Come to My Window by Mia Kerick
Release Date: January 2015
Goodreads Book Page

A Mia Kerick Playlist!

Ever have songs in your head as you read a book?  Well, the authors do as well.  Here is Mia Kerick’s playlist for Come To My Window:

Here is my Top Ten Songs Playlist for Come To My Window!!

1. “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge:

This is the song after which the book is named. It describes the way that the two girls meet, by gazing through their third story bedroom windows. For months they don’t verbally communicate at all, but instead simply study each other silently through the glass. The song details the strong urge the girls experience to reach out to each other—and the lengths to which they will go to fill their souls with the other. Furthermore, it shows the way that the girls can look away from society’s opinion about their love because their love is more important than social expectations.

Come to my window
Crawl inside, wait by the light
of the moon
Come to my window
I’ll be home soon

I would dial the numbers
Just to listen to your breath
I would stand inside my hell
And hold the hand of death
You don’t know how far I’d go
To ease this precious ache
You don’t know how much I’d give
Or how much I can take

Just to reach you
Just to reach you
Just to reach you…

I don’t care what they think
I don’t care what they say
What do they know about this
love anyway

Come to my window
Crawl inside, wait by the light
of the moon
Come to my window
I’ll be home soon

2. “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette:

This song is important because it shows that Justine truly understands the anger that Kemina feels toward the glamorous cage in which she is trapped, and also, toward her own mother, who is controlling and uses her daughter as a tool to get what she wants. “You Oughta Know” is an expression of pure unadulterated anger, and the two girls listen to it together—but separately—each of them sitting on their own beds in their own bedrooms, gazing at each other across the alley.

And I’m here to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It’s not fair to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know….

3. F**ckin’ Perfect by Pink

Pink’s song expresses how Justine feels—that Kemina is perfect as she is. Justine watches Kemina through the window, struggling to diet and exercise so that she can fulfill society’s expectations of a physically perfect female body, and she becomes frustrated that Kemina, as a model, is held hostage by these ideals. By the end of the song, Pink is basically pleading that the person to whom she sings realizes that he/she is already perfect, which parallels Justine’s pleading with Kemina for the very same thing.

Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever, ever feel
Like you’re less than f**king perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you’re nothing, you’re f**king perfect to me

You’re so mean (so mean) when you talk (when you talk)
About yourself. You were wrong.
Change the voices (change the voices) in your head (in your head)
Make them like you instead…

Done looking for the critics, cause they’re everywhere
They don’t like my jeans, they don’t get my hair
Exchange ourselves and we do it all the time
Why do we do that, why do I do that (why do I do that)?

Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever, ever feel
Like you’re less than fucking perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you’re nothing, you’re fucking perfect to me…

4. “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond

I originally chose this song because it’s the song that traditionally plays in the Red Sox’s home stadium, Fenway Park, halfway through the eighth inning. And Justine, despite her New York City roots, is no Yankees fan, but is a Red Sox Fan, through and through. In particular, she is somewhat obsessed by David Ortiz, or Big Papi, the Red Sox’s famous designated hitter. But when I read the lyrics carefully, I realized that the song was about falling in love—about reaching out and touching a special person who makes the good times better than ever, which is what Kemina does for Justine’s life. This blossoming relationship helps Justine to put the hurt in her life behind her.

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined
To believe they never would
But now I…

…look at the night
And it don’t seem so lonely
We fill it up with only two.

And when I hurt,
Hurtin’ runs off my shoulders
How can I hurt when holding you?

Warm, touchin’ warm
Reachin’ out, touchin’ me, touchin’ you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined,
To believe they never would
Oh, no, no…

5. “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC

I chose “Thunderstruck” because Justine is crazy about the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team, and this is their theme song. She also gets a powerful, almost thunderstruck, feeling when she plays street ball and scrimmages indoors with the male friends she grew up with.

Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder
I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
I looked round
And I knew there was no turning back
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You’ve been
Thunderstruck

6. “One Less Lonely Girl” by Justin Bieber:

I chose this song for the playlist because Justine is constantly compared to Justin Bieber due to their physical similarities. She admittedly wears her hair like Bieber in his “One Less Lonely Girl” days, and nobody lets her forget it, particularly not the guy friends that she grew up with. In addition, the lyrics discuss how many girls have pretty faces but now that he has seen this certain girl’s pretty face it is all he can see, which is similar to how Justine feels about Kemina.

Saw so many pretty faces before I saw you (you)
Now all I see is you
I’m coming for you (I’m coming for you)

(No no) Don’t need these other pretty faces like I need you
And when you’re mine, in the world
There’s gonna be one less lonely girl

I’m coming for you, one less lonely girl [x3]
There’s gonna be one less lonely girl…

I can fix up your broken heart (heart)
I can give you a brand new start (start)
I can make you believe (ya)
I just wanna set one girl free to fall (free to fall)
She’s free to fall (fall in love)
With me

Her heart’s locked and know what I got the key
I’ll take her and leave the world with one less lonely

There’s gonna be one less lonely girl
One less lonely girl
One less lonely girl
One less lonely girl…

7. “Daughters” by John Mayer:

I chose “Daughters” because a major theme of Come To My Window is the relationship between mothers and daughters. Justine and Kemina both have challenging relationships with their mothers, in particular, and, this song asks parents to be good to their daughters, because everything the daughters learn about love they learn from their parents.

