Spotlight & Giveaway: My Life as a Country Album by LJ Evans

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

Hi LJ Evans and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, My Life as a Country Album: 5th Anniversary Edition!

 
I’m overjoyed to be here today celebrating the anniversary of my debut novel.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

If you’ve ever heard the Taylor Swift song “Oh, My, My, My (Mary’s Song” then you’ll know the inspiration for this book. It’s about a girl who falls in love with the boy-next-door from the time their two little things playing on the street, climbing tree houses, and swimming in the lake. It’s an all-consuming sort of love becoming, but the three years separating them seems insurmountable to a teenage love.

Until one summer night when Jake finally sees her for the woman she’s become. Can Cam’s sheer determination keep them together when college, illness, and fate come calling? Or will she be left to pick up the pieces without him?
 

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

You can see the overpowering, heart-stopping kind of love that Cam has for Jake in this line:

“I’d never wanted anything else for myself. You’d been my only wish. My only dream come true.”

And what do you do when the only thing you’ve ever wanted…the only thing that you’ve only reached for is suddenly gone.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I’m celebrating the 5th anniversary of my debut novel with this limited-time, special edition. It’s finally as beautiful inside and out as the epic love that’s tangled into the words. It literally makes me cry every time I hold this new edition in my hands.
• This story came to life when our child and I were preparing to go to Taylor Swift’s Red Tour Concert (yes, that long ago). We had all Taylor’s songs on replay in the car, and when Mary’s Song came on, I suddenly saw Cam and Jake, their parents, their world, and their story in my head―names, visuals, and all. Every song that played, brought more of the story to me. I spent a month, furiously writing every single moment and every single scene. It poured out of me through Taylor’s lyrics.
• But I didn’t have the courage to publish the story for another three years. I’d open it, read it, savor it, and cry over it, and then, I’d close it up and put it away. Until I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and hit “publish.”
• Since then, I’ve found a whole host of readers through Cam’s coming-of-age, epic love story. People who have shown me teary faces after reading it. People who have told me how the things that happened in the book reflected in their own personal lives and journeys with Type 1 Diabetes, and people who asked me to write more.
• Cam’s journey started a beautiful journey for me just like it did for her. So, I’m happy to be celebrating its 5th birthday with this gorgeous version of the story that includes a bonus novella from the hero’s POV and scrapbook images from Cam. I hope you’ll come celebrate with me by taking a look at her heartbreakingly beautiful HEA.
• Warning…tears may fall.

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

There are two heroes in this story. It isn’t a love triangle, but it is a first-love and second-love kind of story. Both heroes are attracted to Cam by her sheer determination. The power and force she shows every day from the time she’s five years old and challenging the boys on the street and at the lake in competitions. She doesn’t let anyone hurt the people she loves and is the first person to stand between them and a fist. She’s spontaneous and vivacious. It’s how she gets the nickname “Super Girl,” that follows her to college and brings her the love that stays with her for a lifetime.

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

There are several scenes in this book that ripped my heart out while writing it. If I share them, it’ll be a huge spoiler, so instead of sharing the ones that still make me sob like a baby whenever I read them, I’ll share a scene that I love. The moment Cam finally gets the kiss she’s been waiting for.

That warm Saturday morning, we were pretty wiped out, the muggy day tugging at us like a current in water. You and I collapsed on your bed with one of our favorite playlists running. One minute we were debating the guitar skills of Keith Urban and the next, I’m not sure what happened, but we had both fallen asleep. Knocked out asleep. Deep. We only woke up to Mia pounding on your door saying we had thirty minutes to get ready.

We both looked at each other startled. You had an arm flung over me. We both had hazy, sleep-filled eyes. You pulled your arm back and jumped up like you’d been bitten by a brown bug. I rolled off the bed, grabbed my bag, and turned toward the door at the same time as you pulled off your pants. You were standing there in your boxers. They were really cute boxers with footballs on them. You didn’t even seem to think about having done it because you were pulling a pair of slacks off a hanger trying to hurry.

