Spotlight & Giveaway: Maybe Ever After by Cassie Graham

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Cassie Graham to HJ!

Hi Cassie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Maybe Ever After!

 
Hi beautiful friends. I’m so happy to be here!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Maybe Ever After is an angsty, best friend-to-lovers romance about two people who are differently, but equally flawed. Sometimes, the one you love is in front of you, and all you need is for someone to test that relationship in order to face your true feelings. Told in two parts, the first part in Brynn Darling’s POV, and the second in Easton Cole’s, you journey with them as they navigate dating, love, work and finding happiness within themselves.
 

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

We were just a boy and a girl searching for something meaningful in a world full of pointless substance.

“Okay. So, then what is this? Us.”
“Friends with benefits.” I suggested.
Easton shook his head. “Best friends with moments of intense connection,” he clarified. “Friends with benefits doesn’t fit what we are.”

We were a book yet to be written. We were an adventure I thought I’d never endure – one I never saw coming.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Oh, my goodness. First of all, if you know me, you know I LOVE anything Supernatural related. Jensen Ackles is LIFE. I go to conventions any time I can – I’ve met the entire cast multiple times. And because I’m so obsessed, I created a convention company, Fiction Convention, for my hero and heroine to work for. And surprise! They work with a fandom for the fictional TV show, UnNatural.
• For a majority of the outlining process, the book was titled Con Girl or Take Con Me (because when outlining, both characters loved 80’s music), but I worried readers would associate Con with a con-person instead of Convention, so I ousted the idea.
• Anyone love a bearded, complicated hero? Enough said.
• Also, brother’s best friend. Yes, I went there.

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

Easton and Brynn meet each other at a young age. Seven-years-old, and their attraction grew gradually over time. I think what they’re attracted to most about each other is their hearts. Sure, they’re both good looking, but they’ve endured a lot of life together, they’ve leaned on each other, seen the worst of each other, and they still find the goodness within one another.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

“Thank you,” he whispered, using his free hand to take hold of my hand, lacing our fingers together.
A small smile found my lips and I snuggled in closer to his neck. “Always.”
He stayed silent, and his clean scent wrapping around me – comforting me.
Why on earth did we have to fight so much? These moments, the quiet ones, when it was just him and I, they feed my soul. Why couldn’t it be like this all the time?
After a while, he let go of my hand. “I’m sorry.”
I moved from his shoulder, the breeze picking up. I looked into his eyes, seeing the tortured child and the confused adult. I could see the little boy who just wanted to be loved more than a bottle of alcohol and the man who constantly tried to find a balance in his life.
Heat burst behind my eyelids. “Me too.”
“It’s so difficult with us lately, Goose.”
I nodded, sadness washing over me like a blanket of botched opportunities.
“There’s so much here. With me and you. With your family.” Easton sighed. “With my family. I want it to be like this. All the time.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The quiet.” He breathed in the crisp night air, closing his eyes for a moment, only to open them again. “With you. This is what I want. Yet, it’s all so . . . screwed up.”
Desperation ripped through my body. “There’s so much to figure out.”
“It shouldn’t be this way, Brynn. I feel like the universe wants us apart, but there’s nothing we can do. We’re stuck on this loop-the-loop and there’s no way off the rollercoaster.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about? Who wants us apart?”
He shook his head, pulling at his hair. It fell in his face and he pulled his glasses off, setting them on the porch step. “It’s . . . it’s not . . .” He sighed. “No matter how much I want you – want us – it can’t happen.”
Each word was a shot to my tangled heart. “Why?”
“We’re complicated – I . . . I’m complicated. I have my own issues that,” he sighed, “that I need to get figured out.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but he didn’t give me time to interject.
“And on top of that,” he went on, “we have to consider your family. Your brother. Not to mention, Fiction Convention doesn’t allow you to date a subordinate. And really, how could we? What’s our endgame?”
I blinked at him. “I . . . I don’t know.”
His nose twitched, and he nodded.

Readers should read this book….

because we’re all looking for a little understanding in our lives. We’re flawed and imperfect, but finding people out there who accept us for who we are is the ultimate goal. Brynn and Easton’s love is special and maddening and wonderful.

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

I’m currently working on a super secret project that is set to release summer 2019. Details are super hush-hush right now because it’s so new, but I’m extremely excited to share when I can.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: $10 Amazon gc + backlist title – winners choice – U.S. only

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: How would you feel if you fell in love with your best friend?

