To Whom it May Concern,
It was easy to call us forbidden and harder to call us soulmates. Yet I believed we were both. Forbidden soulmates.
When I arrived to Edgewood, Wisconsin I didn’t plan to find him. I didn't plan to stumble into Joe's bar and have Daniel's music stir up my emotions. I had no clue that his voice would make my hurts forget their own sorrow. I had no idea that my happiness would remember its own bliss.
When I started senior year at my new school, I wasn’t prepared to call him Mr. Daniels, but sometimes life happens at the wrong time for all the right reasons.
Our love story wasn’t only about the physical connection.
It was about family. It was about loss. It was about being alive. It was silly. It was painful. It was mourning. It was laughter.
It was ours.
And for those reasons alone, I would never apologize for loving Mr. Daniels.
-Ashlyn Jennings
It was easy to call us forbidden and harder to call us soulmates. Yet I believed we were both. Forbidden soulmates.
When I arrived to Edgewood, Wisconsin I didn’t plan to find him. I didn't plan to stumble into Joe's bar and have Daniel's music stir up my emotions. I had no clue that his voice would make my hurts forget their own sorrow. I had no idea that my happiness would remember its own bliss.
When I started senior year at my new school, I wasn’t prepared to call him Mr. Daniels, but sometimes life happens at the wrong time for all the right reasons.
Our love story wasn’t only about the physical connection.
It was about family. It was about loss. It was about being alive. It was silly. It was painful. It was mourning. It was laughter.
It was ours.
And for those reasons alone, I would never apologize for loving Mr. Daniels.
-Ashlyn Jennings
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.
Absolutely breathtaking read! Five stars is just not enough. Have you ever read a book and when you finished, you have to just take a moment to let it sink in? You may even look around and realize that you were completely caught up in such an amazing fictional world that you had forgotten about everything and anything around you. Well that was Loving Mr. Daniels for me. It was so good that I immediately went back and re-read some of my favorite parts, even the heartbreaking ones. I absolutely adored this story, loved the characters, the writing, the poetry and especially Mr. Daniels!
So let's begin with Daniel Daniels a/k/a Mr. Daniels. He's a musician, an English teacher and lover of books (swoon!). I would describe Daniel is quirky, smart, kind and sexy without trying to be. Ashlyn is a 19 year who has recently lost her twin sister, Gabby to Leukemia. She's of course sad, and after the funeral she is sent to live with her father while her mother copes and grieves the lost of Gabby. Both Daniel and Gabby are both a little broken and have suffered loss. The two have a brief encounter in a train station where they bond over Shakespeare and music. The interaction between the them is very innocent and sweet, but there's certainly a spark.
They share a beautiful night and the connection and chemistry surprises them both. Unfortunately, when Ashlyn begins her senior year at a new school in a new town, they are in for an even greater surprise when Ashlyn discovers that Mr. Daniels is her English teacher. They can't be together, but how can they not? They are forced to deny what they both feel for each other.
"Was I dating my English teacher? Was what we were doing truly unethical? Falling in love? Could falling in love ever be wrong?"
This is a student/teacher romance, but it is certainly not the main focus of the story. This story touches on many themes such as love, loss, grief, healing and acceptance. The secondary characters are amazing. They each have such an important working part in the overall story along with their own lessons and struggles. Although Ashlyn's twin sister Gabby has died, her character is intertwined within the story and her presence is felt. I feel like I know her. Equally the way Ashlyn honors her sister's memory is both inspiring and heartbreaking at times.
"I think you're beautiful." I whispered, echoing what he's said to me in a text many weeks back. "And I don't mean your looks. I mean your smarts, your protectiveness, your brokenness. I think that's beautiful."
The Shakespeare theme, the amazing characters, beautiful writing that touches on real topics makes this one impressive story. The tender love journey between Daniel & Ashlyn is sweet and one to envy. The fact that Mr. Daniels is a musician and can quote Shakespeare makes him someone you can easily fall for and swoon over. But equally I really liked Ashlyn. Even through her brokenness, she's smart, witty and definitely a lot stronger than she thinks.
This story questions the basic idea of being in love with someone at the wrong time. Also can loving someone truly be wrong? I LOVED every minute of it! It's quite a journey and tissues will be needed. This is one of those stories that you revisit from time to time and it never gets old. It was a perfect read to me and easily a top favorite of 2014. I highly recommend this book to all. I am truly impressed with Brittainy C. Cherry's writing and am interested in reading her other work and any future work.
I’m very interested in student-teacher themed novels, so I started wondering if I would ever be able to tell a story with that background. Then I wanted make the story seem as if the student-teacher aspect was the smallest issue the couple was dealing with. I was inspired by many different forbidden relationships throughout history while writing this novel, mainly the forbidden interracial relationships during the time of the civil rights movement. I researched how dangerous it was to fall in love with the right person, during the ‘wrong’ time period, and went from there.
Q. This story deals with some very real-life issues, which are intense and heartbreaking at times. How did you remove yourself from the emotions afterwards?
While writing I tried my best to put myself in the characters shoes so I could discover how they truly felt about issues. There were some pretty heavy moments, and I allowed myself to feel their pain, but once the scene was over, I took time to walk away and breathe, shaking off the overwhelming emotions. Sometimes the words can overtake you, setting your mood for the day, so it’s best to take breathers sometimes!
