Monday, April 15, 2013

A PRIOR ENGAGEMENT by S.L. Scott, Tasty Virtual Book Tour @Tastybooktours @slscottauthor #giveaway #NewRelease


Giveaway
S.L. is hosting a Giveaway for:
(3) Digital Copies of A PRIOR ENGAGEMENT
(1) $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
(Enter Below)



Living in a world built on pretenses, Everleigh Wright discovers how carefully orchestrated her Upper East Side life has been. Trapped in an arrangement for social prestige and financial gain, she finds life is not as idyllic as she once thought.

William Ryder leads a life rich in family support and endless determination. While attending university in Manhattan, he becomes enamored with a classic beauty who holds many secrets beneath her quiet propriety. William falls head over heels crazy for her, and she falls for him and his unfaltering optimism and kindness.

William and Everleigh may come from different worlds, but their attraction is instant and their love undeniable. Hoping love conquers all, they will find out if their love is unstoppable when faced with the consequences of breaking a prior engagement.

“Right here, right now is all that matters.”


~~~~~

 
 
Excerpt
 
She kissed him not caring about how she looked or propriety. She did what she felt and she felt like kissing him twice, so she did.
After lunch, they did a little sightseeing, stopped for frozen custard then headed for the train station. As the train barreled back to Manhattan, Evie turned to William. She felt shy, but wanted a photo of him. “May I take a picture of you?” She knew once again she was crossing a line, but she felt selfish and wanted something just for her.
He chuckled at her formality. “Yes, if you want.”
She took a picture of him looking at her the way she most liked to see him, in like of her. His darkened eyes said more and everything that they both knew it was too early to say and she hoped to hold onto that look forever with the photo.
When the photo loaded onto the screen, she stared at it. She was soft spoken, but he heard her. “You look sexy like this.”
The right side of his mouth lifted into a smile, a bit confident, a tad cocky. He pulled his phone out and flipped through the options. William stopped and smiled at his display. “I think you look really sexy like this.” He turned the phone around for her to see and her mouth dropped open.
“When did you take that?” She tried to act mad, but she thought the picture was funny.
“I like the way you’re about to lick the ice cream, tongue out all greedy-like.” He laughed again when her fist hit his arm. “Okay, okay. I shouldn’t have taken it without you knowing, but I really do think you’re pretty damn sexy eating ice cream. That right there is what fantasies are made of,” he said, pointing at the picture.
“Ewww! Stop it right now. No doing anything dirty while looking at that picture,” she demanded, trying to grab the phone.
He held it out of her reach and continued the joke. “I don’t need this picture. It’s burned into my brain.” He felt her playfully hit his arm again. Grabbing her hand, he eyed her. “No worries. I only have chaste thoughts about you.” He tried to sound convincing by saying that with a straight face.
But her expression changed. “Well, that’s disappointing.”
Putting his arm around her, he squeezed her into his side and laughed. His grin got even bigger when she relaxed into him for the remainder of the ride back to New York.
Luck was something Evie didn’t feel was on her side. She was focusing on more proven methods of destiny, like action.
 ~~~~~
 
A Prior Engagement
S.L. Scott

Releasing April 16th, 2013
E-Book
Gifted by: Tasty Book Tours/Author
Reviewed by: Kerrie
 

Once again, I picked up a book without having read the blurb first. I really need to keep doing this! I love reading without having any preconceived notions. The characters’ traits and personalities are revealed to the reader slowly, over time. And I was completely taken by surprise at certain points.
 
Everleigh is a throwback to the Regency heroines I so adore: trapped in an arranged engagement for the advancement of her family’s name and fortune, she is also trapped in a life so sheltered she doesn’t even realize it. I have to admit, I was leery of the potential “poor little rich girl” characterization at first, but that’s not really the case, fortunately. Everleigh, or “Evie” as her sister and William call her, is pretty down-to-earth. I did find it somewhat hard to believe how she could be so ignorant about the “regular person’s” life from which she had been kept, though; we know she’s been escorted everywhere by Tom, her fiancé, but she did go to high school. It’s difficult to be quite as protected as she has been in this day and age. But, as we are shown repeatedly, hers is a very different world.
 
