grab a copy today!
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Iris Dorbian is an arts and business journalist whose bylines have appeared in a wide array of outlets that include Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Crain's New York Business, Business Insider, Buyouts, Venture Capital Journal, Investopedia, Playbill, Backstage, Dance Magazine, Theatermania and Stage Directions, where she served as editor-in-chief for eight years. Her personal essays have been featured in HBO's Inspiration Room, Boomer Magazine, Jewish Literary Journal, Diverse Voices Quarterly, and Gothesque Magazine. Having previously published "Great Producers: Visionaries of the American Theater" (Allworth/Skyhorse) "An Epiphany in Lilacs: In the Aftermath of the Camps" (original publisher: Mazo Publishers) and "Sentenced to Shakespeare" (Sunbury/Milford House Prss), "Next Stop, Boston" is her fourth book.
Connect with Iris Dorbian
Muckrack.com ~ Personal Website
LinkedIn ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
6 comments:
Thank you so much for hosting and reviewing today.
Thank you so much hosting and for your nice review. It is greatly appreciated. Have a wonderful day and week--Iris
Looks like a very interesting book.
This looks like a great read. Thanks for hosting this tour.
sounds like a fun one
Would you ask the author what cost him the most when writing this story?
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