What they say: To nineteen-year-old high school dropout Travis Walker, women are like snowflakes-- each one different, but beautiful in her own way. He can charm any girl he meets, and yet down deep he fears he'll always be a loser like his jailbird father. As the landlady threatens to evict him and his sick mother, Travis takes a job he hates and spends his evenings picking up girls at a nearby night spot.
When he enlists in a teen program at the local fire station, he finds out he’s amazing at it. Then he meets the smoking hot Kat Summers, enlists Kat’s friend Zoey to help him woo her, and falls in love for the first time ever. But he keeps the details of his life secret. His girl will never love him back if she knows the truth about him….
When he enlists in a teen program at the local fire station, he finds out he’s amazing at it. Then he meets the smoking hot Kat Summers, enlists Kat’s friend Zoey to help him woo her, and falls in love for the first time ever. But he keeps the details of his life secret. His girl will never love him back if she knows the truth about him….
- New Adult Contemporary - Date Published: 3/15/13
What
to Expect When You Read Girls Love Travis Walker
by
Author Anne Pfeffer:
Readers
often tell me my books surprised them. They say there was a lot more there than
they’d expected, a lot more story and emotion. I don’t set out to make my books
unpredictable or unusual, but that’s how they seem to end up.
Fortunately,
most people (or the ones who write letters and reviews, anyway) are happily surprised. But because I’d like you
to know what you’re getting, I thought I’d try to explain this book a little
and tell you what early readers are saying.
To
understand Girls Love Travis Walker, think of Will Smith’s film The Pursuit of Happiness (a man struggling
to keep his family off the streets), combined with a classic romance novel (boy
meets, loses, and gets girl), combined with a main character like Tim Riggins
(pictured below) in Friday Night Lights (off-the-charts-gorgeous bad boy with a
heart of gold.)
It is not a lighter-than-air romance, but
rather an absorbing, heart-warming and, I hope, sexy read about a serious
subject. My book is about first love and second chances. It will make you cry,
but in a good way.
To my thrilled amazement, the book has won some awards. On June 1, 2013, the Indie Reader Discovery Awards announced Girls Love Travis Walker as its Third Place Winner in the Fiction Category, putting it among the top six books honored in that competition. www.indiereaderdiscoveryawards.com It was also named a Finalist in New Fiction in the 2013 National Indie Excellence Awards. But what really makes me happy is that some who hesitated to read the book at first were glad when they did.
According to a couple of readers, “The book touched on subjects that I never thought I would find myself reading. …[but] I found myself engrossed in Travis Walker’s story and I just could not get enough.” http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/621290112
“I loved Travis…. My heart broke for the things
he went through, things I definitely wasn't expecting.” http://amzn.to/18Oj8o4
Others noted that it changed the way they saw
their lives:
“[It] is one of those rare gems that … causes you
to take a long, hard look at your prejudices and preconceptions of the world
around you…” http://amzn.to/11furiG
“This … sweet, tender read…. made me look at my
life and reminded me that even if I don’t have everything, it is still more
than what others may have.” http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/556279751
I’m
glad readers are finding they can relate to the plot and the characters. In
this story, Travis is not just trying to keep his home. He’s also looking to
find himself. I hope you give it a try
and love it!
What I say: I really enjoyed Girls Love Travis Walker but it was totally different to what I had expected. Tbh I was expecting a hot guy, cocky guy, who charms his way into any and every girls bed, until his finds that one girl who changes everything. In reality Pfeffer provides a story where on the outside Travis is indeed a hot, cocky and charming guy, he is so much more!
I challenge anybody to read this story and not be affected by the issues Pfeffer covers. Personally I cried a lot reading Travis's story and found myself getting really cross that anybody, especially somebody so young could be failed so dramatically by society! The dumpster scene and when Travis finds the box was heart breaking.
I won't say too much about the plot because this story really deserves to be read in its entirety without spoilers. What I will say is that Pfeffer does a wonderful job of handling certain situations, including mental illness, homelessness and the imbalance in society. She does so with great care and sensitivity. Poor Travis has had a hard life, but he keeps on fighting and maintains his pride. I really valued how he didn't want to be given charity or seen as a victim, but wanted to work for things himself. The Fire Station stuff was fun to read and I can easily see why the fire-fighter's were so heroic in Travis's eyes.
Zoey was a great edition to the book and Pfeffer uses her to create balance by showing the other side of the story. Where Travis is struggling, Zoey has money but goes out of her way to help others. As it turned out Kat and Josh didn't really play big parts in the story (I had expected some sort of stinger from both of them), they were really just spoilt, shallow characters used in complete contrast to Travis and Zoey.
Girls Love Travis Walker is absolutely worth reading, and I think we could all learn a thing or two from Travis's story when it comes to inner strength and selflessness!
4 Stars in my Sky!
My fav non-spoilery quotes:
- "You're pretty cute when you abuse your power." Zoey's face was hard to read. "I'm always cute, Travis."
- "When I first saw you, I thought you were both the handsomest and the saddest boy I'd ever seen."
- "Are you kidding? I would have helped you." I didn't want everyone to know I was a loser. "I just didn't want to tell people."
Anne Pfeffer is the author of Any Other Night and The Wedding Cake Girl.
She lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Where to buy: Amazon
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