Spotlight & Giveaway: Love Buzz by Neely Tubati Alexander

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Neely Tubati Alexander to HJ!

Hi Neely and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Love Buzz!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

LOVE BUZZ follows Serena Khan on her quest to track down the guy she met on Bourbon Street during a debaucherous bachelorette party. The chance romantic encounter, short but stirring, causes Serena to rethink many aspects of her life, love most of all. She has to decide, how far am I willing to go in search of love? With a fiesty best friend and workplace and dating hijinx along the way, Serena’s journey is ultimately one of self-discovery.
 

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

While much of the book includes romcom fun and banter, the ultimate theme of the book is one of self-discovery. I like this quote that outlines Serena beginning to see her past relationship in a new light as she steps into her own:
“Was there one specific thing that turned Danny flat over these last eight years? One incident or moment that stomped the audacious hope right out of him from the time we first met to the time we came back together? Though I don’t know for certain, I assume he was nicked away over time, rounded and softened of his sharp edges as he ran into expectation’s whetted corners and society’s shrewd boundaries. I fear we are too much the same, Danny and me.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

When I queried the book, the original title was One Night On Bourbon Street. My agent quickly suggested we could come up with something better! We ended up with LOVE BUZZ (a Nirvana song title) because of the Nirvana elements of the book and the Seattle setting. The font used for the title on the cover is the same font used for the Nirvana logo. I am also a huge fan of the movie Serendipity with Kate Beckinsdale and John Cusack. I loved the theme in that book of the exploration of love at first sight and wrote LOVE BUZZ as a bit of an homage to that movie.

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

There’s definitely an immediate physical connection, but Serena and Julian also quickly connect on being the two “outsiders” in a crowded Mardi Gras bar, people-watching and sharing their individual unique Mardi Gras experiences from their respective trips. Plus, there’s the thrill of meeting a hot stranger on vacation. Ultimately though, they experience that immediate, consuming connection they both feel compelled to explore.

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

My favorite thing to write is banter. The sarcastic, biting wit that Serena and Julian share in the opening two chapters was one of my favorite things to write because it’s the type of meet-cute I would want.

Here’s a snippet:
I don’t notice his approach, but suddenly there is a guy by my side trying to be heard over the music, though I can barely make out what he says.
“Chest for beads!” is what I hear.
“Excuse me?” I say, debating whether to raise my knee to his groin.
He leans in closer. “I said, are you not into flashing your chest to a room full of horny dudes for shitty plastic beads?”
I really look at him then. His warm brown hair is tamed with gel, though it appears to be just barely working, like his hair may spring from its delicate trap at any moment in all directions. His thick brows hover incredibly close to his eyes, as if they are all the same feature, giving him a brooding quality I am decidedly attracted to. My dark brows are the opposite, highly arched and meticulously sculpted; the time investment alone makes it the first feature I notice on others.
“Shitty plastic beads that are probably full of lead,” I add, interest piqued.
He leans against the wall beside me, mimicking my position, then lifts his leg to place his foot against the wall behind him. As he does, the music transitions and I hear the screech of the sole of his light gray canvas shoe being ripped from the stickiness of the floor. I try not to think about what particular combination of filth has created said sticky substance below our feet.
“Yes, those.” He motions his beer bottle toward me and I look down at the lone strand of shiny purple beads around my neck. “So if you didn’t show your chest, dare I ask how you got ’em?”
“Who said I didn’t show my chest?”
He raises his eyebrows and his cheeks glow pink and he looks for a moment like a preteen boy having a conversation about boobs.He keeps his eyebrows raised and now it feels as though he is calling my bluff.
“I didn’t show my chest for them,” I admit.
He releases the strain of his eyebrow ridge.
“A waiter took pity on me and my bare neck.”
My words cause him to look at my neck, which makes my neck suddenly very sensitive to the air against it.
“Want me to take them off your hands? For health purposes,”
he asks.
“You’d have to earn them,” I say. “This is Mardi Gras, after all.”
He kicks himself off the wall and turns to face me. It’s then Inotice just how much he towers over me.
“I have to earn the shitty, lead-filled pity beads?” The corners of his mouth lift playfully.
“Well, they are a hot commodity.” I take a sip of my watered-down vodka soda as he contemplates a response. We look at each other for a long moment, and I feel myself flush as I notice the dark speck in the green of his right iris just below the pupil. I say a secret thank-you
to the manager of this bar for ensuring the lights are not so dim that I might miss this detail about him.
“Okay. What do I have to do to earn them?” He’s still yelling over the music, though somehow this part sounds like a whisper in my ear.
“Show me your tits!” I yell through the megaphone I’ve made around my mouth with my hands.

