Spotlight & Giveaway: Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka to HJ!

Hi Emily & Austin and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Book Boyfriend!

 
Hi, HJ readers! We’re delighted to return to share our latest romance with you!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

BOOK BOYFRIEND follows Jennifer Worth, devoted fan of the Elytheum Courts romantasy series, which she’s read and reread dozens of times and swooned over thousands. When Jennifer, newly dumped, attends a weeklong immersive fan experience devoted to the Elytheum Courts—complete with costumes, in-character actors, activities from archery to mask-making and even a masquerade ball—one person she does not expect to find there, however, is Scott Daniels, her standoffish coworker at the major publishing house where they work. The Scott she knows is judgmental and withdrawn and, worse, dismissive of Elytheum. So why is he here, seemingly working to remake himself into… the ultimate “book boyfriend”? The closer she gets to Scott while they compete in the Elytheum Experience’s weeklong scavenger hunt, the more she realizes they may have misjudged each other—and might be living out their very own enemies-to-lovers fantasy.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“And it won’t be fantastical, but it will be magical.” This line focuses on the deeper story we loved writing for Jennifer—learning to find as much magic in her own life as in the fantasy novels she loves.

Of course, this is tied with “Scott is the wedgie in my soul.” Couldn’t have put enemies-to-lovers spite any lovelier than Jennifer does.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

We’ve worked for nearly ten years developing versions of this story for every age range/market, and sometimes with actual fantastical elements—our first versions, called JENNIFER GOES ON A QUEST, centered on a teenager who falls literally into the fantastical world of her favorite fantasy novels. What inspired us to change this story up into the version of BOOK BOYFRIEND we’re excited to share with you was two things: the movie AUSTENLAND, which we adore, and real life BRIDGERTON balls and experiences. While we changed the events to center on a real-world fan experience, however, we hope the equally snarky and idealistic, fandom-devoted Jennifer have remained the same!

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Quite simply, Jennifer is attracted to Scott because his efforts to change himself into an epic “book boyfriend” …are working. Scott, unlucky in love himself, has decided to come to the Elytheum Experience to learn the swagger, smolder and sensitivity that make every reader’s fandom dreams come true. Jennifer finds himself infuriatingly attracted to her coworker’s efforts, with Scott’s every strategically placed lean and look of dark intensity…and surprised when the more time they spent together reveals a selfless, committed and compassionate man.

WIth Scott, it’s a little more complicated. We’ll leave it un-spoiled, but suffice it to say, the passion and idealism he finds in Jennifer’s fandom have him enchanted.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

We definitely found Scott and Jennifer’s secret kiss in the rain one of the most blushworthy we’ve ever written! We really challenged ourselves to pay tribute to the romantasy inspirations for Jennifer’s favorite reads. We want Jennifer’s, and readers’, fantasies to come true…

“His body presses into mine, pinning me to the wall. I practically hear my heartbeat ricocheting on the stone. The archway holds me firmly in place. The clenching cold of Scott’s wet clothing on my skin pairs with the heat of his mouth devouring mine.
I want to be devoured. I never want it to end.”

Readers should read this book….

If they know what fandom feels like—not just romantasy fandom, or literary fandom, but that feeling, for whatever it is, of feeling your wildest dreams and greatest inspirations come to life in whatever piece of media or art they love. Or, if they’re into enemies-to-lovers stories. With BOOK BOYFRIEND, we sought to combine those two key inspirations into a romance with heat and heart, and also with something to say about why we invest ourselves in our fandoms and why we deserve to find hope and aspiration in those loves, but also how we can search for the same romance and joy in our own lives.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

We’re incredibly excited to share the details of our next romance—it’s called SEEING OTHER PEOPLE, and it’s got a paranormal twist. SEEING OTHER PEOPLE centers on two strangers haunted, literally, by the ghosts of their exes, who decide to work together to exorcise their ghosts by resolving the spirits’ unfinished business…and fall for each other in the process. We also cowrite with Bridget Morrissey comedic cozy romantic fantasy novels under the name E.B. Asher. We were delighted to release our first, THIS WILL BE FUN, this past year…and we’re even more delighted to announce its upcoming sequel/in-world standalone THIS WILL BE INTERESTING, featuring a new group of unconventional questmates in an enigmatic magical city.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A finished copy of BOOK BOYFRIEND by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Do fantasy novels give readers “unrealistic expectations” for romance and relationships, or is it valuable to find inspiration and hope in your favorite fantasies?

