'The Sweetest Seduction' by Crista McHugh Release Day Blitz!

The Sweetest Seduction
The Kelly Brothers
Book 1
by Crista McHugh

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Crista McHugh
Date of Publication: January 6, 2014
ISBN: 9781940559919
Number of pages: 193
Word Count: 48K
Cover Artist: Jaycee DeLorenzo at Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs

Book Description:

The first book in a new contemporary series from award-winning author Crista McHugh, that’s a sexy, modern twist on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Lia Mantovani has created one of the hottest restaurants on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, but all that could disappear if she loses her lease with Kelly Properties. Having had her dreams ripped away from her before, she’ll do everything in her power to keep her restaurant. Her fate hangs on the whims of the frustratingly handsome Adam Kelly.

Adam has spent years trying to convince world famous chef Amadeus Schlittler to open a restaurant in Chicago, but he wants the prime location held by Lia. Business has always come first… until sparks fly when Adam meets her. When things get hot outside the kitchen, though, they’re both in danger of getting burned.

Read an excerpt:

After he’d safely deposited the dog outside, two of his younger brothers ambushed him in the hallway. “Not too shabby, eh?” Dan asked.

“Yeah, Mom might have actually struck the jackpot this time,” Caleb added.

Adam shoved past them. “What are you two talking about?”

“As if it wasn’t obvious.” Laughter laced Caleb’s words. “I’m sorry, Adam, but I don’t think Lia’s on the menu.”

“Now be fair.” Dan crossed his arms in an attempt to look serious, but the twinkle in his eyes was anything but. “I don’t think Adam stands a chance, what with Jasper ready to hump Lia the second he gets near her.”

“True. Adam’s a bit out of practice with the ladies.”

“Let me check what the magic die has to say. You need at least a seven to compete against Jasper.” Dan pulled out the twenty-sided piece of red plastic he’d kept in his pocket since they were kids and rolled it across the floor. “Ouch. A five. Not much hope for you to get lucky tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, boys. Have a laugh at my expense.” He peered into the living room where his mother chatted away with another woman with the same full lips as the woman in the kitchen. “Let me guess—Lia is the daughter of one of Mom’s friends.”

“Bingo,” Caleb replied. “I’m trying hard to figure out how they were able to cook this one up, though. Somehow Mom won her at an auction.”

“And of course, what would be a better way to make one of us see her as a potential wife than to have her wow us with her cooking?” Dan added.

Adam rubbed the back of his neck. As the eldest, he’d fallen victim to his fair share of his mother’s matchmaking schemes. He jerked his thumb back to the kitchen. “Is she in on it, too?”

“Nope.” Caleb grinned. “In fact, I got the distinct impression she’s in the same boat as we are.”

At least he wouldn’t have to worry about Lia being some gold-digging debutante who grew cow-eyed over the Kelly family fortune. Not that all the women his mother tried to pair him up with were. But they all had a walk down the aisle on their agendas. Was Lia any different?

“What do you think of her?” He watched his brothers closely for any flickers of interest. It was an unspoken rule among the Kelly boys that none of them would go after a girl his brother wanted.

Dan shrugged. “She’s okay, but I’m too busy trying to survive residency to date anyone, especially not when there’s an ER full of hot little nurses I can have flings with.”

“Caleb?”

“No way. Have you seen Kourtney?” He held up his phone to show a picture of a woman with bleached-blond hair and breasts so large, Adam wondered how she was able to walk upright.

Dan’s brows furrowed together as he studied the same impressive features. “They’re fake.”

“Who cares?” Caleb snatched the phone back and slipped it into his pocket. “I’m just thankful she agreed to move to Utah with me.”

For the first time ever, Adam heard a wistful note to his brother’s voice. “Serious about this one?”

“Possibly.”

“Has Mom met her?”

The tips of Caleb’s ears turned red, and he refused to meet Adam’s gaze. “Um, yeah.”

Dan leaned over and whispered, “It didn’t go well.”

Adam’s breath caught. Growing up, he’d always known what was happening in his brothers’ lives. Why didn’t he know about this? “When did that happen?”

“A couple of months ago when Mom came down to Florida.” Caleb ran his fingers through his closely cropped hair. “Kourtney tried to impress her, but Mom was giving her a hard time.”

Based on the picture Caleb had shown him, he could only imagine the exchange between their high-society mother and the woman who looked like she’d landed the starring role in an adult film.

Available on Amazon

About the Author:

Crista McHugh is a multiple award-winning author of fantasy romance and paranormal romance with heroines who are smart, sexy, and anything but ordinary. She currently lives in the Audi-filled suburbs of Seattle with her husband and two children, maintaining her alter ego of mild-mannered physician by day while she continues to pursue writing on nights and weekends. 



