Can Dreams Come True?
(Book One of the Cecily Taylor Series) by Krysten Lindsay Hager
Contemporary YA
fiction
Blurb:
Cecily has always had a huge crush on singer Andrew Holiday
and she wants to be an actress, so she tags along when her friend auditions for
his new video. However, the director isn’t looking for an actress, but rather
the girl next door—and so is Andrew. Cecily gets a part in the video and all of
Andrew’s attention on the set. Her friend begins to see red and Cecily’s
boyfriend is seeing green—as in major jealousy. A misunderstanding leaves
Cecily and her boyfriend on the outs and Andrew hopes to pick up the pieces as
he’s looking for someone more stable in his life than the models he’s dated.
Soon Cecily begins to realize Andrew understands her more than her small-town
boyfriend—but can her perfect love match really be her favorite rock star?
Excerpt 1...
I started to feel anxious after
lunch. After all, I had been an Andrew fan for a long time, and even though I
had seen him in person, this was a huge deal to get to meet him. What if he
wasn’t what I had imagined? I didn’t expect him to fawn over me or anything,
but what if he was rude or ignored me? It would kill my fantasy of him as being
this sweet, quiet, sensitive songwriter who wore his heart on his sleeve while
also being kind of a loner/rebel with just a touch of bad boy in him. Oh man, I
would be crushed if he didn’t notice me or worse—if he ended up flirting with
Harlow.
In all his magazine interviews
Andrew always said looks weren’t important to him, and what he noticed in a
girl was if she was true to herself. He said he went for “bright girls who were
sweet and easy to be with.” Now that I thought about it, that was the kind of
fake crap magazines put out about all the teen celebrities. It was like when I
saw Lawrence Claibourne, my favorite actor who claimed to be Mr.
I’m-just-looking-for-a-sweet-girl-to-read-poetry-to on a red carpet with a
model whose boobs were falling out of her dress and had overdone the lip
fillers—I mean, you just knew he wasn’t into her for her personality. But
Andrew wasn’t like Lawrence. Andrew seemed so sincere and deep. Lawrence had a
smirk and you could tell he was a player, but Andrew seemed like he had been
hurt and needed to find the right girl who he could open up to and learn to
trust again. . .or at least that’s what he said in his last interview.
The final bell rang and my heart
shot up to my throat. This was it. I was on my way to meet my crush. From now
on, any dreams of him would be marred by the reality I was about to face.
Was it better to keep wondering
what if and keep the fantasy alive or to go and actually meet him?
Excerpt 2...
Okay, if I wanted to do a good job in this music video then
I had to become this character and show how she and Andrew were soulmates who
would recognize each other just by walking by.
Andrew got into position and the director yelled, “Action.”
Andrew and I began to walk toward one another. He glanced
away from me and then right as we got closer, he gave me an intense, longing
stare which almost took my breath away. I lost all focus and forgot what I was
supposed to do. It was like time was standing still and we were the only two
people in the world.
“Cut!” Dimitri said. “Perfection. You absolutely nailed the
look, Cecily. Let’s try it again, but this time the focus will be on Andrew’s
angle.”
My face felt warm as I walked back on my mark to go again.
How did I get my look so perfect when I hadn’t done anything intentional?
Andrew’s gaze had been so overwhelming I had forgotten everything I was meant
to do. Then it hit me—my look hadn’t been an act. Whatever I did in the scene
was how I actually felt in the moment and if Dimitri said it was the perfect
look then it meant I must have been showing my true feelings for Andrew. How
embarrassing! Did people think I was acting or was my stupid kiddie crush
apparent to everyone now? Andrew would probably take the security guys aside
and tell them there was a stalker present and to quietly escort me off the
premises without making a scene. The whole crew would laugh over how the dumb
star struck kid got caught up in her obsession with the pop star. I never
should have done this. At least before I had the fantasy, now Andrew was aware
of my existence and instead of remembering the connection we had earlier, he’d
see me as just another fan.
Buy links...
About Krysten...
Krysten Lindsay Hager writes about friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, frenemies, crushes, fame, first loves, and values. She is the author of True Colors, Best Friends...Forever?, Next Door to a Star, Landry in Like, Competing with the Star (The Star Series: Book 2) and Dating the It Guy. True Colors, won the Readers Favorite award for best preteen book and the Dayton Book Expo Bestseller Award for childen/teens. Competing with the Star is a Readers' Favorite Book Award Finalist.
Krysten's work has been featured in USA Today, The Flint Journal, the Grand Haven Tribune, the Beavercreek Current, the Bellbrook Times, Springfield News-Sun, Grand Blanc View, Dayton Daily News and on the talk show Living Dayton.
Where you can find her online...
Title: Chasing the Wind
