Endorsements
Lincee Ray is one of my very favorite people because she is hilarious, kind, honest, and full of heart. And, lucky for you, every one of those qualities shines in the pages of her new book, Its a Love Story . Her words will make you laugh out loud, wipe away a few tears, and think back to what your own love stories have meant in your life. Most of all, you will fall in love with Lincee because she is a delight in every way! This book is a must-read, cant miss, good time from cover to cover! Id give it my final rose every time.
Melanie Shankle , New York Times bestselling author of Church of the Small Things
It s a Love Story is vintage Lincee Ray: tender, nostalgic, self-deprecating, funny, and, in all the best ways, a little bit snarky. This book is a delight to read, to savorand it will spur you on to some serious gratitude as you remember and reflect on the loves of your own life: the four-legged ones, the familial ones, the pop culture ones, the long-lasting ones, the life-giving ones, and the eternal One. Youll laugh, youll cry, and youll want to watch Clueless all over again. Its a win all the way around. I loved it!
Sophie Hudson , author of Giddy Up, Eunice and cohost of The Big Boo Cast
Everyone loves a good love story, and in Lincees book, she covers every type of love story you can possibly imagine. Lincees storytelling ability brings you in like a best friend offering you a cup of tea and a seat on the sofa. You want to sit with her for hours and just listen. Get your drink of choice, plop yourself down on your sofa, and spend some time with Lincee. You wont regret it!
Jamie Ivey , bestselling author of If You Only Knew and host of The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey podcast
Lincee Ray is one of the funniest, most relatable writers out there today. It s a Love Story will have you nodding and laughing and wishing that Lincee were your next-door neighbor.
Jennifer Fulwiler , SiriusXM radio host and author of One Beautiful Dream
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
2019 by Lincee Ray
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1772-8
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016
The Author is represented by Alive Literary Agency, 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920, www.aliveliterary.com.
Dedication
For DaddyI love you
Disclaimer
I share some rather embarrassing stuff in this book. Of course, I have changed the names because I would be mortified if any of these people knew what young, impressionable Lincee was thinking. Can you die from hives? My throat is thick just thinking about it, but I trust it will all be worth it if I can make you laugh and feel less losery about yourself.
Suffering for our craft is what we creative types do.
Now, if youre from Hallsville, Texas, try to be cool about certain details youre about to read. Dont try to puzzle any of the pieces together to figure out who Im talking about. Just know that if the description sounds like someone who was in your physics class with Mr. Strickland or that guy who looked really good in his football jersey or the girl who was a class officer or the person who epitomized what it meant to be the most popular kid in school, its not who you think it is and you should just move on to the next chapter.
If you ignore the request above and you do want to venture a guess, dont message me and ask me if you are correct. You dont want me to die from hives, do you?
Contents
Cover
Endorsements
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Disclaimer
Introduction
1. Fur and Feathers
2. Young Love
3. Shake Your Groove Thing
4. Black Map Dot
5. Shalom, Yall
6. Hands and Feet
7. Arise
8. Zambian Uber
9. Johnny Rays Daughter
10. Two Crazy Kids
11. If Youre a Bird, Im a Bird
12. Fake Vision of Love
13. Tis the Season
14. Hangin Tough
16. You Give Love a Bad Name
17. Love Is a Battlefield
18. Feel the Burn
19. Youve Got a Friend in Me
20. Birds of a Feather
21. Addie Lou Who
22. Texas Forever
23. Mary, Did You Know?
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Sources
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Introduction
Thats the story of, thats the glory of LOVE
I remember the first time I fell in love. His name was Logan, and he was super dreamy with sandy-blond hair and crystal-blue eyes. His family had moved from Kentucky, so his accent was Southern. Logan was smart, charming, and athletic, and I looked forward to spending time with him.
Logan was also a fictional character in The Baby-Sitters Club book series.
Bring on the judgment. I can handle it. I was a bibliophile with an active imagination, and I let it soar. I crushed hard when my boy showed up in book number ten, titled Logan Likes Mary Anne! and I dont believe its one bit bizarre for a young girl approaching adolescence to imagine herself with a fake boyfriend.
You want bizarre? I was jealous of Mary Anne. Thats bizarre. And heres another alarming fact: I didnt have to Google the book title of Logans Baby-Sitters Club debut before I typed it. I cant remember why I walked into my bathroom three minutes ago, but I can pull thirty-year-old useless information from the recesses of my mind without even trying.
In short, Logan made an impact on my tender heart.
Why did he give me a squishy feeling on my insides? Was there a real Logan out there for me? Did I have a shot with him if I acted exactly like Mary Anne? And who taught me how to fall in love in the first place?
Walt Disney, of course.
Uncle Walt has been a signature staple in my life from the very beginning. My love of books came from his fairy tales. My love of Mickey Mouse came from his imagination. Without a doubt, my idea of true love came from his animated princess movies.
I figured I could take a job in the forest and be a maid for a bunch of dwarves. They could mine gemstones while I bided my time waiting for the prince.
How am I biding my time? Well, there was this apple-biting, sleeping-curse situation, and Ive ended up in a coffin, but its cool. Ill wake up when my prince finds me and kisses me so we can go ahead and start living our happily ever after.
I do appreciate it when a man pursues me.
I believe our obsession with love, love stories, romance, and relationships plays a big part in our own stories, for better or for worse. As we get older, we realize love is more than the romantic happily ever after. Love is bigger and broader and much better than that.