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she’s just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I’ve done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I’m starting to see
Maybe it’s got nothing to do with me

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

8. “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga:

I chose this song because the paparazzi constantly hounds Kemina, as she is the “Baby Vixen”, or the newest and youngest model of Nightingale Lingerie, which is comparable to Victoria’s Secret’s angels. The constant presence of the paparazzi shape Kemina’s personality and mold the blossoming relationship between Kemina and Justine. The relationship between the girls and the paparazzi seems to be completely out of control, until at the end of the novel, the girls successfully negotiate with them. Negotiation in relationships, and hopes for positive change in these relationships, is yet another theme of the story.

We are the crowd
We’re coming out
Got my flash on it’s true
Need that picture of you
It’s so magical
We’d be so fantastic, oh…

I’m your biggest fan
I’ll follow you until you love me
Papa-Paparazzi
Baby there’s no other superstar
You know that I’ll be your
Papa-Paparazzi

9. “My Girl” by The Temptations:

“My Girl” is the song that comes into Justine’s mind when she realizes that she and Kemina have become girlfriends. It’s the way that she begins to think about Kemina when they’re apart, just because simply knowing that Kemina is hers gives her bright and happy feelings.

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it’s cold outside I’ve got the month of May.

I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin’ ’bout my girl (my girl).

I’ve got so much honey the bees envy me.
I’ve got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.

Well, I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin’ ’bout my girl (my girl).

10. “She Keeps Me Warm” by Mary Lambert:

I chose this song for the playlist for two reasons. First, it describes Justine’s feelings upon the occasion of their first kiss. The feelings she experiences when they kiss are safe and kind and warm, which combine with her sense of gentle passion for Kemina. She knows beyond a doubt that kissing Kemina is right—that kissing a girl is right for her. The second reason I chose “She Keeps Me Warm” is because I imagine it’s the song they slow dance to at the end of the story at Justine’s high school prom, when Justine finally expresses her deep feelings to Kemina. In effect, it becomes “their song.”

She says I smell like safety and home
I named both of her eyes “Forever” and “Please don’t go”
I could be a morning sunrise all the time, all the time yeah
This could be good, this could be good

And I can’t change, even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change, even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm…

Copyright for all songs belongs to the artist, songwriter, and record company.

Author Bio:

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—all named after saints—and five nonpedigreed cats—all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband of twenty-two years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young people and their relationships, and she believes that physical intimacy has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press, Harmony Ink Press, and CreateSpace for providing her with alternate places to stash her stories.

Mia is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights, especially marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

Where to find the author:

Blog: http://www.miakerick.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mia.kerick
Dreamspinner Author Arcade
Goodreads Author Page
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiaKerick

Publisher: Mia Kerick
Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Sales Links:  Barnes & Noble  Kindle Link   Amazon Paperback  All Romance eBooks

Justine Laraby and Kemina Lopez are intimate acquaintances yet they have never exchanged so much as a single word. For months, high school senior Justine, and famed model, “Kemina, the Baby Vixen” of Nightingale Lingerie, have been peering at each other across a narrow alley between brownstones in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This mutual observation soon turns into the exchange of handwritten messages on signs they hold up whenever they come to their bedroom windows. Via this “sign language,” a friendship grows, and Justine learns that Kemina is, like her, a high school senior, but with a controlling mother and a modeling career that requires her to maintain an unnaturally thin physique. And through the window, she also witnesses her new friend exercising fanatically, hoarding food, and being physically and emotionally abused by her ambitious mother.

Window messages evolve into clandestine meetings and soon a tentative romance blooms. But Justine must come to terms with her own “mommy issues,” as well as accept her gender identity and sexual orientation, before she can provide Kemina with the support she needs to survive a family life that resembles a ruthless business transaction. 

Will Justine be strong enough to throw open the window so Kemina can escape society’s suffocating expectations?

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Lesbian Romance, Romance, Young Adult

Come To My Window excerpt…

But it’s not until the screen fills with the image of this baby seal,
all white and fluffy with dark vulnerable eyes that we both gasp a
little bit and then turn to look at each other. I can feel her breath on
my lips and my nose is nearly touching hers, and, well, I don’t know
about Kemina, but I’m all kinds of spellbound by this moment. She
reaches up and touches my jaw, just below my ear, with this soft
brush of her fingertips, and I have no choice but to lean down and
kiss her. Not that I was looking too hard for another option. Cuz I
wasn’t.

I kind of thought that my first kiss would be like an electric
shock or the sharp poke of cupid’s dart or fireworks exploding in a
dark night sky, but it’s not like any of those things. The way it feels
when my lips touch Kemina’s is soft and gentle and tender. It’s a
yielding of her mouth to mine, and then mine to hers. It’s an intimate
moment that’s breathy and warm and sweet and just ours.

“Ummmm….” She lets out this sound that makes me think of
how it feels to sink into a hot bath after a long afternoon of ice
skating in frigid temperatures. “That was my first real kiss.”

“Real kiss?” I ask. Our lips are only about an inch apart. I have
a strong feeling that her second real kiss is only a moment away.

—

Pages or Words: 182 pages
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