The Whispering Pages Book Blog: Better

Showing posts with label Better. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

~ Promo Blitz & Giveaway ~

Better

Carey Heywood

Release Date: February 17, 2014

~ Synopsis ~

Aubrey is embarking on a bucket list trip around the world, the last wish of her Aunt Ally. It was supposed to be the trip Ally would take when she got better. Now it's just a chance for Aubrey to say goodbye.

Adam escapes in his solo trips overseas, working just enough to fund the next one. When the opportunity to circle the globe falls in his lap he can't refuse. The only catch, he won't be traveling alone this time.

Unable to hide from each other Adam's overprotective nature thwarts Aubrey's desire to find her own way. Can they move past initial assumptions to find something better?

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~ Excerpt ~

“What are you doing in here?" I stammer.

He’s on his knees by the bed, reaching under. "This bed is a trundle. There's no way I'm sleeping on that sofa."

"But I'm sleeping in here," I argue.

I watch as he pulls the trundle out. It's smaller, maybe twin sized.

"Yes, and I'm sleeping here." He makes a wide sweep with his hands over the smaller bed.

I remember how awkward it felt, sleeping so near him the night before. At least the trundle is low to the ground. My mouth drops as he depresses a lever and raises it to the same height as my bed, and the way it's made, we'll be face to face with maybe an inch separating his bed from mine.

I gulp.

He turns to look at me. "Um, I was going to get changed."

"Oh, don’t mind me."

"Out," I order him.

His eyes travel lazily down me, and I shiver. His mouth twitches before he turns to leave, closing the door behind him. I hurry over to it and lock it, sagging against it. I had been looking forward to a night away from him. I quickly change, unlock the “door, and climb into bed. I hear the door open and shuffle further under the covers.

When I wake the next morning, I'm facing him. Wiping sleep from my eyes, I watch him. He's shirtless, his sheet draping low across his hips. I lick my lips, mesmerized by the rise and fall of his chest. I quietly slip out of bed and out of the room, taking my clothes for the day with me. I need distance. I can't stay in that room any longer. It smells like him, a mixture of Irish Spring, his cologne, and something just him.

I shower and get dressed. I'm in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets for something to snack on when he walks out. He's still shirtless. Why can't he put on a shirt?

"Hungry?" he asks, scratching the back of his head.

"A bit," I admit.

"Give me a minute. I saw a bakery close by."

"Okay."

He walks back into the room and shuts the door. A couple minutes later, he walks back out, now in jeans and a vintage looking M*A*S*H t-shirt.

"Nice shirt."

He laughs. "It was my dad's."

"You're wearing hand me downs," I joke.

"Just trying to live the green life."

I don’t give him the satisfaction of a chuckle even though that was funny as I follow him out of the flat.

"What about Abe?"

"He can get his own breakfast," he says, grabbing a set of keys that are hanging on a hook by the door. I give him a look.

"Don't worry. I'll bring him something back." He holds the door open for me. I tuck my hair behind my ear and hurry down the stairs. I wait for him at the bottom, not sure which direction to go. He comes up beside me, tilting his head to the right. We turn together and walk.

"I saw you."

"Excuse me?" I stop.”

He's now a step ahead of me. He looks back at me.

"I saw you watching me this morning."

"I wasn’t," I stammer, looking away.

"If you say so," he says as he continues to walk.

I follow him but stay a step behind on purpose. I can't believe he saw me.”

~ Links to Buy ~

Amazon US ** Amazon UK ** Amazon CA

Amazon AU ** Barnes & Noble

~ About the Author ~

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. I make up stuff and write it down. Here are some things that make up who I am, in no particular order; Books, Swedish Fish, Rivers, Kids (I have some), Husband (I have 1), Dog, Wuss, Reader, Elephants, Mermaid Shows, Belgian Chocolate, Plastic Rings, Fizzy Water, Abs (I don't have them...well yes, I have them but they're nothing to look at I meant Abs that I like to look at), Twitter (@careylolo), Making up Words, Chair Dancing, Old Movies, Cartoons, Belgian Waffles, Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, People, Kayaks, Screen Porches, Laughing, Colored Paperclips, Junky Green Laptop, Golden Rule, Falling in Love, Jumping in Puddles, Spellcheck, Windy Days.

