The Text Message

The Secret Author Series, Book 4

By: MJ Padgett

Narrated by: Amanda Soha

The text message was clearly meant for her brother, Patrick. There was no way Adam Norcross intended to text Emily Waters - his best friend’s sister, his arch-enemy, his nemesis.... Okay, maybe that’s going too far, but Adam never liked Emily, a fact made perfectly clear on the day of Patrick’s funeral.

Emily has a plan for her future. It’s simple - get out of her small hometown and never look back. It’s the only way she knows to escape the onslaught of memories that seem to pop up everywhere she goes. Adam’s plan is a little different - wallow in self-pity, anger, and frustration until he explodes in a sensational display of emotional overload. It’s the only way he knows to cope with his guilt over his best friend’s death.

On the first day of senior year, Emily receives a mysterious text message. At first, she assumes it’s a mistake, but soon, she realizes it was meat for her deceased brother. When the identity of the sender is revealed, the adventure that follows sends Emily into a tailspin she won’t see coming. When the smoke clears, all she is left with are the broken pieces of her life and one echoing question...can you ever really go back home?

©2017 Melissa Padgett (P)2021 Melissa Padgett

Charming!

The Text Message is a YA, angsty story that deals with heartbreak and pain, but hope and love, as well. Emily Waters is living a nightmare ever since her brother Patrick was murdered in a holdup gone bad. There are no suspects and it tears at the fabric of her family and Patrick's best friend, Adam Norcross. Adam and Emily have been what might be called enemies after Adam blamed Emily for Patrick's death. If she hadn't forgotten to put gas in the car, they never would have been at the filling station where Patrick died, and it was those accusations that caused her to hate him. Soon after the funeral, Emily started getting text messages on Patrick's phone from "unknown," but she quickly realized that it was Adam texting his feelings and fears. She had a conundrum...should she tell Adam that he was actually texting her, or did she let it go because it seemed he really needed to vent his feelings. As they texted, they helped each other cope, but what would happen when Adam realized who was receiving his messages. As they get closer, they more than lean on each other for support, but feelings come alive and soon they are dating. That's when Mason comes along and shows interest in her, but he has a reputation as a love 'em and leave 'em type and Emily doesn't want to get caught up in that. She can't help but catch some feelings for him, too, even if she's not sure what they are. This is a story that I doubted could have a happy ending, with the "love triangle" that formed and how Emily and Adam grew apart, but I had faith that the author would make everything all right. She did better than that, she ended the story exactly how it should be.
Amanda Soha does an excellent job with the narration. Her dynamic voice moved at a good pace, using pitch and intonation to bring the characters to life.

Not my favorite

I did like the premise of the story though I do wish we got more of the couple together. It was a difficult and emotional listen though the narrator did do a good job with it and I liked the small link to the first of the series which we hadn't seen any before this as they are all complete stand alone stories.

THE TEXT MESSAGE

AN INTERESTING STORY, NARRATOR DID A GOOD JOB WITH THE STORY. LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE!

Emotional Coming of Age Clean High School Read

Parents- PG- good for middle school to adults
Language- PG- none
Violence- PG- nothing too graphic
Sexual Content- PG Kissing, teen romance, stays clean no bedroom scenes

Such an emotional journey, it was really a fantastic read! This story has so much to offer with the emotional rollercoaster, interesting love triangle, friendship struggles, and so much more. It starts in pretty intense emotional terrain with a girl entering her senior year in high school after loosing her twin brother to a gas station hold up gone wrong and no suspect in prison. You see the family, friends and Emily all struggling to move on and deal with this tragedy. The new school year comes with confusing new relationships and a text message that throws another kink in the mess that Emily is trying to deal with. Really lovely to see the relationships and love of the family, friends and small town community that is so supportive.

Narrator- did a great job with the differentiations between the characters and was simply fun to listen to. There are some sound editing issues that should be fixed (several areas where repeated lines should be cleaned up). I did prefer listening at 1.25x speed.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.