Kelli C 's Reviews > Lucas

A Million Love Hard, Love Fierce, but Love Right Stars

Jay McLean has written 11 books to date. She has shared her passion and her pains with her fans and most importantly she has given her readers something MORE. McLean has taught us that we are all born PHENOMENAL…that sometimes you have to KICK and PUSH before you can COAST. She has showed sadness and hardship and even let us embrace RED LETTER DAYS. Then there were those days she had us CHECKING the TIME. Now with her latest release she has shown that sometimes CUGGLES are enough. That counting is important…ONE MINUTES are valuable. That sometimes true love…must wait.

With every book I read by this author I start jumping and declaring that, YES, this is the one that is my favorite. Her books have progressively gotten to me. Every storyline and each character has grown in my mind and in my heart with every discussion making me a part of something bigger than just a good book I read. With her coming of age, angst-filled fiction she finds a way to bring awareness to so many hard and dark realities and yet she still give light and even the gift of hope.

"Don’t you want to be the first to touch something? To reach out and grasp onto the world around you? You can’t touch it if you can’t see it."

Enter LUCAS. Lucas Preston that is. Those familiar with the MORE clan know this dependable, loyal brother of Lucy, among others! Knowing how so much emotion and passion came from the More Series, I had no idea how this author could go deeper…get more profound…do better. I had no idea that two 11 year olds, Lucas Preston and Lois “Lane” Sanders, would move me and make the most epic of love stories.

And so without meaning to, without wanting to, I started to fall in like with a girl who would later become my best friend.

I can attest that this is not the typical friends to lovers tropes. It is anything but. This is a love story of pure LOVE. A building of a relationship filled with humor, steadfast loyalty, and absolute knowing of your best friend yet at the same time there is real growing pains, young naivety and the heart-breaking want for more.

"And I think, ultimately, that’s what true love is, you know? To want to be someone’s hero when they’re faced with villains. To want to be to be the one that saves them. To be their Wonderwall.”

I know that this book got to me the most because at the heart of two young lives there was so much growth with both love and loss. There was finding home and developing support among strangers that become family. The single dad Sanders and the Preston’s were a constant and there was no better to guide these two young souls with words of wisdom and gentle hands…oh, and bit of prodding and fun! Lucas and Lane could have just fallen and simply existed in their own world but with time comes change and heartbreak. There were so many mistakes and loss of faith moments. There were seconds of bravery that were overshadowed by times of pure darkness and cowardice…but then there was counting… sixteen clicks…eight seconds…until all would be right again. FRIENDS thru and thru. Always there for one another. Always waiting to pick up pieces. Always holding the hand when needed. Friends to the end. What about more??? When is it time for Lucas and Lane??

"That it’s not about the dance. It’s about moving as one, with a person whose heart beats to the same rhythm as yours. It’s about love, about life."

There are not enough words to say how much I loved this read. I had over 10 pages of highlighted passages. Many people have their go to authors, and I know there are so many great talents out there but then I think of Jay Mclean…her stories, her delivery…her wit and charm infused into the lives of her fictional characters. I see the genius start to finish and I applaud her as an author...She is MY CoHO! Whether quoting Felicity or creating mayhem, this story is legit. Lucas…my new all-time favorite book of 2016 and the BEST McLean story.

**please note that quoted text may differ from published work**