Just Us Book Blog: Blog Tour : Healing Rain by Katy Newton Naas

Healing Rain

Release Date: 04/21/15

Clean Reads

222 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Some people just naturally seem to have it all. Until five months ago, sixteen-year-old Rain Sawyer was one of those people. She had the perfect life, with a loving, wealthy family and a strong Christian faith, complete with popularity, sports, clubs, and good grades.

When one tragic incident shatters everything Rain thought she knew, she finds herself five hours away, starting over in a small town very different from her glamorous big-city life.

Armed with a different outlook on life – one that no longer includes her faith – she struggles to create a new identity for herself. Determined to keep her dark past as secret, she navigates through a new school year, a new town, and new relationships while trying to figure out who she wants to be.

EXCERPT

Ethan was waiting at my locker after school, as always, to tell me goodbye before I went home and he went to football practice. He picked me up off of my feet as soon as I approached him. “Ethan!” I shouted in surprise, and then started laughing.“What are you doing?”

He leaned in and kissed me. “Just happy to see you, that’s all.”

I rolled my eyes. “Even though you just saw me an hour ago?”

“If it’s possible, every time I see you makes me even happier than the time before,” he said with a cheesy grin on his face.

“Ugh. Get a room,” I heard a familiar voice say behind me.

Ethan put me down as we turned to see Alexis standing there, giving us her syrupy sweet, incredibly fake smile.

“What’s up, Alexis?” he asked.

“Nothing you should be concerned with,” she said. “I came to talk to Rain.”

I don’t know who was more surprised – me or Ethan. We both stared at her for a moment before I squeaked, “You want to talk to me?”

“Don’t act so shocked. But it’s personal. Which means you can leave,” she said, giving Ethan that famous smile.

He looked uncomfortable, but he turned back to me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call you later?” he asked. His eyes searched mine for some kind of assurance that it was okay for him to leave.

“Sounds good,” I said with a nod and a smile, trying to show him I would be fine.

Reluctantly, he walked away from us. Once he was out of earshot, I turned to Alexis. “So, what do you want?”

“I’m here to give you some…advice, sort of,” she said.

EXCERPT #3:

“No, Aiden,” I said, feeling a little anger rise. “We’re supposed to be friends. Most of the time you’re fine and we’re having a great time, but then sometimes you get quiet and look upset. What is it? Is it something I’m doing wrong?”

He looked at me with amazement. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” I asked, exasperated.

He smirked. “Nothing, Rain. You’re doing nothing wrong. You have your cheerleader friends and your football star boyfriend and your life is perfect. I’m just the secret friend you have on the side.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are we seriously going back to this discussion? I told you – it’s not that I’m ashamed of hanging out with you. Me hiding our guitar lessons has nothing to do with you. You’re one of the greatest guys I know. I seriously consider you to be one of my best friends. I’m closer to you than I am pretty much anyone else here. Even closer than I am with my ‘cheerleader friends and football star boyfriend,’ in some ways.” I could hear the anger in my voice as it got slightly louder, but I didn’t care. “And

my life is far from perfect! You have no idea.” I stopped and looked away from him before the tears come could to my eyes. I knew it was wrong to get upset with him; he had every right to be mad at me for the way I treated our relationship. But if it bothered him so much, why was he still hanging out with me? And why would he want to take me to a concert?

Just as I was about to ask him those questions, he grabbed my arm gently. “Rain, did you hear what you just said?”

I looked at him, completely caught off guard. “Which part?”

He took a step closer as he took my other arm in his other hand. “The part about me being closer to you than anyone else here.”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling even more confused. “What about it?”

He shook his head as he smiled at me. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Okay, Aiden, you need to just tell me what you’re getting at, because I don’t understand this little puzzle you’re trying to get me to solve,” I said in frustration.

He sighed incredulously. “You really don’t, do you?”

I didn’t even respond. I just looked at him expectantly, waiting on him to explain himself.

