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Upsy Daisy

‘Upsy Daisy’ by Chelsie Edwards is a full-length romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Higher Learning series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.


Cassie’s Review ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Origin stories are always a fun way to learn more about your favorite characters.  Now imagine that you are writing an origin story for a character another author has written.  

Coming into this book, it's no surprise that the reader would be skeptical.  Daisy and Trevor are beloved characters from Penny Reid's books (The Winston Brother's Series).  


I'm here to tell you, have no fear.  Chelsie Edwards wrote them an origin story that feels true to their character, and sets up the scene for more of the Higher Learning Series.   


I will be honest, I cried when we got a peek at one of the most beloved characters in Green Valley.  It will make your heart flutter with happiness.


I felt like I was immersed in the 1970s culture at an African American University.  Chelsie's descriptions, with the clothes and music, let me feel this book in my soul.


Trevor and Daisy's story is definitely a slow burn romance, but the payoff is worth it. 


"Stop fighting with her, and start fighting for her.  And shop fighting yourself. You care about her, so care for her.  No caveats.  No requirements."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Ashley’s Review ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Upsy Daisy is a coming of age story with a lot of heart. It’s a stellar debut novel by author Chelsie Edwards.


This book is the origin story of Daisy Payton and Trevor Boone, characters that readers first met in Penny Reid’s Winston Brothers Series. However, readers do not need to be familiar with Reid’s work to fully enjoy this story. It stands on its own. Edwards transports readers back in time to the 1970s when the two first meet in college


There’s instant attraction and undeniable chemistry between Daisy and Trevor, but there is a lot going on in their lives. There are obstacles they must overcome to find themselves and to be with each other.


I wasn’t sure what to expect from Upsy Daisy and was pleasantly surprised by the high-quality writing, good flow, and engaging story. The one thing I would have liked to read more of is Daisy and Trevor’s happily ever after. The final few chapters of the book felt a bit rushed. I’m hopeful that we will see these two again in future novels.


Edwards has written a wonderful cast of characters. Daisy and Trevor’s friends are well-developed and integral to the storyline. Edwards leaves readers eager for each of their stories as well.


Blurb


College, cookies, capers, Oh my!


Daisy Payton has everything.

Exceptional grades.

Impeccable clothes.

Model family.


But perfection comes at a high cost, and Daisy is wilting. Determined to use college as her chance to bloom anew, she’s focused on only one thing, leaving the Payton name behind and forging her own path—even if she has to tell the teeniest of fibs to do it.


Trevor Boone has nothing.

Abandoned as a child.

Raised by distant relatives.

Constantly reminded he’s a burden.


Trevor’s lived at the edges of opulence for years, having all he’s ever desired dangled just out of reach. But his ambition is finally about to pay off and nothing will distract him from his goal—finishing college top of his class and starting life, on his own terms.


When Daisy and Trevor meet it’s clear from the start that they’ll tempt each other to distraction, can they learn to put their ambitions aside and fall or will they lose it all?


Download your copy TODAY!

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2RyfwUJ


Excerpt

My room was small with pale yellow walls, one window on the far wall, two closets, two

raised beds, and a single dresser. I’d beaten my roommate there and claimed the bed

closest to the window. We’d made quick work of the cleaning and had gotten a good

way through the decorating and hanging my clothes before Dolly flopped on the bed

and called me to sit next to her.

I knew what was coming next. It was one of my favorite Dolly speeches. It was the

“Today You Become a Woman” speech. My conservative guess was I’d become a

woman twenty-three times in the last few years. It’d happened when I’d gotten my

driver’s license, when I’d gotten asked to the junior prom, when I’d gone to the senior

prom, graduation day … you get the drift. Dolly was good with marking milestones with

big speeches.

She’d begin gently but I knew it wouldn’t stay gentle for very long, she would poke and

pry and try to get me to cry and suddenly I was tired and ready for her to go.

“Do you like your room?” she asked innocuously.

I nodded, because I knew she hated when I nodded. Instead of reacting she simply

stared and stared until I said, “Yes, it’s nice, a bit small for two people but I’m sure my

roommate will be nice and we will make do,” I said it more hoping than knowing.

