***ARC provided in exchange for an honest review***

I loved it from beginning to end. There was no part of this store that was under developed. Zelda, is a starving artist in New York who is trying to get her comic book off the ground. She is homeless, broke and out of chances. I loved every about Zelda, a genuinely good person that just needed genuinely good person in her for corner.

Beckett was written into the story perfectly. A slow friendship develops when Zelda moves in with him. This is my favorite part of the book, waiting patiently to learn what these two become for each other. It was heartwarming and honest. I smiled every time Beckett and Zelda were in a room together. The artwork was also a nice touch!

This books is Absolutely Wonderful. Sometimes bad things happen that leave everlasting scars. They can smother you to the point where living is just going through the motions. There is guilt, remorse, sorrow, sadness, and a deep longing for forgiveness. Zelda Rossi and Beckett Copeland are two souls that have demons who are seeking a forgiveness/redemption that would meld their broken hearts. And on a chance meeting in a restaurant, their lives would forever change.

Zelda and Beckett's story is a slow burn. They become friends first. They are both able to share their grief and sorrow with one another. It's heartbreaking and emotional. Both are in their 20's and both carry very big scars. But when these two move in together and Beckett starts to help Zelda with her graphic novel, something starts happening between the two.

I loved the emotional pull of this story. Zelda and Beckett are two young people, both struggling to make ends meet and carrying around sadness. But when they meet, the gloomy forces surrounding them begin to shift. It's beautiful and healing. Each are champions for the other despite not having known each other long. Their connection is their guilt but it also fuels this new poignant friendship that creates a happiness that neither thought was possible again.

I loved both characters. They had great banter and a great chemistry. I loved that it was a slow burn and I was able to feel their connection. While the story was heavy with emotions, the author kept an underlying thread of hope and redemption. There were wonderful secondary characters, Roy and Mary Goodwin, Zelda's family, Mrs J, Darlene, and Mrs Santino that helped tie Zelda and Beckett together. They all touched their hearts and mind.

The ending was exquisite. It was everything I could have wanted for both Zelda and Beckett. It brought me happy, grateful, relief tears. It truly touched my heart because in the end, these two completed each other in every way possible, in heart, mind and soul. They were able to rise above all the fray and finally seek their redemption from the chaos of their life. Beautiful, Tragic, Healing, Forgiveness, Friendship, Love......The Butterfly Effect was a story that tugged at my heart and I promise will tug yours too.

*advanced copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

~~~4.5 Stars~~

This was a deeply emotional book. This had a great plot and setting. As I was reading this I felt like I was reading Beckett & Zelda's journal. It was so realistic with all of life's ups and downs and obstacles that real life people experience. Beckett and Zelda meets by chance. Both are wandering through life trying to run from their past.

Zelda's past haunts her everywhere she turns. The day her sister was kidnapped replays in her mind everyday. She blames herself for not being able to stop the kidnapping. Zelda's character was strong on the inside but brittle broken on the outside. Beckett was just the right person to come into her life and save her from herself.

All the setbacks in life that Beckett had to withstand is all because of one bad decision. A decision that will haunt him for many years to come. He doesn't feel like he deserves forgiveness. His self-hatred and loathing pushes people away.

The ending was uplifting but had me in tears. If everything in life turned out the way it did for Beckett & Zelda then this world would be a much more happier place.

I liked this story about perseverance, acceptance, and forgiveness. You have two people burdened with guilt: one who is desperate for a chance at redemption; the other who accepts his life of hardship as penance. Zelda and Beckett are quite similar. In addition to living under a cloud of regret, they are both completely broke (and broken) and basically alone in NYC. After a chance meeting, they decide to join forces in a mutually beneficial financial arrangement.

Zelda pours her grief, remorse, and creativity into creating a graphic novel that she is determined to get published. It is so inventive of Emma Scott to allow the reader to experience Zelda’s character growth throughout the novel’s creation process. I loved her tenacity and optimism, even in the face of great pain. I particularly enjoyed her struggles early on in the book when she first arrives in NYC.

Beckett can’t seem to shake his demons and is merely going through the motions of being alive. He is such a truly decent man, and I just wanted to hug him throughout the entire story. With Zelda in his life, he begins to see a brighter existence. Beckett is stubborn, though, and feels she deserves someone who has more to offer. I appreciated the bond they form and the slow burn of their relationship. Although, honestly, I found it difficult to understand why Zelda so desperately tries to deny her attraction to Beckett. This leads me to my main issue with the book.