William, for his part, is just a boy in love. Clueless about her engagement—and even the extent of her family’s wealth-- for a good portion of the book, he’s just into Evie and enjoying their togetherness; he’s an all-around nice guy. I would have liked to get to know his family and best friend, Bobby, a little better; I liked them, and think they went a long way into developing his character.
 
I loved how the author described the setting: Manhattan, seen through William’s eyes and as he introduces Evie to it, is a wonderland. I was just there a couple of weeks ago myself, so the imagery was even more evocative for me than I think it would have been otherwise. But, even if you haven’t been there, you will feel like it after reading this.
 
And then there’s Tom, the fiancé. The guy you will love to hate. There are a few scenes with him that gave me chills and let me understand how truly imprisoned Evie was.
 
The writing style is a little different from what I am used to; in every scene, you move around to each character’s point of view and that can be a bit confusing at first. But eventually, I came to appreciate the chance to see each scene from each character’s eyes.
Although I felt the ending dragged on just a bit, it was nice to see how everything turned out for William and Evie. I think, for me, the usual issue with YA and New Adult is that the heroes and heroines are so young, sometimes you wonder how their lives will really go for them. But this book wrapped things up nicely.
 
Despite these few hiccups, this book drew me in. I stayed up late two nights in a row, WAY past when I should have, in order to read more. I was drawn well into their world and was anxious to see how their story developed. And that, for me, is the most important thing an author can do—keep me turning pages. This one does that, very well.

Kerrie received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

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Giveaway
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~~~
 
Meet S.L. Scott
 


S.L. Scott is a former high-tech account manager with a journalism degree pursuing her passion for telling stories. She spends her days escaping into her characters and letting them lead her on their adventures.

Travelling, music festivals, and surfing are a few of her hobbies she loves, but she doesn’t get to enjoy on a regular basis. She has an obsession with movies, a varied taste in books, and collects Fitz & Floyd teapots. With a memory full of useless trivia facts, and a Keurig addiction, she loves a fun night in with her family as much as a loud night out with her friends.

Scott lives in the beautiful Texas hill country of Austin with her husband, two young sons, two Papillons, and her vivid imagination.

She welcomes your notes at
sl@slscottauthor.com.


 Connect with S.L

15 comments:

Unknown said...

I love "Café Vanilla Frappucinos" from Starbucks! Thanks for the review and giveaway!

Pat L. said...

I love caramel macchiata - low fat - with flavoring you don't need the fat.

Thanks for the giveaway; another book to add to my list.

Soft Fuzzy Sweater said...

I just like plain old coffee. Not fancy, just caffeinated.

Thank you for the giveaway.

annfesATyahooDOTcom

Sharlene said...

Oh, haha, I don't like coffee! I do like hot chocolate, though! Love the sound of this book! Thanks for the review!

krg said...

I like hazelnut latte

mertime said...

Newest favorite is the Hazelnut machiato frap at starbucks! YUM!!!

mertime@q.com

HMitch76 said...

I love a caramel macchiato!!

Corinne said...

Sounds like a great read...thanks for the chance to enter!!

Unknown said...

I love coffee but sometimes a vanilla chai latte is good too :)

Unknown said...

I love Iced Peppermint Mochas from Starbucks. Thanks for the giveaway. Tore923@aol.com

Linda said...

I have unrefined taste & drink instant! As long as it's got caffeine it hits the spot!

bn100 said...

a mocha latte

Anonymous said...

Now I'm craving a coffee. lol

Thanks for the lovely review, Kerrie. I'm so glad you enjoyed William and Everleigh's story.

XO,
S.L. Scott

Quilt Lady said...

I drink my coffee with Creme Brulee and sweet and low.

Quilt Lady said...

I drink my coffee with Creme Brulee and sweet and low. Then I have a Mountain Dew on top of that.