A Five-Minute Life by Emma Scott
Release Date: May 16th, 2019
A Five-Minute Life, an all-new standalone new adult romance by International bestselling author Emma Scott.
Thea Hughes has five minutes to live.
A car accident stole her parents and left her with the second-worst documented case of amnesia in the world. She now has only minutes of experiences, of consciousness, of life…before her memory is wiped clean. The once effervescent artist with a promising future is reduced to scribbling with pens and paper, living an empty, quiet life, three hundred seconds at a time.
Jim Whelan is on autopilot.
A foster kid shuffled around the system since birth, he’s lived his entire life without knowing love…and it’s taken its toll—until he learned to fight back, carry his armor, and keep his head down.
Working as an orderly in the Blue Ridge Sanitarium, deep in Virginia countryside, Jim looked up…and found Thea.
When Thea has the chance to break free of her five-minute prison with a risky, experimental surgery, it could lead them both to an epic love they never thought possible… or one that could require the ultimate sacrifice.
A stand-alone, new adult romance.
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Excerpt:
“Marc Antony,” I said and nodded at her drawing. “Part of your Egyptian studies?”
Thea leaned her cheek on her folded hands like she was warming herself before a fire. “Marc Antony is part of the romance. A love story with Cleopatra. He went to war for her. Died for her. When they told her he was dead, she put her hand in a basket with an asp. Can you imagine? Loving someone so much that the thought of life without them is too unbearable?”
“No,” I said. “I can’t.”
Her gaze dropped to my hand on the table and her fingers reached to trace the scars on my knuckles.
These tell a story, don’t they?” She traced one of the fine lines. “You put your hand in with the snakes, too.”
I nodded slowly, savoring the feel of her warm skin on mine. “So the bullies would leave me alone.”
“And did they?”
“Eventually.”
“I’m glad.” She put her hand in mine completely, her fingers wrapping around and holding tight. “I’m being too… something. Personal. Delia would throw a fit, but I feel like…”
“Like what, Thea?”
“Like I have to hold on to this moment, you know? Or you… I don’t even know you and yet I don’t want to stop talking to you.” Her hand squeezed mine. “I don’t care if you have a stutter, but please keep talking to me, Jimmy. Okay?”
My mouth went dry at the nameless desperation in her eyes.
Jesus, does she know she’s trapped? She can’t. Impossible…
“I won’t,” I said. “I’ll talk to you every day. I promise.”
Thea breathed a small sigh of relief and released my hand. “Thank you, Jimmy. That makes me feel better.”
With a final smile—a parting smile, I realized—she took up her pen and then froze.
She’s resetting.
Confusion passed over her features. She looked up at me, flinching a little to see a big man in close proximity. I instantly leaned back to give her space.“How long has it been?” she asked.
“Two years,” I said, my voice hardly more than a whisper. “But the doctors are working on your case.”
“Yes, they are.” She smiled hesitantly and found my nametag. “I’m Thea Hughes.”
Seven. Seven times now.
“Jim Whelan,” I said.
She offered her hand. Again. I took it robotically, enduring her one-pump shake. Again. Her fingers didn’t linger in mine but released immediately, the way you do with a stranger. Again.
“Nice to meet you, Jim Whelan.”
Fuck. I can’t do this.
I rose to my feet. “I have to get to work.”
Her face fell. “Oh. Bummer. Will I see you again?”
I could promise her I would, but she wouldn’t remember. There was no promise. I could tell her the sky was falling or my name was Abraham Lincoln and she wouldn’t know the damn difference. It’d vanish, like every other word we’d ever spoken to each other. I vanished every time her reset hit and was recreated over again in Thea’s eyes. I could be whatever I wanted; whomever I wanted. And yet she was the one woman I might’ve had a chance to be myself with.
The terrible irony of it was like copper in my mouth.
“Sure, Miss Hughes,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
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Source:eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Social Butterfly PR
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Standalone
My A Five-Minute Life Review . . .
I just recently got on the Emma Scott band wagon and what a journey it has been so far. So, when this opportunity came knocking I jumped at the chance.
When I first started to read the story I was a bit frustrated as I thought I was basically reading the book version of fifty first dates. However, I'm not a quitter so I was going to finish it, then all of a sudden my brain was fixated with this story and wouldn't let go.
When I started it, I should have finished the read in one sitting because I tried to go to bed one night after reading a chunk of the book and my brain wouldn't shut up thinking about the story and all the nuances to it. It would have been better to finish reading then the restless sleep I had. I had to get up early to finish the story and find out what happens with Thea and Jim.
Thea is an aspiring artist whom got in a car accident causing her brain damage and a wicked case of amnesia. Jim Whelan has his own haunts with his past and a stutter, but when he starts to work at the home where Thea is a patient, everything changes.
Jim is captivated by Thea the moment he meets her but its killing him that she's a resident. Thankfully Jim does pay attention to her, because he starts to see things that others have missed. The moment he figures out the word chains is the moment I was hooked with the story as well. It was such an intrinsic way of capturing the torture of her mind.
". . . The alone-ness. It's not the same as loneliness. Alone-ness is an abyss. It's being alone even when you-re surrounded by people. It's vast and empty and silent."
Every time Thea is present she's a breath of fresh air and always bringing the best out of people.
"Anyway, big deal, you have a stutter. I have brain damage."I thought all the characters were great and your felt their compassion and pain. Or in some cases vileness. But the winners were Thea and Jim. Jim's love was epic with his patience and commitment.
"Show off."
She slid her cheek along my sleeve to peer up at me. "You're just jealous. My pity parties are way more epic than yours."
"I'm Jim. This song is for Thea Huges-she's sitting right over there. She's the reason I'm sitting here. She's the reason for everything good in my life."
This book may have started a but rough for me but worth the ride in the end. It was a beautifully told story with pain, hope and love.
4 Beautiful thumbs up!
4 Beautiful thumbs up!
Lauren
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