Lucky - A Review of BETTER OFF FRIENDS by Elizabeth Eulberg

Synopsis from Goodreads
For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?

Better Off Friends on Amazon
Better Off Friends on Barnes & Noble
Better Off Friends on Goodreads

About this Author
The short and sweet version:
Elizabeth Eulberg was born and raised in Wisconsin before heading off to college at Syracuse University and making a career in the New York City book biz. Now a full-time writer, she is the author of The Lonely Hearts Club, Prom & Prejudice, Take a Bow, Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality, and Better Off Friends. She lives outside of Manhattan with her three guitars, two keyboards, and one drumstick.

To check out the long version, head over to her webpage.

Happy reading!

My Thoughts...

This is not my first Elizabeth Eulberg book, but it is definitely my favorite so far.  There was such a sweetness about this book that just cannot be expressed with words.  

Mac and Levi's love grows from a simple friendship.  They have common interests and humor.  There is not real attraction at first, but instead you see a genuine affection for the other person. 

As Mac and Levi grow older they begin to date other people.  And while it causes some changes in their relationship, it's not until they are a few years older that they really figure out why.  I love the way that they respect each other and their friendship enough to not try to sabotage relationships.  They both make a concerted effort to befriend the significant other in each other's lives.

Mac & Levi both get a say in this book as it is told in alternating points of view.  In many other cases, this can get redundant, but not here.  The author really used this tool to her advantage and makes the story sweeter and more enjoyable for the reader.  I applaud her choice to present both sides of the story.

Each chapter starts out with a present day conversation between Mac and Levi that sometimes leaves you wondering whether or not they ever really end up together.  The best part of these conversations is that you can see that the friendship is still in tact and still just as strong.

This is a terrific example of YA sweetness.  I loved it.  5 out of 5 stars.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT by Ruthie Knox Excerpt Blast

We are pleased to be able to share an excerpt from Ruthie Knox's ABOUT LAST NIGHT! ABOUT LAST NIGHT is a contemporary romance, published by Loveswept, an imprint of Random House.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT is on sale for $.99 right now for a limited time only, so grab it now! ABOUT LAST NIGHT Synopsis: Sure, opposites attract, but in this sexy, smart, eBook original romance from RITA finalist and USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox, they positively combust! When a buttoned-up banker falls for a bad girl, "about last night" is just the beginning. CathTalarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she's made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her. Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family's banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine--even her name turns him on--with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies. When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime? Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Because of You, Ride with Me, and Midnight Hour.

• A 2013 finalist for the RITA award in contemporary single-title romance from Romance Writers of America

• A 2012 Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award nominee in the "Contemporary Love and Laughter" category, Romantic Times magazine

• A Library Journal Best Ebook Romance of 2012

• A Reviewers Choice Award 2012 Pick, All About Romance

• A Best Contemporary Romance 2012 nominee at The Romance Reviews

• A 2013 DABWAHA nominee

EXCERPT:

Cath leaned against a table strewn with crumpled tubes of paint and jars full of brushes, pressing her damp palms against the surface and willing her heart to stop pounding. You’re not really attracted to City. You’re just looking for your clothes, and then you’re going home. A blip, remember? This is a blip.

Dimly, she realized he’d spoken. “Sorry, what?”

His lips twitched, and the dimple made another appearance. “I only said ‘Good morning.’ Are you all right?”

She’d been on the money predicting he’d have a posh accent, anyway. Maybe she could blame the hangover for her reaction to the smile. She needed to eat something. Or get laid.

It had been a while. Could you still say that when it had been two years? It had been a while.

“That depends,” she said.

“On?”

“On what I did last night.”

He pursed his perfect lips, a frown line appearing between his eyebrows. “You don’t remember?”

“Not much.” She drew her index finger along the surface of his worktable, as if checking for dust.

“Do you remember refusing to tell me your name or where you live?”

“We talked?” Funny, she couldn’t resurrect any memories of speaking to him. Only his hand, warm and solid, guiding her. Only the way he’d made her feel.