~ Connect with Carey ~

Facebook ** Twitter ** Goodreads ** Website

~ A Rafflecopter Giveaway ~

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Friday, February 21, 2014

~ Book Spotlight & Giveaway ~

Better

Carey Heywood

Release Date: February 17, 2014

~ Synopsis ~

~ Add to Goodreads ~

~ The Story Behind Better ~

Better was inspired by my own story. Cancer and Harry Potter You wouldn’t think cancer would be the first thing someone thinks about when thinking of Harry Potter, but for me, it always will be. I had not read the book when the first movie came out. It was just before Christmas 2001. At the time, I lived in Phoenix, but I was back home in Alexandria for a visit. My father was ill, having had a stroke earlier that year. Being home was hard, and seeing him like that was surreal. I had an escape though—my friend, Cameron. Cameron was one of those guys that it took me too long to figure out just how wonderful he was. We met in seventh grade French class. My mother met his mother the night before, and she made a point of telling me that Cameron and I should be friends. When I saw him, I disagreed. While he was always handsome, he had a quirky fashion sense that I did not get. It was middle school, and I was trying so hard to fit in. He didn’t seem to mind standing out though, and he was always wearing this ridiculous trench coat. We became friends. To this day, I’m not certain that I have ever known someone as truly sweet and generous as Cameron was. I say was because Cameron died. That’s where the cancer comes in. I’ll get back to that. At the end of and after high school, I was in an extremely toxic and abusive relationship. During one of our breakups, I went out on a couple of dates with Cameron. Looking back, I wish I had been ready for him, but I wasn’t. My head was not in the right place to deal with accepting my attraction to the guy with the mohawk when I was still all messed-up over a guy who was nothing but a thug. Cameron was too different. I moved away, and when I came back for a visit, we went on another date. He took me to the little Chinese place next to where the Blockbuster was. Over dinner, he told me he had cancer. He learned this during his freshman year of college. He kept having stomach pains and went twice to the student clinic, only to be sent away with painkillers. The next time, his mom told him to go to the emergency room. They found a tumor. I remember being shocked over dinner but not scared. Nobody I knew had died of cancer. He would be fine. We kept in touch while I was in Arizona, talking on the phone maybe once every couple of months. Just as I suspected, the cancer went away. He beat it. He even went back to school and worked up the nerve to ask some girl out. I was jealous. He never got a chance to go on that date. The cancer came back, and he moved back home to Virginia. The next time I saw him was December 2001. He looked different but not bad. We went to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. He had already seen it, but he took me anyway. That was his way, always looking out for me. We swam together during high school. I remember my coach wanted me to join this other team. I was scared because I wouldn’t know anyone. Cameron decided to join too. He looked at me, so serious. “We’ll carpool.” And then, through that awful relationship, I remember him putting his hands on either side of my face, trying to convince me I deserved better, wanting to beat up my ex for hurting me. That December in 2001, I was home one week, and I saw Cameron three times. I was busy when I first got back to Arizona. I didn’t call him right away. When I did, it was just after New Year’s. He was in the hospital. I spoke to his younger brother. He told me Cameron overdid it when I was in town. I didn’t know. Cameron called me when he got out of the hospital. It was the first time I actually considered that he might die. I remember saying that he couldn’t die, that I was putting my foot down, like I had any power. I made him promise me he wouldn’t die, and he did. He promised. When we hung up, I was certain he would beat it again. That was the last time I ever spoke to him. When my caller ID flashed his name, I answered all happy and excited to talk to him. But it wasn’t him. It was his dad. The second he said, “This is Cameron’s dad,” I knew. We didn’t talk long, and I honestly don’t remember anything after he said, “Cameron is gone.” At the time, I was a smoker. I went out on my front porch to cry and have a smoke. I lived in Phoenix. It never really got windy unless there was a monsoon, which between you and me, I never understood what the big deal was. It was just rain. It rained all the time in Virginia. Either way, it was windy, really windy, and there wasn’t a monsoon. It felt like Cameron was coming to say good-bye, using the wind to wipe the tears from my face. After that night, I began to associate wind with feeling Cameron’s presence. I would lie in bed at night and turn the ceiling fan above my bed to the highest setting to imagine it was him. He was the wind. Harry Potter helped me grieve. It gave me time to rest in my memories of Cameron. I bought each book as they came out and saw each movie. When the second movie came out, I went by myself on opening weekend. It was packed, standing in line with little kids dressed up as wizards. I had people, strangers really, sitting on either side of me. They probably thought I was off when I sobbed through the opening credits. I just wished Cameron were there with me. That familiar opening melody broke my heart. By the third movie’s release, I had a boyfriend. We were pretty serious, but he understood why I went to that movie alone. I told him about Cameron. When we became engaged, he started to come with me. He would hold my hand while I cried. The last two movies were hard. The books were all out. The end was in sight. During Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, I came close to inflicting bodily harm on the people sitting behind me who were laughing during that scene at the end with Harry and Dobby on the beach. Didn’t they know? Couldn’t they understand these movies, this experience, meant so much to me? The last movie was the hardest for me. I am now married to a wonderful man, and we have beautiful children. I understand how blessed I am. I mourn the what-if with Cameron, and even if nothing had ever come of us, I feel sad every day because the world lost such a beautiful soul. So, for me, Harry Potter will always make me think of Cameron and the cancer that took him away.

