About The
Book
Title: Waiting on Justin
Author: Lucy H.
Delaney
Genre: New Adult
Can everlasting love grow amidst never-ending
despair? Best friends Justin and Haylee
learn early on that the answer is yes. Their parents would rather spend time
drinking and partying than raising children, so the two rely on each other for
the care and emotional support they need. Over time, Justin and Haylee become
lovers despite the age difference between them.
Theirs is a forbidden romance that would
destroy them both if discovered.
The older of the two, Justin is more than a
little rough around the edges. He does everything he can to protect Haylee from
as much abuse as possible, but when tragedy strikes there is nothing he can to
do keep her from being taken into the foster system.
The system meant to save kids threatens to pull
the two of them apart.
Haylee begs Justin to run away with her, but
the powers-that-be force him into an inescapable corner.
Blaming
Justin for the distance that separates them, Haylee shuts out everything and
everyone from her past - including Justin. She tries to forget him. She tries
to replace him. But he is always there. So is her own addiction. When it
finally gets the best of her, she finds herself utterly alone.
She soon discovers what Justin has always
known: Their love was worth waiting for.
Haylee and
Justin's love story spans childhood and teenage years full of abuse, but when
they are pulled apart, both are truly alone for the first time in their lives.
Through frequent letters they stay in touch but Haylee suspects Justin may be
hiding dirty little secrets about his life away from her in the same way she
is. Early readers kept asking questions about what Justin really did while he
was away from Haylee for all those years. The writer in me sought to give them
answers. The answer was Tatum.
Tatum is a
dread-locked, spit-fire, sports fanatic who meets Justin at a bonfire one
summer night after Haylee had put an official end to their long-time,
long-distance relationship. His everlasting love for Haylee is put to the test
and Tatum is the girl that will test it. Tatum, too, has been hurt and turned
love into a game to avoid another heartbreak. Not only is Justin intrigued by
her game, he is assured that his love for Haylee won't be compromised if he
plays by Tatum's rules. But when Tatum challenges him to surprise Haylee with a
visit, Justin is devastated to see the love of his life with another man,
Jordan.
When it
seems like his hope of ever reuniting with Haylee is completely lost Tatum is
there for him to see him through one of the hardest times in his life. The
question is, did he compromise, or did her game keep them both safe?
About the
Author
Lucy H. Delaney lives
with her blended family in the Pacific Northwest town of Leavenworth,
Washington, nestled at the feet of the Cascade Mountains. When not tucked away
in her writing room making up stories or standing in her cubicle in one of the
offices of corporate America, Lucy spends her time with family and friends.
Along with her
husband and four children, Lucy loves to be in nature: She can often be found
on her homemade backyard swing, curled up with a good book, hiking the
surrounding mountains or running country roads and game trails. A fitness
enthusiast who regularly practices crossfit, yoga, and distance running, Lucy
also volunteers for the Chelan-Douglas CASA organization and her church's AWANA
program to help keep kids safe and smiling.
Connect with Lucy
online
Links
Book Excerpts
Excerpt One
I FELL IN LOVE with Justin when I was seven years old, and I
have loved him ever since. I knew him forever, but before that night he was
nothing more than a really cool big kid. He was eleven, and when you're seven
an eleven-year-old is pretty much an adult. I suppose he was in my life even
before I knew how to make a memory because as far back as I can go in my mind,
he's always been there, protecting me, loving me silently.
Justin was the most amazing boy I had ever known, even before
I decided I loved him. Some people said he was worthless and good for nothing,
a loser and a punk. Clayton, Justin's dad, even said he wasn't worth the oxygen
he breathed.
His hair was dirty blond and usually a little long. I
remember once my mom cut it into a raggedy mohawk and then never kept up with
it. Eventually the sides grew out, and the top and back were so long I almost
couldn't tell he ever had a mohawk until he turned his head really fast; then
the top hair would fly up and the shorter sides were obvious. Honestly, it
looked ridiculous, but he liked it and kept it that way for a real long time.
When I look back at his fifth grade picture I can see how
young he was. His chubby cheeks, his uncombed hair, and his favorite Power
Rangers shirt all showcase his youth. But I swear, when I was a kid I couldn't
see anything but a grown-up when I looked in his green eyes. He was a man, and
he watched out for me.
We knew each other before we fell in love because our parents
ran in the same social circle. By that, I mean that they partied and drank with
the same people, and occasionally got high. I know now that it was more than
occasionally, but when you're young, hours, days, and weeks are stretched out,
and it feels like forever is between them.
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