Book Review+ Interview: Pan by Gina L. Maxwell

Once upon a time, in Neverland, North Carolina--I fell in love.

I was twelve when Peter first climbed up to my balcony.
Thirteen when I sneaked out to see him at the School for Lost Boys.
Seventeen when his touch made me fly,
And eighteen when his words made me cry.

We were magnetic, drawn to each other from that very first night, and what I thought would be forever. But when it came time for me to leave, he wouldn't come with, so I left town with a map for my future and a shattered heart.

Ten years later, I've returned to Neverland, hoping to find a man in place of the boy.

Peter was partially right, growing up is no fun. After quitting my fancy career that sucked the magic out of life, I'm now organizing the fundraiser of the year. In a move that could make or break the event and my new company, I've hired Peter, master mechanic and owner of LB Automotive, to help me pull this off--trusting him to rebuild a classic car for the auction that could help hundreds of foster kids in need.

I thought I was prepared, but the boy who refused to leave is now a man hell-bent on getting me to stay, and as sparks fly between us, that undeniable fire flares back to life, deeper and hotter than ever.

But that ripped body doesn't mean Peter's matured enough to make us or this event work, and not everyone in Neverland is happy about my return.

Not every wound heals.
Not every heart can be fixed.
Not every boy grows up.

And after all this time, the love we found might be lost to us again...this time, forever.

*Pan is an adult contemporary romance retelling of Peter Pan, complete with Wendy, Hook, Tink, and all the Lost Boys as sexy mechanics. There are no fantasy elements in this world, other than the "magic" that happens between the sheets. 😉

Review:

I could not wait to get my hands on this book! I was always a fan of “Peter Pan” when I was growing up and was excited that Gina L. Maxwell was doing a modern day retelling.

The story was told in dual points of view. Past and present tense. I loved the way the story was written because you got to see Peter and Wendy fall in love. With all the odds stacked against it was so nice to see them make it work. *sighs*

Reading this book put a smile on my face. I love the family that they have become and how they stayed together after all of these years. That they didn’t let their circumstances define them!

I loved Wendy in this story. So many people doubted her because of her upbringing but she was tough and could hold her own. Peter was a hard shell to crack but I really couldn’t blame him after every thing he went through with Croc growing up.

I have to say Hook caught my eye in this book and I can’t wait to read about his story next. This was a well written debut story for a new series. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to the rest of the gang.

Interview:

If you could be any of your book characters, who would you be and why?

Addison Paige from Ruthless. That girl is all the things I wish I could be. Confident, sexy, hilarious, loyal, and ambitious as hell. There’s a reason she’s called a Honey Badger, and it’s not because she’s a push-over. She’s that friend who will cut the person who looked at you wrong then get you drunk to help you forget they ever existed. I love her so much.

Hardest book to write?

Ooh, that’s a good question. Probably Hot for the Fireman because the hero, Erik “Wolf” Grady, deals with PTSD from his tours overseas as an Army Ranger. It was a lot of research and hard work to make sure I did his character—and the men and women in our military service who suffer from combat PTSD—justice, especially during his flashback scene. I needed it to be authentic. But Erik is also a charming, funny guy who goes after what (or who) he wants, so it was a delicate balance to meld all of those aspects into one person. On top of that, it’s a book about ex-military turned firefighters set in Boston. Want to know 3 topics I know nothing about? The military, firefighting, and Boston. LOL I literally had consultants for each area that I had to go back and forth with to make sure I had all the details correct. It was a lot of work, but really worth it in the end.

Describe your writing process?

Wait. I’m supposed to have a process?! No one gave me this memo!!! LOL I don’t think I really have a process. Most of the time I’m just winging it and hoping like hell it all works. I’m the least organized person and the worst with schedules and time management (hello, severe and untreated ADD), so I think I make life 10 times harder on myself. But I guess if I had to give you any insight into how I go about writing a book, it would look like this: come up with the hero (he’s the most important part, IMO), figure out what kind of heroine he needs, plot out the major parts of the story and come up with as many scenes/chapters as possible (this is as much as I plot in advance), start writing, call Rebecca Yarros and Cindi Madsen when I get stuck…which is often. I also never write in the morning because I don’t function before 10am and then it’s a good hour before my brain wakes up enough to think, and then I chase social media squirrels for about an hour, so I usually don’t get started until noonish. I prefer to write at night when the house is quiet, that’s when it’s easiest for me.

Which book of yours would you like to see turned into a movie?

Seducing Cinderella would be my first choice. It’s always been a fan favorite, probably because it was my first published book and it just has that perfect mix of iconic romance tropes that make readers–or viewers–swoon.


What advice would you offer new writers?

Find other writers who you click with, both personality-wise and writing-wise, then trade manuscripts and critique each other. You won’t believe how much you learn from their constructive feedback, and you also learn a ton from doing the same for them. Utilizing a group of really great Critique Partners in my early years helped my writing grow by leaps and bounds, way more than if I’d have gone it alone and kept my writing to myself. It’s a good thing to build a helpful community around you.


How do you spend your time when you aren’t writing?

Either reading or watching TV/movies, hanging with my husband, and doing the mom thing for the last year since my baby is about to graduate high school in June. *cue sobbing*


Favorite Food?

Medium rare filet mignon or rib-eye. Great, now my mouth is watering and I’m hungry.

Favorite Color?

Blue, followed closely by purple and pink. 🙂

Favorite Movie?

The Sweetest Thing

Favorite Moment?

As a woman: the first time I got to hold my babies in my arms.

As an author: each and every time a reader reaches out and tells me how one of my books touched them, affected them, or helped them. It’s the best gift and highest compliment I could ever receive as a writer, and it means the world to me.

This is my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info