There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
October 4, 2011 by Thomas Nelson
Paperback, 320 Pages
Review Copy

When Finley travels to Ireland as a foreign exchange student, she hopes to create a new identity and get some answers from the God who took her brother away and seems to have left her high and dry. But from the moment she boards the plane and sits by Beckett Rush, teen star of the hottest vampire flicks, nothing goes according to Finley's plan.When she gets too close to Beckett, a classmate goes on a mission to make sure Finley packs her bags, departs Ireland-and leaves Beckett alone. Finley feels the pressure all around. As things start to fall apart, she begins to rely on a not-so-healthy method of taking control of her life. Finley tries to balance it all-disasters on the set of Beckett's new movie, the demands of school, and her growing romance with one actor who is not what he seems. Yet Finley is also not who she portrays to Beckett and her friends. For the first time in her life, Finley must get honest with herself to get right with God.

Review



Finley Sinclair is good at two things: Playing her violin and counting her calories…what she’s not good at is letting go of her older brother, who’s death two years prior has left her confused, depressed and headed to Ireland for a fresh start as an exchange student. Her parents think it will help clear her head and give her a new perspective on life, while Finley believes it could help because her brother spent the same year there years ago. With the help of her brothers travel journal, Finley will walk where he walked, she will see everything he did and when she reaches the last page of his journal she knows healing will come…..What Finley didn't plan on was not having everything fall into place, or that Beckett Rush, teen heart throb and vampire actor would become her love interest.

The romance throws Finley off a bit but discovering who Beckett really is moves the relationship forward into forever territory- the two bond with shared secrets and hidden problems. With the help of a class project, a little old lady and an exchange family, Finely will face her obsession, her addiction, her grief  and her relationship with God, the one thing she gave up when her brother died.

"We Don't even like each other".... "And I pretty much cant stand you.".....

And then his lips crushed to mine.......

My heart loved this novel, I found the characters fun and likable with the witty banter Jenny is known for in her books, but I also loved that Finley and Beckett were dealing with some very hard issues. Humor helped ease the reader through the subtle yet surprising discovery of Finley's problem and with Beckett, helped see past cliches of celebrity teen actors. While the books main focus is on Finley we do get snippets of teen issues including: depression, bullying, stress, money not being the save all and that everything we read and hear isn't truth. The characters make major progress throughout but the ending was so abrupt I felt I lost a couple friends and wanted to know more. However, despite the wrapped bow ending, I found the charm of the novel cancel that factor out. And granted sometimes, especially for teen readers, they need to know that happy endings and healing does happen.

Full of encouragement, full of faith and full of hope to heal from a shattered past-even the past that we never chose, that a light at the end of the tunnel shines bright once you get there......


Rating

There You'll find Me is recommended to mature teens and adult readers. While wholesome and encouraging- this book touches on death, grieving, eating disorders, celebrity teen issues, mild sensuality (kissing) and healing from the past. Age 14-Up.

5/5- YA-Inspy
Thanks to Thomas Nelson for review galley.

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There You'll Find Me

~Jenny B. Jones~

I write Christian fiction with a few giggles, quite a bit of sass, and lots of crazy. My novels include the Katie Parker Production series, A Charmed Life series, and my first contemporary romance, Just Between You and Me.  I would also like to take credit for Twilight , but somewhere I think I read you’re not supposed to lie. When I’m not typing my heart out (or checking email), I teach at a super-sized high school in Arkansas.