The way he was still making her feel, come to think of it. She was bare-legged in this strange man’s apartment, asking him to reveal the details of what she’d done while drunk last night. The situation ought to have been intimidating. She ought to have been queasy with remorse.

She wasn’t, and she could only conclude the reason was City. He projected calm.

“You kept calling me ‘City,’” he said. Cath nodded.

“Yep. That’s what I call you.” He gave her a wry smile, and she held on tight to the edge of the table. Maybe calm didn’t quite cover it. Not when he smiled, anyway.

“That’s precisely what you said last night.”

His voice wasn’t at all what she’d expected. It was low and warm and soothing, and it took the edge right off his fancy accent.

“Did I say why I wouldn’t tell you my name?”

The smile widened, and she decided it ought to be classified as a misdemeanor. Grinning with Intent to Discombobulate.

“You told me you were sad and quite tired, but you didn’t require my help, and all you needed to set yourself to rights was a cup of coffee and something to eat.”

“So how did I—”

He raised one finger to prevent her interruption, his eyes twinkling with amusement. She’d never noticed how unusual his eyes were before. They were green over brown, both exotic and warm.

“Then,” he continued, “when I tried to introduce myself properly, you covered my mouth with your hand and insisted we remain strangers, because you could tell I was a very nice man”—he pronounced the word nice as if it were a razor blade he was carefully spitting out—“and I’d be far better off not knowing you.”

Cath was impressed. Her drunk self had more sense than she’d given her credit for.

“That’s true,” she offered. “I’m not really your type.”

He cocked an eyebrow but let the comment slide.

“Since I’m here, I guess that means you took a pass on the opportunity to hop the next train and leave me to my own devices?”

“It was nearly midnight,” he said, defensive. “All the shops were closed, there were no cabs to be found, you wouldn’t tell me where you lived or let me see you home, and you could barely stand up. So yes, bringing you here seemed like the right thing to do.”

A thought distracted her from the question she’d been forming. “What were you doing at Canary Wharf at midnight on a Friday?”

“Trolling for prostitutes.”

He delivered the line in such a dry, remote tone, it took her a second to get that he was joking, but when she did, she couldn’t prevent herself from teasing, “You must have been so disappointed with the selection.” She glanced down at her small, decidedly unvoluptuous body in the oversized shirt.

“I wouldn’t say that, love.”

The dimple appeared again. She lost a few seconds gazing at his mouth, and then she came to and let her eyes slide down his torso to alight on his hand, which still held a paintbrush.

She hadn’t expected the smile. Or the paintbrush.

She definitely hadn’t expected him to flirt with her.

“I’d been to see a film,” he explained.

“I passed out,” she replied, attempting to steer the conversation back toward the safer ground of her humiliation so that she could get the details she needed and scurry home.

“I suppose you did. You were terribly tired. I made a pot of tea, and by the time I’d finished you were asleep at my kitchen table. I tried to rouse you, but you said, ‘Leave me alone,’ and then something that sounded very much like, ‘Don’t murder me.’” He reported all this matter-of-factly, as if drunk women passed out on his kitchen table every Friday night.
 
Which, for all you know, they do. “Nice of you not to.”

“I seem to have convinced you I’m a nice man.”

Cath nodded her agreement, though he didn’t look all that nice at the moment. The gleam in those green-brown eyes was positively rakish. She hadn’t thought City had a speck of rakishness in him.

“Sorry about the stripping part,” she mumbled, partly because she was sorry but mostly because she wondered what he’d say.

The smile he gave her made her toes curl, it was so wicked. “You do remember,” he said in that low rumble.
“You were very, uh, gentlemanly about that.”

“You were very intoxicated.” He turned away to set the paintbrush down on the tray at the base of his easel. 

“Yeah.”

She stared at her toes until they uncurled. This was her cue to ask what he’d done with her clothes. She would have, only City asked, “How are you feeling?” and so she had to keep talking to him. She tried to mind it but failed. The man was proving to be an enjoyable conversationalist, and he was remarkably easy on the eyes.

