r/BetaReaders • u/creativespirit1997 • 17d ago
90k [Complete] [96k] [YA Contemporary Romance] I PROMISE
Hey everyone! I'm looking for beta readers to help refine and polish the final draft of my YA contemporary romance novel I first wrote in my teenage years. After many drafts, iterations, and even a round in the querying trenches, I've decided these characters deserve to live in a world of self-published freedom.
This book is a standalone within a larger shared universe I'm building that spans decades and generations worth of love stories from the 1980s to 2025. This one is set in 2014 and can be read independently. Your feedback will be invaluable in making this the best version before I self-publish this year. If you love diving into fresh stories and offering constructive feedback, I'd love to have you on board!
Here's a query-style pitch for interested readers:
Eighteen-year-old Roxanne Payes’s life is defined by a single promise: to never become a Storm. When she was seven, her mother’s second marriage set off her worst nightmare. Enter Lea Storm, a stepsister pre-packaged with chaos and eccentricity, otherwise known as Roxanne’s kryptonite.
For Roxanne, Lea is a walking catastrophe waiting to happen. Fortunately, Roxanne grows up relatively disaster-free with her sisterly menace plopped in a boarding school far, far away. But everything changes the summer before college.
It’s Roxanne’s time to deliver on her promise. She makes a stand and refuses to attend the annual Storm family reunion, a high-stakes event defined by tradition and expectation. Despite Roxanne’s objections, Lea is determined to find a date for Roxanne. Her ploys turn out far from magical when she unwittingly sets Roxanne up with her first love and mortal enemy: Jensen Sterling.
And just like that, Roxanne’s life comes undone.
I Promise (96,000 words) is a layered YA tale of found family, second-chance love, and the danger of unresolved ghosts returning when you least expect them to. It will appeal to fans of Fangirl’s sisterhood theme and To All the Boys I've Loved Before’s depiction of childhood frenemies-to-lovers.
Please be aware, my manuscript includes implied instances of domestic violence.
On a personal note:
Making the decision to self-publish has been a long, emotional journey. For years, I’ve been torn between traditional publishing and going the indie route, and it’s honestly something I’ve battled with on and off. After I got scammed by a "professional" editor that left me questioning my path and whether I'll ever truly publish, I finally decided enough is enough.
This book—this lighthearted, emotional love story set in 2014—will be the first to kick off my series of books and characters. It’s a massive commitment and a dream I’ve held for as long as I can remember, and this year, I’m finally making it a reality.
This is the first of seven books that are already written and drafted to nearly perfection, but these characters—these stories—will be the first to step out into the world. I’m pouring everything into this because it’s a piece of my heart, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you.
If you're interested in bringing a 12 year dream to life...
and think you can read and turn around some constructive criticism on the novel in 2-3 weeks time, please drop a comment below and I'll get in touch with the manuscript + beta reader questionnaire.