Customer Reviews

True Blue Forever

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"True Blue Forever" takes the reader into a high school drama and it's so real at times it's as if you can open a locker door...Scarbrough tackles more than football players in this excellent novel about getting through the torturous teen years, and does it without the reader knowing it...until they are done reading and realize they've read a book and didn't actually live it. That's talent... and this author has plenty of it...I look forward to future books by this bright author.

This book has humor, drama, an engaging heorine and a hunky hero that rival many a romance novel I have read. The author weaves a tale of young love, troubled teens, class clowns and mixes in the culture of the late 70's to bring together a recipe for a fabulous novel that transends genre and category for an enjoyable story that will make you cry, laugh, and wish to be young all over again.

It only took me one day to read this novel! I couldn't put it down! The characters you will meet are easy to identify with. As a young adult myself I found that most of these teens could have been a best friend.

Plot is thick and will make you laugh, cry and smile. Through True Blue Forever you will watch as the characters grow. How their relationships with each other will change, become deeper.

Ms. Scarbrough is a talented author who writes fun, exciting literature. I am looking forward to any upcoming novels she may have.

I'd first like to say that I despised high school, but I loved this book. The story was compelling, and kept my interest right from the beginning, and never let go. This tale of true love should definitely be at the top of everyone's "to buy" list.

It will make you laugh, make you cry (for those who can), and make you look around every so often, just to make sure you haven't been shifted back in time.

Mrs. Scarbrough has done an excellent job with this novel, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Ms. Scarbrough has written a book that will capture your heart as well as your interest.
Characters are interesting, thoughtfully drawn and easy to like.
Dialogue is extremely well written, the plot flows smoothly, editing is well done and there are no loose ends.

The story line, intriguing at the very first and even more intriguing as it goes along makes the book hard to put down for either gender.
Of special note are the well paced last chapters which are quite stunning and not at all what I expected.

Sometimes, a coming of age book like this one is perceived by many as a book that follows a rather standard plot, but you'll find this book to be considerably different.
Ms. Scarbrough knows her subject well and it comes through clear and strong in her writing.

I'm looking forward to her next book.

I have just completed a warm, moving, thoroughly enjoyable novel, penned by one talented lady by the name of Joyce Scarbrough. (No need to write her name down... I predict that, over the next couple of years, hers will be the one that will pop into your head whenever you think of "relationship" novels.) Now, for a brief glance at the power of her novel "True Blue Forever," that is the basis of my claim. Anyone can devise a plot. This is why Aunt Bertha, the best friend, and the next door neighbor all approach an author with the story that the author "just has to write, the story that can't miss!" The fact is, as any author or reader can tell you, a novel is developed to stand on its own or fall in failure based on how real, how authentic, in short, how love-worthy and hate-worthy the characters are. The breadth of the characters in "True Blue Forever" is why this novel will "stand" -- will stand for a long, long time. Jeana and Mickie have an enduring quality to their love that you know, from their first embrace, will enable them to climb over and move beyond any obstacle. And the obstacles they face are monumental, and for the reader, compelling. That speaks eloquently for the strength of their love. But, of course that strength is meaningless until tested. Enter the antagonist. I guess the true test of the antagonist, as a character, is how to make him fearful, dangerous, and a worthy opponent to the one (s) you are pulling for without making him so evil that he becomes a caricature to whom the reader can not possibly relate. The author excels with the development of a completely believable Wade Strickland. You grow to hate him, you really do. You want him to suffer for his wrong-doings, to suffer greatly! Then, at about the moment you wish him dead, wiped off the earth, the author, with uncanny timing, gives the story a tweak and you see Wade in a different light. Maybe you'll give him another chance -- if it's not too late... I want to go out on a limb, here, and predict that "True Blue Forever" will be a summer reading hit. Look around you at the beach or shore. If there's any fairness in the world, I think you'll see it in the hands of sun-worshipers from coast to coast. I'm sure your friends will be reading it. You'll be able to borrow a copy from them. But do yourself a favor and buy your own copy. This is a book you'll also want to cuddle up with in front of your winter fireplace. As long as there's love left in this world there should always be room on your books-to-be-Re-read bookshelf for "True Blue Forever."

Emotionally charged nostalgia that touches the heart.
With characters that come alive through their everyday prejudice, friendship, love and hate, "True Blue Forever" is a delightful read. The author does a professional job of bringing out the vanity and ego in the various characters making them completely believable.
Definitely not your average Romance novel, puppy love is not just for children. As the title implies, love can be a lasting and beautiful thing.

Emotionally charged nostalgia that touches the heart.
With characters that come alive through their everyday prejudice, friendship, love and hate, "True Blue Forever" is a delightful read. The author does a professional job of bringing out the vanity and ego in the various characters making them completely believable.
Definitely not your average Romance novel, puppy love is not just for children. As the title implies, love can be a lasting and beautiful thing.

TRUE BLUE FOREVER

by Joyce Sterling Scarbrough

Publish America, LLC

Jeana Russell is not your typical 15-year-old. Despite her fiery good looks, she is more interested in books than boys; that is, until she meets Mickey Royal. She falls madly in love with the handsome athlete, and soon discovers that Mickey, who went to grammar school with her but lived out of state until recently, has pined over her for years. They pledge each other their undying devotion.

Meanwhile, two other young men long for Jeana's affections. Billy Joe hides his breaking heart by cracking jokes, Wade by becoming the high school's star fullback and routinely drinking himself into a stupor. Billy Joe's relationship with Jeana develops into a deep friendship, but Wade, a victim of child abuse, thinks the only girl in the world who could ever make him happy is Jeana. He pursues her as a delinquent would, with taunts, innuendos and physical force. Consequently, Wade and Mickey frequently come to blows.

Which of the three will ultimately win Jeana's heart? I won't tell. Read it for yourself.

Set in Alabama in the 1970s, True Blue Forever sets a fast pace. Many readers will appreciate the fact that Joyce Scarbrough does not bore them with description and flowery phrases. Much of the story is told through clever, peppy dialog. Her characters are warm and likeable. The story built in intensity until I was so eager to know the ending that I actually skipped ahead to make sure everything came out all right. The ability to hold the reader's interest is one mark of a good writer, and Joyce Scarbrough certainly has it.

I began reading True Blue Forever with the idea that it was geared for the teenaged reader. However, I soon discovered it is more appropriate for adults. Although it is certainly not X-rated, it contains too much vulgarity and explicit sexual scenes for me to recommend it to my 16-year-old son. More troubling is the fact that it is written from an amoral standpoint. The protagonists abstain from sex before marriage not because it is wrong, but because they fear pregnancy will keep them from their goals. When they do succumb to temptation, their actions are not shown to be immoral, but merely premature.

Jeana does perform a valiantly unselfish act for her lover, however, and is a true heroine. Toward the end of the book, both protagonists thank God that everything has turned out all right. Overall, in spite of the objections raised in the preceding paragraph, True Blue Forever is an engaging and entertaining read.

"True Blue Forever" is an excellent read. The characters transport you back in time to your own High School days. The fast moving pace keeps you riveted as you turn each page. Your soul is touched by each one of the four High School characters leaving you rooting for each. The author makes the story of young love poignant and believable while conveying each characters nuance. Joyce Sterling Scarbrough is truly a gifted writer and I can't wait to read her next novel.