Links:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/crista_mchugh
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CristaMcHugh
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3035791.Crista_McHugh
Website: http://www.cristamchugh.com
Series website: http://www.thekellybrothers.cristamchugh.com


Tour Wide Giveaway

A Seven Brides for Seven Brothers gift basket with a $25 gift card from the bookstore of winner’s choice (B&N, Amazon, BAM, Book Depository, Chapters/Indigo, etc). Gift card open to international winners, but if winner is from outside the US, some of the items in the basket will not be sent (like the DVD)
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'Acadian Waltz' by Alexandrea Weis

Acadian Waltz
by Alexandrea Weis

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: World Castle Publishing
Date of Publication: 1/1/13
ISBN: 1938961781
ASIN: B00B0MJ0BM
Number of pages: 270
Word Count: 82,000

Book Description:

At thirty, Nora Kehoe is feeling pressured to settle down. On a blind date, Nora unexpectedly ends up in the emergency room where she meets Dr. John Blessing. She hopes the pragmatic Dr. Blessing can make her life complete. Then, a passionate encounter with a childhood friend changes everything.

The charismatic Jean Marc Gaspard manages the family business, Gaspard Fisheries. But rumors abound that Jean Marc is running more than seafood through the waters around Manchac Louisiana. When a family crisis sends Nora to Manchac, she is thrown headlong into the dangerous world of smugglers and swindlers. And as Jean Marc tries to protect Nora from his past, he realizes he may lose her because of it.

The dark bayou waters run deep with secrets in Louisiana, and every Cajun knows how to dance the fine line between the right and wrong side of the law. But for strangers, learning the steps to staying alive in the swamps can be tricky. Life, and love, will be dependent on how well one can master the … Acadian Waltz.

Read an excerpt:

Chapter 1

For many, the course of an entire lifetime could be summed up in a few defining moments, but moments do not choose your path. There was always an indescribable force lurking inside of us that shaped our destiny. Whether this motivation was the result of fear, longing, or in my case, guilt, it haunted our being and oversaw our every action. Like a constant voice inside our heads, this energy gave each of our lives direction.

My inner voice was hugely influenced by the city where I was born. Built at the bend in the Mississippi River and tucked behind protective levees, New Orleans nurtured a peculiar world infatuated with the Catholic rituals of sin and penance. Therefore, it should be no surprise that those of us who endured in this swamp-ridden land below the level of the sea had mastered the art of sin. In fact, we turned it into something of a tourist industry. It was the penance part that many of us had not quite gotten a handle on. But God, in his infinite wisdom, wanted to make sure that we were always reminded of our heavy feelings of culpability. That was why he created the greatest guilt-making machine of them all—the mother.

Mine was named Claire Mouton Gaspard Kehoe Schuller. My mother’s first husband, Etienne Gaspard, had been her high school sweetheart. Etienne was known for running touchdowns, shrimp boats, and little else. Their marriage ended the day my mother first laid eyes on Clayton Kehoe at the criminal court house, where she had gone, yet again, to bail her drunk husband out of jail. Her second husband, the late Clayton Kehoe, had been a prominent attorney in the city of New Orleans. Mother’s current husband was a Jewish jewelry maker named Lou Schuller. Lou was not as influential as Kehoe had been, but infinitely more skilled with gold and diamonds, which invariably pleased my mother to no end. But my mother had always insisted that it was Clayton Kehoe who had swept her off her feet from the first moment their eyes met.

“Your father,” Mother would always say. “Had the sweetest way of talking, and he always knew how to treat a lady like a queen.”

My mother was nineteen and my father was thirty-two when they married. It was a happy marriage, with lots of parties, many friends, and eventually the arrival of me, Nora Theresa Kehoe. I was named after my mother’s favorite saint and my father’s favorite movie star.

Marriage to my father must have agreed with Claire. She enjoyed being the wife of a well-connected New Orleans attorney, and thrived on the social circuit of parties and political gatherings. Even after my father died when I was fourteen, she would still meet with her old friends from the various political groups around the city, and pound the pavement for many of my father’s former colleagues who were running for office. But that all ended when she married Lou Schuller.

At fifty-five, Lou was dumpy, chubby, bald, and had the personality of a matzo ball. But Lou had the money to keep Claire in the lifestyle to which she had made herself accustomed, even after all the insurance money my father had left ran out. In the beginning of their marriage, Lou tolerated my mother’s love for the social scene, but he soon grew tired of the endless cocktail parties and political fundraisers, and reined in Claire’s activities. Now, after fifteen years of marriage, middle-aged, and trying to cope with the passage of her youth, my mother had found a new venture in which to place all of her efforts; me. Or more to the point, my marriage to some man, preferably wealthy, in the hopes of attaining the beat all and end all of middle age—grandchildren.

