Hey lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host L.J.
Greene and her new book, “Aftereffects”!
For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click
on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with L.J.
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Aftereffects
by L.J. Greene
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
What
could be more terrifying than falling in love with the person who is your good place?
Maybe realizing just a smidge too late that there can be dire consequences to
becoming your best friend’s lover.
The
lives of Keir Stevens and Selene Georgiou serendipitously collide midspan on
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, one jarring step ahead of fate. He’s a
temporary transplant from Seattle; she’s facing the biggest career opportunity
of her life. They have no notion of the common thread that connects them.
As
they come to discover they share a similar adversity, their relationship
evolves from a fun and frivolous infatuation with nowhere to go into a true
friendship with sincerity, humor, and respect at its heart.
It’s
awfully hard not to fall in love with that—even if you’re pretty darn certain
you shouldn’t.
But
when love and friendship suffer their own devastating collision—their interests
brutally conflicting—the consequences of blurring the lines between the two
suddenly become real. In the end, which one will be the stronger? And more
importantly, can either survive?
AFTEREFFECTS is a standalone dual POV adult contemporary romance
about the things we choose in life out of all the things that are beyond our
choosing—a tale of love and friendship, of time and how we spend it, and of the
inner wars that ultimately show us what really matters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
She
rose from the table without looking at my face, which was a lucky thing,
because the multitude of images that one sentence conjured was astounding and
dangerous. I was unprepared. I opened my mouth to say something casual like
Yeah, go for it, but if anything at all came out, it was most likely every
thought-producing brain cell I had.
I
blinked down at my hands and pretended to study the grouting tool
intensely—like it was suddenly the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen. But
I’m pretty sure that every nonplatonic feeling I had was now flashing neon
across my face.
That
had to stop immediately.
This
just friends thing would work fine so long as everyone was in agreement. But if
one person started having thoughts, the whole mess would come down like the
house of cards that it was.
When
Selene and I’d first met, I had the same reaction to her that any other
warm-blooded male might have: she was fucking beautiful. And a badass with a
jack. And yes, I flirted a little; she flirted too. And if I were back home
under normal circumstances, there is no question I would ask her out, and I’d
take things as far as she’d let me. A night? Longer if she wanted?
But
we didn’t meet under normal circumstances, and I wasn’t in any position to be
starting something with her. A little flirting was fine, but I definitely
couldn’t let it go any further than that.
The
problem was that finding out about her father changed something for me. It was
a reflexive thing, an impulse that couldn’t have felt more natural. My
protectiveness cut through the very separation I was trying to maintain. I knew
there were plenty of good reasons to be cautious, but I couldn’t help but to
want to be there for her. To hold her when she’d needed it, and to just listen,
if that’s the only thing I could do.
Still,
sitting there at her table as I watched her turn and walk down the hallway to
her bedroom, a familiar sense of wariness took hold in my gut. The more time we
spent together, the more aware I became of how risky that impulse was, given
the chemistry we shared. Our friendship sat like a lush oasis on the threshold
of an abyss—a beautiful place for my mind to go when I needed it, when she
needed it.
But
pass beyond friendship, and there be dragons.
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GUEST POST:
Aftereffects’ Keir Stevens on Cooking With Fire
Keir
Stevens is a 31-year-old chef; owner of Blaze, a high-end catering business in
Seattle renown for its open-fire grilling; also a fabulous brunette (of the
male kind)
Fire.
I’ve
been fascinated with it for so long I can’t remember ever becoming fascinated with it. There’s just something about its sheer,
awesome power that captivated me from a very young age. You have to respect fire, and its most basic ability
to preserve life and to take it. It’s always exciting, always unpredictable.
Both terrifying and beautiful.
So if
you had asked me at ten years old what superpower I most wanted? Fire hands, of
course. Favorite comic hero? No question: Human Torch. Flame on!
And I
shared every kids’ impulse to play with it whenever possible—in fact, my
father’s worst nightmare was probably me sitting in front of a campfire with a
stick in my hand and nothing to do. That would yield about a 97 percent chance
of melted sneakers, assorted burns, or someone—likely him—taking an accidental
stick to the face.
I
distinctly remember one summer when we were camping up in Henley Woods near San
Francisco, and I want to say I was maybe twelve years old. Rather than quizzing
me on state capitals or American presidents like he usually did to pass the
time when we camped, he handed me my own Jiffy Pop, the kind with the long wire
handle.
What
he wisely understood about me and the whole process of making Jiffy Pop over a
campfire was that if I got too close to the open flame, the foil would burn,
and the popcorn inside would be ruined. And if I was impatient and tried to
rush it, I’d end up with almost nothing popped that was edible. But if I took
my time, was careful, and focused on the end reward—all things that went
directly against my nature, by the way—I could make something I wanted, and
keep myself out of trouble in the process.
He
saw it as leveraging my innate competitiveness to teach me to overcome a
tendency toward hyperactivity. At twelve, I saw it as me battling a great force
of nature, and bending its power to my will.
I saw
it as my own kick-ass superpower.
