Welcome to Day 1 of Science Geek Appreciation Week with author Kelly Oram–a fun-filled week of teasers, interviews, games, giveaways, and lots and lost of science! We’re going to kick off the week by introducing you to the stars of the Spanish Fork High Science Squad–Club President Avery Shaw and her newest recruit, Grayson Kennedy–in their debut novel The Avery Shaw Experiment.
Title: The Avery Shaw Experiment
Author: Kelly Oram
Publisher: Blufields
Pages:221
Available: Amazon, iBooks, B&N, Kobo
Summary: When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically.
The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.
Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.
Review
This book was the first Kelly Oram Book I read! I loved it, and have loved every one I have read. This story is written from 2 POV, Avery’s and Grayson’s. This adds a great dimension to the tale, and a lot of humor. Avery is really in need of a little fun in her life, and Grayson is the right person to provide just that.
Their story is sweet, as you see them both develop in to their best selves. I loved the confidence that Avery developed, through the love and friendship Grayson was able to give her. He opened a whole new world of people and activities for her, and in doing so, she really discovered herself. Avery taught Grayson that he is more than just a hormone driven jock, and when true love strikes, it makes you want to be a better person. He learned to put someone before himself, and even put his own happiness on hold in order to make that someone happy. Grayson really grew up!
As much as this book gives you all of this really deep food for thought, it is packed with hilarious situations, dialogue, and laugh-out-loud repartee. You also have to be willing to see past Grayson in the beginning, as he is a 17-year-old, hormone driven guy, and his inner dialogue had me rolling my eyes and thinking, oh my word! Once you look past that you see him changing and moving on.
As I say again, I loved this book, and it is a fairly clean read. I think Grayson swears 2-3 times in the book (S-word), and he does have his mind in the gutter every now and then, like most 17-year-olds, but nothing I found offensive.
Avery
I was so out of it that I’d slipped into the bathroom while Grayson was in the shower, and I didn’t even notice until he poked his head out from behind the curtain with a surprised look on his face. “Aves, babe, I’m a little busy here.” He cocked an eyebrow and gave me a crooked smile. “Unless you’re planning to join me…?”
Just then there was a loud knock on the door, and my mother’s worried voice called out to me. I looked up at Grayson and in a moment of sheer panic didn’t think twice before jumping behind the curtain with him.
“Whoa! Avery! I was only teasing!”
I could hear Grayson, but I couldn’t really respond. I leaned my back against the cold tile wall and closed my eyes, letting the hot water rain down on me.
There was another knock, louder this time, and then the door opened. “Avery? That you in here, sweetie?”
I frantically shook my head, praying that Grayson would do the right thing.
“Sorry, Kaitlin. It’s just me.”
“Oh. Sorry, Grayson. I thought maybe you were Avery.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” he teased.
“Will do.”
The door clicked shut and things got quiet. I stood there for so long that my head started to hurt and I got really dizzy. My knees buckled.
Grayson quickly caught me under the arms. “Avery, breathe,” he commanded.
I took a breath. As oxygen flooded my lungs, I realized it was probably the first breath I’d taken in minutes. Literally.
“Aves,” a low steady voice said. I felt hands on either side of my face. I opened my eyes, and Grayson’s beautiful piercing blue ones were staring down at me from just inches away, taking up my entire field of vision. “You good now?” he asked.
I may have been breathing, but I would never be “good” again. I flung my arms around him and began to release gut-wrenching sobs into his chest.
Grayson
…“You look really nice,” I blurted, unable to hide my surprise.
I grinned. “Don’t want to have to explain to anyone how it got wet, eh?”
She turned even brighter red but then glared at me. “I just don’t want my hair to freeze.”
I laughed as I threw my hands up in surrender and then laughed even harder when she stalked past me into the bathroom.
I leaned against the door and watched, curiously, as she dried her hair. There was something oddly fascinating about watching Little Avery Shaw primp. She’d never seemed like such a real girl to me before. She wasn’t so little anymore, either.
She caught me staring at her in the mirror, so I quickly said, “I thought dorks were supposed to have bad hair and horrible, frumpy fashion senses.”
“Just because I enjoy learning doesn’t mean I’m a dork,” she said, insulted.
“Two words for you Aves: science club.”
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