Buy links

About the Author :

Alexandrea Weis is an advanced practice registered nurse who was born and raised in New Orleans. Her first novel, To My Senses, introduced readers to the world of Nicci Beauvoir and garnered numerous awards and rave reviews. Her popular second Nicci Beauvoir novel, Recovery, won the Gold Medal for best romantic suspense from The Reader’s Favorite Book Awards 2011, and was named best Romantic Suspense novel by the Spring 2011 NABE Pinnacle Book Awards. Her fourth novel, Broken Wings, won best Contemporary Romance by the NABE Pinnacle Book Awards in 2012, was a Silver Medal winner in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards for Romance, as well as a finalist in the USA Book Awards for Romance in 2012, and a finalist in the Reader’s Favorite Book Awards for Contemporary Romance for 2012. Diary of a One-Night Stand, was released in August 2012 and was named a Paranormal Romance Guild’s Best Reviewed of 2012.

Her last novel, Acadian Waltz was a Readers’ Favorite Book Awards honorable mention winner for Best Contemporary Romance, and finalist in Best Southern Fiction. A permitted wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, Weis rescues orphaned and injured wildlife. She lives with her husband and pets in New Orleans.

Website: http://www.alexandreaweis.com/index.html
Blog: http://alexandreaweiscom.blogspot.com/
Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Alexandrea-Weis/e/B0028OJO6C/
FB https://www.facebook.com/pages/To-My-Senses/113609858681394
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexandreaweis
BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/alexandrea-weis
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1211671.Alexandrea_Weis

'Believe' by Shelly Hickman

Blurb:

Believe. A message that still taunts her years after the passing of her daughter. In the days of her daughter's illness, she considered herself a seeker, open to the possibilities of prayer and faith. Now cynical and guarded, she is forced to reexamine her beliefs and relive her past when an old love resurfaces, with a sick child of his own. Believe is a story that examines fractures to our foundations in the face of tragedy. It is a story that asks if prayers are always answered, but often in ways we do not see.

NOTE: Despite the spiritual tone of this work, please be aware it contains strong language.

Read an excerpt:

Silent you left
With no goodbye
Don’t understand
Won’t even try
I cannot move
I cannot breathe
I cannot find
The will to grieve
A void of light
Is what you leave
I now know not
What I believe

Six years later, the words to that song still made her think of the morning she woke to find Sarah lying next to her, her spirit gone. She turned down the radio and remembered how determined she was to save the world at that time. It was simply unacceptable that children die, that parents sit by and helplessly watch their child suffer, and she was going to travel the world until she learned the secret to healing.

What a joke. Now her big contribution was taking her miniature Yorkie to the cancer clinic as pet therapy. Woo, hoo! You're really making a difference, Rachel.

It now seemed strange that she ever felt that connected to whatever it is out there, so watched over. It made her question if we're only allowed to feel that way during crisis, simply as a blind impulse. Or maybe it was all in her mind. Now all that remained was a somewhat detached confusion with occasional spurts of understanding—that is, until they fell away again. She sometimes felt guilty that she no longer made the effort to cultivate that relationship, that understanding.

She recalled the day in the coffee house with Cooper. How ridiculous the need for closure, even under the most ill-timed circumstances. What an idiot. The memory prompted her to reflect upon some of her other bizarre behavior in the days immediately following Sarah’s death. After the people came to collect Sarah the morning it happened, Rachel went apartment hunting. Not seeking comfort in friends and family, but apartment hunting. A pleasant elderly lady drove her around on one of those little golf carts, showing her the grounds of one of the complexes she visited. “You’ll find that we have a very nice workout facility, clubhouse, and over here is one of our two swimming pools.”

Rachel nodded politely as she surveyed the women in their bikinis lounging by the pool. How can they just lie there like that, worrying about their stupid ass tans? I hate them! She continued to pretend like everything was perfectly normal as she journeyed on this little cart, when what she really wanted to do was scream to everyone within a five-mile radius, “I died this morning!”

A few days later, she found herself eating lunch alone at Sweet Tomatoes. It hadn’t even occurred to her, until she sat down with her food, that it was Mother’s Day. The place was busting at the seams with husbands, wives, children, grandparents. Everyone so happy, enjoying a family meal, again, as if nothing existed in this world that was evil or tragic. They never noticed the unaffected android mechanically spooning food into her mouth, failing to taste a thing.

Book buy links

Bio:

Living in Las Vegas since she was two, Shelly Hickman has witnessed many changes in the city over the years. She graduated from UNLV with a Bachelor of Art in 1990, and in her early twenties worked as an illustrator for a contractor for the Nevada Test Site. In the mid-90s, she returned to school to earn her Masters degree in Elementary Education. She now teaches computer applications and multimedia at a middle school in Las Vegas. She loves to write about people, examining their flaws, their humor, spirituality, and personal growth. Shelly lives with her husband, two children, and their dog, Frankie.