Let me preface this by saying I’m a card carrying angst ho, but the tension has to come from a logical, emotional place. It’s one of the things I’ve come to enjoy about Emma Scott’s work. Fundamentally, in this case, I just couldn’t understand the degree of guilt that Zelda carries for such a long period of time. I feel like I must be missing something. Why resist Beckett? Why the dramatic reactions to the mere mention of family?

There are many aspects of the story that are sometimes depressing, but mostly sweet and inspirational. I found The Butterfly Project to be an engaging story with a powerful message and an enjoyable variety of characters. I’m sure it will resonate with a lot of readers

“No heart”, this is how aspiring comic book writer, Zelda’s first project was exactly described. I can tell you without preamble that Zelda and Beckett’s story is the 100% complete opposite of that! In fact, every single book I’ve read by this author is full of heart which is literally why I keep on coming back for more.

The Butterfly Project is a story about two people who are stuck in their troubled past and how they are able to find love, peace, and solace in one another. It is about looking past the desperation and realizing that there will always be light at the end of the tunnel.

What I loved most about this book was how I walked away feeling inspired. The Butterfly Project is without a doubt heartwarming and uplifting. It is a beautifully crafted, well-written story to be cherished, one that I wouldn’t mind reading over and over again.

Emma Scott is a relatively new to me author, and I’ve not yet been disappointed. I thought the Full Tilt duet was brimming with skilled writing and rich in character development. The Butterfly Project mirrors its predecessor in that regard, and has a little something extra that has put it on my 2017 faves list.

In this new adult romance of strangers turned roommates Ms. Scott had the ability to showcase the traits of her characters that ultimately made me fall in love with them. Zelda’s bravery and Beckett’s kindness. I loved their instant friendship. The banter between them was full of humor and their communication was clear and concise. They showed maturity and consideration in their arrangement despite the desperation of their own situations where it would have been so easy to act like a threenager.

What I loved best was the friends to lovers element of the story. It was slow and sweet and perfect. Alternating POV narratives are very common, however I found a clear distinction in The Butterfly Project; being able to experience the heroine’s character growth through the eyes of the hero. Does this have a name? Was it done on purpose? Maybe it was because I felt so connected to the characters or really fell in love with the story, I don’t’ know. Regardless, I thought this stylistic choice was powerfully emotive as I was brought to tears numerous times, the little something extra that has made this book a favorite.

There were also some very moving and emotional secondary plot lines that brought on more tears than I thought I would have. Sometimes subplots can feel convenient or manufactured, but I assure you that they never felt like drama for drama sake in this case. The secondary characters were written with just as much attention as our protagonists. I believe this aided in the execution of these secondary stories making them equally as memorable as the 0ne between Zelda and Beckett.

If you love beta heroes like I do, you will fall in love with Beckett Copeland. He’s just so…nice. Not in a sickly-over-the-top way, but in a thoughtful, selfless and compassionate way. He had his alpha moments here and there, however I loved his quiet intensity and his seemingly innate ability to help Zelda when she felt out of control best. Sigh, he’s pretty great, and funny, and sweet. You know? Zelda is too. I loved her strength and determination despite her heartbreaking backstory. Her attempt at self healing was always portrayed as being something she really wanted, always portrayed as being ready to move forward, ready to be done with the feelings of guilt and loss. She also has a wonderful sense of humor which brought a much needed touch of levity to an otherwise heavy story.

This is new adult well done. I absolutely recommend and cannot wait to see what Emma Scott has in store for the future. She is 100% on my radar..

This book was a beautifully written story of forgiveness. It deals with personal loss and a second chance for two very damaged people to take back their lives.
Beckett and Zelda both needed to let go of their pasts in able to move forward and reclaim their lives. Together they are able to help each other in a way that neither of them could have done by themselves alone and along the way they connect emotionally as well. I was so in love with both of these characters. Beckett for his kindness and sweetness and Zelda for her refusal to give up when faced with overwhelming obstacles but to continue to push herself forward to reach her goal despite the emotional pain she felt .
This is a book that I will remember long after reading it and will go on my books to reread list. I was so moved by the story and the writing. Emma Scott I am in awe of you and will be looking out for more of your books to read.