“I’m fine, thanks. I have a little headache, but the shower helped. And the toothbrush.”

“Glad to hear it. Would you like breakfast? I fried up some bacon.”

The mention of bacon made her stomach rumble.

“That sounds like a yes.”

“I do have a weakness for the bacon-sandwich hangover cure,” she admitted. “But it seems a little lowbrow for you, City. I can’t imagine you drunk, much less hungover.”

He took a few steps closer and studied her, an unabashed appraisal that should have been rude or even scary but instead sent syrupy heat creeping through her abdomen. “Considering you don’t know my name, you seem to have a lot of ideas about me.”

Oh, she had ideas. She had a whole slew of new ideas about him, and she needed to find an exit strategy quick, because none of them was on the list of things she was supposed to be thinking about. Banker, she reminded herself. He’s a banker, a very boring banker. Enough already. Just, whatever you do, don’t flirt with him.

“I don’t need to know your name. I’ve seen you around, and I know your type.”

Aaaand she was flirting with him.

It won her a smirk. “What’s my type, then?”

“For starters, you come from money. You went to expensive boarding schools, graduated from either Oxford or Cambridge, and now you work at a bank in the City—thus the name.”

He frowned and wiped his hand over his mouth. What a mouth.

“Just let me know when I get something wrong,” she offered.

“By all means, carry on. You’re doing a brilliant job so far.”

“Which was it, Oxford or Cambridge?”

“Cambridge. Trinity College.”

She resisted the urge to gloat. Gloating was well outside the range of acceptable responses to City on this particular morning.
 
So is flirting with him.

Right. But it was so much fun. She hadn’t flirted in ages.

“Let’s see,” she said. “I know you like to jog. Judging by those shoulders and arms, I’d say you also row, yeah?”

“Some. I play rugby, too.” He gave her half a smile, and she made an effort to suppress the image of City in a rugby jersey with pink cheeks and dirty knees, tussling over a ball. A human orgasm.

Her good sense was now officially yelling Mayday!

She was now officially ignoring it.

“What do I do for fun, then?” He stepped even closer. This flirtation had turned into a two-way party. She needed to find a method of steering the conversation back toward bacon sandwiches and, say, the location of her skirt, because it probably wasn’t good that she could smell him now, and on this man linseed oil was an aphrodisiac.

“Well, you go to the symphony, spend weekends in the countryside, and date women who wear twinsets and have names like—” Without the least bit of warning, he kissed her. Not a preamble sort of kiss, either. No, he really kissed her, one huge hand cupping the back of her neck, and his warm, firm lips knew exactly what they were doing, which was driving every single thought from her head. Only the man remained, the mouth, the sensations coursing through her, heating her up from the inside. Heating her up fast. Could all bankers kiss like this?

Cath rose on her toes, angling her mouth and pressing closer, but he pulled back a few inches. Then a few feet.

She wanted to say something. The only word that came out of her mouth was a shaky “Whoa.”

She tried again. “What was that, City?”

“You tell me, Yank.” His lips curved into that sexy smirk again.

“I’m pretty sure you just kissed me.”

“Yes, I did. Shall I apologize?”

“What for?”

“It was terribly impolite. I didn’t ask your permission.”

Cath leaned back against the table, crossed her arms over the tight peaks of her nipples, and tried not to smile like a girl who’d just been kissed silly. She failed. She was failing a lot around this guy. It ought to have been worrisome, or at least embarrassing, but his lips had liquefied her brain.

First kiss in two years would do that, she supposed.

“I was much more impolite than you. What with the passing out and all. You’re being very nice about it.”

City scrubbed his hand over his jawline, pensive now. “I would appreciate it,” he said after a moment, “if you would stop calling me ‘nice.’”

He took a step closer, and her heart rate spiked.