Links:

Website \ Facebook \ Twitter

Review of 'A Little Broken' by Juli Valenti

Book Info-
Title- A Little Broken
By- Juli Valenti
Genre- Contemporary Romance

Blurb-

Jessie Braden thought she had it all. A husband, a new baby – her life was on course, exactly what she always wanted…Until one day, she loses everything.

Ruined and broken, she’s left alone to pick up the pieces of her life. Unable to cope, she spontaneously packs up and moves across the country, hoping that new scenery will help.

Once in sunny Florida, she finds an apartment and a job but while Jessie is surviving, she isn’t living…until one night she meets someone. Dominick.

Desperate for an escape from the pain of her memories, she relents to his unerring determination and agrees to spend time with him. Through his patience and understanding, she will learn that she’s not ruined…she’s just a little broken.

My thoughts

Grab a box of tissues when you read this one. I don't care if you have ever experienced it or not. The loss of a young child is tragic and traumatic and can make ever the most stoic cry.

Once Jessie's life comes crashing down, she chooses to run away from her problems. By starting a new life in a place so far from home, she is hiding herself and her pain. She seems to think it is easier to just ignore everyone. Life has other plans, though, as do her new friends in Florida. Suddenly, she is thrust into a perfection that she had never realized she was missing and has to learn to come to terms with her past tragedies.

I can promise a couple more tears trickling, especially in the last quarter of the book.

I was able to feel Jessie's pain and am a sucker for books that grab me in such an emotional way. In some ways, I felt like Jessie was able to move on too quickly after her tragic loss. Then again, she hasn't really moved on when she meets Dominick. He is the one who inspires her to do so. I don't know that she would be able to take those necessary steps without him in her life.

This book is also a very fast read. I did it in one afternoon during a snowstorm. I enjoyed it overall.

Buy links

About the Author-

Juli Valenti grew up in Arkansas and currently resides in Florida with her husband and two boys. Working a full time job, as well as owning her own editing company, along with a full time family, her life is crazy but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Juli is currently working on several other true-life inspired novels.




Links- Facebook \  Twitter \  Goodreads 

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'Forced Autonomy' by Lila Felix Release Day Launch

ABOUT FORCED AUTONOMY: 

The United States has collapsed. Those citizens who are left are in one of two classes. One: Citizens who have undergone forced lobotomies, as mandated by the United Nations. Two: Those who fight against their tyranny. Petra Kingsley falls under both classes. She falls in line with the drones, pretending her procedure worked. Four years she’s existed among their ranks, hiding in plain sight, being worked to the bone and starved almost to death. Lawson is a bounty hunter of sorts. His target isn’t the guilty, it’s those who are lost in the folds of a broken society. When he spots Petra working in the masses, he stops at nothing to help her escape. But he has no idea who exactly he’s helping—and who will now be hunting them both? 

EXCERPT:

Year 2031
Subject 99856691

This is how I’m gonna die. Not by machine or a shot to the head. I wouldn’t be lucky enough to just get thrown into the furnace. No, this effing hangnail—well, used to be hangnail, would be the end of me. A throbbing, pustule filled toe cavity would evolve into a full blown infection and then sepsis. Yes, death by sepsis. Now that sounds like my luck. Fever and a bum toe, so damned classy.

I would’ve dug into myself, pulled out a lung and happily traded it for a dollar store first aid kit and some toe nail clippers at that point—I really would’ve. I’d picked the object of my malcontent from my toe with a sliver of metal I’d found on the ground in the factory. I didn’t often find metal in my factory, so I scooped it up at once, hoping the cameras didn’t detect my movement. That night by the light of a flashlight I’d stolen from one of the maintenance drones, I fashioned a rudimentary pair of tweezers out of the sharp, ragged metal. They didn’t work very well. Jerking and pulling, it took me nearly a damned hour to release the painful, jagged hangnail from its solitary confinement on the side of my toe. And I used the same tool to break through the bubble which had taken residence in its place. Hissing through my teeth at the sea sick green globule emerging from my toe, I wished for hydrogen peroxide—or that new skin stuff that burned like glowing brimstone itself. It released its prisoner of infection and throbbed in protest. I washed it the best I could with grime water courtesy of the hyper-recycled water bottle I’d once found behind the building. I used it to steal water from the bathroom in the factory.

I’d never stolen in my life before the collapse.

I’d once perfected the good girl routine, at least superficially. I dressed the part, cutesy vintage dresses that showed just the peep of a knee and nothing more. I kept my hair at that length, below shoulder—so that I could be accused of neither having short hair nor long. I certainly didn’t want to anger anyone with the length of my hair. My shoes were not flats which registered goody two shoes, but they weren’t too high, because that registered whore. I made straight A’s, I smiled when prompted and I never—ever moved an inch out of my little square. That’s what was expected of me. And I didn’t let anyone down.