 
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Excerpt from Maybe Ever After:

Easton chewed on his lip as he rolled his eyes. “We can do this all night, you know. Spar. I’m always down for a victory.”
My nose flared, and I reigned in my annoying need to prove him wrong. He was not always right.
I chewed on my options. I could go to bed hungry, with no pizza, or I could suck it up and hang out with my best friend with pizza. Why was I struggling with this, again? “Ugh, fine. You win tonight because I don’t want to argue. Pizza. I need to go get changed, though. I can’t be in these shoes for another minute.” I wiggled my toes in my cute, but totally uncomfortable flats.
It was then that Rod called Easton’s name beckoning him to the stage.
Easton raised an eyebrow with a grin on his face and walked toward the stage.
“Oh!” I said, cupping my hands around my mouth to get him to turn around to look at me. “Get pineapple this time or I junk punch you.”
I smirked to myself as he held his middle finger high in the air.
“Pineapple or nothing. I mean it.”
I was a little obsessed with food, if you couldn’t tell. And fandoms. And movies. And books.
You never know what you’re going to get with Brynn Darling.
Easton pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose through a yawn. “Fine. We’ll get disgusting pineapple because I can’t say no to you.”
Ah, the give and take of a healthy friendship.
I bowed and headed for the exit.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket to send a quick text to my brother, my head down, I collided with someone, my body slamming into a wall of a person.
Only, we didn’t exactly collide, it was more of a slam and a thud because my ass dropped like a huge sack of watermelons while the other person stayed upright.
But as I gazed up, my elbow and backside screaming in discomfort, my breath caught in my throat, the empty burn of much needed oxygen gnawing at my insides.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Brynn. Are you okay? Can I get you an ice pack for your ass? Do you need to sit down?” Jude Acklin gawked at me, eyes worried and hand outstretched.
Closing my eyes for a brief second, I contemplated fainting. I could totally pass out. It was the easier solution than making a bigger jackass of myself in front of Jude. Faint and BOOM! instant damsel. Jude: knight in shining armor . . . err, I mean, perfectly cut jeans and a band shirt. You get the picture.
Seriously, brain. Chill out.
But I couldn’t halt my thoughts.
Oh, my sweet God, can we just concentrate on the fact that Jude is worried about my ass? My ass of all things. And, kill me now, he was adorable. Stupidly adorable. No one should be that cute and be able to live. Honestly. It should be a law.
Must be this hideous to live.
Instead of fainting, I decide to go with the Brynn Move. Which was basically me trying not to make a complete fool of myself. The Brynn Move typically failed me, but that wasn’t important, and it was all I had in my arsenal.
Taking hold of Jude’s hand, my fingers gripping his, and holy crap, Batman, it felt amazing, I smiled. “I’m fairly certain I have a good enough seat on the ground.” My empty hand pointed down. “I’m okay.”
Jude gave me that look that people always give me when I fall – which was often. You know the one. A slight head tilt with a wrinkle in their forehead and an oh-she’s-like-a-newborn-foal expression.
I knew it well.
“Really, Jude. I’m good.”
He pulled me to my feet with a grunt and when I was safely upright, he combed his hair back with his hand. His eyes assessed me, but not in a creepy way most men did, it was as if he was making sure I was still in one piece, no bleeding or broken bones. I was certain he couldn’t see my bruised ego. Or maybe he could, it was possible he was superhuman.
“You’re here early,” I said, breaking the silence between us.
He licked his lips, his plump bottom lip siren-calling every woman in the vicinity – myself included – but I shut it off because his lips and my lips were never going to meet. “Yeah. We wrapped, and I was bored at home.”
“Ah, hiatus not nearly as fun as you thought it’d be?”
Jude raised on his toes, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “You know me. Can’t sit still.”
I laughed as I heard someone come up behind me.
“Acklin!” Easton greeted, maneuvering around me to give Jude a handshake and a hug. “Good to see you, man.”
Jude grinned, wrapping his arms around Easton’s body.
My eyes couldn’t handle it. Literally. They were going to pop out of their sockets. Too much gorgeousness and goodness for one sight.
I needed to look elsewhere. My eyes hurt.
“You should come and have pizza with us,” Easton offered.
Oh, no. No. NO! Easton is NOT inviting Jude-Effing-Acklin to have dinner with us. He wasn’t. I was dreaming. Day dreaming. Yep. That was it.
I pinched myself.
“That actually sounds . . .” Jude took his hands out of his pockets to rub his eyes, “great, honestly. I didn’t get a chance to eat dinner.”
Did you hear that? No. Just in case you were wondering, my entire metaphorical being just exploded into five trillion little pieces. I was fairly confident my broken and mangled body was floating in the air all around the two of them and they had zero clue.
Jude Acklin and Easton Cole in a hotel room.
With me.
Dammit. I officially couldn’t be ugly tonight.
“You cool with that, Goose?” Easton asked, and I couldn’t exactly say no. Who says no to two handsome men who are equally just as sweet?
Not me.
They stared my way, Easton’s blue and Jude’s hazel eyes and I realized I hadn’t said anything.
“Oh, uh, totally. Yeah. One hundred percent. I’m so down. Down to clown.” I stopped. “Oh, God. Not down to clown. That means sex. And I wouldn’t have sex with the both of you. That would be a threesome. Threesome’s are . . .” I stopped again to whistle, “are a no-go for me. I’m a one guy kind-of-girl.”
I clucked my tongue.
What the hell? Why was I clucking my tongue like I was riding a horse?
“Good ole Brynn is monogamous,” I felt the need to add, dusting the imaginary dust off my shoulder.
Was I still talking, or had I sufficiently stuck my entire foot in my mouth?
Every gland in my body opened up and I began to sweat. Like, friggin’ Niagara Falls. I almost fanned my armpits.
“I mean, I’m not one to judge,” I continued. Nope. Foot still undoubtedly free of my mouth. Stupid foot. “Have threesome all you like, but . . .” Brynn. Shut the hell up. I clamped my mouth closed.
Easton and Jude chuckled, watching me make a fool of myself.
And once again, the Brynn Move was a complete catastrophe.
I sucked at this game.
Brynn Move: ZERO
Universe: Infinity
Easton choked back a sputter, covering his mouth with his hand, eyeing me with something that teetered on the line of awe and excitement. “Apparently we have a lot to talk about later.” He waggled his eyebrows.
I slapped his stomach, giving him a hard look that, I hoped, conveyed that I’d sucker punch him if he didn’t keep his mouth shut.
Jude cleared his throat, eyeing me and Easton with a grin.
Easton checked his watch, apparently done giving me a hard time. “Moving on. My room, 840, in, let’s say, thirty?”
Jude nodded, and I tried to mimic his expression, all nonchalant and cool as hell, but who was I kidding? I couldn’t pull that off.
Waving, my mouth fully clamped shut, I all-but ran out of the hall, beating my forehead with the palm of my hand.
A threesome with Jude and Easton? Really, Brynn? Christ almighty.
It was no wonder I’m still single.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