Q. I loved the musical and artistic aspect of Loving Mr. Daniels. Does music play a part in your writing process?
Music plays a HUGE part in my writing process and in my life as a whole. This novel was written with One Republic and Imagine Dragons CDs on repeat. Then when the first draft was done, I went and placed a certain song with every chapter to strengthen each chapter. Music inspires me, and my characters, all the time!
Q. I feel that Hailey has a great story to tell. Would you ever consider writing a book for Hailey?
I’ve thought about it for both Hailey and maybe a story for Jace. Hailey holds a special place in my heart, and I think down the line she might want to speak up and come out with a novella or novel. So hopefully this isn’t the last we hear of Hailey!
Q. What’s the last song you listened to?
Young, Wild Girls by Bruno Mars! :)
Q. It’s Friday night, what is Brittainy Cherry likely to be doing?
Reading a book or watching movies! Haha! I’m super boring! Otherwise I’m hanging out with my besties :)
Q. What is the first book you remember absolutely loving as a child?
I was addicted to the Henry and Mudge books!
Q. What was your favorite cartoon growing up?
Oh geez, can I name more than one? The Rugrats (of course), Doug, PepperAnn, Recess…and anything that came on One Saturday Morning! ;)
Q. Who are your all-time favorite authors/books?
If we are talking about all time, Jane Austen! It’s in her stories that I fell in love with love. Pride and Prejudice will always be a favorite of mine. And if we are talking about currently, Colleen Hoover can do no wrong in my mind! She’s breathtakingly brilliant!
Walking in the hallway, I felt trapped. My eyes darted to the clock on the wall. The loud ticks reminded us students that we must hurry along or we might blink and miss out on our lives. Six more hours. Six more long, dreadful hours before I would be able to escape the imprisonment of the building.
While I was walking, I saw Henry standing down the hallway giving me a halfway grin. I sighed and turned the other way, running directly into a person. My books and schedule went flying and I rolled my eyes.
“Watch where you’re going, melons.”
I looked up just in time to see that I’d managed to run into a guy wearing a letter jacket. A football player, and from how the followers huddled around him, I was sure he was the head of the team. I glanced over and noticed Jake standing amongst them, giving him a wary smile.
He shrugged with an apologetic grin and walked off. Thanks for the help, chemistry partner. A few of the guys remained near me as I started picking up my books from the run-in.
“Those aren’t just melons. Those are watermelons. I love my watermelons big and juicy,” a boy laughed as he walked past me, mocking the size of my chest.
After I picked up the books, I held them even tighter to my chest. I couldn’t even raise my head to look the bullies in the eyes.
One of the downsides to wearing Gabby’s dresses was the way they showcased my body. But for some reason, I had to wear them.
“No need to read when you got a rack like that. I can teach you all kinds of things,” the head bully said. One of the others called him Brad. I felt his eyes roaming across my body and I shifted myself away from him which made me run into another. Didn’t they have better things to do on the first day of school? Like, maybe going to class?
“Just one taste,” one of the guys muttered as he moved close to my ear and rubbed his hands against my shoulders before the rough sound of a teacher’s voice filled all of our ears.
“All right, all right. That’s enough. Get to class.” The voice ran through my ears as my head was still down. I watched as all of the feet of the assholes scurried away. A hand came near me and I flinched.
The need for a shower washed over my skin. Violated. The boys’ words and rubs had violated me and made me feel as if I’d just been touched all over in the most callous way. I wanted to go crawl back to Chicago, where at least I knew who the bullies were. I wanted to go home.
“You dropped this,” the voice said, handing me my schedule. When I looked up, the paper in his hands floated to the ground and he gasped. “Ashlyn.”
Beautiful.
Breathtaking.
Brilliant.
Blue eyes.
At first, a weird sense of comfort washed over me from knowing that he was the one who’d dismissed the assholes. But then the facts sank in. He’d dismissed the assholes.
“What are you doing here, Daniel?” He looked so…grown up. So different than when I’d seen him at Joe’s bar.
His tan pants were attached to a brown belt that matched his shoes. A light-blue button-down shirt covered his toned body, and his hair wasn’t free. It was tamed, combed back, held in place.
“Don’t,” he hissed. His lips frowned. I watched as he glanced down the hallways and the back of his right hand found his neck. “Don’t call me that, Ashlyn,” he whispered.
A locker slammed nearby, and I jumped out of fright. Everything twisted inside of me, and I fought back the tears that were pushing their way to the fronts of my eyelids.
How could this be?
Daniel cleared his throat and picked up my schedule once again. This time, he studied it, his eyes growing more and more worried. “You’re a student.” His hand formed a fist and he repeatedly tapped it against his mouth. “You’re my student.”
My eyes widened in confusion and horror. Mostly horror. The bell rang loudly, the noise rocketing through the hallways.
“And you’re late.”
Brittainy Cherry has been in love with words since the day she took her first breath. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her loved ones and loves a great romance. The Space In Between is her debut novel and she looks forward to the world being able to read it! Other hobbies that she loves to take part in are writing screenplays, acting, and dancing--poorly of course. Coffee, chai tea, and wine are three things that she thinks every person should partake in! When she's not running around and crafting stories, she's probably playing with her wonderfully adorable fur babies who she loves to death!
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