Review + #Giveaway: The Butterfly Project by Emma Scott (NA Contemp Romance)

The Butterfly Project 

by Emma Scott

New Adult/Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Amazon Createspace
Release Date: 28 February 2017

“Where you are is home…”

At age fourteen, Zelda Rossi witnessed the unthinkable, and has spent the last ten years hardening her heart against the guilt and grief. She channels her pain into her art: a dystopian graphic novel where vigilantes travel back in time to stop heinous crimes—like child abduction—before they happen. Zelda pitches her graphic novel to several big-time comic book publishers in New York City, only to have her hopes crash and burn. Circumstances leave her stranded in an unfamiliar city, and in an embarrassing moment of weakness, she meets a guarded young man with a past he’d do anything to change…

Beckett Copeland spent two years in prison for armed robbery, and is now struggling to keep his head above water. A bike messenger by day, he speeds around New York City, riding fast and hard but going nowhere, his criminal record holding him back almost as much as the guilt of his crime.

Zelda and Beckett form a grudging alliance of survival, and in between their stubborn clash of wills, they slowly begin to provide each other with the warmth of forgiveness, healing, and maybe even love. But when Zelda and Beckett come face to face with their pasts, they must choose to hold on to the guilt and regret that bind them, or let go and open their hearts for a shot at happiness.

The Butterfly Project is a novel that reveals the power of forgiveness, and how even the smallest decisions of the heart can—like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings—create currents that strengthen into gale winds, altering the course of a life forever.

About the Author

Emma Scott is a writer, marathon runner, and caffeine addict, who lives and writes in the California Bay Area. She has two smart, feisty little girls, a super-supportive husband, and is a demonstrated fan of the Oxford comma. She is also an unabashed Star Wars geek and comic book enthusiast who fell into romance novels when a writing contest prompt turned a 1000-word romantic story into a full-blown novel. She also writes epic fantasy that suffers an epic word count.

She hopes you enjoy her work, encourages readers to leave feedback, and thinks it’s amusing to write about herself in the third person. And if she has a driving force that fuels her work, it’s that love always wins.

Review by Wendy

A heart-warming story…

The Butterfly Project by Emma Scott is an adult standalone contemporary romance. Due to explicit language and sexual situations, this may not be appropriate for young readers.

Zelda is haunted by her childhood. She left her home in Philadelphia for Las Vegas to get away. Working for a tattoo shop allows her to express her art, however, her goal is to get her graphic novel published. She knows her book is good, but she needs it to be seen. So she heads to New York City with her art materials, a few hundred dollars, and her dream. When things don’t work out as she hoped, she stumbles upon a man who gives her some great advice, and she decides to try again.

Beckett is also haunted by a checkered past. He works 2 jobs just to afford his meager apartment. His life is about going through the motions instead of living and he struggles daily to deal with the guilt of one bad decision. While taking a cigarette break at one of this jobs, he meets a down and out girl contemplating leaving the city after rejection. He offers advice which unknowingly begins to add color to his own drab life.

This book was not what I expected and that is both a good and bad thing. I appreciated that while both of the main characters struggled with their past guilt, it didn’t stop them from pursuing a future they both deserved. Beckett could have been a character that would have shied away from the situation, believing he didn’t merit happiness. He didn’t allow himself to keep up his walls that kept him from the possibilities. That was a breath of fresh air.

The downside is that the story had very little drama. While that is mostly a good thing, I was expecting more to happen. Both characters fought misguided beliefs but the struggle was internal. On the outside, they progressed naturally. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but I felt like the internal struggle was not totally realistic seeing as there was little reluctance to develop meaningful feelings. Zelda was so distraught by her past that she had no real friends and couldn’t communicate with family, yet she willingly gave into a friendship with Beckett with no hesitancy.

THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT  earns 3.5 North of Normal stars. Overall I enjoyed it, but if there is a sequel or spin-off story for Darlene, I am unlikely to read it.

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