But that time of my life and my family were long gone.

I tore a strip of cloth from my blanket and tied the wound up in a makeshift bandage. It would have to do until the next day. Then I’d have to take it off, letting the open, gaping hole exposed to the elements, the filth of the streets and the dirt of my work. It would get infected for sure. A wound that before could be cured with a hefty co-pay and five minutes of the good doctor’s time. But all the doctors, nurses and anyone else who had the knowledge or knowhow they needed had been swept away to other countries.

Robots didn’t need medical care.

View the book trailer here!

Available on Amazon

ABOUT Lila Felix:

Lila Felix made the decision to write a book after being encouraged by friends. She is a stay at home mom to three wild children and three boisterous dogs and her high school sweetheart husband encourages her daily. Between writing books, she loves to read and watch sappy 80's movies. Favorite things: ice cream, anything purple, roller derby and any kind of music she can get her hands on. If you're looking for her, try looking in the swamp, she's probably duct taping something under the shade of a Cypress tree.

LINKS:

Website: http://www.lilafelix.com/
Blog: http://www.authorlilafelix.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/authorlilafelix
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLilaFelix?ref=tn_tnmn
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519682.Lila_Felix

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Review of 'Bond of Love' by Amy Suzanne

As a picturesque mother and wife, forty-one year old Avery Richards seems to have it all. Married to a successful veterinarian named Noah and mother to a spunky daughter named Kara, her life is far from awful but she is stuck. With the recent move of their daughter, who has just flown the coop for college, this story examines the deep and often-tumultuous bond between mother and child and the lengths we are willing to go to, as mothers, to sacrifice our own happiness for the ones we love.

As we watch Avery walk through her ‘new’ way of daily life, without her ambitious and stubborn child around to mother any longer, we are given a very unique opportunity to tip toe in the front row of their lives, from three very separate views. We will see life as it plays out through her mature and motherly eyes, through Kara’s young and sheltered heart, and then through ‘someone else’s eyes’ that has a vested interest in them both.

As Avery’s well-hidden web of lies come crashing down in an unexpected way, her secrets that she’s safeguarded for years will threaten to rip her peaceful world apart, as well as the world of the ones she loves most. As readers, we will watch how ONE single choice can alter everything. Each character will then be forced to examine what the true meaning of love and forgiveness means to them.

Every gamut of emotion will be explored: humor, sadness, love, joy, betrayal, hate, and forgiveness. Bond of Love will leave you pondering the age-old question: How well do YOU actually know the ones you love most?

**My thoughts**

Avery has had an okay life. She and her husband married young and had one healthy, beautiful daughter. She is fortunate to be able to volunteer with her beloved animals. She has also suffered a lot of loss. As menopause sets in, she seems to be reflecting a lot more on what her life was and how it could be. Noah, her husband, seems to love her a lot.

Kara is their daughter. She is a mere 18 years old and is off at college. She felt sheltered while growing up and is rebelling in many ways now that she has a taste of freedom.  Because of that, she doesn't seem to be able to make good decisions. She has her parents' voices in her head, telling her one thing to do, but is weak and will give in to what others want her to do. I can't stand her boyfriend, Lance, nor his brother Isaac. Lance is mean to her and very condescending. He seems to take advantage of her sheltered upbringing. Yet, Kara almost doesn't seem to mind.

The two women take turns telling their stories. It took me a bit to get used to their different voices, which actually seemed the same in the beginning. Later on, they developed their own voice. The third storyteller is the mystery man in the mountains, who ends up changing their lives forever. His voice also seemed quite like the two women's in the beginning, before finally developing its own sound.

What seemed to make the three narrators sound so much alike was the regular use of the same types of similes and metaphors when describing surroundings and situations. I appreciate a desire to be descriptive, but it was really too much. Also, everything seemed to somehow relate to food. Not all of the comparisons really worked. A lot of them could have been phrased differently or abbreviated to get the point across. It actually makes the entire first third of the book quite difficult to read.

Once you get past that first third (and my Kindle actually said 33%), the action gets going and the abundance of descriptions slow way down. The characters have finally come to life, and the thriller side of the story begins its ride. In fact, it ends up being quite a bit different than I had expected from reading the description of the book. You may be able to figure out Avery's secret and some of the other missing pieces pretty easily, but may also feel compelled to keep on reading to see if you can figure it out. I did.

Buy on Paperback | Kindle | B&N | Kobo | Apple | Sony

Meet the Author:

This is Amy’s second published work, the first being a memoir written exclusively for her children. As a former second grade teacher, and long time professional photographer, she has been writing and filling journals since she was young enough to hold a pencil and form words. Although writing brings her to a place of solace and joy, her most ambitious and fulfilling job in life thus far has been being a mother. Married for nearly two decades now, she and her husband share four daughters, who fill their lives with amusement, love, and drama daily. It is her lifelong goal to preserve her family’s history through the written word, pictures, and the human touch of love.