 
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Excerpt from Book Boyfriend:

I back up until my spine hits the column in the arched aperture. It’s surprise, not displeasure, driving me—I’m unsure what Scott is doing, despite how his eyes burn with his intention. Fighting or flirting? Rivalry or romance?
His paces toward me pose another riddle. Desire or diversion? I no longer know where we stand with each other. Is this a game? A rebound? Is it…something more?
He walks all the way up to me, to where I’m flat against the unyielding stone. Water slick on his face, he reaches up and places his hand on the wall beside me. He presses forward.
I feel my breath halt in my throat.
Because Scott—my Scott, the man intertwined with my every ordinary workday, the regular life I use fantasy to escape from—has just done “the lean” perfectly.
Only the cold of my waterlogged clothing confirms I’m not literally dreaming right now. You’re stuck in a dream, Jennifer. His words return to me. Yes, I could reply under the stone arch. And right now, you’re the one holding me.
I find myself looking up at him, my chest heaving. Exactly how “the lean” is designed. Scott dips his head, following the choreography like fantasy fulfillment is hidden instinct for him. His chin waits millimeters from my temple.
“You should never underestimate me, Jennifer,” he whispers.
The rasp of his voice sends shivers racing over my skin. I don’t know what he’s referring to, honestly. The scavenger hunt. The lean. Or everything else. Fantasies I can’t name.
I just know he’s not wrong. Drops of water from the ends of his hair drip onto my collarbone—caresses, explosions, kisses.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he informs me.
I’ve read hundreds of words depicting characters in scenes just like this one. Yet I can find no words of my own. “Why?” I croak out. Honestly, Kethryn’s eloquence in such moments is one virtue my queen possesses and I don’t.
“Because I need to,” he says.
The desperation in his eyes leaves no doubting his intention. It’s written everywhere on his face, urging my pulse faster. I’m no longer shivering—with Scott over me, promising what he is, looking wracked the way he does, heat rushes into me. The arch supporting me is welcome, when the warmth weakening my limbs and dizzying my head has me ready to collapse into him.
I could unravel right here, I really could. Here lies Jennifer. Her coworker flirted her to death.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Devoted fangirl meets hesitant fanboy in this swoony contemporary love letter to readers who adore fantasy worlds.
Jennifer Worth lives to escape into the world of her favorite romantasy series Elytheum Courts, where the romance is sweeping and the men are brave, chivalrous . . . and winged. Newly single and craving connection, she travels to an immersive fan experience celebrating all things Elytheum, only to see the last face she expected—Scott Daniels, her work nemesis, whose disinterest in Jennifer’s favorite series and standoffishness have made their publishing jobs feel like a feuding fae court.
Except the Scott she encounters there, in his secondhand cosplay outfit, is . . . different. Swaggering, flirtatious, confident. Unlucky in romance himself and inspired by Jennifer’s love for the swoonworthy men of Elytheum, Scott is determined to remake himself into the perfect book boyfriend.
Jennifer has no interest in helping the man who vexes her every workday and dismisses her fictional fantasies, but as the immersive convention activities force them together, they’re surprised to discover magic like none Jennifer has ever read about. But is enemies-to-lovers romance only for books, or can Jennifer and Scott bring the trope to life?
Book Links: Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka met and fell in love in high school. Austin went on to graduate from Harvard, while Emily graduated from Princeton. Together, they are the authors of The Roughest Draft and Do I Know You?, as well as several novels about romance for teens. Now married, they live in Los Angeles, where they continue to take daily inspiration from their own love story.
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