Review of NOTICE ME by Rebecca Turley

I love you as one loves certain obscure things,   

secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

--Pablo Neruda

When you reach the end of your life, does everyone regret the choices they didn't make?

Can you really spend your whole life lying to your heart, to protect the one thing that keeps it still beating? --Notice Me, but Rebecca Turley

These are the painful questions Shannon has to face. When the book begins, we are introduced to Shannon, a somewhat introverted young woman, and her best friend Megan. Megan is the daughter of a wealthy and powerful family, a minor celebrity in her own right. Megan is in a relationship with Charlie, a gorgeous and highly talented photographer, introduced to her by her brother, Will. 

If it sounds complex, that's because it is. These four people are in a web of tangled and complicated relationships. Megan and her family become sort of a surrogate family for Shannon, a foster child. Shannon and Charlie become friends, as naturally and easily as breathing.

And then one day, letters begin to arrive in Shannon's mail. The writer confesses to being secretly in love with Shannon and signs each one with the words Notice Me. She begins to look at all the men around her, wondering if each one is the mysterious letters' author.

When they go to visit Megan and Will's aristocratic parents, Will takes Shannon for a walk and confesses he's developed feelings for her. Shannon is half in love with the letter writer already (and come on, who wouldn't get a bit of a crush on a guy who quotes Pablo Neruda to you?) and wonders if Will i the love she's been waiting all her life to find 

“Will, I...I do really like you.” I knew I did, but how far my feelings would go, I wasn’t sure. “Did you write the letters?” I asked suddenly, desperate to know if Will was in love with me. It had to be him.

“Would it make any difference if I had?” I didn’t understand the question.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you like the man in the letters?”

“Yes, I liked the letters. I don’t know the man, though. I want to know him.” Will smiled as I spoke, pulling me gently towards him. His eyes were exquisite as he stared down at me. I began to tremble in his arms. I suddenly wanted this moment as much as he did.

“Then yes, it was me who wrote the letters, Shannon. I am in love with you.” My heart leaped at the words. Could this be a dream? 

I needed to pinch myself just to be sure. “What are you doing?” he laughed.

“I just needed this to be real.” I sighed, becoming lost in his deep ocean blue eyes.

“This is real,” he whispered.

Everyone is delighted when Shannon and Will reveal their relationship, especially Megan. But Megan's relationship with Charlie is beginning to get rocky. And then, another letter arrives:

Shannon,
I am not who you think I am.
Do not trust him.

What follows next is a tangled web of secrets and lies, forbidden love, conflicting loyalties, and danger. Shannon finds herself having to give up the thing her heart desires the most in order to keep it safe. It's a situation in which only truth and love can set her free.

¸¸•.¸¸.•´¯`• (¯`•♥•´¯)•´¯`•.¸¸.•.¸¸.

You can read the first three chapters of Notice Me here.

Notice Me is available on Amazon.

The sequel, Embrace Me, is out now!

Author Bio:

Rebecca Turley lives in the captivating town of Malvern in Worcestershire with her husband Jon and cat Millie. With a view of the Malvern Hills from her writing desk, all she needs for inspiration is to look out of her window. A hopeless romantic like most women, she enjoys becoming lost in a love story almost as much as writing one. 

Rebecca fell in love with the written word at an early age, but didn't have the courage to share her own words until two years ago. Once she found her inner strength she set about writing her first novel 'Notice me'. With the help of thousands of cups of strong tea and music from her favorite bands Take That, Bon Jovi, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, the novel was completed. 

If you love pure romance, give Notice me a chance. 

Rebecca Turley  on BBC Hereford and Worcester radio.

"With fiction you can let your imagination run wild,  and there is a calmness that I find hard to explain, when you get your characters through a situation you've been working on throughout the whole story, for me, I find it extremely rewarding, and I would encourage anyone who whats to try writing, to do it.  You never know where your imagination may take you, and the satisfaction you may find when you reach those final words 'The End'."