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I’m a Love Junkie.

I’m addicted to reading romances. I LOVE writing romances. And I’m a proud member of a select group of women authors who feel the same exact way. We’re the Love Junkies, and other than reading and writing romances, we love nothing better than supporting each other and sharing exclusive goodies with all of you.

Now, *self hand slap* I totally and utterly failed to share the below post two weeks ago. The tour for Taste the Heat was ending, and I was frantically putting things together for the tour for A Tale of Two Centuries, and I totally just found the information in my inbox. BUT, it’s all good, because I’m sharing it now, and this book is LIVE, which means you can snatch it up asap.

Ready to swoon??

 

Escaping Me 

All she wants to do is forget. Forget the memory of walking in on her boyfriend in the middle of, well, another girl. Forget how she had her entire life planned out. And forget about being perfect all the time. Unfortunately, she is Whitney Vandaveer, and despite the fact that she has moved to the middle of nowhere—she can’t.

He’s always known he would never be more than nothing. No job, no money, no future. Cole Pritchett has accepted the fact that he will always be the screw up, and he is okay with it. Until he meets her.

Here’s the thing they quickly find out—sometimes we all need a little help escaping who we think we are.

Yummy Love Junkie Exclusive Excerpt

I hold my head back and walk toward the delivery truck.  Cole’s eyes are down on the clipboard he is holding in his hands as he double-checks what he has to take off the truck.

“You’re a little late to take me up on the drink offer,” I tease as I cross the gravel drive toward him, shuffling my flip-flops against the rocks.  I am hoping that maybe he is a morning person and will be in a better mood than the last time I saw him.  No such luck.  He looks up at me quickly, adjusting the bill of his hat to shade his face, and then back down at his clipboard.  Not even the hint of a grin on his lips. Wow.  His expression is as cold as it was last night when he walked away from me.  He shakes his head, albeit subtly, but to me it is like a flashing neon sign that says, “Go away.”

He sets the clipboard down on the hood of the truck, his eyes never once drifting back to mine.  Instead, he turns his back and walks behind the truck.  He lowers the gate and pulls the pallet lift, loaded up with whatever it was my mom ordered.  As he lowers the lift to the ground, he keeps his focus on what he is doing.  It is painfully obvious that he is avoiding looking at me.  Maybe I should have looked in the mirror again?  I thought my fitted pink t-shirt and black cotton shorts were cute pajamas. Maybe I was wrong.  Do I look that horrible this morning?

“Just put it outside the barn doors over there,” I say between clenched teeth.  Who the hell does this guy think he is?  Never in my life have I been so callously ignored.  I glance over my shoulder at my mother and Mallory, who are still watching from the kitchen window.  I roll my eyes at them and turn back to see if Mr. Personality has finished what he came here to do.  As infuriating as this situation is becoming, I can’t help but notice how fantastic his ass looks in his jeans.  The worn denim hangs from his narrow waist perfectly—not cowboy tight and not gangster loose.  The gray t-shirt that is stretched across his back reads Wilson Lumber Yard with their catchy slogan underneath—“We Got Wood”.  I fight back a giggle.  At least someone has a sense of humor.  He unloads the pallet and has the lift back in the truck, all while managing to completely not acknowledge my existence.

“I’ll just go ahead and sign for this so you can be on your way,” I say as he climbs out of the back of the truck.  This time, the icy tone of my voice catches his attention. I can feel his eyes on me as I walk to the front of the truck.   “I’d hate to keep you from the obviously more important things you would rather be doing.”  Leaning over the hood, I pull a pen from the holder on the top of the clipboard.  My frustration with his attitude is made perfectly clear as I furiously click the plunger on the top of the pen.  My eyes are busy scanning for the space I am supposed to sign when a sudden shadow is cast over my shoulder.  I can feel his breath on my neck and his body resting behind mine.  It must be the nature of the position we are in because I have to fight the urge to back into him.  To feel his hard body against my backside.  My skin is on fire and my brain immediately tries to reason that it is anger as opposed to something else.