“You are nice.” Her voice came out all weak and wavery. This was how Little Red Riding Hood had felt when she’d discovered the Big Bad Wolf wearing Grandma’s bonnet.

“No,” he replied. “I’m not.”

Another step, and his eyes traced a path over her arms, down her stomach to her hips. The brightly lit art studio made her purple underwear visible through the white T-shirt. She could tell that City noticed, and that he was enjoying the view.

She sat down on the edge of the table. “You brought me here with impure motives?” The idea gave her a stupid thrill.

He shook his head. “No. I developed them after you arrived.”

Cath fingered the hem of the shirt where it hit her mid-thigh. “You shouldn’t admit to that sort of thing. It’s perverted to lust after half-naked drunk girls.”

“Not perverted.” He stepped closer until his thighs brushed her knees. “Only male. And at any rate, you didn’t get me lusting with the strip show. Though it was . . . fetching.”

“No?” It was a wonder she could speak at all, considering there was a tall, hard, hot man crowding her and using up all the oxygen. “What irresistibly attractive thing did I do, then?”

One more step, and he was between her legs. “You talked. Rather a lot.”

“About what?”

“All sorts of nonsense. You’re not very fond of my country, I gather.”

Cath shrugged, sheepish. “Sometimes I miss Chicago.”

“I’d never heard you talk before. You ought to do it more. It’s charming.”

“People who talk to themselves at the train station are generally understood to be crazy. Especially in your country.”

“You could talk to me.”

“I hardly know you.”

“I’m superb,” he said. “You’re going to like me.” Big, warm hands covered her bare thighs, and she shivered. “Though I should probably reiterate, I’m not at all nice.”

“I am,” she whispered. “I’m a very good person. Not the kind of girl who gets drunk and has to be rescued from train stations.”

“I know.” He moved his hands up a few inches to the crease where her thighs met her hips.

“Or who makes out with strange men on tables. I’m a thoroughly respectable woman.”

“You don’t kiss like one.” He smiled that shark smile again.

New Cath had a death grip on the tattered vestiges of her willpower, but she’d lost control over her body. Her palms smoothed over the muscles of his forearms, and her butt scooted her closer to the edge of the table by an inch or two. Or four.

At least her mouth still worked. “I’ve reformed. The kissing is sort of a holdover.”

“Don’t reform. I like you bad.”

“I don’t want to be bad.” But her arms had reached up and twined around his neck, and she had to murmur the last part against his lips.

“I do,” he said, and took over. 

Available for purchase at these and other retailers: Amazon Barnes and Noble

    ABOUT RUTHIE KNOX: USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox writes contemporary romance that’s sexy, witty, and angsty—sometimes all three at once. After training to be a British historian, she became an academic editor instead. Then she got really deeply into knitting, as one does, followed by motherhood and romance novel writing. Her debut novel, Ride with Me, is probably the only existing cross-country bicycling love story. She followed it up with About Last Night, a London-set romance whose hero has the unlikely name of Neville, and then Room at the Inn, a Christmas novella—both of which were finalists for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award. Her four-book series about the Clark family of Camelot, Ohio, has won accolades for its fresh, funny portrayal of small-town Midwestern life. Ruthie moonlights as a mother, Tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia. She’d love to hear from you, so visit her website at www.ruthieknox.com and drop her a line.  

  LINKS: Website Facebook Twitter ABOUT LAST NIGHT Goodreads Ruthie KnoxGoodreads

In Your Eyes - Amy's Review of IN BLOOM by Katie Delahanty

Today I want you all to give a warm welcome to Amy, our newest reviewer here at Ficwishes. Be sure to stop by our Meet the Reviewers page to learn more about each of us and follow us on Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Sometimes I read a book and I just know that I am being unfair. I try not to be, but I have moods. (I am a woman after all.) These moods effect how I view things around me, including books. After I finished reading IN BLOOM by Katie Delahanty, I just knew that my first reaction wasn't a true reflection of this story, so I asked Amy to read it and let me know what she thought.

Below you will find her review.

