*GUEST REVIEW* "Cloud Walking" (Find You In The Dark #1.5) by A. Meredith Walters

While Clay and Maggie were falling apart...

Daniel and Rachel were falling in love. 

Rachel Bradfield has loved Daniel Lowe for most of her life. She has had to sit quietly by while he throws his feelings away on a girl who doesn’t deserve them. Rachel knows she can be everything he needs.

Daniel has always known Rachel was special. She is one of his best friends. But what Daniel doesn’t realize is that the girl he has known forever might just be the one he really wants.

Love pulls two people together, while tearing two others apart. As Daniel and Rachel discover the beauty of first love their best friend loses her heart to the deepest darkness. Unable to hold Maggie together, Rachel and Daniel find out that love doesn’t have to hurt and that it can change your life.

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Nicola's Thoughts

Cloud Walking is a short novella from the Find You in the Dark series by A. Meredith Walters.  It is based along the same timeframe as the first book in the series, however it concentrates on the relationship between Rachel and Daniel rather than Maggie and Clay.

Rachel, Daniel and Maggie have been best friends since birth and are all incredibly close until everything starts to change for the three of them.  Maggie develops an attraction to Clay, and their subsequent relationship puts strain on her friendship with Rachel and Daniel.  Meanwhile, Rachel and Daniel’s increasing feelings for each other also threaten to ruin their friendship. 

Initially Maggie is the only one who knows about Rachel’s feelings for Daniel, feelings she has harboured since they were children.  Daniel on the other hand is completely oblivious to her feelings and has an on-again/off-again relationship with Kylie, which Rachel finds increasingly difficult to deal with. 

“They always made up.  And I was always left with feeling as though my heart were being ripped out of my chest so he could do a tap dance on it.” 

Rachel 

Gradually, Daniel realises that his feelings for Rachel have changed and he starts to view her differently.  This scares him because as much as he wants Rachel, he doesn’t want to destroy the friendship that they have.

“Because Rachel Bradfield was my best friend.  And she deserved a hell of a lot more than an asshole like me.  She deserved a guy who could be her prince charming.  Not a douchbag who didn’t know his ass from his elbow.”

Daniel

However, as tension continues to rise between them their friendship starts to suffer anyway and the only thing they seem to unite on is their concern for Maggie and her destructive relationship with Clay.  It seems to be the only thing they see eye to eye on until they finally confront their feelings and decide the direction their relationship needs to take.

This is a pretty fast paced book and it revisits many of the scenes from Find You in the Dark.  It can’t be read as a standalone as I don’t think it would make much sense without knowing the main story of Maggie and Clay, but it does help you develop more of an understanding around Rachel and Daniel, particularly their home lives and their mutual resentment towards their respective mothers.

“But there was that part of me that was resentful all the same.  It wasn’t my fault that my mom had made poor decisions when it came to the men she let in her life.  But here we were, years later and I was taking care of her responsibilities.” 

Rachel

“And I thought he has come to sort of hate his mother as well.  Not that I blamed him.  Sure, my mom was negligent, but it was because she was trying to provide us with a life.  Daniel’s mom was negligent because she just didn’t give a crap.  She was entirely wrapped up on her life with her sugar daddy.  And poor Danny was pushed out into the proverbial cold.”

Rachel

“Maggie’s mom was the most amazing parent I knew.  She was warm, supportive and loving.  Everything that Daniel and I lacked in our own maternal relationships.”

Rachel

I like that we get to learn more about them in this book as they are regular characters in Find You in the Dark, but I didn’t feel that we got to know enough about them.  I also love that you get the alternating points of view from Rachel and Daniel, and find out more about what leads up to certain scenes in the first book or what is happening in the background with them while Find You in the Dark is focused on Maggie and Clay. 

While I did enjoy this novella and I do feel that it does add to the series rather than just being a filler, it does run a bit flat.  There aren’t any big surprises, no major drama, nothing really that isn’t covered in Find You in the Dark and just explained further in this one.  In saying that though, I think it does add development of the characters which, if it had been included in the first book would have detracted the attention from Maggie and Clay and would have reduced the impact of their story and situation.  So while it doesn’t pack a punch or provide any big twists, to fans of the series it is required to keep you invested in their relationship and to tidy up loose ends from the first one, which I’m sure will only increase the enjoyment of the next book Light in the Shadows.

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Review by Nicola

Nicola on Goodreads * Nicola on Twitter

*GUEST REVIEW* "Find You in the Dark" (Find You in the Dark #1) by A. Meredith Walters

Well everyone, please let me introduce you to Nicola!