But I froze, staring at you. You didn’t see me still as a statue until I’d somehow breathed out, “Geez, Jake.”

You barely glanced my way. “It’s not like you haven’t seen me in my swim trunks, Cam.”

But, God, did you look incredible. Way different in your underwear than in your swim shorts. I don’t know why. I’d seen you in your trunks a million times. But…these were thinner. Clinging to parts of you that made my heart spin like a top and other parts of me jump to attention. Maybe it was because we’d just woken up from a heady, midday sleep. Maybe it was because I knew you were leaving me. All I knew was that, that very moment, right then, was a life-changing moment. I could feel it right down to my toes.

What did I do? Would I ever back down from that kind of a challenge? I shrugged ever so nonchalantly and said breathily, “Fine, I’ll change too,” and I stripped down to my bra and panties before bending to pull out my little black dress from my bag.

You stopped dead still at the sight of me in my lingerie. You had one foot in your slacks and nearly fell over. My heart flipped again. And I was happy as hell I’d put on the “I’m wishing for something more” undies that morning.

I swear your expression was worth way more than the eighty dollars I’d forked out of my own money to buy them so Mama wouldn’t know I had this set all but screaming sex.

I pretended to fuss with the zipper on the dress while you stared. I was still trying hard to act like I didn’t care, but every single nerve in my body was standing at attention. Definitely not asleep anymore. Finally, you dropped your pants and said, “Shit, Cami, you’re beautiful.”

And you’d called me Cami so I knew you wanted my attention. I looked up into your mosaic eyes, and it was like a million stars bursting into existence. I’m not sure which of us moved, but I was in your arms, and you were smothering me with kisses. Good kisses. Kisses that moved my heart right up into my throat and made every part of me turn to little fireflies of light. They weren’t like Matt’s kisses which had been gentle and soft. These kisses were intense, like your eyes, and demanding, like you needed to get every little breath you could out of my body.

You had one hand on the back of my neck and the other was on my bare skin near the top of my panties, and when you moved your hand to caress the top of the silk, I felt every breath inside me evaporate.

I felt like I had come home. Like this was the only place I was ever supposed to be. I don’t know how long we stood that way, locked in a kiss so powerful I didn’t know what was going to be left of me when it was done, but somehow you came to your senses before I did. Maybe you’d had more experience stopping yourself. Lord knows, I wouldn’t have ever stopped.

You pushed me away and ran a hand through your dark hair, and I knew right then you were going to apologize. I could see it written all over your face, like you were guilty of stealing the last MoonPie.

Readers should read this book….

If you want a story that will stay with you long after you’ve put it down. A story you’ll be thinking about for days, or whenever a specific Taylor Swift song comes on, I truly believe this story will do that for you.

If you’ve ever experienced an unrequited love that tore your heart out, the physical ache of a first love that might never come true, or the complete and utter devastation of losing someone you thought was yours, this story will make you feel all of those things again. But it will also leave you with a smile and a heart full of hope and joy.

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

The last book in my Anchor Suspense Novels, DISGUISED AS LOVE, comes out in April. It was a blast to write as it’s my first ever enemies-to-lovers story with a surly FBI agent and a genius scientist. Cruz Malone is determined to bring down the Leskov clan for good. If that means he has to arrest or bed the sexy blonde, scientist of the family, so be it. Too bad Raisa has other ideas. There’s no way she’s just going to sit back and let the broody agent dismantle her world…or her heart.

But I’ve also begun work on a brand-new series that will be starting this summer. It’s been a joy to work on. THE PAINTED DAISIES is an interconnected, slow-burn series with an all-female rock band, their protective alpha heroes, and a murder mystery that will keep you guessing till the very end. The prequel, SWAN RIVER, is coming in June that sets the story, the murder, and introduces all the band members. The first full book, SWEET MEMORY, is coming in July.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A $10 Amazon Gift Card plus an eBook version of the My Life as a Country Album 5th Anniversary Edition.

