Welcome to one of the January 25th stops on the blog tour for Fractured by Shay Siegel, organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more features, reviews, and a giveaway! (More on that at the end of this post.)
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About the Book
Fractured
by Shay Siegel
Published 27 October 2020
Genre: YA Contemporary
Page Count: 290
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Mason Vance is the guy everybody wants to be, and he knows it. He’s the best high school quarterback in New York, a shoo-in for a football scholarship at any school he chooses, and he’s expected to land in the NFL one day. That is, until a broken wrist leaves him fearing whether he’ll ever play again.
Desperate to save his damaged ego, Mason sets his sights on Lace. No cheerleader or homecoming queen like his usual type, she’s too wrapped in her own misery to fall for his pickup lines. Even though she tries to shut him out, she’s surprised to find he’s there for her when no one else is. Slowly, she lets him into the sad workings of her mind and less-than-perfect life, and Mason finds himself caring about Lace more than he’d ever thought possible. That’s why neither of them sees his huge mistake coming—one that instantly fractures everything between them.
Will Mason confront the ugliest side of himself, and in the process see who he’s capable of becoming, or will he fall back into the life he knew before Lace and his injury?
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Excerpt
I woke up the next morning—still on a Sharon Martin high—and asked Mom if I had an appointment with the doctor. The pain was in full effect and I came to the conclusion that this cast was designed for ultimate discomfort. The way it took up most of my arm, locking it in a pathetic L-shape. The pressure had my shoulder aching, my elbow cramped, and it had only been a day. Basically, I felt like a little whiny bitch.
The orthopedist was able to fit me in at 11 a.m. My mom let me skip school for the day to take it easy and see how the appointment would go—I liked this sympathy. My mind wandered to Sharon again on the car ride. The way she massaged my shoulders before she leaned in and kissed me, her cinnamon scented neck, her thick blond hair tickling my chin. All a solid memory to distract from whatever news I’d get from the doctor. I shut my eyes and exhaled.
We pulled into the doctor’s office parking lot and Mom dropped me in front of the building before attempting to find a spot in this overpopulated, crammed town. She was always worried about being late, and she’d probably have to circle the lot five times before a space opened up.
“I’ll meet you inside. Don’t go in to see the doctor without me,” she said. She loved to treat my brother and me like little kids. Maybe Chad needed it because he couldn’t leave the house without forgetting something half the time—like his lacrosse stick when he went to lacrosse practice, or his homework assignments sitting on the kitchen table when he went to school. But my personal favorite was when he forgot Dove when his intention was to take her to the dog park.
I scanned the directory board inside the double doors. North Shore Orthopedics, Dr. Kenneth Kalad—second floor.
There was a girl with short bleached hair and purple streaks standing in front of the elevator. Her sweater with cutouts down the arms gave glimpses of smooth, pale skin, but it covered most of her faded jeans, which were tucked inside a pair of boots with chunky buckles up the sides. She was scribbling in a book with bleeding flowers on the cover. When she saw me out of the corner of her eye, she closed the book and tucked it under her arm, keeping her head pointed at the floor. I stared at her, but she didn’t even glance up.
The elevator doors opened and we both stepped inside. She pressed the 3 button with a chewed black fingernail. When she didn’t ask which floor I wanted, I pushed 2 with my good arm. I focused on her. She focused on the floor.
“You don’t care about my floor needs in this crippled state?” I joked as the doors shut.
She looked up and laughed, like one short exhale. “Sorry,” she said, pushing some strands of hair behind her left ear, exposing at least eight hoop earrings.
Her bright green eyes were outlined in heavy black makeup. I traced my gaze down her face to her chest. A cool necklace hung against her collarbone—half of a clock, with the hands pointing to the half that wasn’t there. It kind of reminded me of football, waiting for halftime where the game could go in a totally different direction, but that probably wasn’t what it meant. My eyes traveled up to the side of her face again.
Yeah, she was definitely hot. But kind of in a surprising way—like an “I don’t even know why I’m looking at her” sort of way. I didn’t usually go for artsy-emo-type girls. But there was this strange sad look on her face—the corners of her lips turned down, a droopy tiredness in her eyes. You wouldn’t think that would draw you to someone, but it made me curious about her. Like, what had her so preoccupied that she couldn’t smile or flirt with me?
“I like your necklace,” I said, willing her to look at me again.
She glanced up, shoulders tense, and grabbed the chain in her hand, before looking at the floor again and quietly saying, “Thanks.”
The doors opened on the second floor. I watched her for a beat longer before stepping out of the elevator. It was like she couldn’t wait for me to leave.
Then just as the doors began to shut behind me, she said, “Hope your arm feels better.”
“Okay,” I said, turning back around. “Take care.”
Take care? It was like I couldn’t remember who I was or why I was even in this building. Why didn’t she have the normal reaction girls had toward me? I couldn’t totally blame her—she (and my wrist) had me way off my game.
About the Author
Shay Siegel is from the east end of Long Island, New York. She is a Tulane University graduate with a B.A. in English, and former member of the women’s tennis team. She has an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Shay loves nineties grunge, the ocean, soy lattes, and her giant-headed rescue pit bull, Bernie.
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Giveaway Alert!
There is a tour wide giveaway for the bookstagram blitz for Fractured. One winner will win a gift basket (US Only) which includes:
- a signed copy of Fractured
- a Fractured book cover magnet, and 2 quote stickers
- small bound writing journal
- mini jade facial roller
- Benefit Bad gal mini mascara
- green tea body lotion
- 3 Broadway moisturizing lip glosses
- carbonated bubble clay facial mask
- 2 facial mask brushes
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