I'll Be Reading's newest guest reviewer!

Since we all know I've been a liiiittle bit slacking on the reviews, other than blog tours (currently), Nicola has offered to come help out to get some reviews back up on here! Turns out, her and I read pretty much the exact same genre's, so look forward to the authors and books you love!

So, here is Nicola's first review for I'll Be Reading! She just happened to pick "Find You In The Dark", which I had read the month before I started the blog, so I hadn't reviewed on here. Aka, she's also a mind reader! I loved this book. :) 

Now.. everyone, wave hello to Nicola! Thank you <3 

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Maggie Young had the market on normal. Normal friends, normal parents, normal grades...normal life. 

Until him.

Clayton Reed was running from his past and an army of personal demons that threatened to take him down. He never thought he had a chance at happiness.

Until her.

Maggie thought their love could overcome anything. Clay thought she was all he needed to fix his messy life. 

That together, they could face the world.

But the darkness is always waiting. 

Sometimes the greatest obstacle to true love is within yourself.

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Nicola's Thoughts

WOW! It is the only word to describe this book.  It had me gripped from the prologue right through to the last word and left me aching to read the next book.

Find You in the Dark follows the relationship of Maggie Young and Clayton Reed, two high school teenagers from very different backgrounds who have a love that no one understands. 

Maggie lives a very average, normal life and once she meets Clay, she realises just how bored she is with it.  Clay however has some serious issues within his life and would quite happily swap his life for Maggie’s more mundane one. 

As their friendship develops, Clay confides in Maggie about his situation.  This gives her a better understanding of his life and the reasons behind his behaviour, but also makes her realise that while her feelings for him are growing, she can’t act on them as he needs to focus on his own life without the added complications of a relationship. 

The magnetism between the two is too strong and they finally give in to their feelings, however their relationship is strained from the beginning due to Clay’s issues and the tense relationship between Clay and Maggie’s best friends, Rachel and Daniel, and eventually between Clay and Maggie’s parents.  While Maggie knows deep down that this relationship is probably not the best thing for either of them, particularly Clay, she can’t deny her feelings and the love that they share and so continues to ignore obvious issues, that should be addressed, in the hope that she can help Clay and that together they will be stronger. 

“I ignored the nagging voice in my head that whispered doubts and concern over clay’s intense need to be with me.  How he used me as a bandage for all of his other problems.  I pushed aside the annoying realisation that perhaps that wasn’t a healthy way to me…that I couldn’t make everything better for him; as much as he told me that I was all he needed.”
Maggie

I loved the characters in this book and A. Meredith Walters made it so easy to fall in love with Maggie and Clay.  The banter shared between the two helps to show how compatible they are – they just get each other. 

“You were there, I was mad, so I shot my mouth off at you.  You didn’t deserve that.  I’m sorry.” 
Clay

“Well, what about that first morning?  You sorry for that too?”
Maggie

“Um, no.  You were the one who resembled a one woman wrecking ball.  I didn’t have a chance.” 
Clay

“I think we need to start wearing neon safety vests or something.”
Maggie

“Probably not a bad idea, you’re kind of lethal.  It would give me a bit of warning the next time you come careening at me.” 
Clay

I also love the fact that while Maggie is young, innocent and in love with Clay, she doesn’t stand for his nonsense either.  Don’t get me wrong, she knows how to pick and choose her battles, and doesn’t always make the right choice, but when she stands up to him she doesn’t hold back.  She is feisty when she wants to be and it gives her an added depth that is usually missing from the female leads in other books of this nature. 

The same can be said for Clay, he is not your average leading man, but that doesn’t stop you from loving him and feeling for him every step of the way.  The struggle he endures is heartbreaking and he has very little support to help him, so when he falls in love with Maggie he clings on to her for dear life and unfortunately sees her as the saviour to all of his problems which puts added pressure on their relationship. 

“But I need you, Maggie.  You know that.  Everything is so dark without you.” 
Clay

“This is forever, Maggie.  I would follow you into hell if I had to.”  
Clay

I went through an emotional rollercoaster with this book, enjoying the banter between the two, feeling angry at the naivety of them and even sobbing my heart out at some points but I enjoyed every moment of it.  The ending isn’t necessarily a cliffhanger, but it definitely leaves you wanting more, and thankfully A. Meredith Walters doesn’t disappoint, giving us Cloud Walking (Find You in the Dark #1.5) and Light in the Shadows (Find You in the Dark #2).

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story of intense young love and heartache whilst dealing with a very real and serious issue.

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Review by Nicola

Nicola on Goodreads * Nicola on Twitter