Spotlight & Giveaway: Guarded Dreams by LJ Evans

Posted May 28th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 66 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author LJ Evans to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi LJ Evans and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Guarded Dreams!

 
Thank you for having me! I can’t wait to share more of Eli and Ava’s second chance love story with you!
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

Guarded Dreams is a
-Standalone
-Coast Guard
-Country Singer
-Broken Dreams
-Summer Beach Read

It’s a story that explores all the ways that dreams are chased, lost, and remade as we go through life. It’s about a guy who dreams of being a US Coast Guard and goes on to make those dreams come true, and a woman who dreams of being a country music star and her path to making that happen. It’s a slow burn, second chance story that will make you laugh (and some say cry), but it will definitely make you feel!
 

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

Gah. I love so many of the things that Eli and Ava say to each other. The promises, the surprises, the moments of revelation. But this is one of my very favorite things that Eli tells her:

“When you’re in the same room with me, I feel like my body is being called to yours. Like the waves are called when the moon draws the tides. Like the pull you have on me is ancient and old. As if we’ve been doing this dance for longer than man has been on Earth. I feel like the only place I was ever meant to be…is next to you.”

 

What inspired this book?

Oh holy guac, this book was inspired by quite a few things. First, it was inspired by Luke Bryan’s “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset.” I wanted to explore that whole scene where the girl shows up at her father’s beach house to find a group of guys painting it. I loved the imagery those lyrics created in my head.

Then, I was cruising around Pinterest, and I found this old Mila Kunis post about how she’d never expected back when she was filming “That 70s Show” that Ashton Kutcher would be the love of her life for real when they met again later in life. I started flipping through articles about their relationship, and the sweetness of it―the way they fit―made me want to use them as the background for my story. That whole idea of meeting someone before you were really ready for them, and what would happen.

When I was on Ashton’s Twitter page, his profile had something about how he liked to help dreams come true, and all the pieces of my story kind of fell into place. A second chance, summer beach, chasing dreams kind of story.

 

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

My first-time exploring Eli and Ava for real was when I wrote a scene that popped into my head while I was in the shower. It’s the scene where Ava and Eli are still at the beach house, and he catches her going through his things. She’s trying on his uniform cap and then his uniform shirt, and he’s watching her from the doorway before she realizes it. The scene shares so much of both of them. Her hidden demons. His integrity and control. The desire that’s there between them, but how they can’t act on it because it would end up with one or both of them abandoning their dreams. Everything about them, her sass and spontaneity, his control and seriousness, came from that one scene.

Ava’s character ended up surprising me the most. I had these big plans for her and her dreams, and how they were going to come to fruition. When I got to the part of the story when this was going to happen for her, I realized that she’d changed too much. That she didn’t want the same dream anymore. She’d grown up. This truth about her felt much more real to me because there are so many of us who find that our dreams change as we go through life. It doesn’t mean we are giving up on something, or being a failure. It just means that we know ourselves better at that point than we did before. It was a hard thing to describe to readers, though. I know that I’ve had one or two readers think that Ava wimped out. But, to me, her journey is a much more realistic one than the one I originally had planned for her.

 

What was your favorite scene to write?

The ending was the most fun to write…when Eli finds Ava at the bar, but I can’t really say too much about that without spoiling a lot. So, I’ll tell you one of my second favorite scenes to write. That was when they’ve just met, and he thinks she’s leaving for good, but she’s really going to sing at a bar. When Eli finds her there, he’s stunned. Shocked into a stillness that his friends can’t shake him from. He’s mesmerized by her, and she jumps to the bar and walks along it to him. He holds out a hand, and she takes it, landing in his arms. The intense feelings that rippled out of both of them in that scene made me so happy. Truck (one of the side characters) says that it’s “Coyote Ugly” and “Officer and a Gentleman” all rolled into one. And that’s exactly what I was going for.

 

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Ugh. Spoilers again. Let’s just say that it’s a scene later in the book when Eli is faced with the finality of his lost dreams. He’s staring at himself in the mirror and trying not to cry. Trying to hold it together for Ava who’s in the other room, but she comes into the room and tells him to not hide the pain from her. That it’s theirs to bear together. It was hard to write, emotionally, but it was also hard because I was trying to showcase just how much both the characters had changed since the moment they first met four years before. I had to write the scene several times before it had all the layers to it that I wanted it to have.

 

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

This book definitely showcases my style. I try really hard for my books to represent how people live life resiliently. My characters are people who face real challenges, and the books show how they get through these challenges with perseverance, with “family,” and with love. We do not have to just “get through” the bad things in our life. There isn’t a magical doorway on the other side of the “event” that we can reach. But we can take what happened, fold it into who we are, and move forward as a new version of ourselves with all the life experiences and moments that created us making us into something new and spectacular.