Follow Amy on Facebook | Literary Addicts | Goodreads

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Check out a teaser for 'A Little Too Much' by Lisa Desrochers

a little too much by lisa desrochers

November 12, 2013
William Morrow Impulse
New Adult Contemporary Romance

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the follow-up to Lisa Desrochers’ explosive New Adult novel A Little too Far, Alessandro Moretti must face the life he escaped and the girl he loved and left behind.

Twenty-two year old Hilary McIntyre would like nothing more than to forget her past. As a teenager abandoned to the system, she faced some pretty dark times. But now that’s all behind her. Hilary has her life on track, and there’s no way she’ll head back down that road again.

Until Alessandro Moretti—the one person who can make her remember—shows up on her doorstep. He’s even more devastatingly gorgeous than before, and he’s much too close for comfort. Worse, he sees right through the walls she’s built over these last eight years, right into her heart and the secrets she’s guarding.

As Hilary finds herself falling back into love with the man who, as a boy both saved and destroyed her, she must decide. Past or future? Truth or lies?

Buy links

"I am a HUGE Lisa Desrochers fan!" --Katy Evans, New York Times bestselling author of REAL

"Lisa Desrochers is a unique and sultry voice in the New Adult genre." --JAY CROWNOVER, New York Times bestselling author of RULE

About the author:

LISA DESROCHERS is the USA Today bestselling author of the A Little Too Far series, courtesy of HarperCollins, and the young adult Personal Demons trilogy from Macmillan. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two very busy daughters, and Shini the tarantula. Find her online at www.lisadwrites.com , on Twitter at @LisaDez, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LisaDesrochersAuthor.

Author Links:

Website \ Facebook \  Twitter \  Goodreads  

Prize is a $25 Kindle or Nook gift card, signed and annotated copies of A LITTLE TOO FAR, and swag.

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Chrissy Anderson on 'The Life List'

What was the inspiration behind this book?

The moment I left a bar with a guy six years younger than me...when I was a seemingly happy married woman, I knew I had a big story to tell. Well, the story became HUGE when that chance encounter led to massive amounts of lies, desperate and gross manipulation, and shockingly, the kind of love I never knew existed.

I was a good girl—a girl who created a detailed life list at the age of sixteen and I diligently stuck to it. I worked my ass off to achieve all of the things I thought I wanted in life and by twenty-eight…I almost had it all. But then that chance encounter at the bar made me question the life list and all that I had accomplished. In one night my entire world was turned upside down.

My story is based on my life and it examines the sanity of blindly following the bucket list we make when we are young and the impact of changing our minds after we have checked most things off the list. It’s a dilemma that millions of women face every day. Those women were my inspiration. There are so many out there who are torn between choosing love and obligation. I know their struggle…I know their heartache.

So what did I choose? You have to read The List Trilogy to find out!

This book is the first in a trilogy. What is the timeline for the rest of it?

Book one, The Life List, has been out for over a year (4.8 rating on Amazon:). Book two, The Unexpected List, was released earlier this year (4.8 rating on Amazon:) and the last book in the trilogy, The Hope List, is set for winter 2014 release. Fans are rather pissy at me right now for the long wait to The Hope List, especially because Unexpected ended on a cliffhanger! I keep telling them it’ll be worth it though because it feeds into a whole new trilogy—tentatively titled The Truth Trilogy. The challenge is I have to come up with the full outline for the next cycle before I complete Hope. I have to build in all the good stuff and it’s soooooo much work. My novels are incredibly character driven! Everyone has a favorite person—someone they identify with or want to get to know. The character of Slutty co-worker is by far everyone’s favorite…and yes, she finally gets a REAL name in The Hope List! It’s a doozy too.

What compels us to write these lists?

Our dreams of what we think will make us happy. But what makes us happy is ever-changing and that right there is the problem with making life lists! By the time you cross off the last item you’re like, “Damn, I don’t want all of that shit anymore! None of it means anything to me because I’m a different person than I was 5, 10…15 years ago!” I say stick to only making grocery lists…can’t get hurt or let down with those(:

How can we console ourselves when we inevitably cannot reach some of our goals?