Dolly smiled, and then after a moment said, “Don’t be angry with your father …”

I stared at her confused, waiting for her to go on. She seemed to be struggling for words

and so I patted her leg reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’ll write him a letter. Or better yet, I

think I saw a pay phone at the end of the hall, I’ll call him and tell him I’m not angry he

couldn’t make the trip.”

She sighed. “No, Daisy, I know you’re not angry over that.”

There was another pause and she took a deep breath. “Daddy wanted to surprise you.

He thought you might be more comfortable in your own room here since you have your

own room at home.”

I continued to stare at her. “He called in a favor with one of his friends at the Alumni

Association and they made special accommodations for you … someone will be by to

collect the extra bed—”

“No,” I said more forcefully than I intended. I wasn’t angry with Dolly.

Although she had kept this from me until now, so maybe I should’ve been. In fact I

definitely should’ve been.

“Dolly, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I knew it would make you upset. There is no use trying to change what’s done.”

“No use? Would make me upset? I am way past upset. I don’t want special

accommodations. I don’t want my own room. I don’t want to be treated differently,” I

hollered.

“Daisy, calm down. This isn’t the end of the world.”

How could I explain that it wasn’t the end of the world, it was a continuation of the same

world.

And that was the problem.

I wanted to be Daisy Payton here, not Daisy Payton.

Because Daisy Payton played a mean game of spades, and knew how to cornrow in every direction. She had a natural head for figures, and could even do three digit

multiplication in her head. She loved the Temptations and could cut a rug on the dance

floor with the best of them. She could bake better than your eighty-five-year-old granny.

She studied geography for fun. She got a four-point-oh during the worst year of her life.

She was good with potted plants but terrible in the garden; weeds were foes she could

not defeat. She’d been kissed twice. Once was awful and once was amazing, so

amazing that she did it again, and then again—so really four times, but three of the

kisses happened in one session. And she wanted opportunities to roll that fifty-fifty dice

again to find out how the next kiss would be.

But Daisy Payton?

Daisy Payton had a powerful father. (That poor man.)

Daisy Payton was a rich girl. (She’s not but it doesn’t matter if people think you are.)

She had a dead brother, who got murdered in Vietnam. (What a useless war.)

Daisy Payton had a mother who was there and then *poof* was gone from breast

cancer. (Poor Daisy.)

Daisy Payton went from rich girl to poor girl. Poor little rich girl that everyone looked at

with pity.

And she hated it.

She hated that everyone, everyone thought they knew her.

She hated the assumption that if they hurt with her, or worse, for her, then it made the

pain better, as if that made it the entire community’s pain; when it absolutely didn’t.

She hated that she still read and reread the letters from her brother. Some of the pages

had wrinkles from being crumpled in fits of anger because oh, she was so angry when

he left. And then she felt guilty and stupid and horrified that she’d almost destroyed his

letters when they were all that was left. Some were starting to show signs of age, yellow

in some spots and the ink fading in others, and she hated that too because how could

so much time have passed without him?

And she hated that her mother had been helping her shop for homecoming dresses and

was buried before Thanksgiving. It had spread so fast.

No junior prom dress shopping. No junior prom.

She barely remembered her senior year.

She hated that her friends and family and perfect strangers spoke to her in hushed tones and assumed she was broken.

She hated that they were right.

Because the ache inside her was relentless. It constantly missed her brother. It

constantly missed her mother. It would not abate. It could not be moved. She was

thoroughly, horribly, broken and all that brokenness was put up for examination by an

entire town. That just couldn’t happen here.

For the whole of her life, the whole of Green Valley had treated her differently, and she

absolutely hated it.

But she wasn’t in Green Valley now. And Daisy Payton had a plan.


About Chelsie Edwards


Chelsie Edwards’ mother declared her a smarty-pants at 4 years old; now she gets to

be one professionally. She manages project timelines by day and book timelines by

night. She resides in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and has no dogs, fish, or birds,

but her neighbors cat “Buddy” keeps her company by sunbathing on her porch. Her

debut novella is scheduled to be released Spring 2020 on Smartypants Romance and will chronicle Daisy and Trevor’s journey.


Find Chelsie Edwards online


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