Thank to to Entangled Embrace and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

In Bloom (The Brightside #1) by Katie Delahanty

Synopsis from Goodreads:

My name is Olivia Bloom and I. Am. Free.

I left for LA with everything I owned piled into my old Volkswagen and dreams of becoming a costume designer. Little did I know I’d wind up designing for a lingerie company—yeah, not sure how I landed this gig—and taken under the wing of two young Hollywood insiders. The fashion shows and parties were great, but life really got exciting when the seriously hottest lead singer of my favorite band started to fall for me.　

How does someone like me, an ordinary girl from Pittsburgh, wind up in the arms of the world’s sexiest rock star—surrounded by celebrities, fashion, and music—and not be eaten alive? Berkeley is everything I've ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, but the paparazzi, the tabloids, the rumors, it's all getting a bit too crazy. My life has become every girl’s dream come true, if only I don’t blink and lose it all…

Links:
On Amazon
On Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

Katie is a fashion designer turned novelist. She graduated with a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA and a Professional Designation in Fashion Design from FIDM. It never occurred to her that she was a writer until an economic crisis induced career shift from lingerie designer to ecommerce webmistress led her to start the company blog. Not being an expert in lingerie, she decided to write the blog as a fictional serial starring a girl named Olivia Bloom who worked for the lingerie line. And that’s when Katie fell in love with storytelling. She hasn’t looked back since. Katie lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Links:
Author On Twitter
Author's Website

My Review:

I will admit it.  I have been binge reading New Adult novels for the last three months and was starting to become a disillusioned and bitter reader struggling to find a book that grabbed me on page one, had interesting characters, didn’t commit what I consider to be writing crimes (repetitive word use, peppered with –ly words, subplot thrown in with no purpose, etc.), and made me want to put off everything else scheduled in my day to finish the book. I know, I know, I ask a lot as a reader. I don’t really consider it a fault, per say, but it is something I am working on.

And, in the interest of full disclosure, I was ready to be let down by this book before I even started.

It’s been that sort of reading season for me.

I was pleasantly surprised.

What I enjoyed about this book is that even though it is a girl-next-door-moves-to-the-big-city-meets-rockstar love story, author Katie Delahanty manages to anchor her fictional world in reality just enough that all these things are not out of the realm of possibility and I was't left rolling my eyes, wanting to tell the author, “Better luck next time!” Working a party full of celebrities because your friends with someone in the PR firm? Absolutely! Embarrassing yourself in front of A-list celebrities? Duh, who hasn’t! Getting your name on a list to an Oscar party because someone owes a guy in your building a favor? That’s how Hollywood works, dah-ling.

I enjoyed how relatable the story was, even if it is a work of fiction. I think that at one point or another, we have all felt that our favorite musician was speaking to our soul through his/her music and have had daydreams of randomly running into him/her while living our daily life, falling deeply in love, and becoming his/her muse. Some of us know what it is like to escape where we came from to try to live out our dreams. Others know the pain that relationships can bring. In one way or another, on some level, I think this book can speak to nearly everyone.

While the hero and heroine, Olivia Bloom and Berkeley Dalton, are genuinely likeable, there were a few times I found myself wanting to shake Olivia’s shoulders and tell her to buck up! There were a few anti-climactic moments where the author introduced a situation that could have been developed more for depth to the story and main plotline, but these circumstances were not done in such a way it was obvious that the author included these to move the story forward or to add tension. In other words, the writing wasn’t lazy. The hero, Berkeley, in charming in a very Lloyd Dobler sort of way, so you know I was totally crushing on him. And while you are invited to hear about the sex scenes, you are never allowed in the bedroom, meaning if smut is what you are after, you aren’t going to find it here. (On a side note, I actually think the less is more fits this story well).

What I really enjoyed in this book, however, were the minor characters. They were great! From Olivia’s psychic mom, to her friends Blair and Parker, or Mister Willis, each character had a unique voice and it was often the minor characters that had me grinning and chuckling out loud as I was reading and *I* wanted to be their friends more than I wanted to be Olivia’s friend. Not that Olivia is a harpy or anything, the minor characters were just very endearing to me.

