Believe in the Wish by Christi Snow is a New Adult Contemporary Male Romance with an adventure, a bit of a mystery and filled with sibling love. Believe in the Wish is a standalone novel. Book Cover Designed by Jay Aheer.
Believe in the Wish was released on May 11, 2017, and is intended for readers 18 years and older.
My Four Star Review:
Let me first say, you will need a few tissues for this story. Ethan Roberts twin sister, Emma, passes away from cancer and Ethan is left with a gaping hole in his heart. He just can’t seem to function without his other half. But Emma is a smart sister and knows she needs to kick her brother’s butt from the grave. Emma enlists her attorney to carry out a plan to ensure Ethan finds his Happily Ever After. This help comes in the form of letters from Emma to Ethan but not just Ethan. Emma’s best friend Hawk gets pulled into the mix and is sent on a few “missions’ with Ethan. Hawk is struggling with a few demons of his own and together, Hawk and Ethan, find some common ground the courage to help them both move on.
This was a really cute story and it really pulled me in when Emma said, in her first letter, “Make a Wish, Ethan. Believe in it. It’s time to live!” and Ethan made his wish, “I wish I wasn’t so alone.” I kind of got the feeling if Hawk was going to make a wish, it would’ve been the same one.
This is the first book I’ve read by Christi and I really enjoyed each of her characters. I would encourage you to grab this book and take a chance on a new author like I did. You might find some really great reads.
Synopsis:
I buried my twin sister six months after she found out she had cancer. Her funeral was three months ago. Today is our birthday and it started with delivery of letters from her.
It seems she didn’t trust me to move on after her death. She knows me too well. But how can I go on when my other half is just…gone? That’s not something I can recover from with a snap of my fingers. But I also can’t ignore her instructions even though I’d be perfectly content to cuddle up with my buddy, Johnnie Walker, and call it a year.
She has a list of things for me to do and there are rules attached.
There’s one major problem besides the fact it’s been three months since I left the house. I have to do all these things with her jerk of an ex, Hawk Simmons. He abandoned her shortly after she found out she was sick. If that wasn’t enough to make this a really bad idea, the fact that he makes an appearance in all my nighttime fantasies probably does.
I don’t think I can do this, but I owe it to my sister’s memory to try.
Interview with the Christi Snow:
Question: What’s harder, naming your characters, creating the title for your book or the cover design process?
None of those are hard. Those are my first steps when I’m still really excited about a book and the information simply flows out of my head through my fingertips. I love the whole creation process and nothing is more exciting than when cover art hits my inbox from my designer.
A little secret for you…Believe in the Wish was written TO the cover. Jay Aheer is the cover designer for this book and when I saw it, I bought it. I had no clue what to use it for. The story came FROM that gorgeous cover.
Question: “How do you answer the question “Oh, you’re an author…what do you write?”
I’m the world’s worst about promoting myself, so I tend to stutter and stammer through this. But usually I say something along the lines of “I write romance” or “I write romantic suspense.” It gets to be fun when the conversation continues. People are either really intrigued (and honestly, that’s the norm) or really, really rude about the romance genre in general. But I swore early on, I would always claim my work with pride, so even in my small West Texas town, I talk about my love for male/male romances and will list all the various genres I write in…which I’ll admit, is really varied. It’s interesting to see how different people react. Thankfully, I’m a serious introvert so rarely talk to other people, so the subject rarely comes up.
Question: What does your family think of your writing?
My family has been incredibly supportive. I think I confuse most of them…because I am from a conservative, rural American family where things like LGBTQA rights aren’t really even on their radar. But after moving around the world with the military, I’ve been exposed to so much more than I ever would have if I’d stayed close to home (and I’m so thankful for that). So while I may be the black sheep of the family in just that they don’t get or even necessarily agree with my beliefs, they’ve never been anything but supportive about me and my writing. I’m extremely lucky there.
Question: Tell us about your current work in process and what you’ve got planned for the future.
