738 Days

At age 16, Amanda Grace was abducted by her former bus driver, Jonathon Jakes. For two years, he kept her chained in a secret basement room, just blocks from her Pennsylvania home, and repeatedly raped her. She focused on a poster of teen heartthrob actor Chase Henry, using his image to anchor her sanity. Now 20, she suffers anxiety, panic attacks, and flashbacks, and her family is imploding. Chase, whose bad decisions have sent his career spiraling downward, decides to get some good press by showing up at the grocery store where Amanda works and surprising her. The stunt backfires, but Chase apologizes and asks her to visit him on a nearby movie set for a few days, and soon they begin to connect. The intense psychological drama of Amanda struggling to heal her broken spirit makes for riveting reading. Skillfully weaving Chase’s troubled history into the story, Kade (Bitter Pill) drops just the right amount of humor into the mix of regret, shame, determination, and love. A stalker complicates the dynamic story line, leading to a spectacular ending. Readers will long remember the love story between these complex characters. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (June)