Maybe it’s because I still dream of Noel Gallagher or Danny Wood coming to sweep me off my feet (Sorry, husband, you know I REALLY only have eyes for you), but overall, I really enjoyed this book and give it four out of five stars.

Blog Tour - TYLER & STELLA by Heidi Joy Tretheway Excerpt + Giveaway

Tyler & Stella Synopsis:

Stella Ramsey always says bad boys can’t break your heart. They don’t call, don’t cuddle and don’t send flowers—but what do you expect? For Stella, no strings means no regrets.

When the biggest story of her fledgling career as a music journalist nearly ruins her relationship with her best friend, Stella has one chance to redeem herself. Tyler Walsh could be that chance.

Stella promises the bassist for the rock band Tattoo Thief anything in exchange for behind-the-scenes access. But Tyler doesn’t want anything. He wants everything—and that’s more than Stella is prepared to give.

When Tyler’s explosive secret thrusts Stella into the media spotlight, she must choose between the selling the story and telling the truth—and exposing the truth about herself as well.

Tyler & Stella (Tattoo Thief #2) is a sizzling story of lust, lies, and sacrifice, revealing how much love can forgive.

Heidi Joy Trethway  Bio:

Heidi Joy lives in Happy Valley off Sunnyside Road. She swears she did not make that up.

Heidi’s obsessed with storytelling. Her career includes marketing, journalism, and a delicious few years as a food columnist. Media passes took her backstage with several rock bands, where she learned that sometimes a wardrobe malfunction is exactly what the rock star intends.

You’ll most often find Heidi Joy with her husband and two small kids cooking, fishing, exploring the Northwest, and building epic forts in their living room.

She loves to hear from readers via messages at facebook.com/author.heidi.

Links:

Blog

Twitter

Facebook 

Author Goodreads

Tyler & Stella Goodreads

Excerpt:

Setup: Stella struggled for more than a year to make it as a music journalist at The Indie Voice in New York City. When her best friend, Beryl, falls for Gavin Slater, lead singer of the rock band Tattoo Thief, Stella covertly forwards the video of a love song Gavin made for Beryl to herself. Will she use the stolen video to write the most explosive story of her career?

I replay Beryl’s video, the one Gavin made for her birthday. This song shows the real Gavin, I’m sure. He’s vulnerable, exposed, and screams sex appeal. I close my eyes and listen to the rasp in his voice, hear the way his mouth forms the words, feel the music as his voice rises to carry a note before he lets it fall.

I play the video twice more until I know what to write. I start by describing how Tattoo Thief’s music has a driving, predatory nature to it, especially on their last album, Beast. But this song is a retreat, a recovery from loss, and a promise of renewal.

It’s the most honest thing I’ve heard from Tattoo Thief since their tracks became over-engineered. On Beast, you don’t even hear a unified performance, just stitched-together vocals based on the producer’s taste.

Did you know Adele sings off-key? It’s a musical embellishment called appoggiatura, an Italian term that means to lean. What Adele did with “Someone Like You” is what Gavin is doing with “Wilderness,” hitting a note on-beat but slightly off-key at first, then leaning into the melody to resolve the dissonance and reach the harmonious note.

If producers Auto-Tuned Adele, she wouldn’t sound like herself. Her song would be flat. The discord is what makes her music feel more alive. That’s how I feel when I listen to Gavin Slater perform “Wilderness.”

I read over my story, tweaking a few typos and rewriting some awkward sentences. I make the lead sentence snappier and more provocative. I wrap up the story with a song-lyric kicker.

Seven hundred and twenty-four words. That’s sharp work in a little over two hours and I’m ready to file my story. I drop the text and video files in my email and put my bastard editor’s name in the send-to field, with the subject line: Tattoo Thief’s next hit single? Exclusive video, just to be sure he opens it tomorrow.

