Beth Steury: Because I Know You

Hi Julie! So happy to be back to share with you and your readers again. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Maggie, the 17-year-old female star of “before I knew you” during my last visit. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to her co-star.  

Let’s meet Preston, the 17-year-old hot, popular high school junior who’s on a mission to chart a new course as far from his ladies’ man ways as possible.

“My friends didn’t get it, thought I was stupid. Best buddy Connor pronounced me ‘annoying, boring, and so not cool’ when I passed up a weekend at the lake cottage without parents. The old Preston would have been all in, no doubt, but I knew better than to put myself in that kind of situation. I hadn’t spent the last six months getting a grip on my life to blow it all at the three-day end-of-summer festival.

Yeah, considering the string of bad choices that rocked my world last year, I had to wonder if six months of steering clear of girls and basically anything fun—another Connor description—was enough.

But as I strode into school the first day of junior year, I was ready to end the self-imposed break from dating that had seemed like the only way to put an end to a lot of bad habits. But with who? Every girl at Madison knew enough about me to either steer clear or be too eager to go out.

Everyone that is except Maggie. Super quiet and shy but great with grammar and all English-related stuff, she’d caught my eye that first day. Being new to Madison, she probably wasn’t unaware of my dating history and former partying-ways. She was sweet and innocent, not pursuing me in the least, and I couldn’t get her out of my mind.

I’m psyched when her lack of interest began to melt away but guess what happened? An ex-girlfriend makes a huge play for me—right in front of Maggie. I waste no time in putting out that fire and rushing to assure Maggie I have zero interest in Ashley. One disaster averted but I can’t help worrying that something or someone from my past will jeopardize my chances with the only girl I have any interest in.”

Because I don’t want to include spoilers for those who haven’t yet read the first book, I’ll just share the “no spoilers” back cover blurb for book two, “because I know you.”

Maggie’s head is spinning. The best and the worst parts about junior year at Madison have one thing in common: Preston. If only his past hadn’t collided with their present. But it did. Now, his ex is back in the picture, and Maggie has a big decision to make. Time will help her figure things out and make the right choice, won’t it?

With his past revealed and the worst behind him, Preston has big plans to salvage what’s left of his junior year. No. What’s left of their junior year. Yep. Life will settle down for him and Maggie. Soon the nightmare will be just a bad memory. His baggage has been unpacked, so things can only get better, right?

She needs time. He’s willing to wait. But nothing is ever that simple.

This realistic contemporary series tackles friendship, dating relationships, saving sex for marriage, and “renewed waiting” with candor as it follows a relevant cast of high school-aged characters navigating the choppy waters of choices and consequences. Because life is complicated. Because choices matter. Because waiting matters.

Beth Steury

Thanks, Julie!

Beth immerses herself in the world of YA via substitute teaching, by connecting with the teenage staff and patrons at the fast food joint where she claims the back booth as her office, and by reading YA fiction. 

She’s a “cheerleader” for saving sex for marriage and an even bigger supporter of “renewed waiting” because it’s never too late to make wiser, healthier choices. She welcomes questions and topic suggestions for the “Waiting Matters … Because YOU Matter” blog that inspired the Waiting Matters series. Check out her Choices Matter series that follows Preston and Maggie as they navigate the choppy waters of high school, guy/girl relationships, and sex.

Beth is also active in the adoption community where she writes and speaks about her experiences as a “foundling” who located her birth parents and is enjoying making up for lost time with her biological family.

Connect with her at BethSteury.com, the home of all her writing endeavors. She loves to hear from readers! Write to her at waitingmatters@gmail.com.

Find her on social media—

Facebook:     Beth Steury, Author

Twitter:         @Beth_Steury

Pinterest:      Beth Steury, Author

Goodreads:   Beth Steury, Author

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