No one tells you what happens when you fall in love with your best friend.
They don’t tell you it’s like waiting for the answer to a question no one can hear you ask.

Meet Brynn Darling. Successful event coordinator. Celebrity friends. At the top of her game. But after many failed attempts at finding love, and a realization that her best friend is clueless, she’s ready to move on.

Easton Cole has been in the friend zone since . . . well, forever. He fills the void with unimportant people and never gets attached. That is until Brynn begins seeing a guy who threatens everything he’s ever wanted.

All bets are off.

Maybe it’ll never happen.
Maybe she’ll fall in love.
Maybe they’ll get their ever after . . . after all.
 
 

Meet the Author:

A chocolate mistress, Cassie Graham is a born and raised Arizona girl. Her sass knows no bounds and almost always has something kind to say, no matter the situation. She runs a platform of love and strives to bring those attributes out in every book she writes.

Being a hopeless romantic, she found her love for romance after she fell in love at eighteen. Stories became a lot easier to write after she found her soulmate. Love exists and she’s blessed enough to live it every day.

If Cassie isn’t shoulder-deep in writing a version of a fairytale, you can find her front porch sitting with her husband and daughter, eating all the bread, gossiping with her best friends, visiting Disneyland, supporting strong women, listening to cheesy music and reading great books by amazing people. She loves binge watching Supernatural, drooling over Dean, Sam and Cas, and going to conventions. She also enjoys spreading love any chance she can. So, if you run into her, give her a hug or a high-five. She guarantees they’re magic.

Author of Unable to Resist, Anyone But Him, The Truth of a Liar, Enchanting Wilder, Surviving Wilder, Who Needs Air, The Girl Behind the Red Door and Maybe Ever After.
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