Oh wow…that’s opening up a can of worms. At any given time, I’m working on 3-5 projects.
Right now…
- I’m actively writing Snowcroft Restoration (book #4 in the Men of Snowcroft series…m/m).
- I’m also actively writing When Love Comes Back (an unexpected book #5 in the When the Mission Ends series that just exploded upon my muse last week…m/f).
- Getting ready to do mild rewrites on Found at the Bookstore (book #2 in the Found series…m/m) so it can go to my editor. This will be my next release after Believe in the Wish.
- Gearing up to tackle my behemoth Intertwined Hearts manuscript to get it ready for beta readers. This 128,000 word beast is my m/m/f and is book #3 in the Men of Snowcroft series and should be releasing in the late summer.
- Then I also have two paranormal m/m novellas coming out late fall/early winter called Smolder and Shiver.
Giveaway – click below for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
Excerpt:
Katya ended her call and promptly pushed the ‘away’ button for receiving phone calls. “I’m sorry. No more calls. They may not think so, but they can survive without me for an hour or so while we have our chat.”
Ethan’s stomach rolled over. That brought them to the question of the hour…chat about what? But he was almost afraid to ask at this point. Instead, he redirected. “Do you have your own firm, or do you work for someone else?”
She raised an eyebrow at him, but with a slight tilt of her head she must have seen something in his expression because she answered, “I own my own firm. When I graduated from law school, I went into a partnership that was later dissolved when I bought my partner out. It’s all mine now, which keeps me very busy.”
He grimaced. “And that’s further complicated by hermits like me who refuse to answer phone calls or mail deliveries. Sorry about that.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s time for you to stop apologizing. This is a hard time for you and that’s okay. To a certain extent, that’s the way it should be…”
She hesitated for a moment. “At least for a little while. You’re allowed to grieve. But Emma knew this would be an issue for you, so she made plans.”
“What kind of plans?”
Katya reached into her briefcase and pulled out a file. She reached inside and pulled out an envelope that she handed to him. On the front was his name, written in Emma’s handwriting. Suddenly it was hard to breathe.
“What is this?” he whispered.
“The first of your instructions. You need to open and read it.”
He didn’t want to. He didn’t know why, but he really didn’t want to. “I’d rather wait until I’m at home.” At his house, if he fell apart, he could do it without witnesses.
She shook her head kindly. “No, that won’t work. She was very specific in how she wanted this all to go. I need you to open it now.”
Ethan swallowed against the huge lump in his throat as he tried to find air to breathe. His heart pounded in his chest. Surely, everyone around them could hear that.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I promise.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He glanced up at her. “It’s never going to be okay again.” His voice cracked.
She lowered her lids, and her lips compressed into a tight line as if his grief was too much for her.
His hands shook as he turned the envelope over, lifting the sealed flap. It had to be his imagination, but he could have sworn that he smelled a faint whiff of the strawberry lotion Emma always liked to wear.
For just a moment, he shut his eyes and tried to calm down his emotions going haywire. He didn’t know whether to be angry that she’d done this to him, sad that she wasn’t here to tell him whatever information this letter held, or scared at whatever Emma had cooked up for him.
Throughout her life, she’d kept him hopping. As the exuberant, outgoing twin, she’d always dragged him into trouble when all he’d wanted to do was stay home. In that regard, this whole scheme of hers was very apropos.
He took a deep breath and pulled out the single sheet of paper and unfolded it. At the very first words on the paper, his eyes filled with tears.
Happy Birthday, baby brother.
He glanced up in disbelief at Katya. “It’s May fifteenth?”
At her silent nod, he gazed down at the paper in his hands, his eyes filling with tears. It was their twenty-fifth birthday. The first birthday he’d ever celebrated without her. She’d only been twenty-four when she’d died. How unfair was that? To her. To him. To the world that missed out on everything she had to offer it.
