Life had never been simple for Miki Quinten. Her mom had died when she was eight, and in the aftermath of their loss, her father turned his grief into alcoholism, inadvertently converting their home into a melting pot of debauchery. Unwilling to be put into the foster system, Miki takes control of her own life and becomes invisible to almost everyone but her best friend and godmother. It stayed …
It stayed that way until her junior year in high school and the sudden, unexpected crash landing of Childress High’s star defensive end, Dustin Hill, into her life. The unlikely pair are thrown together and discover they have more in common than either of them thought, and before either Miki or Dustin are prepared an unbreakable bond is formed between them. The only problem is, Dustin’s already in a relationship, and his controlling family have made it clear they want him to stay there.
Against Miki’s better judgment the two grow closer until fate’s twisted sense of humor intervenes and everything in Miki’s world is scattered, plunging her into a crisis she’s not sure she will ever recover from.
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This has been one of my absolute favourite books in years. If you’re looking for an unpredictable love story like no other, I absolutely recommend this one by L.J. Stock
I just downloaded 3 more Lou J Stock books because I just finished Shot In the Dark. Oh. My. God. I started Shot in the Dark traveling from Phoenix home to the East Coast. I didn’t even realize we’d taken off until the wheels hit the tarmac in Chicago– which really annoyed me because I was at such a great place in the book.
This incredible author not only can tell a story but has the writing chops of a master. Prepare to have your heart ripped out — and then restored.
A favorite passage:
“My damp skin was alive as we moved as one, the push and pull of youthful exuberance spurring us on and on until exhaustion finally claimed us both with the kiss of the sun on the horizon. I felt alive as I lay there watching the sun fill the room. My body was well used and tired. My heart was full of love and hope, and my mind was running through images of our future together.
“In three short months, we’d be out of Childress and in a place where no one knew or cared who we were or whether we were in love. There was a promise of more nights like this, filled with endless lovemaking and laughter. Maybe it was naive. Maybe I was just too young and stupid. Maybe I just didn’t care anymore. I was happy, and in love, and I was getting out of a life I hadn’t chosen for myself, and running headlong into one I’d handpicked. Maybe that was slipping through my fingers before I’d so much as had a chance to form a solid image of it.”
One click, my friends! Click like the wind.
wonderful story and real characters you miss when you hit that last page. loved every second!
“Despite the scars that were now etched into my heart and soul, time continued to pass.”
It was back in 2015 that I read a story that L.J. Stock co-wrote. I enjoyed it so much that when this title crossed my path, I remembered her name. After reading the synopsis I was intrigued, I blame my addiction to broken characters for some of the choices I make and for many of the tears I’ve cried. And I blame L.J. Stock for the heart-shaped lump in my throat as I try to make sense of my scattered thoughts and write this review.
This amazing story is told from Mikayla’s POV. It begins with her being a junior in high school. She might be only 16 yrs old, but she’s lived a hard life and is very mature. She’s basically taking care of herself, and has been for years, with only a little help from her best friend and godmother. Her father provides shelter and not much else other than the stuff that no young girl should be exposed to. She knows that if she brings it to anyone’s attention she would end up in foster care and risk losing the only the people that do love and care about her. So she just keeps to herself, hiding in plain sight.
When Dustin comes into her life she learns that solitude is overrated. There’s something to what they say about sharing your thoughts and dreams with someone who listens and supports you. With him she was not invisible… he sees her. But unfortunately, the whole town sees him. He is the star athlete that everyone wants a piece of. His life is not his own and he is being pulled in so many directions he doesn’t know if he is coming or going. When he almost ran into Mikayla, literally, he was shocked to learn that she’d been at school with him for a long time and he’d never noticed her before. And now that he has, he can’t stop noticing her. She’s off-limits, forbidden, and irresistible.
They find ways to spend time together, stolen fragments of time that only make them want more. “He was heat and comfort, love and passion. He was the other half of the whole that made us…us.
