The Ending Beginnings: Jake & Clara

The Ending #0.6

by Lindsey Pogue, Lindsey Fairleigh

The virus changed everything. This is how it began.

After his sister’s death, Jake is determined to seek revenge against his best-friend-turned-enemy. However, after meeting Clara, who's as convincing as she is unnerving, his plans change completely.

Clara has all but given up on finding her Prince Charming, but the moment Jake walks into the hospital, her future becomes much brighter, despite the world-ravaging virus that's turned everything upside down.

But traveling across the country together proves more difficult than either of them expects, and just when they both think the world couldn't get any worse, it does.

The Ending Beginnings:
I - Carlos
II - Mandy
III - Vanessa
IV - Jake
V - Clara
VI - Jake & Clara

The Ending Series:
Book 1 - After The Ending
Book 2 - Into The Fire
Book 3 - Out Of The Ashes (TBR August 2014)

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Apocalyptic, Young Adult

ebook

First published June 1, 2014

About the author

“[Lindsey] mastered what it is to be human, and the connections we build with one another.” - Goodreads Reviewer

Lindsey Pogue is a genre-bending survival romance author, best known for her soul-stirring Savage North Chronicles. With a master’s in history and her passion for apocalyptic landscapes, Lindsey weaves epic adventures where humanity shines brightest in the darkest of times. Her weather-ravaged worlds defy genre boundaries, inviting readers to escape the ordinary and discover the boundless strength of the human spirit.

When Lindsey's not plotting her next storyline or dreaming up new, brooding characters, she's wrapped in blankets, watching action flicks with her own leading man. She and her husband live in Northern California with their rescue cats, Beast and Blue.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ “[Lindsey] mastered what it is to be human, and the connections we build with one another.” - Amazon (Author Unpublished)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "Lindsey Pogue is a master storyteller!" -Tome Tender Book Reviews

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "Lindsey Pogue does it again!! I absolutely love her writing style."



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Reviews

[Carol [Goodreads Addict] · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ending Beginnings: Jake & Clara is #0.6 in the prequel novella series The Ending by Lindsey Fairleigh and Lindsey Pogue.

Jake just lost his sister, Becca and he wants revenge. But when he runs into the Pine Springs Psychiatric Hospital looking for help and ends up meeting Clara, somehow his plans were changed. Clara convinces him to take her with him, to save her. He has a bad feeling about her but somehow she still convinces him to let her come along. So Jake, Clara and Jake’s husky dog Cooper, set out.



I just want to insert a quick side note here that I love Jake’s dog, Cooper. He is so smart and wow, is he loyal to his master! What an awesome dog! Jake is lucky to have him!

Along the way they hear that there is a group of survivors at Fort Knox, Kentucky so they decide to stop there, Jake secretly hoping that he might be able to leave Clara with them and strike out on his own.



Clara is scary crazy. Learning what I did about her in the previous novella and hearing her inner thoughts now, she most definitely is missing a few marbles. She is still obsessed with finding her own fairy tale ending, her own prince charming. As soon as she laid eyes on Jake, she is convinced that he is it, that he is the one.

“She needed Jake--she wanted him. They’d come this far together; she was going to have him.”

When they reach Fort Knox, though, things do not go as hoped. Scary crazy meet scary crazier! It also seems that since Jake survived his own bout with the virus, he has developed a special ability. This ability saves him on more than one occasion.

Something happens that bring Jake's sister’s dying words back to haunt him. How could she have known? There’s no way, right?

“She’ll die because of you, Jake. The woman with the long black hair and teal eyes…You’ll save her, but she’ll die because of you.”



I really liked Jake and his strength. Even with all he has gone through, his grief and anger, he tries to do the right thing. The world he, Clara, and all the other survivors have been thrust into is a different world. What will their future’s hold?

This was the final novella of the series of six. I have loved getting to know these characters and now it is time for the first actual book in The Ending series, After The Ending. I can’t wait to get started.

[Crystal Rafuse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't help but to finish these things in one sitting, nearly every time I read one! These mini-novelettes by Team Lindsay are A-Mazing! I absolutely LOVE getting insight into characters that I otherwise may not have known much about (Clara). I am hoping for a back story for Chris (hint, hint!)...

Getting back to the point at hand, I love Jake, and love-to-hate Clara, so this was an interesting way to see how they ended up in Fort Knox together. Great read, as I would expect from "The Ending" series!

[Taiyewo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I knew Clara was crazy but damn! Thanks for yet another short! Wish there were more!

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realize that Clara had been in a psych hospital, but wasn’t clear about how that affected her feelings for Jake. She felt off, but if hadn’t read the main book, I would have thought she was a good person and that Jake was being a jerk. And Jake’s thoughts and reactions about her were sort of vague.

I love his dog, Cooper. Perfect dog to have by your side in an emergency.

Even though I know the end of this has to mesh with the first main book, it felt awkward. I had to go back to the book to see how it fit.

Fave scenes: Jake waking up ‘healed’, finding Bennington in the tree, then fighting Jones.

[Cat- · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one gave us some insight into Jake as well as Clara , filling in the missing pieces

[Pheebz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an ok book. You did find a little more of Jake's backstory from when he found Clara. You get a peek into Clara's sick mind. Find out that she though Zoe was someone from her past when she first saw her and it shook Clara up.For a Character I love so much in this great series, I don't know what happened to Jake's backstory, neither of the novellas about him were anything notable to write home about.This story did not evoke any emotional response what so ever.All the rest of the books a pure brilliance.And was like riding a rollercoaster. They made me laugh,cry feel for the plite of the characters.This book not so much.

[Ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

And with this one I conclude reading all 6 books from The Ending Beginnings series, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Now I MUST read the next 3 books of the The Ending Series as I'm extremely curious to find out what is going to happen to the characters I came to know.

[[ J o ]]

Read the first book in The Endings series, After the Ending. 1 Star, therefore will not continue series.