Blog Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway: Artificial Sweethearts by Julie Hammerle
Artificial Sweethearts by Julie Hammerle was released on July 10th & today we are celebrating with a guest post from the author! You will find all the book information, excerpt, guest post, and a tour-wide giveaway! Hope you check it out!
Artificial Sweethearts by Julie Hammerle
Category: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publication: July 10th, 2017; Entangled Crush
Purchase: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo
It’s not chemistry between Tinka Foster and Sam Anderson that made them agree to fake date. With her parents trying to set her up with an annoying student golf coach, and intentionally single Sam’s family pressuring him to bring a date to his brother’s wedding, they could both use a drama-free summer.
So it’s not his muscular arms and quick wit that makes Tinka suggest they tell everyone they’re both taken. Definitely not. And it’s not butterflies that makes a kiss for appearances during the lake party go on way too long—so long that Sam wishes it were real.
But Tinka keeps people at arm’s length—she’s always been second best, even to her parents. And her relationship-for-show could crush everything when she realizes she’s done with fake, pretend, and second-best.
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains bikinis at the lake, a lot of making out in dark theaters, and a meet-cute you’ll read twice.
Excerpt:
Sam stormed out to the back deck, where he ran his hands along the slick, varnished railing and stared up at the stars in the cloudless sky. If this were a movie, now would be the part where Sam met the gorgeous girl next door. She’d see right through Sam’s physique to his big heart and better-than-average sense of humor.
He glanced over at the Fosters’ house, his new neighbors’ place. It was dark, as usual. Life wasn’t a movie. Life was life. Sam sighed and checked his phone. He opened up his contacts and found the name Harper had entered earlier today—Dottie Gold, heart emoji.
“You texting Dottie?” came a voice from behind him. Sam turned toward Harper, hiding his phone behind his
back. His sister was either a wizard or she had X-ray vision. “Nope.”
“You should.” She stood next to him and placed her hands on the deck railing, facing the Fosters’. “You’re going to college soon, Sam. Get some experience before you leave.”
“I have experience.” He did. Ish.
“Kissing a random sophomore during a school play is not ‘experience.’”
She had him there. “I don’t want to start anything now. I’m leaving in a few weeks, and it’ll be hard enough leaving this town and you assholes.” He nudged his sister in the ribs.
“You’ll have no problem leaving Dottie, believe me.” She held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
He hid it behind his back. “No.” Bringing Dottie into this wouldn’t solve anything.
“Suit yourself, but think about it.” Harper turned to leave, but stopped. “Make sure you’re honest, though, about what you want. Hooking up is ne, great even, as long as everyone’s on the same page. Don’t give her the wrong idea. I speak from experience.” Harper had run into a similar situation a few months ago with her friend Regina.
Alone again on the deck, Sam flicked on his phone and turned toward his neighbors’ house. He rested his elbows on the railing and stared at the screen. Hi, Dottie, he typed.
And he was stuck. He lifted his eyes to the Fosters’ second floor balcony again and was so lost in composing his message to Dottie that he almost didn’t notice the person standing there, a girl, resting her hands on the railing. Her long, blond hair curled around her shoulders, and it seemed like she was doing the same thing Sam had been—breathing, escaping.
The girl peered over at him, and he tentatively raised his hand in greeting. She, the actual girl next door, did the same for one brief second, then scurried into the house and slid the door shut.
Sam stared at the balcony for a moment, waiting for her to reappear. He put his hand to his chest, where his heart hammered against his sternum.
This right here was his problem, always had been. He was too caught up in the movie version of his life. That girl showing up on the balcony was a coincidence, nothing more. There was no deeper meaning. They weren’t destined to be together. There was a very strong likelihood they’d never even speak to each other. Sam couldn’t keep putting his life on hold, waiting for something amazing to happen.
Guest Post:
Where did you come up with the idea to set your romance series in a winter holiday tourist trap town?
I have my dad to thank for North Pole, Minnesota.
A few years ago, my parents took our whole family on vacation for Thanksgiving. We were all staying in the same house, with one TV. And my dad wanted to watch The Hallmark Channel. It was all Christmas romances all the time.
I started to get the idea that I should write one, a YA Christmas romance. I decided to set it in a Christmas-themed village, since that’s the kind of place where a lot of these Hallmark movies are set.
About a year later, I finally—finally—sat down to write this Christmas YA. I wrote it for NaNoWriMo, actually, in 2015. That book—or some very, very loose approximation of that book—will be the third one in the series. It comes out in November.
My editor, Kate, really liked the idea of setting the series in a Christmas town, though she thought we should save the actual Christmas story for the third book. I’ve loved playing around in North Pole during different times of the year—seeing the doldrums of winter after the tourists have gone home (Any Boy but You) and the steamy heat of summer when everyone, townies and tourists alike, are roaming Main Street (Artificial Sweethearts).
The town at this point feels real to me, and full of potential. Each book only follows two main characters, but I feel like there’s so much going on behind the scenes. What’s the deal with Kevin and Marley’s relationship? Who’s Harper crushing on now? Will anyone ever fall for Craig? There’s a story around every corner.
Author Bio: Julie Hammerle
Julie Hammerle is the author of The Sound of Us (Entangled TEEN, 2016) and the North Pole, Minnesota young adult romance series (Entangled Crush, 2017). She writes about TV and pop culture for the ChicagoNow blog, Hammervision, and lives in Chicago with her family. She enjoys reading, cooking, and watching all the television.
Connect:
Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Instagram ** Goodreads ** Newsletter
Giveaway:
Singed copy of Any Boy But You (US Only)
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