Sometimes, you’ve got to let go of all you’ve held on to.
I feel like I’ve been given a place in life – expectations of me – that it’s useless fighting. So I don’t bother. I’m the guy they all think I am; fighting, smoking, drinking. Because what else is Roman Lombardi but a troubled teen?
No one’s convinced I’ve got anything going for me. I take what – and who – I want when I want it, and never think about anything more than a couple of hours in the future.
One holidays, I find myself hanging out with the resident Miss Popular, and she surprises me. With Piper, I can be whatever me I am. I can be the surly, troubled teen and…it’s enough. I’m enough. Feeling shit together makes things just a little less shit. Until it becomes more.
But, I don’t do more. Do I?
What do you do when you find perfection by accident, in the least likely of places?
Maybe you can’t believe you’re finally worth it.
Perfectly Accidental is Roman’s story. A Mature YA novel about finding support in the least likely of places, never giving up, and learning that being the real you is always perfect, it is the companion novel to Accidentally Perfect. Please be aware that this story is set in Australia and therefore uses Australian English spelling and syntax. Not recommended for younger readers due to mature content. I mean it, this one’s dirtier than Piper’s side.
Breaking up is hard to do. Whether you’re breaking up with a bad habit, a life you know, or your first boyfriend. But we all have to do it. It’s just one of the many sucky things about growing up. Some of us do it better than others. I do it badly.
Wade Phillips shattered Lisa McGinty’s heart in Year 10 for no known reason. One minute he was the perfect boy-next-door boyfriend, star goalie on the soccer team, and future head prefect. The next he was like a different person altogether, dumping Lisa and systematically making his way through every girl in our year.
By Year 12, he’d made it through most of them and was on to the year below. He’d miraculously made Head Prefect and was somehow still on the Soccer team, even though he put more effort into partying.
Lisa and I were used to his sarcastic teasing, his shallow taunting, and his insincere flirting. My best friend put on a brave face in front of him, but she still felt the sting. I knew she still loved him. At least, she thought she did. I kept waiting for her to see he wasn’t worth it.
No one knew what happened to Wade and no one got close to him anymore. Not until a life-altering incident throws me unavoidably into his path.
For one single second, I see through the armour he’s built. It takes just one single second for him to see through mine. Something connects us. It turns out, Wade Phillips might be the only one who understands me. It turns out, I might be the only one who understands him.
Wade Phillips might be the guy to teach me the art of breaking up, but will my heart – and Lisa’s – break in the process?
Break through Barriers to Healing from Trauma and Discover Paths to Healing
Trauma can either be used as a catalyst for growth, sparking empathy and a closer relationship with God, or as fuel for shame, avoidance, and isolation. Many veterans and first responders know firsthand the toll that trauma can take but lack the knowledge of how to grow from it and move forward.
In Unshackled, Elizabeth Stevens uses her unique perspective as both a trauma survivor and a professional psychiatrist to help veterans and first responders, as well as other trauma victims, learn how to grow and heal from their traumatic experiences so that they can experience the abundant life God has for them.
Specifically, you will come to understand and learn
- the effects of trauma from Elizabeth's story of brain injury, multiple sexual assaults, an eating disorder, post-traumatic stress, suicidal thoughts, depression, and loss of independence;
- how to get past barriers to healing;
- which paths will move you forward;
- the importance of holistic healing―physical, psychological, and spiritual; and
- that Jesus Christ delivers the ultimate healing.
Three's a crowd, but four's a war.
Big girl undies? Check.
Speech planned? Check.
Nerves of steel? Check.
A single crush? Not check . . .?
What do you do when you find your best friend/crush kissing your other best friend on the day you were going to declare your feelings for him?
You only agree to fake date your crush's rival. The King of the Bows, popular golden (play)boy, and all around douche, Xander wouldn't be my last choice for a boyfriend.
Across the school, battlelines are drawn and sides are taken between the new "it" couple of my former best friends and the excitingly scandalous pairing of me and King Douche.
Xander keeps distracting me from the plan; make Jason jealous. He insists on holding my hand and kissing me and being nice. Ugh.
Xander's not nice and he's not the relationship type, but he's doing a damned good job of acting both parts.
He calls it "keeping up appearances," I call it "take one more pass at my arse and I'll break your nose."
They say all's fair in love and war, but what's so fair about falling for the wrong guy when your two best friends are on the other side of the battlelines?
Everyone's convinced the hottest guy in school's going to ask me out-that Mason and I would be the perfect couple, that he's my John Cusack. Except, he hasn't. On holidays, I find myself hanging out with the resident underachiever, and he surprises me. With Roman, I don't have to pretend that little Piper Barlow is perfect; even if we're both in a foul mood, just sitting in silence together is perfectly enough. Until it becomes more. But, Roman doesn't do more . . . does he?
What do you do when you accidentally find perfection with the wrong guy? You fight for it.