Finally, after a few moments of silence, he took a deep breath. “Look. I’m not going to pretend that I can compete with Ethan Collins. I can’t. He’s in a whole different league. At the same time, I’m not going to go on pretending that I only want to be your friend. Because the truth is, I don’t. I have been completely infatuated with you from the moment I met you on the first day of school. I have never met any other girl like you. And last week, at your house, it just got stronger. When we sang together, I just got this feeling. We had a weird connection there, and I know you felt something, too. I know there’s some stuff going on with you that for whatever reason, you don’t want to tell me about, but this is just something I can’t ignore anymore. There’s a reason I feel this crazy link to you. I’m not sure what it is yet, but I have to find out.”

I stared at him, astounded. Though I heard every word he said, I couldn’t put together any words to respond. As I stood there motionless, trying to gather my thoughts, he leaned in and kissed me.

I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t stop it. His lips were sweet and soft, and I was absorbed in it for the short moment that it lasted. It was completely different than Ethan’s kisses, but I would be lying if I said it was horrible. I don’t think I really even kissed him back – my brain was in too much shock as it tried to process the new information it was just handed.

When he pulled away, he let go of my arms and dropped his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” I didn’t respond. I couldn’t force my lips to move to even make a sound. “Look, maybe we should cancel our guitar lesson today. I should probably just go home and let you go home too.” Without waiting for my

response, he turned and walked out the door.

I watched him walk away as my fingers moved automatically to my lips. I rested them there, still feeling the warmth of Aiden’s lips on mine. Suddenly, I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned slowly to see what it was, and found Alexis standing a few feet away, staring at me with a wicked smile on her face.

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About the Author

From the time she was old enough to talk, Katy Newton Naas has been creating characters and telling stories. As a child, they sometimes got her into trouble. She knew she wanted to write books when she won a Young Author's competition as a second-grader for her short story titled, "The Grape Pie." (Don't let its tasty title fool you - it was actually a sad little tale!)

Katy devoured books as a child and young adult, always doing chores and odd jobs in order to make enough money to buy more of them. Though she continues to age, her true literature love is and has always been children's and young adult fiction.

Katy currently teaches middle school reading and high school English in southern Illinois, as well as children's church. She graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a bachelor's degree in English Education and a master's degree in Reading and Language Studies. She enjoys her life out in the country with her husband, her sweet and rowdy young sons, and all her four-legged kids: Shakespeare, Poe, Morgi, Cappy, Ana, and Gray.

She loves creating both realistic and futuristic stories about kids, tweens, and teens, and feels so fortunate to get to work with them every day as a teacher.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

AUTHOR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS about HEALING RAIN:

What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?

The main character’s name is Rain Sawyer. She is a fictional sixteen-year-old girl who has been through some pretty tragic, life-changing events over the course of the last few months. She is now trying to pick up the pieces of her once-perfect life and rebuild them…she’s just not sure how she wants to do that, exactly.

When and where is the story set?

It’s set in the fictional town of Ridgewater, Illinois, present-day. Ridgewater is very loosely based on where I actually grew up in southern Illinois, though I invented the high school, the places there, and the towns around it.

What should we know about Rain?

Rain was once very sure of herself and who she was. She was popular in her “old life,” and held very strong Christian beliefs. However, because of recent events, everything she thought she knew was severely shaken. She’s battling a lot on the inside and trying to hide it from the new friends she makes. She finds herself bonding with people who hang out in different circles, and she’s not sure which one she fits in (or WANTS to fit in). At times, she’s rude and sarcastic, but she’s a good girl underneath it all, struggling to figure out who she is.

What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

Without giving too much away, Rain came home from school one day to find her father had committed suicide. From there, she spiraled out of control a little, doing something that caused her mother to yank her and her little brother out of their home town to a small town five hours away.

What is the personal goal of the character?

She really just wants to find herself. Because of some previous mistakes, she is forced into therapy, which she hates. And she is now in a new school, trying to reinvent herself. Add a little brother that she has to take care of all the time, since her mother works long hours, and she’s exhausted. She’s just not sure how to handle any of it.