I mean today. It’s three a.m. on Sunday and I’m unfortunately sober, but I’m high from the rush of writing. This story could go big if it’s picked up on the wire by other publishers. It could go national in a matter of hours.

My mouse hovers over the send key and I stop. I should close my laptop and walk away to give myself breathing room. Can I do this do to Beryl? To Gavin?

I scuttle to the kitchen and yank open the freezer. I pour myself two fingers of vodka, knock it back, and then another couple fingers for good measure.

Sober feels like shit. I need to smooth down my rough edges. I take the glass and vodka bottle back to my room.

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Cover Reveal - FINDING MY WAY by Heidi McLaughlin

Finding My Way by Heidi McLaughlin

Coming April 2014

New Adult Contemporary Romance

The Beaumont Series, #4

BOOK SUMMARY:

Liam Westbury has the world at his feet. He’s the quintessential golden boy. He’s the superstar quarterback for Beaumont High. His girl, Josie, is head cheerleader. He has his choice of colleges just waiting for him.  Except he’s suffocating from all the pressure he’s under and no one understands.

Liam Page is the heartthrob he never wanted to be. He’s successful, smart and in demand by record companies and his adoring fans. Music is his passion, his love, but something’s missing. His nights are lonely and he longs for the girl he left behind. Seeing her in every face in the crowd haunts him with the knowledge that she hates him. Going home has never been an option until now.

Be there when Liam Westbury becomes Liam Page and follow the highs and lows of the Quarterback turned Rockstar as he finds a way back to Beaumont in this prequel to Forever My Girl.

Pre-order on Amazon

Add to Goodreads

Author Information

Heidi is the author of USA Today, Digital Book World, Amazon and Barnes & Noble Bestselling novel, Forever My Girl.

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell and two Parakeets.

During the day Heidi is behind a desk talking about Land Use. At night, she's writing one of the many stories planned for release or sitting court-side during either daughter's basketball games.

Author Links:

Website/Facebook/Twitter /Goodreads

Giveaway:
50 winners will receive a signed bookmark and card. International. 
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Blog Tour - BEATLESS by Amber L. Johnson - Playlist + Review

Synopsis
Mallory Durham has been left behind and it is making her feel less like an adult and more like an afterthought.

Divorce, sickness, educational aspirations being shattered, and her Aunt Sam moving into her home, have made Mal's life nearly unrecognizable to her.

When Tucker Scott re-enters her life along with his band, will they offer what she needs to once again find her voice and self confidence or will it strip her of it even more?

Told through the dual voices of Mallory as she navigates her new world, and Aunt Sam's letters to her niece, Beatless tells the story of two women at very different points in their life, fighting the same battles; proving that no matter what age a person is, there are always lessons to be learned.

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Buy Links:
Beatless by Amber L. Johnson on Amazon
Beatless by Amber L. Johnson on Smashwords

My Thoughts:

I feel like I am at a little bit of a disadvantage here because the author is truly one of my greatest friends.  I feel like people look at my review and think, "Oh, you have to say that because she is your friend".  What people don't understand is that since she is my friend I could never let her put it out in the world unless it was something that I felt she could be proud of.

In this story, Mallory feels like life is leaving her behind.  Her parents have divorced and she never sees her father.  The divorce has also left Mallory and her mother in a different financial situation, causing Mallory's college plans to have to change.  

While she watches all of her friends leave for the universities of their choice, Mallory is stuck attending the local community college.  It is there that she runs into an old friend, Tucker Scott.  Tucker invites her to become a part of a group of friends that challenge her and change her.

While Mallory's mother has to leave town for a few months on business, her aunt Sam comes to stay with her and keep her company.  Sam starts out her visit being worried about Mallory and the empty shell she seems to become.  Sam begins leaving Mallory letters pushing Mallory to be more.  Sam encourages her to search for her real voice and to let it be heard in the world.