“Do you mind?” I snap, turning to tell him to back off.  But he doesn’t. Instead, he places his hands on the truck, catching me between his muscled forearms and pinning me between his delicious body and the truck.  Even under the bill of that hat he is always wearing, I can see his shaded eyes narrow in on mine.  It isn’t with contempt or agitation—it is something else.  Yes.  He is looking at me like he wants to tear my clothes off, and I would let him. 

He closes the distance between us.  Here we are, chest to chest.  The air around me instantly thickens, making it nearly impossible to breathe.  His eyes go to mine and then to my lips, the same way they did at the bar.  He takes in a shallow breath, and I can tell he is having a hard time breathing, too.  I’m not sure if I should duck out from under him and run or throw myself against him.  I’ve never been so intimidated or so turned on in my life.  It is infuriating.  He licks one corner of his lips and I think for sure he is going to kiss me.  Seconds tick and he still hasn’t moved.  Is he waiting for me to give him the okay?  Does he really want to kiss me?  I raise my chin slightly and let my eyes close.  I hold my breath, waiting for his lip to fall on mine, and forget every reason I should be mad at him for.  That is until he utters three words that manage to remind me. 

“No signature required.”

***

Hot Seat Questions

 1. What inspired you to write Escaping Me?

I’m fascinated by the idea that two people can from two different worlds and find love.  Whitney and Cole couldn’t be more different, but something about them works so well together.  It’s a balancing act.

 2. If your book had a theme song, what would it be?

Beat this Summer by Brad Paisley

 3.      Who or what typically gets your creative juices flowing?

It’s really hard to pick one thing.  Sometimes its a photograph or a great song and sometimes things just pop in my head.

 4.      Where have your most recent story ideas come from?

I’m working on something now that takes place in hotel.  The idea came from… wait for it… a recent hotel stay.  I wanted to know what was going on behind closed doors that guests weren’t privy to.

 5.      What type of research did you do for this novel? 

For Escaping Me, much like with Shattered, I drew on my life in a small town.  I’ve always said, if what I’m writing about didn’t happen to me it happened to someone I know.  I guess that’s one of the perks of knowing everything about everyone.

 6.      Do you have any rituals or routines you follow when writing or preparing to write a novel?

I usually take over my husband’s “man cave” and shut the door.  Maybe it’s something about all the Chicago Bears memorabilia that gets my creative juices flowing or maybe it’s that fact that I’m completely alone.  I not one of those writers that can go to coffee shop or restaurant and just write.  I need my privacy. 🙂

 7.      What’s your ideal writing set up? Time of day/night? Location? Snacks?

Anytime I can be by myself.  I don’t have a specific time of day. Sometimes it’s at noon, sometimes it’s at midnight. I most definitely will have coffee – hot or iced.

 8.      Worst writing distraction?

Emails from Caisey Quinn, Anna Cruise or Rachel Brookes.  They always turn into lengthy discussions.  I think it comes from the fact that we all share a brain.

 9.      What can readers look forward to from you in the future?

Besides my “hotel” WIP,  I’m fleshing out Mallory’s story.  She is such fun and free spirit, but she definitely has some demons she’s dealing with.  Also, she needs the right kind of guy to make her see how worthy of love she is.  He is shaping up to be someone I think a lot of readers are going to swoon over. 😉

10.    What advice would you give to someone who wants to write and/or publish a book?

RESEARCH. It’s not just about writing a book.  I asked a lot of questions and read a lot of material about self-publishing before I hit that upload button.  In concept, it seems as simple as typing out a manuscript and putting it out, but there is so much more that goes into “making it”.  I’m still learning.  Which is a good thing.  You can never have too much knowledge on this subject.

Speed Round

Guilty Pleasure: Dateline reruns and One Direction

Can’t Live Without: Coffee

#1 on Bucket List: Have a slumber party with my fellow Love Junkies

Celebrity Crush: Justin Timberlake, but you all know this already.

Something Not Many People Know about You: My friends call me Liz

Theme Song of Your Life: There are way too many to name. 

Embarrassing Turn on: I can’t think of one! I know… I’m lame. 🙂

MEET ELIZABETH

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