Blog Tour and Giveaway: Finding My Way: Heidi McLaughlin

by - Wednesday, April 16, 2014



Finding My Way 
Heidi McLaughlin
The Beaumont Series, #4
Prequel to Forever My Girl

Liam Westbury has the world at his feet. He’s the quintessential golden boy. He’s the superstar quarterback for Beaumont High. His girl, Josie, is head cheerleader. He has his choice of colleges just waiting for him. Except he’s suffocating from all the pressure he’s under and no one understands.

Liam Page is the heartthrob he never wanted to be. He’s successful, smart and in demand by record companies and his adoring fans. Music is his passion, his love, but something’s missing. His nights are lonely and he longs for the girl he left behind. Seeing her in every face in the crowd haunts him with the knowledge that she hates him. Going home has never been an option until now.

Be there when Liam Westbury becomes Liam Page and follow the highs and lows of the Quarterback turned Rockstar as he finds a way back to Beaumont in this prequel to Forever My Girl.




My destiny is in my hands except I can't grasp it. Every time I try, it slips through the sand.

We thought we already knew the story from flashbacks in Forever My Girl, but we really did not know it all. This delves into Liam's point of view from High School to right before he returns to Beaumont .

It begins in their Senior year in High School with Liam Westbury, his girl Josie, and their best friends Mason and Katelyn. We see the early parts of their relationships, more about their families, the brotherly bond of Liam and Mason, and what really happened that sent Liam off on his own away from the three people he cared most about. 

We see all of the pressure Liam was under and his fear of failure and letting people down. His path seemed like it was decided for him, but he was struggling to find his own voice and make some of his own choiced. He and his friends all had their future plans that they envisioned, but there were still hard choices to make. And no matter the choice, someone was going to be angry or hurt. Liam and Josie were the Golden couple in their school and their future seemed to revolve around college, football, and Liam going into the NFL. But the more pressure put on Liam, the more he had to find other outlets to relieve stress. Learning to play guitar and write songs helped him, but he feared no one would understand. 

They had a love that was so strong and all consuming, but they were also young, confused, and afraid of the future. Liam's life had been so structured and planned by others that he was suffocating, but he loved Josie enough not to want to take her dreams away. I wanted to shake them both at times for their communication issues but then had to tell myself that they were really just eighteen year olds. 

"We're soul mates, Liam. You'll always be a part of me."

She's my sun and moon, the air that sustains my life. She can bring me down and make me weak in the knees with one look. If this is what it means to have a soul mate then I guess she's right. 

Decisions were made that threw them all in a tailspin and ultimately sent Liam into a life no one ever expected and had repercussions for those he loved. He could not really express what he was feeling and for once made a spontaneous decision for himself. And miscommunication finally did them in and caused their separation. He never meant it to be that long, but his life and success just got in his way. We see his beginnings in LA, meeting Harrison and his grandmother, and all that transpired in those lost years. He has accomplishments and makes mistakes. For all the money, fame and notariety he gained, he lost so much that was truly in his heart.

I expected this to be a short novella, but it is a full novel taking us through over ten years of Liam's life. This was his journey of self discovery. I fills in those blanks of what really happened to him during those missing years and really allows us to see his personal demons, guilt, loss, and intense feelings for Josie that never wavered.  I really liked Liam and Josie as a couple even though they both made mistakes that cost them a lot of time. And I loved getting more with sweet Mason and Katelyn too. It just made the story that much more poignant knowing what was going to happen later. This pre-quel gives us more background into the bonds of these close friends and their beautiful love stories. And it made me want to re-read Forever My Girl right after, so I did. After reading them both together, Liam and Josie's story seems so much more complete. 

Thanks to Heidi McLaughlin for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.


If eighteen year old me could ask twenty-three year old me what his life would be like, I’d tell him to stay in college. Life is not what I thought it would be.

As Forever My Girl’s prequel, Finding My Way gives readers the full story of Liam’s point of view from high school, college, and his music career. As the star quarterback and town golden boy, Liam is expected to make certain choices about his future. But as his senior year progresses and his decisions come due, Liam begins to feel overwhelmed by the pressure to perform and follow his father’s plan. His reaction to that pressure changes his course for the next ten years as he transitions from Liam Westbury to Liam Page. 

It was one thing to read the confusion and frustration Liam felt as he tried to figure out what he wanted to do beyond high school. It was an entirely different feeling knowing exactly what was going on back in Beaumont the whole time. There were times I wanted to shake Liam for the way he handled things, and other times I was smiling alongside his successes. 

FINDING MY WAY gave more insight to Liam’s experiences than readers have gotten from all the other books in the series combined. There was just more detail to the story than can fit in flashbacks and asides in the other novels. 

I loved watching his relationship with his grandma develop, as well as the beginnings of 4225 West and his relationship with Sam. Josie plays a role only in the first part of the book, as this truly is Liam’s point of view and when he leaves Beaumont behind him, her voice is gone too. I missed her, but the insight from this time period was worth that missing voice. (Besides, we know where she is and what’s going on with her.)

This is an excellent companion to FOREVER MY GIRL, filling in the gaps and answering questions. When I finished this, I felt like I needed to re-read FMG right away because the transition to the early events was so natural. It was a great example of the overwhelming feelings that hit as high school comes to an end and real life looms, especially when it seems no one understands.

Thanks to Heidi McLaughlin for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

THE BEAUMONT SERIES on Goodreads (Images linked):

         

Linked to Amazon:
Forever My Girl - The Beaumont Series #1 
My Everything - A Beaumont Series Novella #1.5
My Unexpected Forever - The Beaumont Series #2 
Finding My Forever - The Beaumont Series #3
Heidi McLaughlin
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Heidi is the author of USA Today, Kobo, Digital Book World, Amazon and Barnes & Noble Bestselling series, The Beaumont Series.
Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell and two Parakeets.
During the day Heidi is behind a desk talking about Land Use. At night, she's writing one of the many stories planned for release or sitting courtside during either daughter's basketball games.

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