Book ~ "Between Micah and Amos" (2012) Alan Oakes

 From Goodreads ~ Like a flash, the discharge from the gun lit up the inside of the dimly lit, filthy trailer Ashleigh called home. Ashleigh sat curled up on the stained pink carpet next to the pull-out bed in the living area where she slept. The victim lay dead, slumped against the wall of the trailer. Ashleigh looked at the motionless body. She was petrified.

Meet Ashleigh Mae, a seventeen year old high school senior living in the small town of Micah, Texas. Her boyfriend, Billy, calls her a wild child. Her momma is always telling her she makes bad choices. No matter what, no one really understands her.

Ashleigh dreams of a life with Billy. Their love is true, she thinks. When her mother forces them to leave Micah in the middle of the night and move in with her momma’s old boyfriend, Casey, on the outskirts of a town called Amos, Ashleigh’s life is torn apart. 

This is her fight to get it back ...

Ashleigh's mother, Jo Lynn, is trailer trash ... she moves from man to man, getting abused by them, before moving on.  When the story starts, Jo Lynn has just moved in with Casey, a boyfriend from the past, into his dirty decrepit trailer.  Casey is on disability and is a huge A-hole ... he's happy to have Jo Lynn around because she caters to all his needs and likes to party.

Ashleigh has no choice but to stay with her mother.  She's only seventeen and has no other family.  She is in love with Billy and is brokenhearted to have left him.  She meets Manuel at her new school.  He is the son of a rich Mexican couple.  Jo Lynn is racist and doesn't want her daughter dating him so Ashleigh lets Jo Lynn and Casey think he's gay so they can hang out.  Manuel's parents aren't crazy about him dating someone they consider beneath him.

The book begins with things coming to a head one night and someone getting shot. The author then takes us back in time and gradually brings us forward to the present and the shooting.

I liked the writing style.  It was well-paced and kept me wanting to read more.  Some of the chapters are short and snappy, which I like.

I thought the characters were done well.  Ashleigh has no hope and is trying to do the best she can with the situation she is in.  We don't get to know what's going on inside Billy's head ... if we did, it would have given away some of the story.  Manuel is a sweet guy ... he falls in love with Ashleigh and naively believes that despite their different backgrounds, they can make it work and live happily ever after.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I really liked it. I would recommend it.