I loved this story! This is the 3rd Emma Scott book I have read, and she is 3 for 3 - she writes amazingly deep and emotional love stories that touch me and make my heart full.

Both Zelda (I wasn't a fan of her name but went with it) and Beckett were very broken, and neither from your typical New Adult baggage. Both of them were still strong, trying to live their lives but not doing a very good job as they were struggling financially. When they met there was an instant feeling of connection. Zelda described it, and I am pretty sure I totally felt it. These two strangers build up a trust between them, and they helped each other find a way out of their darknesses. Now, it wasn't easy and there were definitely setbacks along the way...being a convicted felon does not go away...but no love story is easy and that's what makes it worth it.

Zelda was an amazing heroine. While I'm personally not a fan of graphic novels, I loved that she found her passion in creating them and could almost see myself reading one. The parallel to her life was something she didn't realize the depths of until Beckett pointed it out. It was because of him that she began her journey towards healing. She also played a huge role in Beckett's journey. He was living in his own head and could not get past his guilt...it was eating him alive. I seriously could feel him crawling out of his own skin with guilt. But with Zelda in his life he found brightness, which in turn did something later on that changed his life.

The romance was slow burning angsty goodness. Zelda and Beckett did not want any complications if they were to become more than friends, so they stayed platonic for as long as they could hold out for. It was glorious. The romance was there, we could all see it, so when it finally happened I couldn't get enough.

There are secondary characters in this story that I just loved. I really hope there is a spin off book for at least 1 of them...but I'd take more!

The ending was simply lovely. More things than I could have hoped for happened and I wanted to burst. Especially for Beckett. His life became full of joy and he truly deserved it. I also have to say that I loved the conflict that still existed after the romance started. It made it real and showed just how these two were meant to be.

For me, it's Ms. Scott's writing that puts her stories on such a high level. The words flow effortlessly, in a way that brings me right into the world she created and I can feel the gloom, the happiness, the hopefullness and the heartache she expresses. There is no formula for this, either the author has a gift or not, and Emma Scott has this gift in spades. I will read anything she writes, her books are fantastic. Thank you for writing!

This is the first book I have read by Emma Scott and it won’t be my last. When you read as much as I do all romance books start to feel the same. There is something so satisfying about starting a book and you know from chapter one that the story will be magic. This is a beautiful story about hope, regret, guilt, and forgiveness. I don’t feel like my review can do this book justice so all I can say is pick this book up. You won’t regret it.

P.S. I would like to note that the graphic art prior to some of the chapters was one of the coolest things I have seen. It added another layer and brought more life to the story. Well done!

***5 emotional "Mother May I???" stars***

“Lessening the misery of the past will lead to a brighter future.”

This is my third book by Mrs. Scott and for once again, she made me fall in love with the story but mostly with her wonderful characters....
Honestly, I could read only her books for the rest of my life!!!
She knows how to built a beautiful story with imperfect persons who are unbelievably perfect with all their flaws and their big hearts!!!
And she is managing to touch a deep part of my soul Every.Single.Time!!!

“Wasn’t love a kind of chaos theory? One small look, one smile or one word could alter the course of a life forever. Beckett and I were living proof.”

We had took a small glimpse of Zelda in the <i>"Full Tilt"</i> duet but don't you worry, it's a standalone book!!!
Zelda left Las Vegas and her job in the tattoo shop, for chasing her luck in the big city, New York. She is a graphic novelist and she went in NY with the hopes to sell her story "Mother may I?", but unfortunately, she only got rejection with a tiny ray of hope if she will change a little bit her story...
By chance, she met Beckett and from that moment both of their lives changed, since they got into a crazy arrangement!!!

“I must be crazy,” he muttered. “Or you are.” He nodded at the tracks. “This is me. Or…us?”
This is us.
I went with Beckett Copeland to Brooklyn.

No, I won't tell you more about the hows and whys they ended up in this arrangement, you should find it out by yourselves...
But as you can understand, from the first moment Zelda and Beckett started to feel something more about the other, but unfortunately both of them had a big load upon their shoulders and too many guilts of past events...
Will they manage to heel each other and to be together???
Or everything will fall apart???

"I made a huge fucking mistake. It’s not easy to come back from that." {Beckett}

"I recognized the weight of guilt that hung around his neck, because I wore it too." {Zelda}

“Do you ever wonder, Zelda, if you’re allowed to be happy?”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “Yes,” I whispered. “All the time. Every minute.”

