Reviewed by Lisa McCombs for Readers' Favorite
“The first time I saw him, he
was moving boxes into the house next door. His long, jet-black hair
flowed in the California breeze like a cliché from a music video. He was
dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I stood staring at him as he lifted a
box, his toned biceps flexing against the white, cotton sleeve. I'd
never seen anyone who elicited this kind of involuntary reaction in me. I
was instantly infatuated with him.” Mallory was the typical teenager,
wrapped up in self-doubt and a negative body image. Her daydreams led
her into fantasies involving mysterious heroes who came to her rescue
and improbable outcomes that fed her imagination in leaps and bounds, as
she lay sprawled under the magnificent statue in her neighbor’s
backyard. The neighbors didn’t mind that she used their backyard for her
routine daydreaming. Until Kain arrived and no one could predict the
illicit relationship that would grow between the twenty-something man
who stole the young girl’s heart. She wasn’t concerned with the illegal
ramifications of their romance, but Kain was determined to keep the
truth behind locked doors.
Rebecca Markus weaves an alluring tale of unrequited love in her young
adult, coming of age romance, Here with Me Now. I found the honesty of
Mallory and Kain’s relationship brutal, yet extremely realistic. While
Mallory endures the complexities of conflicting teen angst and mature
emotions, Kain is caught in a mirrored situation. Markus has captured
the very real condition of raw emotion in a remarkably well-written
manner with which young girls will relate. I believe that the author’s
command of the written word reflects her understanding of teenage love. A
beautifully written coming of age story!"