Readers should read this book….

Readers should read this book if they like strong elements of romance but with a personal journey at the center. More and more, I find myself escaping into the pages of light, fun, beach reads. I like to think LOVE BUZZ fits perfectly into this warm, heart hug of a book category. I like to think it is a hopeful, compelling read that’s just plain FUN. We could all use more fun.

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

My second novel, IF THE WORLD WAS ENDING is coming in 2024, also from Harper Perennial. I’m incredibly excited about this one. Set in the gaming world, the main character Sloane is a video game designer and doomsday planner who ends up on a fake romantic escape with her hot neighbor in an effort to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. There’s a lot of fun and games in this one and is more of a straight-on romance.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: TWO print copies of LOVE BUZZ are available to Harlequin Junkie readers!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: After meeting Julian, Serena is forced to explore if love at first sight is a real thing. Her pragmatic, logical self tells her no. But her heart, gut and lady parts all scream yes. Do you believe in love at first sight? Why or why not?

 
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Excerpt from Love Buzz:

When I elbow my way through the crowd back to our spot in the corner, I find Julian, alone, again leaning against the wall with his one foot propped up. When he sees me, he pushes off the wall and turns to face me.
“Hi,” he says, and I can’t help but think his voice sounds a bit relieved that I’m back.
“Hi,” I say, hoping he hears the same from me. “Melody eventually
tired of you, did she?”
“Yeah, she grilled me for about thirty seconds and then a Miley song came on and she bolted back to the bar top.” He motions his drink to the bar, where Coral has now also rejoined the group, looking as though she didn’t just hurl in a bathroom garbage can.
“You’re on a first-name basis with Miley Cyrus?”
He smirks.
“Do you wanna go outside?” I ask, desperate to avoid any more distractions or prying eyes.
“Yes, please.”
As I lead him through the crushing crowd, I can’t help but feel a current through me each time he bumps me from behind. The back of my arm running into his bicep. My shoulder against the soft
cotton of his Nirvana T-shirt. My backside against the front of his jeans. When we reach the door, he leans forward and our faces are extremely close as he pushes the door open for me to slink through.
We step outside and though there are throngs of people out here too, it is decidedly quieter and cooler. We nestle against the side of the entrance, just beyond the mass of people in the street.
“Ah, it’s a little better out here. It’s just so . . . moist in there,” he says, rubbing his palm against the back of his neck.
“Did you just say moist to me?”
“Charming or douchey?” he asks, face crinkled.
“One thousand percent douchey.”
“Agreed. I’m zero for two. Why are you even still talking to me?” He looks into me and it feels like a dare of some kind.
I shrug. “You saw my other options.” I motion toward the bar entrance.
“Do you mean Tommy Bahama or the bridesmaids?”
“Both.”
We smile.
A large group pushes past us and Julian curves his hand around my waist to keep them from ramming me into the wall as they pass. I wonder if I will feel phantom remnants of that hand on my waistline long after we part. We instinctively scoot farther away from everyone
and everything, hugging the corner of the building.
We stand there, staring at each other for a moment, his green eyes unblinking. A light wind sweeps through the breezeway and it makes my skin tingle. A crescendo of cheers erupts from the street and I look over just in time to see three women lined up in the middle
of the street, shirts pulled to their shoulders, bare chests jiggling against the sticky air. If I were keeping track, I’d say those three sets push my visual breast count from this trip to triple digits.
“Why do you think flashing is a thing at Mardi Gras anyway?” I ask him.
He shrugs. “My guess? A traditional, sacred celebration overtaken by drunk, overindulgent tourists.”