Mallory doesn't always make the right choices, but who of us does?  What counts is that Mallory sees her mistakes and seeks to make amends ASAP.  The only question is whether it will be enough.

Amber laid her heart and soul out on the line in this book.  Through Mallory we are able to catch a peek and learn that the loudest voice isn't always the truest.  Amber gives us strong, lovable characters that I was proud to watch them grow and learn and become something great.

My Song Choice for Beatless is Life in Color by One Republic

Author's Playlist:

1. Incomplete- Switchfoot

2. The Queen and I - Gym Class Heroes

 

3. Love Somebody - Maroon 5

4. Stay the Night - Zedd

5. Collar Full - Panic! at the Disco

6. Miss Missing You - Fall Out Boy

7. I Lived - OneRepublic

8. Adel/Eurythmics mashup - Rolling in Sweet Dreams

9. Ellie Goulding/ Eminem mashup  - Love the Way You Burn

10. Imagine Dragons/ Coldplay mashup - Radioactive Paradise

11. Lorde/ Katy Perry mashup - Royals vs. Roar

Bonus track: Ke$ha/ Beatles mashup - Tik Tok Together

About the Author
Amber is a full time mom, full time wife, is employed full time, and writes when she can. She believes in Happily Ever Afters that occur every day - despite the obstacles that real life serves up on a regular basis. Or perhaps they're sweeter simply because of them. She always has 2 rubber bands on her wrist, a song in her head, and too much creamer in her coffee cup that reads 'Cocoa' - because she's a rebel. If she's not at her desk, with her boys, or behind the computer, she's supporting live music with her arms raised above her head and eyes closed, waiting for the drop.  


Connect with Amber

Website: amberlynnejohnson.com

Twitter: @WhereIsJakeRyan

Facebook author page: Amber L. Johnson Author

 Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**FLASH GIVEAWAY** About Last Night by Ruthie Knox

Through the AMAZING generosity of Ruthie Knox and the wonderful people at Inkslinger PR, I am pleased to announce a FLASH GIVEAWAY.  I have one e-book copy of ABOUT LAST KNIGHT by Ruthie Knox up for grabs. Giveaway ends Wednesday at 9pm EST. 

To enter, leave a blog comment telling me who is your favorite rich bad-boy.


ABOUT LAST NIGHT Synopsis:

Sure, opposites attract, but in this sexy, smart, eBook original romance from RITA finalist and USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox, they positively combust! When a buttoned-up banker falls for a bad girl, "about last night" is just the beginning.
Cath Talarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she's made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her.

Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family's banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine--even her name turns him on--with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies.

When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime?

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Because of You, Ride with Me, and Midnight Hour. 

• A 2013 finalist for the RITA award in contemporary single-title romance from Romance Writers of America

• A 2012 Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award nominee in the "Contemporary Love and Laughter" category, Romantic Times magazine

• A Library Journal Best Ebook Romance of 2012

• A Reviewers Choice Award 2012 Pick, All About Romance

• A Best Contemporary Romance 2012 nominee at The Romance Reviews

• A 2013 DABWAHA nominee

Buy Links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

ABOUT RUTHIE KNOX:

USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox writes contemporary romance that’s sexy, witty, and angsty—sometimes all three at once. After training to be a British historian, she became an academic editor instead. Then she got really deeply into knitting, as one does, followed by motherhood and romance novel writing.

Her debut novel, Ride with Me, is probably the only existing cross-country bicycling love story. She followed it up with About Last Night, a London-set romance whose hero has the unlikely name of Neville, and then Room at the Inn, a Christmas novella—both of which were finalists for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award. Her four-book series about the Clark family of Camelot, Ohio, has won accolades for its fresh, funny portrayal of small-town Midwestern life.

Ruthie moonlights as a mother, Tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia. She’d love to hear from you, so visit her website at www.ruthieknox.com and drop her a line.

LINKS:                                                                 

Website  

Facebook

Twitter

ABOUT LAST NIGHT Goodreads  

Ruthie Knox Goodreads