‘In life, people are lucky to experience once that feeling of completely and utterly falling in love. I’ve had the honor of feeling it three times, each with the same girl.’
The Fuel series by Ginger Scott had us compelled this week. There really is something about reading a series in one hit, everything is fresh, there’s no cliff-hanger to deal with and we never lost our momentum with the story. This is our personal preference of reading due to the vast number of books we already read, and for us personally, we never need to fear losing that intense emotional connection to the story as well as the characters. And wow did we have an intense connection with Hannah and Dustin.
‘Anyone seeing this right now is seeing love. They see a young lifetime of yearning and waiting, two souls meant to collide. They are seeing my heart break open to let this man in, let him own me. Again.’
We’re not quite sure why it felt like coming home as soon as we started reading Shift, perhaps a combination of the setting, atmosphere, the friends to lover romance, and of course the beautiful writing skills of Ginger Scott who nailed the emotions of that first teenage love, the raw intensity of familial struggles as well as the typical angsty youth navigating through life.
“Stay here. Stay tonight. Stay tomorrow. Stay always. Just…stay.”
Spanning years, this love story felt epic in its entirety. We felt like we’d run a marathon of feelings, moods, and emotions, making our way through a complicated and obstacle-filled landscape. It was not an easy journey, but the thrills, the love, the friendships, and hope shone like beacons and led the way. We fell in book love and every single instalment wowed us for different reasons. Though we do have to mention that when a pet peeve of ours occurred, it frustrated us no end. It was in our personal opinion a superfluous twist that was not necessary and was in fact character damning with the difficulty of redemption. Also, the reasons behind it were never really justified nor explored or resolved. We can’t say what it was as it’d be a spoiler but it’s something we take great issue with. Fortunately, it didn’t overshadow the greatness of this immense love story that had enough twists and turns to last a lifetime. We felt emotionally exhausted, but in a good way!
‘Everyone’s road is different. How we get from our beginning to our end isn’t a straight line, but if it were, how boring would that be? Our roads come with curves and accidents and lots of intersections – turning points…I haven’t driven it alone, though. I’ve never been alone, even when I thought I was. Hannah was there. Hannah’s always there. She always will be.’
Dustin’s story broke our hearts, an innocent young lad growing up under horrific circumstances, who seeks refuge from family toxicity with his best mate Tommy’s family. Tommy, his sister Hannah and Dusty became inseparable. Three kids growing up, thick as thieves chasing the thrills of racing with hope in their hearts and battles in the shadows. There is so much to this three-leaf clover friendship and the story. Beauty, sadness, and joy. Struggles and self-discoveries. Secrets and deceptions. But the one constant is the overwhelming love and passion! Spanning over a decade we felt like we were a part of Dusty and Hannah’s epic love story, the writing so amazing it evoked all our senses, all our emotions, and above all, all of our hearts.
‘I didn’t want anything to take this from Dustin. I wanted him to get what he earned, what he deserved. I always do. I always have.’
As we’re reviewing the entirety of the series we haven’t said too much, as spoilers are the bane of most readers’ existence, and we personally despise them ourselves. Truly experience this series as Ginger Scott intended and go forth and read, get stuck in another world of tears and laughter, it’s both quite the heart-warming and heart-breaking story of life, love, and the thrill of racing. We highly recommend #TeamEatMyDust and cannot express how intensely invested we were in Dustin and Hannah’s love story.
‘Because we’re real, and we’re forever. And even the fucking hands of fate with all their destructive power can’t undo our destiny…’