I loved very much both Zelda and Beckett...
I loved the pace that Mrs. Scott kept in their story...
I adored the way that they came closer to each other ....
and i loved how they help each other to fight their demons...
I liked very much how both our heroes received their redemption... It was so fitting!!!

“I have nothing to offer you, Zelda.”
“That’s not true.”
“I’m a felon. That’s going to follow me around for the rest of my life...”
“I told you I don’t care... I don’t care about any of it.”
“I do,” Beckett said. “I care... I fucked up my future,” he said finally. “The last thing I want to do is fuck up yours.”

Zelda was so sweet and kind...
Her imagination was incredible and she seemed like an awesome artist (since i couldn't see it with my own eyes!!!). She wanted to succeed so badly in her graphic novel, but not for herself, but for someone else that she was loving very deeply. She thought she owned to that person justice for what happened to it!!!
Unfortunately, Zelda was carrying too much guilt inside of her and that was making her to not fully enjoying her life...
But Beckett changed that for her...

"I realized you could get used to anything—even being alone for years—right until the moment you touched something better than what you had."

"I felt Beckett lying three feet from me but trapped in a past he couldn’t change. I was too—our pain was of the same fabric, even if the patterns were different, but he was helping me."

Beckett, from the other hand, was still paying for a mistake that he did three years before... a deadly mistake and he couldn't get over it!!! He thought that he wasn't deserving anything good in his life and that was so damn unfair...
Beckett was such a nice guy!!! Seriously, guys!!! He was a rare person...
He was so generous, so kind, so thoughtful!!! He was so selfless and it was such a pity that he thought the worst of him...
But Zelda's presence made him realize that he needed something more, something that only she could give him...

“I wear the words like chains around my neck. Felon. Criminal. Prisoner. I‘m all those things, and remain them, even after time served. A freed prisoner with a life sentence.
Now I have a woman in my life who’s turned everything that was cold and gray into warmth and color. She’s inked new words onto my heart.
Us. Together...”

Also, in this book, we had awesome secondary characters...
Roy was the most unbelievable guy and his wife was so sweet... I liked how much he was helping Beckett.
I also liked very much Darlene... She was so crazy and with her own fucked up life, but she was adorable!!!
Beckett's friends were also very good!!!
And Mrs J.!!! God, i loved her for what she did in the end...

"There is a power in forgiveness… and magic in even the smallest of kindness."

God!!! I can't wait for Mrs. Scott's next story!!!
I'm sure that it will be also a wonderful story, as she only knows how to write!!!

***ARC generously provided via NetGalley for the exchange of an honest review***

I would give the first 75% of this book a solid 4.5 stars. Then 75% happens and the story is lost for a bit and is all about sex, not graphic but "new" love crap which dropped it to 3 stars. Then at about 90% it brings the story back and ends well. So I will give this story a 4.

This book was hands down one of the best books I have ever read and one of the best books of 2017 and we are only into March of this year!! 5 millions stars!

Emma Scott really brings forth all the emotions in her new book about the power of love, forgiveness, vengeance and redemption.

**A horrorshow that unfolded between the aisles of breakfast cereals and soups. I’d watched it happen and I couldn’t stop it. I failed her, and the guilt for that failure had been eating away at me from the inside out like a cancer ever since. Mother, May I? was born of that howling pain.
It was either draw or lose my f*cking mind.

When Zelda witnessed her sister being abducted when she was only 14 and she couple told stop it, she blamed herself. She felt guilt that she wa s powerless to stop such a tradgedy. She's carried that guilt around for 10 years. She draws out her pain, in her graphic novel, Mother May I? And in her story, the offender never lives. She left Begas to go to Mew York to try to get her story out in the world. Her tale of a Mother seeking vengeance to right the wrong that was done to her daughter. She wants to tell her story, for her, for her mother and for her sister. She feels that in some small way, it will help bring justice for Rosemary and help her find peace. But when she got to NY, things didn't go as well as she had hoped.

And then she met Beckett. Not something she was planning. Not something she expected, but there he was, a man brought down by the demons of his own past. A stranger, but soon turned into more when she had no other place to go. So, instead of going back to Begas when a publisher told her that her story had no heart, she asked for a favor in the most unlikely of people. A convict, a mans with a criminal record and a parole officer. But he ended up being so much more than that. Maybe he was her shot at forgivness and she was he change at redemption. Two souls who hurt, finding comfort in each other.

