Blog Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway: The Sweetheart Sham by Danielle Ellison
The Sweetheart Sham by Danielle Ellison just released this week and I am thrilled to be a part of the blog tour to help spread the word! I love Danielle and her books and I am really looking forward to diving into her newest! Check out all the book details below, as well as a guest post from Danielle on her thoughts about second chance romances! Be sure to enter the awesome tour-wide giveaway too!
The Sweetheart Sham by Danielle Ellison
Category: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publication: December 4th, 2017; Entangled Crush
Purchase: Amazon, Amazon AU, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, B&N, iBooks, Kobo
In a small town like Culler, South Carolina, you guard your secrets like you guard your cobbler recipe: with your life. Georgia Ann Monroe knows a thing or two about secrets: she’s been guarding the truth that her best friend Will is gay for years now. But what happens when a little white lie to protect him gets her into a fake relationship…and then the boy of her dreams shows up?
Enter Beau Montgomery: Georgie’s first love, hotter than ever, and much too much of a southern gentleman to ever pursue someone else’s girl. There’s no way to come clean to Beau while still protecting Will. But bless their hearts, they live in Culler—where secrets always have a way of revealing themselves.
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains a hilarious “fakeship,” a scorching-hot impossible relationship, and a heartwarming best-friendship that will make you want to call your best friend right here, right now.
Excerpt:
“Beau Montgomery, what on earth!” someone, I think it’s Will’s mom, says with a squeal. I can’t single it out because my heart seems to stop beating.
Everyone scoots toward the patio entrance and gathers around. Will drops my hand to move closer.
And then I see him.
He’s standing behind Mrs. M next to his dad, a big smile on his face, and he’s tall. Real tall. His dark hair is longer and nearly falling into his hazel eyes, definitely a length that Orry won’t like much. His jaw is strong, some muscles pressing under his polo. He looks nothing like the boy I remember.
And suddenly I’m a little self-conscious. What am I wearing today? I can’t even remember. I could look down but that would mean looking away from him, and thenmaybe when I look back he won’t be there. I don’t know if he even sees me, but I see him. Clearly. After more than twoyears of nothing.
“Beau, is that you, boy?” Orry calls. Beau steps around the rest of the family toward his grandpa. He’s closer now, and I can get a better look at his face. My eyes explore his features and rest on his lips, which break out into a small smile and—Dang, is it hot out here?
“Hello, Granddad.” Orry pulls him into a hug and Beau has to lean over to reach him properly. Orry looks like a kid in his arms.
Cheese and rice, even his voice is sexy. Deeper but still with a familiar feeling that it stirs up in me, and an accent with a hint of Georgia twang instead of South Carolina
cadence.
I like it. Lord help me, I like it.
Orry holds him out at arm’s length and examines him before giving him a pat on the shoulder. “You look more like your daddy than I expected. How tall are you?”
“Six one, sir,” Beau says.
“You look good, grandson, real good. Atlanta treating you well?”
“Yes, sir, it is.”
I want to move, but I can’t. My feet are stuck to the ground, not that I should move anyway. I don’t reckon I trust myself around him. Especially not right now when I’m not sure if I want to hug him or kick him somewhere that would hurt. I’d do a good job of it too and make darn sure my kick was as painful as him not showing up that night.
“When’s your momma coming?” Mrs. M asks him.
“Not until closer to the wedding,” he says.
I watch as Will hugs him. They’re both smiling, and it reminds me of before when he was here. They were inseparable—we were—and now I’m just standing here like an idiot. Which I am. Will looks in my direction, and then Beau’s eyes are on me, too. It’s even worse when he’s looking at me, especially now with a hidden glimmer in them. It’s not how he said hello to the others; it’s almost like his eyes hadn’t seen me before, and now he’s hyperaware. Just like I’ve been since his dad yelled his name.
He takes a step toward me.
Guest Post:
I love second chance romances, I think they are so relatable to everyone, what made you decide to add this trope into the mix?
I also love this trope! I knew Beau was going to part of the story. The first couple chapters of Georgie’s perspective have always existed. I knew she agreed to date Will, and then right after everything was going smoothly: enter Beau. It just added this delicious conflict in the middle of an already complicated situation.
At first, she merely had always had a crush on Beau, but as the story developed, I decided to make it a second chance romance. I think there’s an underlying tension when two people already have a history. You go into it with pre-conceived ideas of what someone is like because you knew them before, because you loved them before, or shared experiences and inside jokes, connections that others don’t have. For Beau, he comes back to town thinking he knows Georgia Ann through and through – except it’s been two years and they’re both different now. So even though there’s a connection that ties them together, there’s also a chance for new discovery.
Plus, let’s admit it. Sometimes we mess up. We do something and we wish we could undo it or try again, and we never get that opportunity.
At least this way, through second chance romances, we get see someone else have the chance we didn’t get. Especially when two people make sense and are meant to be together, we get to watch them learn that and find happiness. I think we all want this—and that’s why this trope is so relatable.
Author Bio: Danielle Ellison
Danielle Ellison is a nomad, always on the lookout for an adventure and the next story. In addition to writing, she’s the founder and coordinator of the NoVa TEEN Book Festival. When she’s not busy with books, she’s probably watching her favorite shows, drinking coffee, or fighting her nomadic urges. She is newly settled in Oklahoma (for now) with her cat, Simon, but you can always find her on twitter @DanielleEWrites.
Links:
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • Goodreads
Giveaway:
The Sweetheart Sham Prize Pack (US):
-Pampering goodies (sweet southern soap and bath bombs)
-a “peanut butter <3s jelly” mug
-ice cream erasers
-heart shaped sunglasses
-a copy of “Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit” by Jaye Robin Brown