~ Links to Buy ~

Amazon US ** Amazon UK ** Amazon CA

Amazon AU ** Barnes & Noble

~ About the Author ~

~ Connect with Carey ~

Facebook ** Twitter ** Goodreads ** Website

~ A Rafflecopter Giveaway ~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Cover Reveal & Giveaway

Better
(Too Good #2)

by

S.Walden

Expected Release: November 19, 2013

~ Synopsis ~

Their relationship has been exposed, and now their lives are changed forever.

For Cadence Miller, the fast track to adulthood proves intimidating and frustrating. She’s a little girl lost—abandoned by her parents and uncertain of her future. She doesn’t think she “fits” anywhere. She’s eighteen. She wants to be older. And the result is both comical and heartbreaking.

Mark Connelly will do anything to provide Cadence a stable, loving home—to be her protector. But he’s just as broken and lost, and his heart won’t let go of his past so easily. He knows he must share his secret with Cadence. And he hopes his revelation won't tear them apart. He hopes it will draw them closer, and make their love better.

~ Add to Goodreads ~

~ Excerpt ~

She made sure to look as inconspicuous as possible for her first day of classes: jean shorts, tank top, flip flops. She kept her hair down but pulled it off her face with a headband. She wore a tad bit of makeup. Nothing showy, but she thought first day classes warranted mascara and lip gloss, at the least.

She slid into a seat in the row closest to the windows. She didn’t bother to look for Michael. Or save him a seat. She still wasn’t sure about that guy. She felt guilty for not telling Mark about Michael’s kissing comment. She wanted a friend, but she was unsure if he was a good one. She scanned the room for somebody better. She needed a girlfriend. And there was one sitting directly behind her.

“Hi,” Cadence said tentatively.

“Hi,” the girl replied.

Cadence wasn’t sure what else to say. Neither was the girl. That was until she recognized Cadence.

“You went to Crestview High.”

Cadence’s face fell. “Yeah.”

“My friend went there. She graduated with you.”

Cadence nodded.

The girl leaned in and whispered, “Did you really have an affair with your math teacher?”

See where it all began ……..

~ Synopsis ~

Cadence Miller is a good girl. She just happens to make one terrible mistake her junior year in high school which costs her ten months in juvenile detention. Now a senior, she’s lost everything: her best friend, the trust of her parents, driving privileges, Internet access. It’s a lonely existence.

But there is one bright spot: Mark Connelly, her very cute, very off-limits 28-year-old calculus teacher. She falls hard for him—a ridiculous schoolgirl crush headed nowhere. She can’t help it. He’s the only good thing at Crestview High. She doesn’t expect him to reciprocate her feelings. How inappropriate, right? But he does. And he shows her.

And that’s when her life goes from bad to good

~ Add to Goodreads ~

~ Links to Buy Good ~

Amazon: http://amzn.to/18jbbEU

Paperback: http://amzn.to/18NTMr4

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/151En2r

Kobo: http://bit.ly/19yBwPl

B&N: http://bit.ly/15lL4Qk

~ Sale ~

Good by S. Walden is current on is currently on sale for .99¢ on Amazon for a LIMITED TIME to help celebrate the release of Better!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/18jbbEU

~ About the Author ~

S. Walden used to teach English before making the best decision of her life by becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Georgia with her very supportive husband who prefers physics textbooks over fiction and has a difficult time understanding why her characters must have personality flaws. She is wary of small children, so she has a Westie instead. Her dreams include raising chickens and owning and operating a beachside inn on the Gulf Coast (chickens included). When she's not writing, she's thinking about it.