Blog Tour: A Five-Minute Life: Emma Scott
Emma Scott
Stand alone New Adult Romance
Release date: May 16, 2019
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Thea Hughes has five minutes to live.
A car accident stole her parents and left her with the second-worst documented case of amnesia in the world. She now has only minutes of experiences, of consciousness, of life…before her memory is wiped clean. The once effervescent artist with a promising future is reduced to scribbling with pens and paper, living an empty, quiet life, three hundred seconds at a time.
Jim Whelan is on autopilot.
A foster kid shuffled around the system since birth, he’s lived his entire life without knowing love…and it’s taken its toll—until he learned to fight back, carry his armor, and keep his head down.
Working as an orderly in the Blue Ridge Sanitarium, deep in Virginia countryside, Jim looked up…and found Thea.
When Thea has the chance to break free of her five-minute prison with a risky, experimental surgery, it could lead them both to an epic love they never thought possible… or one that could require the ultimate sacrifice.
This story is truly unique and it is best to just follow the flow so I am not going to go into too much on plot. But these characters are so interesting and their circumstances seem impossible. Thea Hughes is a young woman who has amnesia due to a brain injury and lives her lives in small chunks of minutes and then resets and starts again. She is stuck in a facility and trapped in her own head while following the routines set for her. She is beautiful, sweet, talented, and fragile.
Jim Whelan is a new employee to the facility and is quite taken by Thea. He has his own demons from his past, insecurities, and self worth issues. He has been living his own life on auto pilot and never really enjoying anything or getting attached to anyone. He has learned that good things do not stick to him and usually will just hurt in the end. He has never known true love or acceptance.
Somehow in these little bouts of time, they shine light on the other. And Jim truly believes she is in there, grasping and retaining some of her current life. He wants to prove it, but he is just an orderly and people do not really listen to him. He may be the only person that really sees Thea. But can he convince anyone that there might be a way to help unlock her mind?
This story takes twists and turns. I got more and more invested in these two and hoping that there was some way for them to find their lasting miracle. Jim is such a loyal, devoted, thoughtful, self sacrificing hero. My heart really hurt for him. And Thea is artistic, honest, and funny. They connect on a level that was never expected. But there are so many challenges, obstacles, rules and issues that do not leave them with much hope.
But this is a beautiful, thought provoking, emotional story of love against all odds. It is full of feels from the smallest glimmers of hope, little joys, and the biggest heartbreaks. In the most likely of circumstances they are a catalyst for hope and change, and in their own ways saved the other from their monotonous existence. But it is a tumultuous journey.
Somehow in these little bouts of time, they shine light on the other. And Jim truly believes she is in there, grasping and retaining some of her current life. He wants to prove it, but he is just an orderly and people do not really listen to him. He may be the only person that really sees Thea. But can he convince anyone that there might be a way to help unlock her mind?
This story takes twists and turns. I got more and more invested in these two and hoping that there was some way for them to find their lasting miracle. Jim is such a loyal, devoted, thoughtful, self sacrificing hero. My heart really hurt for him. And Thea is artistic, honest, and funny. They connect on a level that was never expected. But there are so many challenges, obstacles, rules and issues that do not leave them with much hope.
But this is a beautiful, thought provoking, emotional story of love against all odds. It is full of feels from the smallest glimmers of hope, little joys, and the biggest heartbreaks. In the most likely of circumstances they are a catalyst for hope and change, and in their own ways saved the other from their monotonous existence. But it is a tumultuous journey.
I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
“Marc Antony,” I said and nodded at her drawing. “Part of your Egyptian studies?”Thea leaned her cheek on her folded hands like she was warming herself before a fire. “Marc Antony is part of the romance. A love story with Cleopatra. He went to war for her. Died for her. When they told her he was dead, she put her hand in a basket with an asp. Can you imagine? Loving someone so much that the thought of life without them is too unbearable?”
“No,” I said. “I can’t.”
Her gaze dropped to my hand on the table and her fingers reached to trace the scars on my knuckles.
These tell a story, don’t they?” She traced one of the fine lines. “You put your hand in with the snakes, too.”
I nodded slowly, savoring the feel of her warm skin on mine. “So the bullies would leave me alone.”
“And did they?”
“Eventually.”
“I’m glad.” She put her hand in mine completely, her fingers wrapping around and holding tight. “I’m being too… something. Personal. Delia would throw a fit, but I feel like…”
“Like what, Thea?”
“Like I have to hold on to this moment, you know? Or you… I don’t even know you and yet I don’t want to stop talking to you.” Her hand squeezed mine. “I don’t care if you have a stutter, but please keep talking to me, Jimmy. Okay?”
My mouth went dry at the nameless desperation in her eyes.
Jesus, does she know she’s trapped? She can’t. Impossible…
“I won’t,” I said. “I’ll talk to you every day. I promise.”
Thea breathed a small sigh of relief and released my hand. “Thank you, Jimmy. That makes me feel better.”
With a final smile—a parting smile, I realized—she took up her pen and then froze.
She’s resetting.
Confusion passed over her features. She looked up at me, flinching a little to see a big man in close proximity. I instantly leaned back to give her space.
“How long has it been?” she asked.
“Two years,” I said, my voice hardly more than a whisper. “But the doctors are working on your case.”
“Yes, they are.” She smiled hesitantly and found my nametag. “I’m Thea Hughes.”
Seven. Seven times now.
“Jim Whelan,” I said.
She offered her hand. Again. I took it robotically, enduring her one-pump shake. Again. Her fingers didn’t linger in mine but released immediately, the way you do with a stranger. Again.
“Nice to meet you, Jim Whelan.”
Fuck. I can’t do this.
I rose to my feet. “I have to get to work.”
Her face fell. “Oh. Bummer. Will I see you again?”
I could promise her I would, but she wouldn’t remember. There was no promise. I could tell her the sky was falling or my name was Abraham Lincoln and she wouldn’t know the damn difference. It’d vanish, like every other word we’d ever spoken to each other. I vanished every time her reset hit and was recreated over again in Thea’s eyes. I could be whatever I wanted; whomever I wanted. And yet she was the one woman I might’ve had a chance to be myself with.
The terrible irony of it was like copper in my mouth.
“Sure, Miss Hughes,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Emma Scott
Emma Scott is a bestselling author of emotional, character-driven romances in which art and love intertwine to heal, and in which love always wins. If you enjoy emotionally-charged stories that rip your heart out and put it back together again, with diverse characters and kind-hearted heroes, you will enjoy her novels.
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