Trish and Nikki arrive at Bud and Molly’s foster home as children, each carrying more hurt and loss than a child should ever have to bear. But in the safety of that warm, bustling household, something unexpected happens—they become sisters. Not by blood, but by choice, by circumstance, and by the quiet understanding that only survivors share.
As they settle into their new lives, the teenagers begin to heal in different ways. Trish leans into structure and stability. Nikki clings to hope and possibility. Together, they navigate school, friendships, and the fragile beginnings of trust. For the first time in years, the future feels almost steady.
But when a new, devastating trauma strikes, everything changes. The event forces Trish and Nikki to confront the darkness they’ve been trying to outrun—and binds them even more tightly to each other and to the family that refuses to let them fall.
Set against the vivid backdrop of Louisiana, this first book in the World Series explores the birth of a chosen family, the resilience of two young women learning to trust again, and the moment that shapes the rest of their lives. It lays the emotional foundation for the deeper struggles and high‑stakes tension that unfold in Book 2.
Paperback ISBN: 9781098332624
Mary Marcotte –
Thank you, Lexie! I am thrilled that you enjoyed it. Let me know how much you enjoy the sequel, A World Alone.
Lexie Harper –
I just finished This World So Fierce, and I need to tell you something that’s been weighing on me since I closed the last page.
You didn’t write just another YA book about foster care you created something that genuinely matters. Trish and Nikki, orphans living on the poor side of town who know what it means to have a family that cares, even if that family is not blood. Molly and Bud, foster parents who can’t have children of their own, raising kids who come to them from a world of pain and loss. Nine people living in a small Acadian style, four-bedroom house built for a family of four. Then that call from Eva one more child. They can’t refuse. But it might be one more than they can handle.
And you didn’t shy away from the brutal truth. “This world so fierce can do nothing to me. This world so fierce cannot harm family.” You tackled rape and recovery. The challenges facing children in foster care. The foster parents who dedicate their lives to caring for them. What happens when one orphan can’t turn his life around. You weren’t afraid to get dark and gritty, as that is how the real world works.
Mary –
Thank you, Linda and Cindy, for the encouraging words.
Mary –
Mary, I have to tell you that I agree with everything Cindy Schaub said about the book. I couldn’t put it down. I hope you are working on a sequel. I too want to know where the four high schoolers end up. Again, thank you for the enjoyment I received from reading your book. Please keep me informed about any new stories you decide to tell. ❤️
–Linda
Mary –
Mary, I finished your book and I am so proud of you! I really enjoyed it! So tragic were the lives of those kids. You really made me feel for them and root for them, but not Mike. Did not care for Mike. You made him a real jerk but gave us a good insight into why he was the way he was and did what he did. The book was too short and you will have to write a part 2 so we know how the kids end up, especially Nikki and Trish. I noticed how you deferred to your teacher background and knowledge of school opportunities to make it truthful. I also loved the Cajun talk that was strategically used to describe how Nikki’s grandma talked. Kudos to you and well done! I was taken back to so long ago with how my own grandmother used to talk to me when I was little. She would talk half English and half Cajun French. You nailed it!
–Cindy Shaub
Mary –
What a review! Thank you.
Mary –
Thank you, Randel.
Amy –
I thought it was very well done! Character development was such that allowed you to emphatize without unnecessarily overdoing it, while the plot never lingered. Pacing was just right. You nailed it!
Randel Paul –
I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your book thoroughly! I love how you weren’t afraid to get dark and gritty, as that is how the real world works. Well done, ma’am!
Bertha F. Meisner –
This story brings attention to the challenges of children in foster care and the foster parents who care for them. I also enjoyed references to places in Avoyelles Parish.
–Bertha F. Meisner
Angie –
If you have not done so… I highly recommend purchasing the book “This World So Fierce”. You WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!
Decided to read a few pages before going to bed…which turned out to be the entire book! Excellent book! I highly recommend it.
You will also find a few hints of a life time ago in our own “world so fierce”
— Angelique Fogleman