The author pulled me into their tragic love story. I held my breath and watched them fall slowly and beautifully in love in spite of all the reasons they shouldn’t. I watched Miki come out of her shell and blossom under his care and attention. I saw the pressures his family put him under weigh him down and discourage him, and then I saw the peace he found just being in Miki’s presence. They were drawn to each other like bees to flowers, and metal to magnets.
After reading the synopsis, I knew something bad was coming. I just didn’t know what. I was afraid to turn each page fearing that whatever it was would be there. I fell so hard for this couple who had overcome so much and fought so hard to be together. I was mentally envisioning their future wedding, kids, and pets. There were a few other characters that I wanted to use for target practice. I was guessing what could possibly be considered a crisis that she might not ever recover from, afraid to even let my mind go there, but unable to stop it from doing so.
Well, let’s just say that I survived, but just barely. I went through a box of kleenex and I gnawed my nails to nubs. My heart was put through an emotional wringer and I wasn’t sure if I would recover. But one thing I am sure of, A Shot In The Dark is not a story I will be forgetting anytime soon. I’ll be on the lookout for whatever the author has for us next. The line forms here…
“there’s a preordained path we all take.”
There are books that stick with me long after the last page and there have been other books along my reading journey that broke my heart only to then put it back together but A Shot in the dark by L.J. Stock, I just have no words for this book that I finished in awe, I’m still processing, I’m still seeing scenes play over in my mind and the whispering of words still trailing through thoughts from this beautifully written book.
A fateful meeting, a high school romance, a secret romance, Miki Quinten ventured into the romance of a lifetime in secret with the highschool superstar, secret places only they knew about, stolen brushes of hands and secret kisses until it all went terribly wrong, one moment changed her life forever but out of it came a beautiful story of first love.
“I wasn’t totally blind or delusional. I had noticed the secrecy that Dustin was establishing our friendship on. I was being hidden away like an enigma, a little secret that was bordering on dirty for the high school football star”.
“One night. One night with this guy was all it took for me to see the world in a whole new set of colors.”
Real, raw, moving, emotional many words stand out throughout Miki’s story but tragic is the one that stands out the most.
A tragic upbringing, a tragic childhood then-teenage relationship with her father, a tragic love story. Two real loves in one lifetime, this is where it was real, the raw was dealing with the pain and having to go on when your world feels like it just ended, moving, there are so many emotions I felt for Miki and so many times I admired her ability to get back up after being knocked down and the strength she had of a girl who had pretty much brought herself up.
A book of two halves, a character who’s own heart became two halves until it became whole again but not without a fight, not without healing and even then years had passed.
You need to go into this blind, I tried so hard with my review not to add spoilers with regards to the plot, you need to feed on the words and feel the emotions, look at this in color.
This was my first stand-alone book by this author and it won’t be my last, I did finish with a contented and happy sigh, but the journey, I must use the quote from the Lock stock and two smoking barrels “It’s been emotional”
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart”
― Helen Keller
Totally recommended read. Thank you to those who recommended it to me this is one that will stick.
A Shot In The Dark touched my heart and soul. Miki is the girl that you want to make everything better for. You hope and pray she gets a break in life; one she so deserves. Dustin, the guy trying to make everyone happy and live up to expectations. And the biggest surprise for me was Garrett. I couldn’t pick between them. The book breaks your heart and then mends it. I adored this story!!
Miki story was a beautifully written story that had it all. Learning to grow up fast when her mother died and her father blocked her out Miki learned how to move through school not being really seen and only having one friend. When fate decides for her and the high schools star player Dustin to meet little did they know they’d fall for each other. Keeping their love secret leads to more secrets that in the end ends in tradgedy. Leaving town to try and rebuild her life but 14 years later she returns and fate again plays a part in her life but with a twist. Falling in love with who you shouldn’t until the truth comes out and shocks them both. This story was amazing with its twists and turns and unable to put it down it also had me in tears. It was an emotional read that I would highly recommend to others as a must read book. If I could give it more than five stars I would.