Alcohol works for me. Ha, kidding. Sort of. In all seriousness, why put something on a list that’s so unobtainable that we’d need consoling? You should know who you are and what you’re capable of goal-wise, right? It’s not like I’d put President of The United States of America on my list of career aspirations when I never even ran for student government! That’d make me plain cuckoo. But let’s say I had a goal of being married with kids and I just turned forty-five and didn’t even have a boyfriend…well, that’s another story. In your early thirties that scenario might seem tragic. Hence the reason why so many women in their early thirties scramble to the altar and in the process settles for less than they deserve, resulting in an unsatisfying marriage, kids they resent, ultimate adultery and/or bitter resent. I digress…sorry about that! Anyway, while it’s understandable there would be some heartbreak as a result of not reaching a goal of having a husband and children, I think a forty-five year old woman makes adjustments to her plan far in advance of a total meltdown. I don’t think she’d sit idly by as her goals got squashed, she’d come up with new ones—better ones to take their place.

What is one of your greatest accomplishments?

If I told you I’d ruin the book(s)! But a close second is ending my comfy career and taking the gigantic risk to write The Life List—to tell my true life, oh-so-relatable, love story. Trust me, it wasn’t easy. It took three years after writing it to get up the courage to let one person read it—let alone publish it! Talk about feeling vulnerable! Every time I read a review of the book(s) I feel like I’m standing naked in front of the person who wrote it!

What is one of your greatest regrets?

D’oh! Again, I’d ruin the book(s) if I told you! I will tell you this, though. It happened when I was seventeen. I’ve forgiven myself for what happened, but the pain and regret over the incident will never go away. Some mistakes are so big that you just have to learn to deal with the consequences your whole life. Every single day I try to do something to amend the regret. While the effort will never make the regret completely go away, it does alleviate it.

Wallowing in misery=bad! I don’t believe we should let regret ruin our potential to make ourselves, and those around us, happy.

One of my favorite books on a similar topic was 'The To-Do List' by British author Mike Gayle. Do you have any other similar favorite reads?

Nope. This is so tacky, but I’m not much of a reader. It’s not that I hate it; I just don’t allow myself enough downtime to enjoy a good book. By the time I plop into bed at night, I’m spent! And I never take vacation so that rules that out! However, whenever I fly I make a pit stop in the airport bookstore and grab something off of the shelf. Sadly, nothing I’ve read comes to mind to tell you about. Sorry, I’m worthless when it comes to this question! Oh, wait! I did read all of The Harry Potter books! My nine year old made me! They were amazing! J.K. Rowling has made me ask myself several times, “Who the F do you think you are trying to be a writer!?!?!?”

What book did you read last? Are you currently reading? Is next on your TBR pile?

Even though I don’t read a lot, I do have a TBR pile, but it consists of non-fiction stuff like Charles Krauthammer’s new book and a bunch of stuff about J.F.K. Yawn, yes?

What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?

The TV was on one night when I was cooking dinner and someone was being interviewed on some show. I can’t remember who was being interviewed or what show it was, but I dropped my broccoli and ran for a pen when the person being interviewed said, “Follow the truths of human interaction and you will never let your reader down.” The scribbled scrap of paper is in a frame on my desk!

It’s easy to fluff/lighten things up in a book, especially one based on a true story like The Life List. There were many times I felt compelled to stray from what I really did or really wanted to say. I was scared the readers would hold it against me or judge me for putting it all out there. But when you stray from the truths of human interaction—when you avoid the uncomfortable and try to make things pretty for story-sake—the story immediately loses its interest, it becomes phony. It becomes blah! I chose the opposite of blah. Hard as it was, I committed myself to the truths of human interaction—the good, the bad, and the ugly of it. I don’t expect everyone to agree with my choices, but I want everyone to ask themselves, “What would I do if I were Chrissy?” There’s no way my readers would ask themselves that question if I avoided the truth.

Ironically, a lot of my readers have held what I did and said against me and they have judged me for the mistakes I made. They told me so…as they were giving me a 5 star review! That I made them laugh, cry, scream at the book for the injustice and inappropriateness of my behavior, that I was authentic and vulnerable compelled them to leave me a glowing review. More times that I can count I’ve been called the woman you hate to love. Following the truths of human interaction is, so far, making most of my readers applaud and it’s making me smile.

What is something readers may be surprised to learn about you?

I’m a very messed up left-brain, right-brain person! I have an intense need to run a multi-billion dollar corporation, and be a housewife who tends to her own garden and cooks seventy-five course meals for her family every night. There’s an equal amount of drive in me to be both of those things and it leads to a lot of frustration! For most of my life I’ve been learning how to manage the pull. I haven’t mastered it, but I’m getting better at it. For example, four days a week I completely dedicate myself to book stuff (i.e. writing, blogging, social networking, business operations, research, marketing, and sales). In these four days I DO NOT attempt to do anything domestic before 3pm (the time I pick my daughter up from school and all hell breaks loose). Then, three days a week I completely dedicate myself to domestic stuff (i.e. clean, shop, laundry, meal planning…) I don’t even look at my Facebook page in these three days! It distracts me from enjoying the domestic side of my life. The minute I try to blend the two worlds I get agitated and unsatisfied. Nothing gets done and I fall apart. Seriously, I should be studied!