My books can be emotional reads for people. I’m not romcom (even though I ADORE romcoms and gobble them up as a reader myself). That said, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have funny or “light” moments in my stories. I do, and this book has Mac Truck (two military men) as secondary characters who bring a lot of that levity. And Ava herself is full of sass. I hope that the book makes people “feel.” I hope that it touches them.

Plus, all my books use music to drive home the meaning of the chapters by starting with a song title that gives you an idea of what’s to come. This book is no exception. It has 35 songs tied to it…

 

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

Gosh…this is hard because I think that the takeaway is going to be different for everyone who reads it based on where they’re at in their life. I hope (truly hope) that people leave my story feeling encouraged about themselves and their life. I hope that they can connect with the characters because the reader has experienced some of the same lost and remade dreams that Ava and Eli do.

 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I’m currently working on another standalone novel with Mac, one of the secondary characters in Guarded Dreams. I didn’t intend to write any more about these characters, but Mac and Truck’s stories bloomed in my heart while I was writing about them. Mac’s a Navy guy, and he has big dreams of going into politics. Those dreams are going to be challenged by an unexpected romance with a half-Russian law student. Mac’s story is going to explore the idea of just how much you’re willing to give up for true love. I know, it isn’t a unique idea. Ha! But I hope that I can give it a new look with characters my readers will adore.

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: Signed paperback (US only) and a $25 Amazon Gift Card to one of the people who answer with a song that I should write about.

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What song do you think I should listen to next that will inspire an entire story? My debut series, MY LIFE AS AN ALBUM, was kicked off by Taylor Swift’s “Oh, My, My, My (Mary’s Song)” and GUARDED DREAMS was kicked off by “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” as well as “Craving You” by Thomas Rhett. Can you think of a song that would spur me to write a whole book? If you give me one, and I write a book about it, I’ll put you in the credits.

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from Guarded Dreams:

“Who was your granddad?”

“A senator. From North Carolina.”

“Is that supposed to be a big deal?”

I looked up at him in surprise and saw that rare Eli smile on his face. He was teasing me, bringing us back from our serious moments.

“Well, it’s not as big as being “The Boy Who Lived,” but it’s pretty big around these parts.”

He frowned.

“Have you even read Harry Potter?” I asked.

“Sure, but it was a while ago.”

“Like how long ago?”

“Ten years?”

“Do you even read at all?”

“I just told you my mom worked at a bookstore. How can you even ask that question?” he asked.

“That doesn’t mean you have to read. What’s your favorite book?”

“Case Closed, Volume Six,” he responded immediately. My turn to stop.

“Wait, like a comic book?” I was trying not to laugh, but I could see this was not going to go over well. He wasn’t going to take my making fun of his favorite book lightly.

“It’s manga,” he sighed. “And if you tell the guys, I will have to murder you in your sleep.”

I lost it, laughing so hard that I had to double over to catch my breath, and the next thing I knew, I was in his arms, and he was charging toward the water. The waves hit me, splashing on my skin and clothes. Once we got deep enough, he dropped me.

I hit the water, and the coolness took my breath for a moment, reminding my body of the loss of air from yesterday and the sore muscles that I had because of it. I was still smiling.

I sunk to the bottom, holding my breath and waiting. Eventually, I felt his arms reach down and pull me to the surface.

My smile widened when I saw the worry on his face. My smile turned his worry into a growl, and he pushed me under again.

I came up splashing this time, soaking him from head to toe as much as I was soaked. My clothes were clinging to me just as his T-shirt was clinging to him, outlining his cuts and contours as the sun set behind us, turning the sky pink and purple.

I thought to myself, There will never be another moment like this. Full of wants and desires and loss and freedom and hope. So much hope.

Before I could even think about it, I leaped into his arms, where he caught me as if I’d always been doing just that. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck and planted my salty lips against his.

His lips opened in surprise but were still stiff and unyielding, all the reasons why we shouldn’t still floating on the air between us. I just didn’t care. I wanted this moment. This kiss. I slipped my tongue into his mouth and was rewarded with a groan.

His arms tightened around me. Giving in. Returning my kiss with ferocity. The energy that had throbbed between us becoming this one huge torrential wave that was igniting into a hurricane force.

He tasted of salt and beer and salsa. He tasted like a place I’d never known I needed. His tongue took control of mine, demanding more, demanding all of me. Taking things I’d never known I could give. Soul. Heart. Life. His kiss returned things, too. His soul. His heart. My body burned with desire, as if there would never be enough time for us to assuage the need in us.

I don’t know how long we stood there, wet, bodies twined together, tongues dancing in the twilight, and hearts meeting somewhere in between. Finally, he started to slow the pace of our dance and then removed his lips from mine.

He buried his face in my neck, breathing me in like I seemed to breathe him in.

“You’re beautiful, Ava.”

His low, gritty voice could barely be heard over the crash of the waves. I heard the “but” in his voice without him having said it. I turned my face slightly so that I could place a kiss on his head that was still nestled against my skin.

“Don’t freak out, Mr. Grumpy. It was just a kiss.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

He dreams of being a US Coast Guard. She dreams of being a country star. But will a chance encounter send them careening in a new direction?

