The Quest for Perkins Vale by L.B. Dunbar

I’m not sure I know what to think of the girl I’ve searched for since I was thirteen; she isn’t exactly how I remembered her.

I’m twenty-five, a guy and a virgin. Yep, you read that right; I’m still a virgin. Why you ask? Because I met the woman of my dreams when she was still a girl and I’ve been searching for her ever since we met. I’ve saved myself for her, as I believe she saved herself for me. Why again? Because I will love her, like she will love me, when we finally meet, again. I’d like to think it was that simple, but I don’t really know if she will love me. I only hope she will. If she doesn’t, she won’t be the right girl for me, because like I said, I’ve been saving myself for the woman of my dreams. I just don’t know where she is…but I won’t stop searching until I find her. That is my mission. My quest.

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Review by Ashley

I have been so curious about Perkins and his story since I first met him back in The Legend of Arturo King. He is the shy, virgin drummer who will go to battle for his band mates. While you do not have to have read the previous books in this series, I strongly suggest it as you get all the back story. There are some overlapping events as it is told in time with Lansing's story. This was a really interesting idea from L.B. Dunbar and I think it worked very well to show how the tragedy of Arturo affected the band members differently.

I really liked Perkins. He is big and awkward yet gentle and kind. He is loyal almost to a fault and hopeful that one day he will be with his one true love, Hollister. He finally sees her after years and years of waiting and it is as if all is right in his world again. Except she isn't the same, life has changed her from the girl she once was into the woman she is today. She is harder and wary to trust anyone. Hollister's past was just heartbreaking. The things that woman had lived through and still continued to struggle with proved just how strong she was. I loved her selflessness. She put everyone before herself, even Perkins when it meant that he would be safe.

I wasn't expecting the book to take quite the turn it did. I was both shocked and pleased with how everything played out. Both Perkins and Hollister grew so much in the short time frame of this book. Their relationship only grew in its solidness and they were both able to shed some of their reservations. They truly helped each other heal and let go of months and years of guilt and fear. Perkins helped Hollister make new memories of what love really is. I liked the dual POV that this story is told in. There is so much swirling through both of their minds at all times that it was nice to hear what went unsaid.

Of course, the rest of the Nights are present too. I loved getting to see more of Lansing, Tristan, Kaye and Guinnie. As in Lansing's story, there were instances where Arturo made his presence known. It was a great lead in for the next installment of the series which will be Tristan's book.

About the Author

I’d like to say I was always a writer. I’d also like to say that I wrote every day of my life since a child. That I took the teaching advice I give my former students because writing every day improves your writing. I’d like to say I have my ten-thousand hours that makes me a proficient writer. But I can’t say any of those things. I did dream of writing the “Great American Novel” until one day a friend said: Why does it have to be great? Why can’t it just be good and tell a story?

As a teenager, I wrote your typical love-angst poetry that did occasionally win me an award and honor me with addressing my senior high school class at our Baccalaureate Mass. I didn’t keep a journal because I was too afraid my mom would find it in the mattress where I kept my copy of Judy Blume’s Forever that I wasn’t allowed to read as a twelve year old.

I can say that books have been my life. I’m a reader. I loved to read the day I discovered “The Three Bears” as a first grader, and ever since then, the written word has been my friend. Books were an escape for me. An adventure to the unknown. A love affair I’d never know. I could be lost for hours in a book.

So why writing now? I had a story to tell. It haunted me from the moment I decided if I just wrote it down it would go away. But it didn’t. Three years after writing the first draft, a sign (yes, I believe in them) told me to fix up that draft and work the process to have it published. That’s what I did. But one story let to another, and another, and another. Then a new idea came into my head and a new storyline was created.

I was accused (that’s the correct word) of having an overactive imagination as a child, as if that was a bad thing. I’ve also been accused of having the personality of a Jack Russell terrier, full of energy, unable to relax, and always one step ahead. What can I say other than I have stories to tell and I think you’ll like them. If you don’t, that’s okay. We all have our book boyfriends. We all have our favorites. Whatever you do, though, take time for yourself and read a book.

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