The Do-Over by Jennifer Honeybourn ~ Excerpt & Giveaway

The Do-Over
Jennifer Honeybourn
(Swoon Reads)
Publication date: July 14th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

In The Do-Over, a teenage girl gets the chance to redo her past in this smart and charming YA novel by the author of When Life Gives You Demons, Jennifer Honeybourn.

Emelia has always wanted to fit in with the A crowd. So, when Ben, the hottest guy in school, asks her out, she chooses him over Alistair, her best friend—even after he confesses his feelings to her.

Six months later, Emilia wonders how her life would have been different if she’d chosen Alistair instead. Haunted by her mistake, she finds a magical solution that promises to rectify the past. As a result, everything in her life is different.

Different, but not better.

What happens if her second chance is her only chance to make things right?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

Excerpt

He hands me the car keys, all nonchalant, like this is something he does all the time.

I’m suddenly all sweaty. How I’m going to tell him that I don’t actually know how to drive?

This is a big problem.

“I’m not feeling so great. Maybe you should drive,” I say, trying to give the keys back to him.

“Don’t be silly. You need the practice.” He walks around to the passenger side and gets into the car.

I rub the back of my neck. I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to pull this off. It’s not like I can fake driving a car. What if I get us into an accident? I should probably just confess that I don’t know what I’m doing, but I don’t know how to tell my dad that without tripping the alarm bells. He already suspects that something is off with me—if I tell him that I’ve forgotten every driving lesson he’s ever given me, then he’ll definitely drag me to a doctor.

You’re going to be fine, I tell myself, taking a deep breath. You can do this.

After all, millions of people drive every day. How hard can it be?

I slip into the driver’s seat and put on my seat belt. I stick the keys in the ignition and turn the car on. When I reach for the gearshift, Dad says, “Wait a minute. Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Yes! Yes, Dad. I’ve forgotten everything!

I stare blankly at him.

“You need to adjust your mirrors,” he says.

“Oh. Right.”

I tip the rearview mirror down slightly like I’ve seen him do before, until I can clearly see out the back window, then adjust my side mirrors. I reach for the gearshift again and try to shift it from park to reverse. Except nothing happens—the gearshift doesn’t budge.

“It’s stuck,” I say.

Dad narrows his eyes. “You need to put your foot on the brake pedal first.”

“Oh. Right.”

I manage to get the car started. Clutching the wheel, I press my foot against the gas pedal. But I guess I push down a little harder than I should, because the car shoots backward. I squeal and stomp on the brake and the car jerks to a stop, nearly giving us whiplash.

“Emelia,” Dad says.

“Sorry, sorry.”

He sighs.

This time, I back down the driveway, much slower and more smoothly. Dad gasps when I pull out into the street.

“You forgot to check over your shoulder,” he scolds.

Whoops. I smile sheepishly at him.

He sighs again. “Emelia, don’t look at me. Keep your eyes on the road.”

“All right, all right.”

God, he’s just making me even more nervous. My hands are sweating and I keep having to take one of them off the wheel at a time to wipe them on my shorts. Fortunately, the streets are quiet, and aside from almost missing a stop sign, I do pretty well on the rest of the ride.

“Turn right at the next light,” Dad says.

“I know where Castle Hardware is.”

I pull into the almost-empty lot and park near the entrance to the squat gray stone building, grinning with relief. I did it! I got us all the way here without getting us killed!

“Well, I don’t know what that was all about, but we obviously need to practice some more,” Dad says. He unclenches his hands from the dashboard and unbuckles his seat belt. “We’ll try again after your shift ends.”

 

Author Bio:

Jennifer Honeybourn works in corporate communications in Vancouver, British Columbia. She’s a fan of British accents, Broadway musicals, and epic, happily-ever-after love stories. If she could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, she’d have high tea with Walt Disney, JK Rowling, and her nana. She lives with her husband, daughter and cat in a house filled with books. Wesley James Ruined My Life is her first novel.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is not a Stuck In Books giveaway.  Stuck In Books is not responsible for selecting the winner or delivering the prize.