“A solid assumption.”
In the street, the well-proportioned girls have moved on, replaced by a guy in a Viking hat (horns and all) and tighty-whities facing us, flicking his nipples and making aggressive eye contact
with me. Julian steps between us to shield me from the horror. I fear I’m reaching sensory overload.
“Tourists ruin everything,” I say, looking up at him.
“Agreed,” he says. “To be fair, Mardi Gras is technically a celebration of Fat Tuesday, the last day to indulge before Lent.” He returns to his spot beside me as the Tighty-Whitey Viking continues
on his way.
“So all the beignets I’ve eaten these past four days are . . . ?”
“On point with the true meaning of Mardi Gras.”
“Nice. Thank you for rationalizing that for me.”
“A night of indulgences,” he says, leaning his shoulder against the building as if the weight of his words is too much. He leans in. “You should tell me something you’ve never told anyone before.”
When I raise my eyebrows, he adds, “I want to know something no one else knows about you. For the sake of the true meaning of Mardi Gras, of course.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“Look around. There are no rules here.”
I do as he suggests and look around. There’s carefree abandon, good-natured recklessness, a general lack of bras. A night of indulgences. I’m inclined to agree.
“I want to know your deep, dark secrets,” he continues, looking into me, then breathes in a barely audible tone, “Charming or douchey?”
Charming. Decidedly charming.
I don’t answer.
He cocks his head to one side and folds his arm in a silent plea. A tingle makes its way down me, from the nape of my neck to the heels of my feet. My lips part but nothing comes out.
“C’mon,” he says before breaking into a smile. “Haven’t you ever lied, cheat, or stolen? Helped hide a body? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
When he says stolen, I fight off an internal flinch.
“Okay,” I say.
We both straighten, preparing to unmask. And, if he’s like me, he’s embracing the slight terror inside him about how things have suddenly become serious.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A wretched maid of honor. A hangover from hell. Raucous Mardi Gras crowds. There isn’t much Serena Khan is enjoying about this four-day New Orleans destination bachelorette party for her semi-estranged cousin, the bride-to-be.

UNTIL sparks fly with a handsome stranger, who—like her—is also from Seattle, at the ladies’ last stop of the evening, a Bourbon Street bar. After their conversation is cut short, Serena is overwhelmed by the desire to find the charming man with the brooding eyebrows, but her list of clues is pretty short:

His name is Julian
He lives on Chamber Hill
He works at a tech company
He loves Lil Wayne and Nirvana

The need to find him is, for Serena, both irresistible and totally irrational. In a few short weeks, her college alumni magazine is featuring her in a “Life at Thirty” feature, cementing her as a success story. She will have officially achieved the safe, stable life her late mother insisted upon. Julian is not part of the plan.

As she combs Seattle for her New Orleans flame, stripping away the perfectly curated life that would have made her mother proud, Serena must decide if the pursuit of real passion is worth it, and fast, before she destroys the life she always thought she wanted.

In a sharply funny, thoughtful, and romantic debut, Neely Tubati Alexander prompts us all to ask if the life we’re living is a life worth loving.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N | kobo |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Neely Tubati Alexander is a first-generation Indian American mother of two. Originally from the Seattle area where Love Buzz, her debut novel, is largely set, she seeks to tell lighthearted, female-driven stories with diverse characters and strong women who pursue both love and careers. If she’s not tucked away at the little desk in her bedroom writing, you can find her at some kiddo activity, drinking wine, or watching reality TV, usually the last two together. She lives in Arizona with her family.
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