Song of the Fireflies

July 28, 2014
A tense police standoff flashes back into a meandering story replete with poor decisions, dangerous codependency, and a frankly unbelievable ending in bestseller Redmerski’s standalone new adult romance. Warning bells go off with the introduction of Bray, who’s so “intimidating and pretty that the other girls know they had better befriend her or else end up her enemy.” Although they’ve loved each other since childhood, Elias and Bray have settled for being friends with benefits rather than admit their feelings. Elias thinks Bray is “too bold for her own good” and suffers from an “inability to form bonds with other people,” but when she’s implicated in the death of another young woman, he plots their escape. On the run, they careen from one bad decision to another until there’s nowhere left to go. Fortunately for them, Redmerski (Killing Sarai) resolves all with a leap ahead to a shiny happy future in which painful payback and healing are behind them. Romance fans will be disappointed with this dark melodrama of desperate characters and toxic faux-love.

August 1, 2014
Bray and Elias became fast childhood friends. As they grew up, their attraction to each other was undeniable, but something kept them from pursuing a romantic relationship. In their early twenties, they finally sense that, perhaps, they were meant to be together, after all. They decide to sleep together, but Bray is still holding back and ends up moving away to South Carolina. When she returns four years later, after no communication, Elias is thrown into a tailspin. He's tried to date other women (and has the occasional threesome with his druggie roommates) but can't stop thinking about Bray. The two instantly reconnect and vow to stay together forever. Naturally, tragedy strikes, leaving the two lovers on the run from the law. They get tangled up with some shady characters and ultimately realize just how messed up their lives have become. Best-selling Redmerski's erotic romance has interesting pacingfast and furious in the dramatic scenes, super-charged for the deeply passionate sex scenes, and languid during the romantic discussionsthat will appeal to readers looking for an emotionally charged new adult romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)