Release Celebration & Giveaway: Falling Stars: Charles Sheehan-Miles

by - Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Falling Stars (Thompson Sisters #1.5)
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Crank Wilson and Julia Thompson love each other madly. But after Crank’s huge mistake during the summer, on the road with Crank’s rock band Morbid Obesity, they aren’t getting along.

Sean Wilson and Carrie Thompson are the seventeen year old younger siblings of Julia and Crank. Carrie is on her way to New York to start college at Columbia University and Sean is on his way home to Boston. For the next five days, they’re stuck in a car. Along the way, they’ll contend with screaming matches, giant spiders and a 240-pound pissed off Marine.

And the whole way, Crank will be faced with one question. After he screwed up so badly, is there any way he can win Julia back?


Other Thompson sisters books in chronological order:

A Song for Julia(#1)Goodreads/Amazon/B&N/Kim's 5 star Review
Just Remember to Breathe(#2): Goodreads/Amazon/B&N/Kim's 4 star Review
The Last Hour(#3): Goodreads /Amazon/B&N/Kim's 5 star Review





"You're f***ing nuts, Crank. Nuts. Completely, absolutely crazy." 
"Then go crazy with me."

I have to start out by saying that I love the Thompson Sisters books and Julia and Crank are my favorites. So I was excited that they were going to get a novella. This sits right in between A Song For Julia and Just Remember To Breathe. 


It was fun to hop in the car with Julia, Crank, and their siblings Carrie and Sean for a memorable adventure. But I hated to see Julia and Crank having a hard time.

I love Crank. I have since the beginning and have never wavered. He is who he is and is usually not ashamed of it. I like Julia too. She is strong, outspoken, and smart. He and Julia had a good thing going. They were opposites that totally did attract. She opened up and let him in. He settled down a bit. And their lives seemed like they were going to mesh perfectly with her as their band manager.  But their summer tour led to some issues with trust, hurt feelings, and miscommunication. The tension was thick, they were both floundering, and it broke my heart to see one of my favorite couples struggling. 

I really enjoyed the rapport between Carrie and Sean. Their over the top science nerd talk and willingness to say whatever they were thinking added comic relief. They had a connection and they were two very intelligent young people with a lot in common. And they were not afraid to tell Julia and Crank exactly what they thought of their behavior.  I love that both Carrie and Julia accept Sean and do not treat him differently because of  his Asperger's. Julia and Sean have a special bond of friendship, and you could see the same happening with Carrie and Crank. It was totally endearing. 

I had been hoping that  Julia to reunite with an old friend since we learned about him in her book. And I was not disappointed. He was just as outspoken, completely protective, and had me laughing.

There were all kinds of travel snafus, shenanigans, and comical situations mixed in with the more emotional relationship drama. It all comes down to digging deep, admitting mistakes, and fighting for what is important.

Wishes on falling stars might be a load of bulls**t. But maybe this wish, I could do something about. Yes, we'd had a rough couple of months, Yes, I'd done some stupid things. But nothing I'd said or done, nothing Julia had said or done, was unforgivable...

This was a charming, short read but written in Charles' usual engaging style with humor and emotional depth. He somehow managed to make a short novella a perfectly complete story. I felt like I was in the car with them, going through the mishaps, worrying, and trying to figure out how to fix it all. There was miscommunication, jealousy, pain, and sadness. But there were also humorous and sweet times too. But just like with any of his other books, I felt it all. I loved getting to go back in  time with these characters even though we already know what their future holds. And you can pick up small details in this alluding to the future especially with Carrie....sigh....

“Carrie, you know, some day you’ll find a guy who will be your soul mate.  Someone you would do anything for.  Someone who makes you feel whole.”

I cannot wait for more in this series and he just announced there will be a new Thompson Sisters trilogy as well with the first one focusing on sister Andrea. I have loved every book I have read by Charles Sheehan-Miles. He has an amazing gift for words that are compelling and capture the small nuances of human emotion. He has created a world of such complex, lovable characters that I just cannot get enough of. 

Thanks to Charles Sheehan-Miles for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. 



Charles Sheehan-Miles
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Sheehan-Miles has been a soldier, computer programmer, short-order cook and non-profit executive, and is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the indie bestsellers Just Remember to Breathe and Republic: A Novel of America's Future.






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