The Brightsiders
Jen Wilde
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: May 22nd 2018
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Young Adult
A teen rockstar has to navigate family, love, coming out, and life in the spotlight after being labeled the latest celebrity trainwreck in Jen Wilde’s quirky and utterly relatable novel.
As a rock star drummer in the hit band The Brightsiders, Emmy King’s life should be perfect. But there’s nothing the paparazzi love more than watching a celebrity crash and burn. When a night of partying lands Emmy in hospital and her girlfriend in jail, she’s branded the latest tabloid train wreck.
Luckily, Emmy has her friends and bandmates, including the super-swoonworthy Alfie, to help her pick up the pieces of her life. She knows hooking up with a band member is exactly the kind of trouble she should be avoiding, and yet Emmy and Alfie Just. Keep. Kissing.
Will the inevitable fallout turn her into a clickbait scandal (again)? Or will she find the strength to stand on her own?
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Excerpt:
“Cheeseburgers!” I shout at the top of my lungs.
Jessie pulls me through the club, shoving people out of the way. “Move, people! We’re getting cheeseburgers!”
“CHEESEBURGERS!” I shout again, but few hear me over the thumping of music and drumming of feet against the dance floor.
Everything goes dark, and I realize my eyes are closed. I take a sip of my drink and giggle as mystery shoulders rub against mine and Jessie’s grip tightens on my hand.
“Em!” she calls. Her voice sounds miles away. “Wake up, babe!”
“I’m awake,” I mumble, then open my eyes to find us walking past the bar towards the exit.
“Hey,” a cute girl by the bar calls. “Are you Emmy King?”
I do a curtsy and smile. “Indeed I am. And what is thy name, fair maiden?”
Jessie snakes an arm around my waist. “Uh oh,” she says. “That’s Outlander talk. You’ve officially reached peak drunkenness.”
The girl at the bar holds her phone out. “Can I have a selfie with you?”
I stumble toward her and take her phone. “Aye, t’would be my most high pleasure.”
“Um,” the girl says. “What?”
Jessie laughs. “She means yes.”
I start taking photos with her phone, sticking my tongue out and blowing kisses and crossing my eyes and giving the finger, but Jessie snatches the phone out of my hand and gives it back to the girl.
“C’mon, Em,” Jessie says. “I’m starving.” She takes my hand and pulls me away. We’ve been dating for almost six months, but she still gets a tad protective when fans pay me a lot of attention. It’s kind of cute seeing her freckled nose scrunch up like that when she’s jealous.
I bow to the girl, spilling some of my drink. “Fare thee well, my sweet, for I musteth findeth cheeseburgers, lest I waste away from hunger. My heart doth long for the day we may meet again!”
We walk through the dining area and I spot Alfie and Ryan in a booth in the corner. I give them my widest grin. Alfie Jones and Ryan Cho are my two bestest buds in the whole universe. And they’re my bandmates. I get to rock out all around the world with my two fave people and get paid for it. Hashtag blessed.
Still grinning, I reach a hand out to Alfie as we pass. He takes it and stands.
“Where are you off to?” he says in my ear.
“CHEESEBURGERS!” I yell, and he laughs.
“I should have known,” he says.
My best friend, Chloe, is dancing their butt off in the middle of the club. I wave to them and mouth that I’m leaving. They blow me a kiss and I pretend to catch it.
Jessie pulls on my hand and I wobble off balance, but Alfie steadies me.
“Whoa,” he says. “You okay, Em?”
I nod. But then my stomach lurches, and I groan.
Alfie takes one look at me and furrows his brow. He taps Jessie’s arm to get her attention.
“I think Em’s gonna be sick,” he says. I shake my head slowly even though they’re not looking at me.
Jessie rolls her eyes. “She’s fine.”
“Nah,” he says. “She’s doing that face she always does before she voms.”
They both look at me, and I smile, but it’s delayed and lop-sided.
Jessie sighs and pulls me closer to her. “Em,” she says sternly. “Are you gonna hurl?”
I shake my head and pout. She gives Alfie a look that says ‘told you so’ and turns to keep walking.
And then I barf all over the floor.
About the Author:
Jen Wilde is a writer, geek and fangirl with a penchant for coffee, books and pugs. She writes YA stories about zombies (AS THEY RISE), witches (ECHO OF THE WITCH) and fangirls (QUEENS OF GEEK). Her debut series reached over three million reads online and became an Amazon bestseller. Her next book, THE BRIGHTSIDERS, comes out May 2018, and GOING OFF-SCRIPT releases Summer 2019.
When she’s not writing, Jen loves binge-watching her favorite shows on Netflix, eating pizza, traveling to far away places and going to conventions in Marty McFly cosplay.
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