Finding What's Real

Finding What's Real

Cecelia Montgomery returns after running away to deal with the downside of her newfound fame—and her mother’s Presidential campaign—in the sequel to Escaping Perfect . Two weeks after going on the run—and running away from a life that was carefully constructed for the past ten years—Cecelia Montgomery finds herself back in the middle of a media firestorm. Before she can blink, Cecilia is forced once again into a public persona she had no part in creating. But her friends from Sweet Briar still have her back. After creating another clever diversion, Fiona, Britta, and Jasper help smuggle her back to Sweet Briar. Just when Cecilia thinks she actually is in the clear, her mother—the formidable Senator Montgomery—drops into town and officially announces she plans to run as the next Presidential candidate, making Sweet Briar campaign headquarters. As Cecelia grows more disappointed in the people who supposedly care about her, she gets pulled deeper and deeper into a group and party scene that is vastly different than her own. Can Cecelia ever find her perfect ending, or will her escape prove to be more of a trap than she ever thought possible? Harrison steps up the action and the ante as Cecilia deals with the harsh reality of being famous in America. Her frustration with being controlled and hounded builds at a breathtaking pace, and, with each twist and turn, the human cost of fame and power is front and center. ― Booklist Emma Harrison has written several YA romances including The Best Girl , Tourist Trap , Snow Queens , and Finding What’s Real , as well as many TV and movie adaptations. When Emma is not writing, she loves to bake, work out, read, and watch way too much TV. She lives in New Jersey with her incredibly awesome husband and two perfectly adorable sons. Finding What’s Real 1 “BUT YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN your parents were looking for you—that the whole nation was looking for you.” Kitty Wolf’s brow was appropriately concerned, her posture tipped forward in interest. The colorful overhead lights made her pore-free, latte-colored cheeks glow. “Why didn’t you let them know you were all right?” Heat seared my skin, even though I could feel the relentless whoosh coming from the air-conditioning vent behind my head. My manicured fingernails dug into the leather seat at my sides and my mother’s eyes twitched. I folded my hands in my lap and plastered on a smile. Outside the plate-glass window, some mom from Ohio shouted, “Give ’em hell, Cecilia!” If only. “I just want to say I’m very sorry for any stress I caused my parents, or anyone else for that matter,” I recited. “My grandmother and I were very close and after her death . . . I made some bad choices. But I’m back now, and I’m as committed to my family as ever.” There was some truth in there somewhere, at least. Sandwiched between the publicists’ lies. My mother reached over and briefly placed her cold, dry hand on top of mine, giving it a wide-fingered squeeze like one of those claw mechanisms inside an arcade machine. Comforting, it was not. Though I’m sure it looked that way to Good Day America’s ten million viewers. “More than anything, we really just want to focus on getting Cecilia to her high school graduation tomorrow and start looking toward the future both for her and for this country,” my mother—the great Senator Rebecca Montgomery—said. She gazed directly into the camera. “We’re so grateful to the people of this great nation for supporting us through this crisis. You’ve really shown us the best side of America, and we hope that you’ll now respect our privacy as we mourn the loss of my husband’s mother and work to piece things back together.” Gag. And as if anyone in this great nation of ours had ever respected anyone’s privacy. “God bless America,” my father added. Gag. Barf. Gag. Kitty Wolf sat back in her chair with a satisfied smile. “And on that note, we’ll go to commercial.” She looked into the camera and ducked her chin in the way of professional newscasters everywhere. “For Good Day America, I’m—” “Wait! One more thing!” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. It was like a switch in my head had flipped. And now, every single person in the studio held their breath. I saw two boom operators exchange a look like I’d just lit myself on fire in the middle of the set. But what was I supposed to do? No one had mentioned Jasper. Or Shelby. Even though news footage of the two of them being dragged out of Jasper’s house in handcuffs had been playing practically on loop for the past two days. Kitty and her producer exchanged a shrug, and then the green light on top of the camera that was aimed at me turned on. “Jasper Case and Shelby Tanaka did not kidnap me,” I said, looking Kitty steadily in the eye. Or as steadily as possible when the rest of my body was shaking. “They’re just friends I made in Sweetbriar. Every allegation leveled against them is false, and they should be released immediate