Thank You For Flying Air Zoe, Erik Atwell (4 stars)

From The Blog Tour Home Page: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fasten Seat Belt sign has been turned on, but feel free to ignore it, because sometimes life is best lived on its dizzy edges. Your cruising altitude today will be sky high, and you will be flying at staggering speeds as you travel alongside Zoe Tisdale, former Valley Girl and rock star turned bored butter saleswoman.

On the heels of a brush with mortality, Zoe concludes that she’s been letting time pass her by. Realizing she needs to awaken her life’s tired refrains, Zoe vows to recapture the one chapter of her life that truly mattered to her – her days as drummer for The Flip-Flops, a spirited, sassy all-girl garage band that almost hit the big time back in 1987. But reuniting the band won’t be easy. The girls who were once the whiz kid guitarist, the prom queen bass player, and the hippie lead singer grew up and became women who are now a reclusive dog trainer, a wealthy socialite, and a sociopathic environmentalist. Will Zoe bring the band back together and give The Flip-Flops a second chance at stardom? Is it possible to fully reclaim the urgent energy of youth?

As you follow this wild flight path, please know that your destination could be anywhere at all, complimentary oxygen is provided upon request, and baggage flies free. We hope you enjoy the ride, and Thank You For Flying Air Zoe.

Review

What a fun book! It felt like a night out with friends, bonding over stories from our youth and figuring out where we are headed.

Zoe is questioning where the time has gone and what’s she’s done with it. Suddenly, thanks to a near plane crash, she’s unsure about pretty much everything. Thinking back to happier times, she becomes fixated on reliving her youth and bringing back together her friends to resurrect their high school band.

The problem is everyone has gone in different directions. Zoe is determined. Through some zany fun and witty dialogue, the ladies finally come together for one last hurrah. Along the way, Zoe's confidence grows and she realizes some wonderful things were right under her nose all along (including a great guy, Silas).

I laughed out loud several times, and truly came to enjoy Zoe interacting with her friends. I am turning 40 in a few weeks. I get it. It all goes by so quickly. But what makes it better are the people who have our back. Bonus: If you are a child of the 80s, as I am, you will love the pop culture and fashion references.

Pick up a copy and take a humorous ride with a zany group of characters. You might just discover some new things about yourself.

Rating: 4 stars

About Erik Atwell
(From the Blog Tour Home Page)

Erik Atwell started his writing career in grammar school, where a one page history class assignment ballooned into a forty page fictional account of a politically controversial silversmith in Boston circa 1776. Daring to follow up such an auspicious debut, he later graduated to short stories while living in New Hampshire, screenplays upon moving to Los Angeles, then finally novels when he ultimately landed in Seattle. He is currently gearing up to escape city life and return home to New Hampshire with his rock-star wife and eight month-old son, whose only musical claim to fame thus far is sleeping through an entire Go-Go’s concert. But in his defense, he was three weeks old, and the stage was a quarter-mile away. Thank You For Flying Air Zoe is his first novel, and he hopes to write a second novel before the little guy is old enough to read it.

And yes, he was once in a band. For twelve minutes.

It wasn’t pretty.

Connect with Erik on his blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Thank You For Flying Air Zoe is available on Amazon.

Thanks to TLC Tours for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

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