Over
the years, Jiffy Pop became our tradition, and he and I would have contests to
see which of us could yield the most perfectly shaped dome, which of us could
produce no burned pieces, which of us could end up with the fewest unpopped
kernels. I held the record at six. He was neck and neck at seven.
It’s
no wonder that those quiet nights with him remain some of the best memories of
my life.
In
time, that fascination with fire evolved into my multimillion-dollar
partnership with it, a catering business inspired by Francis Mallmann–style
cooking. Preparing a meal over an open flame has never lost its thrill for me.
It
has never stopped feeling like my superpower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLAYLIST:
Aftereffects Playlist
1.) Pieces by Rob Thomas
2.) Water Under the Bridge by Adele
3.) Unsteady by
X Ambassadors
4.) Thunder
Road by
Bruce Springsteen
5.) Where
You Go
by The Young Romans
6.) I Get to
Love You
by Ruelle
7.) Anyway by
Martina McBride
8.) Make You
Feel My Love
by Adele
9.) Keep It
Precious
by Melissa Etheridge
10.) Not Easy by
Alex Da Kid (featuring X Ambassadors)
11.) Same As
You
by The Fray
12.) Love Me
Now
by John Legend
13.) Shameless by
Garth Brooks
14.) We'll
Pick Up Where We Left Off by O.A.R.
15.) Please
Forgive Me
by David Gray
16.) The Wind by
The Fray
17.) Sky Blue
and Black
by Jackson Browne
18.) Something by
Marc Scibilia
19.) Two of
Me, Two of You
by Jackson Browne
20.) When You
Love Someone
by Bryan Adams
21.) So Close
to Magic
by Aquilo
22.) The Dance by
Garth Brooks
23.) Changing Tides by The Fray
24.) You're Missing by
Bruce Springsteen
25.) Fair Fight by The Fray
26.) All I Ask by Adele
27.) Boulder to Birmingham by
The Fray
28.) Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by
Green Day
29.) I'm Alive by Jackson Browne
30.) Let's Hurt Tonight by
OneRepublic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK REVIEW:
Last year, I had the
pleasure of reviewing L.J.’s book, “Sound Effects,” which is Book Two in the Ripple
Effects Book Series, and it comes just before today’s featured book, “Aftereffects,”
Book Three in the series. I really
enjoyed reading, “Sound Effects,” and gave it a strong FIVE-STAR rating!! It was such a fun, hot, sexy read filled with
excitement, love, romance, adventure, and passion!! It was well written and thoroughly
researched. L.J.'s latest book sounds just as incredible and I can't wait to check it out!! Check out my book review and
last year’s book tour post at the links below. I'm sure you'll definitely be wanting to add the WHOLE book series to your TBR List as this is one series you don't want to miss out on!!!
Check
out my book review on the blog here:
If so, please, please, please mark it as
helpful on Amazon here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
LJ Greene is a
self-professed obsessive multi-tasker who writes really boring stuff by day and
lets her inner romantic fly by night.
This California native is married to the most amazing man and has two
beautiful children, not old enough to read her books. (They probably wouldn’t want to anyway on
account of the “Ew, gross” factor.) She’s an avid reader of all genres with an
embarrassingly large ebook collection, and a weird penchant for reading the
acknowledgements at the end of a novel.
She's also a music lover with no apparent musical talent, a travel
enthusiast, and a cheese connoisseur.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH L.J.:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
Facebook:
Twitter:
BookBub Author Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Apple iBooks:
The Book Depository:
BAM! Books-A-Million:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not
Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are
solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
L.J. ~ Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteAlly, I was so happy to see you on my tour this week! And you've pretty much made my entire week by remembering that you reviewed Sound Effects two years ago! Thank you for mentioning it! And thank you so much for having me again. This has been so much fun. The site looks great, by the way. It's really beautifully done!
DeleteAnd as a small post script, I'd love to have you read Aftereffects - only if you'd want to - because it is similarly character-driven with an HEA that still makes me smile in the way that Sound Effects always has. :)
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! It's always so much fun to be given license to get a little creative with these guest posts. The characters in Aftereffects have such a special place in my heart and it's fun to let them out and run around a little! Thank you for following my tour and for your kind comments. Warmly, LJ
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to stop by the tour, Chelsey! :)
DeleteGreat excerpt, can't wait to read this one!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Victoria! And thank you for following the tour!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rita! I appreciate that!
ReplyDeleteDid you design the cover? Congrats on the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie, I had help! Lots of it! All of my book covers are the genius work of Joshua from X Book Cover Design. This is our third collaboration, and it was a great one. I actually found the photo very early on in the process of writing the book, and couldn't believe how perfectly it matched how I saw Keir in my head. From there, Joshua added all the magic. I love that he added the dots of light that give the cover just a touch of a mystical feel. I didn't realize at the time how fitting that would eventually be. Covers are funny for me - I like to design them early on because they help me visualize the people I'm writing about. And i adore being able to write details of my hero's shirt or jacket or wristbands into the story. In fact, in every case, there is a scene that references something one of them is wearing. I don't know if readers pick up on that, but there you go! A little Easter egg! :)
Deletewhat a interesting plot and great cover.
ReplyDelete