Eli Wyatt is all serious, military cadet. He’s determined to honor his father’s memory by joining the Coast Guard. So when his professor’s sexy, impulsive daughter shows up at the beach house jeopardizing those plans, he does everything he can to send her away.

Ava Abrams is all music all the time. She’s escaping― her father and a future that isn’t hers. She isn’t going to let anything, even a gorgeous, broody cadet, slow her down.

But when their bodies and souls start speaking to each other, it’s hard for either of them to walk away until Ava’s father shows up, threatening both their dreams. Ava runs, and their summer love story is left as a wish that never came true.

Four years later, fate brings Ava and Eli together again in a New York City bar. Will they take the second chance that is handed to them or will their dreams continue to keep them apart?

“No one can take away a love story that is yours.”

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Award winning author, LJ Evans, lives in the California Central Valley with her husband, daughter, and the three terrors called cats. She’s been writing, almost as a compulsion, since she was a little girl and will often pull the car over to write when a song lyric strikes her. While she currently spends her days teaching 1st grade in a local public school, she spends her free time reading and writing, as well as binge watching original shows like The Crown, Victoria, and Stranger Things.

If you ask her the one thing she won’t do, it’s pretty much anything that involves dirt—sports, gardening, or otherwise. But she loves to write about all of those things, and her first published heroine was pretty much involved with dirt on a daily basis. Which is exactly what LJ loves about fiction novels—the characters can be everything you’re not and still make their way into your heart.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |

 

 

 

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66 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Guarded Dreams by LJ Evans”

  6. Jennifer Shiflett

    Beautiful Disaster by Jon McLaughlin would make an amazing book!

  8. John Smith

    “What song do you think I should listen to next that will inspire an entire story?” The Bloodhound Gang’s “Bad Touch.”

  18. laurieg72

    Two beautiful songs by Chris DeBurgh: SO BEAUTIFUL & HERE IS MY PARADISE:

    I never knew love could be a silence in the heart,
    A moment when the time is still,
    And all I’ve been looking for is right here in my arms,
    Just waiting for the chance to begin;

    I never knew love could be the sunlight in your eyes,
    On a day that you may not have seen,
    And all I’ve been searching for, well words could never say,
    When a touch is more than anything;

    Maybe you will never know how much I love you,
    But of this, be sure;

    Here is your paradise, here is your book of life,
    Where you and I will be forevermore;
    Here is your paradise, here is your book of life,
    Where you and I will be forevermore;

    And in the dark night, you’ll follow the bright light
    And go where the love must go,
    And you will wake in the morning to a brand new day,
    Take all your worries away;

    Maybe you will never know how much I love you,
    But of this, be sure,
    Here is your paradise, here is your book of life,
    Where you and I will be forevermore;
    Here is your paradise, here is your book of life,
    Where you and I will be forevermore;

    chris-de-burgh-lyrics-here-is-your-paradise

    I’m lying here tonight, thinking of the days we’ve had.
    Wondering if the world would be So Beautiful,
    If I had not looked into your eyes.
    How did you know that I’ve been waiting?
    Never knew the world would be So Beautiful at all..

    I’m spending all the days,
    dreaming of the nights we’ve had,
    I never knew that love would be a miracle, when I think of
    all the ones before,
    But now that I’ve found you I am flying,
    I never knew that love would be so beautiful to me I never
    knew that love would be so beautiful to me

    And then we danced to the rhythm,
    that is burning like a flame,
    and when you touch me I can hardly move, you take my breath
    away

    You give me all that I want to feel
    when we become as one
    and then you take me to the heaven of your heart Did nobody
    ever tell you,
    you’re the best thing that has ever been?

    Ahh ahhh aahhh – you are …So Beautiful Ahh Ahhh Ahhhh – so
    beautiful,

    I’m standing here tonight, thinking of the times we’ll have,
    I never knew that you would be so beautiful,

    chris-de-burgh-lyrics-so-beautiful-

    He also did LADY IN RED & FOREVERMORE, & IF YOU LOVE HER LET HER GO

  32. Joy Tetterton Avery

    I’ll Be There For You by Bon Jovi. It could inspire my favorite trope, second chance.

  34. Marcy Meyer

    I have always thought that Remedy by Adele would make a good story.
    “But when the pain cuts you deep
    When the night keeps you from sleeping
    Just look and you will see
    That I will be your remedy
    When the world seems so cruel
    And your heart makes you feel like a fool
    I promise you will see
    That I will be, I will be your remedy.”

  36. Banana cake

    I mostly listen to hip hop and rap and I can’t imagine using any of those songs for a book.

  41. Jennifer Beyer

    I’m really enjoying the most recent album by Bring Me The Horizon, Amo. There are lots of good song options like i apologise if you feel something.

    • Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

      Thomas Rhett – Marry Me
      John Legend – All of Me
      Great Big World – Say Something