The Shots Trilogy
Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Love Story
The Book Guild
November 26, 2017
Kindle Mobi
141
“It used to make me feel special, the fact that they knew me, knew what I wanted, but it had soured with repetition. I’d become my drink order – that’s what it felt like. But it was okay. People watching in this place made me feel part of the world, got me away from the house for a few hours. And it was here she came back to me. I hadn’t seen her for three decades and suddenly there she was, standing next to my table.
‘Hello, Freddie’.”
Another Shot tells the story of Freddie and Jo-Jo, who are reunited in a coffee shop thirty-five years after the end of their teenage romance. Jo-Jo finds Freddie through a mutual friend, and tells him that she is emigrating following the death of her husband. She gives him a photograph of the two of them on their first weekend away, a trip to Blackpool.
How they originally met, why they parted, what happens in their lives apart is all told through a series of flashbacks. These memories feed into events when they meet up again and explain why, despite the passage of time and the intensity of their still simmering love, there is no future for their relationship.
My Thoughts:
All of us have that one person from our past of which we wonder — if circumstances were different — what might’ve been. Fortunately, for me those questions were answered many, many years ago. I found that no matter the circumstances, we were different people, destined for different lives. We have different life aspirations, and definitions of what it feels to be alive.
I think in young love, we tend to think all we need is the love. But, in fact, we need someone who not only loves us, but will ride the waves of life with us. Love is more than just the good days, it’s the not-so-good days and the down-right-awful ones, too. Fortunately, I found someone who becomes my strongest support when the storm is the worst. I’m not one who usually believes in the Fates, but in terms of my life in love, I believe someone had a hand in me choosing the right one. For that, I’m very grateful.
But, many of us go our entire lives wondering about that whirlwind romance we once had. What happened to that person? Are they happy? Did I make the right decision? Should I have tried harder to make it work? These are some of the questions Stephen Anthony Brotherton poses on the reader in his story Another Shot.
Freddie and Jo-Jo were just two teens in love, who parted ways over 30 years ago. One day, Jo-Jo walks into Freddie’s coffee shop, with the intent to reconnect. Both their lives have changed drastically over the three decades they have lived apart. What will happen to their relationship? Will they rekindle it, or leave the past in the past?
I’m usually not one to read romance, or even blog about it for that matter. However, this story caught my interest. I felt that Stephen Anthony Brotherton is delving more into the psychology of what brings two people, in love, to take different roads. I (honestly) really enjoyed this story, and am looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story how our past determines our future selves.
To purchase a copy of Another Shot, follow the links below:
US – https://www.amazon.com/Another-Shot-Stephen-Anthony-Brotherton-ebook/dp/B077S1ZHPC
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Another-Shot-Stephen-Anthony-Brotherton-ebook/dp/B077S1ZHPC
About the Author:
Stephen Anthony Brotherton
Follow on Instagram @freddiejojoreunited
Follow on Twitter http://twitter.com/FreddieJoJo1
“I was born in Walsall, grew up in the West Midlands and now live in Telford with my two cats, Boris and Tai. After working in the health and social care sector for over thirty years, I have now taken early retirement to write the trilogy that has been rooted in my head for most of my life.
Another Shot is the first book in the Shots trilogy, which is based on a first love relationship I had as a teenager. It tells the story of Freddie and Jo-Jo, who are reunited in a coffee shop three decades after the end of their teenage romance. How they originally met, why they parted, what happens in their lives apart, and what happens when they reunite is all told through a series of first person vignettes. The second book, An Extra Shot, will be published in July 2019. I am currently working on the final installment.
Getting these stories down on paper has been a cathartic process. I hope you enjoy them.”
This book was part of a Blog Tour sponsored by Rachel’s Random Resources. For more excerpts, reviews, and interviews, please check out the other bloggers’ pages in this tour.
Truly,
P.S. Here is my little disclaimer…
Thanks goes to Stephen Anthony Brotherton and Rachel’s Random Resources for allowing me the opportunity to review. All opinions expressed in this review are solely mine, and I did not receive any payment for this review.