**Five seconds that had shaken me to the bone. It felt like I’d lost something I didn’t know I wanted.
And I realized you could get used to anything—even being alone for years—right until the moment you touched something better than what you had.

Beautiful and heart wrenching, fans of Emma Scotts Fult Tilt and All In will be sure to fall in love with Zelda and Beckett. Two beautifully broken people finding their way past the pain of their past and learning to make a brighter future.

The characters are amazing, more than two dimensional characters on a page. They will pull you into their story, to their past and their pain. They will make you ache for them and what they have to overcome. And they will make you smile when they find their way to a happily ever after.

*Copy provided by Netgalley for review

5+ stars!

"I looked at this beautiful, smart woman sitting beside me. I did’t deserve a shot of happiness, but she did."

This book deserves an infinite amount of stars. It was magical, beautiful, swoon worthy. The characters growth and development was literally something that made me drool!

I'm not going to tell you more than what the blurb tells you but Zelda was awesome. I'm telling you, there was something about them as individual characters that just called out my name. They were so realistic and relatable. And Beck was amazing and totally made you swoon!!!

“Yeah, you’re pretty easy on the eyes, Copland. No one’s told you that before?”
His smile slipped, his eyes held mine in their sapphire depths. “No one who mattered.”

You will feel so many emotions; happiness, heartache, love, swoon. You might cry or you might not. But everyone deserves to read this and love them as much as me!

I enjoyed this book however not as much as Emma's previous books sorry, although there is a reason for this!

I think mainly because the other books have a few twists and obstacles in the way of true love whereas this is an out and out love story. Now this may appeal (and seemingly does appeal if the reviews are anything to go by) to many but isn't my preference.

The writing is as ever brilliant, flowing, and I got a sense of each character to the point that you feel that you really know them.

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for this copy.

I would like to thank Emma Scott, Trillian and Netgalley for giving me this amazing book for my honest review.
Review By Stephanie
5 Stars
I fell in love with Emma’s writing when I read the Full Tilt series, so I was beyond excited when I saw The Butterfly Project. As soon as I got the book I cuddled up on the sofa with a glass of ( ok maybe a little more than a glass) and dove into this rollercoaster of greatness!
This book got my heart like hard core! Zelda and Beckett are amazing! I fell in love with them both and wanted more from each of them. Emma wrote these two damaged human beings so beautifully that I was instantly drawn to their stories.
In true Emma Scott fashion this book was phenomenal! It will have you laughing, crying, feeling heart broken and feeling the need to punch someone in the junk! I was glued to every word and was so sad yet satisfied with the very last word.
Emma is becoming one of my all-time favorite authors. She is truly a must read and I look forward to read more from her!

After an epic failure of a trip to New York City, Zelda is about to call it and throw in the towel. She’s had nothing but rejection while shopping her graphic novel around to publishing houses.

On a whim, she heads to an Italian restaurant where she ends up meeting Beckett. Not only is he the busboy there but he’s also a bike messenger by day. Taking a chance, Zelda asks to be his roommate (after verifying he’s not a bad guy).

Together these two have so much emotional baggage. Zelda is living with the guilt from a situation in her past that she had no control over. Beckett is living with the guilt of a stupid mistake he made a few years ago. Because of their guilt, they can’t move forward and find that happiness the both of them so deserve.

Beckett won my heart almost immediately. He is the kind of guy who can’t afford his rent for the month, but will still give his last dollar to a homeless person or food to neighbors who seem to be shut-ins. I also really loved Zelda. She is a person who seems to exude this care-free attitude but behind the façade, there is a girl who is just living with insecurities and guilt.

When Beckett starts to help Zelda with her graphic novel, Mother, May I? these two start to work through their issues. It was like working together on the graphic novel was their way to absolve themselves of their pasts. Almost like a cathartic experience. They learn to accept what is, to accept their past, and how to move on. And in between the pages of a beautiful novel (with beautiful illustrations), these two find each other.

Emma Scott has become one of my favorite authors. I know that whenever I pick up her books, I am going to instantly fall in love with not only the story, but the characters as well.

This book, just like her others is a top favorite of mine.