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I think I’ve shared enough (-:. You’ll think the same after you read The Life List!

Thank you so much for your time!

No! THANK YOU!
Xoxo,
Chrissy

The Life List
by Chrissy Anderson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:

When she was just sixteen, Chrissy Anderson made a life list…

…The outcome is a dream husband, a career to envy, and the kind of best friends every girl wants. Then out of nowhere…an affair. What would you do if you realized the life you created wasn’t right for you? You think you know the answer? Think again. Follow Chrissy as she lies and cheats and ultimately learns to tell the truth to herself and those that she loves.

At twenty-eight, Chrissy has been steadily checking off the boxes on her life list as she mocks the style and life choices of everyone around her. She’s got it all—or so everyone thinks. Her life begins to fall apart when she unexpectedly meets a much younger man, Leo, who makes her question just how perfect her “perfect life” really is. With the help of her no-nonsense therapist, Dr. Maria, Chrissy learns more about herself than she anticipates. But it isn’t until she stares an untimely death in the face that Chrissy is catapulted into an overdue reality check. Only then does she scramble to correct the mistakes of her past…trying to figure out if it’s her husband Kurt, her lover Leo, or both that she has to leave behind to make everything right.

Women of all kinds will be able to relate to the pressure of constructing the ideal life, only to fall short. Not everyone will agree with Chrissy Anderson’s decisions, but all will pause as they follow along on her journey to ask, “What would I do if I were her?”

The Life List, book ONE of The List Trilogy, will take you on a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows as Chrissy makes mistakes on her bumpy road to happiness. Come along for the ride and you’ll be left breathless and ready to find out what she does next in book TWO, The Unexpected List.

Read an excerpt:

I just made it official. I’m a twenty-eight year old married woman with a twenty-two year old boyfriend who lives twenty minutes from a husband who he doesn’t know exists. That God I started believing in a few minutes ago is sending me straight to Hell.

**My thoughts**

As I mentioned in the interivew, I had once read a similar book by one of my favorite authors, Mike Gayle. I also recently crossed off a big thing from my own "bucket list" of sorts. So, the concept of this book was something that really spoke to me. Sometimes it is fun to take a break from your own life to learn about the troubles that others have in theirs. I think that is part of the appeal of so-called reality TV. And that is the audience that is going to love this book.

Chrissy Anderson is good at putting on appearances, to hide the misery that really rules her life. In fact, when her story begins, she isn't even really aware of how miserable she actually is. It isn't until she accidentally meets a young man named Leo that she realizes what a mess she has let her life become, and takes action to deal with it.

You're thrown for a loop when you start reading, because the book starts with Chrissy giving the eulogy at her best friend's funeral. She keeps referring to a man who is sitting in the congregation. It takes a fair chunk of the book (over 400 pages) to finally bring the story back to both of these things, and to reveal who the man is. I often found myself wondering when it was going to happen, so that I could put it all together.

Chrissy is not an easy person to like. In fact, even at the end of the book, I wasn't sure if I liked her. She is extremely self-centered and whiny and can't make up her mind about what she really wants in life. She strings along men and her friends, alienating them while also sucking them into her vortex of confusion. She lies to her therapist and belittles everyone. You find yourself siding with her friends, yelling at her as she needlessly drags out her situation month after month. "That's not how novels work!" I found myself yelling at the book. And then I paused for a moment and reflected on it. It isn't a traditional novel. It's a memoir of sorts, illustrating the traumatic events in her life that caused her to finally change it. You have to remind yourself that sometimes the ugly stage is necessary to reveal a healthier, more beautiful person within.

You do question what choices you would make if you were in her situation. Sure, it seems to easy to the outsider reading the book. But what if you were really in her situation? Would it be so cut and dry for you? Do people who get themselves into these predicaments really make the conscious decision, "Hey, I am going to make some really bad choices and royally screw things up for myself for a while, no matter what anyone says!" Haven't you ever gotten sucked in to a relationship or situation that you never thought you would be in? I give Chrissy a lot of credit for having the guts to share her story. It isn't easy to bare your soul to the world like that.

I will admit that about halfway through, I was having some difficulty pushing through. The first half of the book kept me curious as to what she was going to say or do next. I was obligated to finish the book to write my review for this tour. I kept thinking that I wouldn't be surprised at how this installment ended and wouldn't want to keep on reading. The momentum did pick back up, though, in that last quarter, and I admit that I am a little curious about what happens in the second installment.

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

CHRISSY ANDERSON spends her life doing exactly what she always wanted: doting on those she loves. A former fashion executive, she is a writer, wife, and mother whose own life events inspired The Life List. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with the love of her life and her beautiful daughter.

www.askchrissy.net

www.facebook.com/chrissyandersonbooks

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