If winner is Int’l, must be able to claim cash prize via the US Amazon store or via PayPal.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What are your favorite books that make you cry?

 
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Excerpt from My Life as a Country Album: 5th Anniversary Edition:

“Goddamn it, Seth, give me the keys.”

He pulled me back at him and kissed me hard. “Come and get them, sweetheart.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“That’s what I have to do all the time. You don’t put out.”

I reached out to slap him, and he caught my wrist in his hand and gripped it hard. “You don’t want to do that. I hit back.”

But I brought my other hand up and slapped him hard. It took him by surprise, but not enough to let me go. Instead, he used his other hand and slugged me back.

My head flung backward, stars flew in front of my eyes, just as he let me go. I hit the ground. Tears stinging my eyes from the pain and from anger. Anger at myself. At him. At everything in my life that had pushed me to this.

That’s when Seth hit the ground next to me. Hard. Blood pouring from his nose. Strong arms wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me up against a body I knew like the back of my hand.

“Let’s go,” your voice was deep and angry too.

Seth started to get up, but Keith and Matt stepped forward, and I think he knew he’d lost. Your sister ran up with my bag, and you almost ripped it out of her hands. “You need a ride?” you asked her. She shook her head, “No, Matt’s driving Tim and I home.”

You shoved me into your car and didn’t say a thing. I didn’t know how you’d gotten there. I didn’t even know you’d come home. I just knew you were there. And I was a mess.

You stopped at the Quick Stop, and I stayed in the car. When you came back you had a Dr. Pepper, some MoonPies, and a bag of frozen peas. I looked up at you with teary, puzzled eyes. You took the peas and placed it against my cheekbone. It hurt like hell and I hadn’t even realized it until then.

You were so gentle, holding the peas to my face, but when I managed to meet your eyes, I could still see anger there. A lot of anger.

“You’re killing me, you know,” you said to me.

And my own fury soared back to life. I remembered your words from ages ago when I told you that your make out sessions in your room with your girlfriends were killing me, and I threw them back at you. Being with Seth had taught me to fight dirty.

“I’m not trying to kill you, I’m just a teenage girl trying to get laid.”

You cussed under your breath and slammed the car into gear. You sped out to the lake, drove out over the grass to our tree, and parked.

I slammed my way out of the car and ran to the shore. You let me go. I stormed back and forth for what seemed like forever. Cursing you. Cursing Seth. Cursing me. Eventually, I took off my fancy shoes and sat down with my feet in the lake, the edges of my prom dress seeping in the water.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the award-winning novel with this beautifully designed book that includes the original story and the novella, This Life with Cam! See why fans say this emotional, small-town, first-love romance is one they will never forget and think about often.

Feisty, dive queen Cam Swayne refuses to give up on her destiny. For as long as she can remember, her heart has belonged to the dreamy, football hero next door. But despite their lifelong friendship, the three years separating them is an insurmountable hurdle for a high-school romance.

Until one summer night, when everything changes and Jake finally sees her for the woman she’s become.

Can Cam’s sheer determination keep them together when college, illness, and fate come calling? Or will she be left to pick up the pieces without him?

Inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Our Song,” My Life as a Country Album is the first heartfelt standalone novel in the My Life as an Album series. If you like unforgettable connections, emotional journeys, and beautiful prose, then you just might adore LJ Evans’ bittersweet, diary-style tale.
Book Links: Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Award winning author, LJ Evans, lives in the California Central Valley with her husband, child, and the 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. A former first-grade teacher, she now spends her free time reading and writing, as well as binge-watching original shows like The Crown, A Discovery of Witches, Veronica Mars, 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 why LJ loves fiction novels—the characters can be everything you’re not and still make their way into your heart.

Her novel, CHARMING AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM, was Writer’s Digest Self-Published E-book Romance of the Year in 2021.
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