Emma’s handwriting wavered in front of his eyes, but he continued to read, not knowing what else to do. His other option—sobbing in the middle of the restaurant—would be mortifying.
I’m sorry I’m not there to go out partying with you. Remember when we were little and you didn’t want to share your birthday with me? Now you get your wish.
He’d been a horrible person. The tears overflowed his eyes. He’d made that wish more years than he even wanted to remember. How selfish was that? How could he have wished for a life without her in any way? She’d been his light.
Katya shoved a tissue into his hand.
Right. He was in public. Time to get it together.
My bad. It was probably too soon for a joke like that.
I love you, Ethan.
I know I didn’t say that enough—you know emotional displays and I didn’t mix—but beyond anything else that happens over the next few weeks, KNOW THAT. I love you, and if I could have figured out a way to stay, I would have…for you.
But God obviously had different plans for me, so now I’ll just have to content myself with being your guardian angel for the next seventy-five years. I’ll have your back, bro. I promise.
And in the interest of having your back, that’s why Katya is here.
I know you. You’re stubborn, and right now, I imagine that you’re more than a little sad. I get that, but that doesn’t mean you stop living. My death means you have to live twice as much because you have to do it enough for both of us. I’m counting on you.
But, again, I know you, so I’ve enlisted some help from my friends just to get you going.
Make a Wish, Ethan. Believe in it. It’s time to live.
~Emma
When Ethan finished reading, he took several deep breaths. The sobs had welled in his throat, and it was all he could just to hold them inside.
“You okay?” Katya asked.
“Yeah.” His voice sounded husky, but he’d managed to say the word, so he figured that for a win.
“Then it’s time for step two.”
He looked up just as she held a flaming lighter to the candle on top of a cupcake. She pushed it in front of him. “Make a wish and blow. All you have to do is believe.”
As he sat there, looking at the flickering candle, it occurred to him at just how sad this was. His twin was dead, and he was at some bizarre birthday celebration with someone he’d never even met before. Even from the grave, Emma was working to pull him out of his shell.
So he closed his eyes and blew as he made his wish.
I wish I wasn’t so alone.
But when he opened them, nothing had changed. He was still sitting in a restaurant with a woman he didn’t know, mourning the twin sister who’d died. Not that he expected a miracle, but Emma wanted him to believe.
Believe.
How was that even possible? She’d been the one who believed in the magic of things like wishes and fairy tales. What had that gotten her? She’d died before she’d even had the chance to live. What kind of magic could he possibly believe in with that kind of reality?
Check out the other great Blogs on this Tour:
5/11 ~ Hearts on Fire Reviews
5/11 ~ Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
5/12 ~ MM Good Book Reviews
5/13 ~ Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
5/14 ~ Dog-Eared Daydreams
5/15 ~ Happily Ever Chapter
5/16 ~ Two Chicks Obsessed with Books and Eye Candy
5/16 ~ MM Book Escape
5/17 ~ Book Reviews Janisf & Leisha
5/17 ~ BFD Book Blog
5/18 ~ Dirty Books Obsession
5/19 ~ Reviews for Book Lovers
5/19 ~ Love Bytes Reviews
5/20 ~ Bayou Book Junkie
Meet Christi Snow:
As an avid reader her entire life, Christi Snow always dreamed of writing books that brought to others the kind of joy she felt when she read. But…she never did anything about it besides jot down a few ideas and sparse scenes.
When she turned 41, she decided it was time to go after her dream and started writing. Within four months, she’d written over 150,000 words and hasn’t stopped since.
She’s found her calling by writing about sexy, alpha heroes and smart, tough heroines falling in love and finding their passion. She’s truly living the dream and loving every minute of it.
Her tagline is… Passion and adventure on the road to Happily Ever After. She’s loving this adventure!
As always, Keep Writing/Keep Reading ~janisf
I received a copy of this book directly from the publisher. Blog Tour sponsored by IndiGo. Cover by Jay Aheer.
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