When today's promises become tomorrow's lies, how can you believe in anything . . . or anyone?
Jaynie Cumberland has no idea how to trust again, so she’s given up on trying. Dumped in to the state foster care system at age fourteen, Jaynie spent three years treading water, just trying to get by.
Still, Jaynie always knew she was broken in some way. After all, why did her own mother abandon her? And following a harrowing experience at her first foster home, Jaynie’s worst fears are confirmed, leaving her feeling worthless and shattered.
Now Jaynie counts the days till she turns eighteen and can go out on her own. All she wants is to be free of everyone and everything. But before that can happen, she must make it through the next few months at one final foster home. There Jaynie meets a gorgeous, albeit rough-around-the-edges, boy who is dealing with the repercussions of his own turbulent past.
Flynn O'Neill is immediately taken with this new, fragile girl. He becomes determined to show Jaynie there is more to life than hurt and pain. Unfortunately, this new home they live in, one that promised to be a haven for unwanted kids, is more like a living hell.
So what do you do when you’re trapped and there’s no way out?
What if you fall in love and protecting the other person becomes the most important thing in your life?
What if something unthinkable happens, testing your love, and the stakes are raised higher than ever? Will you come out unscathed? Can today’s promises be kept? Or will they simply become more of tomorrow’s lies?
Tomorrow’s Lies is a beautiful story of an all-consuming love and broken people building a family out of nothing. It's about never giving up, even in the face of adversity.
Note: NO cliffhanger!
Without opening my eyes, I lean into Flynn’s lingering touch. He tucks more wayward hair behind my ear, pieces that weren’t even stuck to my cheek. He just wants to touch me. “Is this all right?” he whispers.
“Yes.”
I open my eyes, and he smiles at me. I smile back at him. He’s as excited by this development as I am. And, damn, it feels good. A million unsaid things are expressed as we gaze into each other’s eyes. Maybe not a million, but many, and all of them point to two things—I like Flynn, and he likes me. We are more than friends, more than pretend siblings.
Time freezes, and I revel in the magic of the moment. But alas, when he moves his fingers away from my face, the moment is lost.
“We should go in,” Flynn says, clearing his throat.
“Yeah, we should.”
In the house, neither of us mentions a word about what happened out on the porch. There’s no need for discussion; we both know this is huge. Flynn—a guy—touched me, and I didn’t have a meltdown.
Maybe there is hope for me, after all. Like real hope that I can have a normal relationship. I feel more like myself now than I have in a long time. So maybe this is the family I needed all along to help me reach this point.
And then there are my feelings for Flynn. Maybe Flynn is more than just the here and now. Maybe he’s my future.
“The state can call me anything they want, but the truth is I am one of the unwanted, the discarded. Another kid in the system, another cog in a broken wheel.”
No truer words have been used to describe the millions of kids in the system. S.R. Grey's newest book tackles the underbelly of the foster care system, the damages of sexual/physical/mental abuse, and the ability to learn to trust, heal and love again. She takes us through an eye opening and emotional journey that runs bone deep. One that portrays a myriad of innocent children fractured by the hands of life blended perfectly with pure love. TL is not for the faint of heart. Grey doesn’t hold back when it comes to the brutality these children endure. Do know that these scenes may be very descriptive.
As the author has stated, yes, this is a fictional story but it is also a very real issue. And as someone who is quite acquainted with the system, there is more truth than fiction to Tomorrow’s Lies.
This heart wrenching tale is one that’s very near and dear to my heart. Mandy, Flynn, Jaynie, Cody, and Callie haven’t lived anywhere close to a fairy tale life. Their past and present are what nightmares are made of. And their chances at finding anything resembling healthy definitely doesn’t come with any kind of ease; instead, it comes at extremely high prices.
I fell in love with these kids the moment I met them. They were damaged, shattered to the core, a vulnerable shell of emptiness. By the end though, you won’t view them as victims, but as true survivors and heroes. They will own a special place in your heart; they did mine. I adored them so much, I can’t even bring myself to think of them as characters in a book, they are more than that, they were very much real.
“In this house, the monsters are not in the closet. They exist outside of it.”
The family, deep attachments, loyalty, and affection that was built behind those gates of hell was so stunning. Their downright need for one another anchored this unconventional group, giving them a solidification they have never felt before. Together they offered one another a sense of hope; a feeling of worthiness. The way these five blended together to make a tragic and heart wrenching situation manageable is inspirational. Their caregiver abused the crap out of them (that’s putting it mildly) and the system was so full their social workers abandoned them. These children were left to horrendous conditions and denied the most basic needs. To say it was an atrocity and an injustice is an understatement. Everything surrounding them felt pretty much impossible to see beyond, yet they pushed forward, giving selflessly and overcoming the battles heaved on them.
Mandy, Flynn, Jaynie, Cody, and Callie were a force to be reckoned with, even with being broken and scarred in some of the worst ways. Their stories enough to make your skin crawl. Yet, they were the best kind of protagonists. Their hearts, while not whole, were gentle and filled with an abundance of light and compassion. They were courageous in ways most will never know or need to be. It won't take long for you to see they'd encounter the real meaning of purgatory in their short lives.
“The horrors of life are not always wrapped up in neat little packages. The bad things get intermixed with the good things sometimes, because it’s the good and the bad that makes us who we are.”
Grey’s writing of these characters was poignant and beautiful. It was gritty and it was intense, packing a punch. Each scenario, each emotion, each interaction was tangible and thought provoking. She nailed all of these with such precision. Their pain and anguish, their resilience, their faith, optimism and love evoked vivid and strong emotions.
Even with the topics at hand, I would categorize Tomorrow’s Lies as low angst. The angst didn’t surround the typical lack of communication or the push and pull of our main protagonists. Instead, it came from the outside world, forcing them to explore it together as a family unit. I loved that Susie left out the contrived drama between Flynn and Jaynie. This alone made me love this book so much more. It really showcased how much these two affected each other, allowing us to see deeper inside them. And really their pasts and presents were more than enough to handle without throwing in the unneeded.
Even with the topics at hand, I would categorize Tomorrow’s Lies as low angst. The angst didn’t surround the typical lack of communication or the push and pull of our main protagonists. Instead, it came from the outside world, forcing them to explore it together as a family unit. I loved that Susie left out the contrived drama between Flynn and Jaynie. This alone made me love this book so much more. It really showcased how much these two affected each other, allowing us to see deeper inside them. And really their pasts and presents were more than enough to handle without throwing in the unneeded.
I was rather impressed with the amount of attention and detail brought to the table. The steadiness and development with which the plot line and connections were built progressed at a relatable and believable pace. There were a few spots I wanted the author to delve a bit more, but overall there was plenty of rich depth that had me engaged and invested .
Thank you, S.R. Grey, for pouring your heart into a subject that most people turn a blind eye to and doing it justice.
When it comes to her NA books, I am a huge fan of S.R. Grey’s writing. Her characters always end up becoming some of my favorites; they truly move me in ways other characters can’t. Tomorrow's Lies comes as a high recommendation from me.
Thank you, S.R. Grey, for the complimentary copy of Tomorrow's Lies.
S.R. Grey is an Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author and a Barnes & Noble #1 Bestselling author. She is the author of the popular Judge Me Not series, the Inevitability duology, A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy, and the new Laid Bare series of novellas. Ms. Grey's novels have appeared on Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller lists in multiple categories, including #1 on the Barnes & Noble Nook Bestsellers list last year.
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