TUESDAY EXCERPTS: “THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW”

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events: First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Socrates Book Reviews; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by The Purple Booker.

Today’s feature is one of my new books:  The Next Thing You Know, by Jessica Strawser.

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Intro:

(Mason, Then)

Mason had already promised himself he wouldn’t make any decisions today.

He scuffed his Vans on the side porch of the old house, facing the office entrance, and told himself again:  He was here only for the free consult.

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Teaser:

I won’t tell him everyone becomes a cliche when staring down their own mortality.  Thanks to Tim McGraw, living like you’re dying is itself a cliche.

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Synopsis:

As an end-of-life doula, Nova Huston’s job—her calling, her purpose, her life—is to help terminally ill people make peace with their impending death. Unlike her business partner, who swears by her system of checklists, free-spirited Nova doesn’t shy away from difficult clients: the ones who are heartbreakingly young, or prickly, or desperate for a caregiver or companion.

When Mason Shaylor shows up at her door, Nova doesn’t recognize him as the indie-favorite singer-songwriter who recently vanished from the public eye. She knows only what he’s told her: That life as he knows it is over. His deteriorating condition makes playing his guitar physically impossible—as far as Mason is concerned, he might as well be dead already.

Except he doesn’t know how to say goodbye.

Helping him is Nova’s biggest challenge yet. She knows she should keep clients at arm’s length. But she and Mason have more in common than anyone could guess… and meeting him might turn out to be the hardest, best thing that’s ever happened to them both.

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Would you keep reading?

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