Spotlight & Giveaway: Slipstream by Madge Maril

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Madge Maril to HJ!

Hi Madge and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Slipstream!

 
Hello hello!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Slipstream is about a shy, serious documentarian named Lilah Graywood, who’s tasked to make a film about Arthur Bianco, a charismatic but enigmatic Formula 1 reserve driver. Of course, things go a bit haywire in the first few chapters — and Lilah and Arthur become unlikely allies instead, both hoping to get a bit of revenge against certain people in their lives. She’s a very serious person, and he’s got banter for days. But as they work together (and trot around the globe together), they realize they have a connection that’s more real than any documentary.
 

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

‘Forget us here,’ I’d tell the watch ticking away at my wrist if time had ears and would listen to someone as small as me. ‘Go on, we’re okay being left behind.’
Time does me one better, though. It keeps going and going, giving me the only other option I’d take.
Every next second with him.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The logo for Arthur’s F1 team, Ignition, is a car key… which is completely ironic, since F1 cars don’t require keys.
• Lilah’s name is inspired by a childhood friend. And Arthur’s name was actually inspired by King Arthur (one of his nicknames in the book).
• The fact that Lilah can smell champagne on Arthur after an F1 race is 100% accurate. You can even smell it in the air after a Grand Prix, and I knew I had to find a way to work that in!

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

Lilah is totally Arthur’s type, just hands down. He’s very attracted to how smart, serious, and loyal she is. The glasses, the short hair, the unflinching attitude… that’s it for him, and that’s even before he gets to know her. For Lilah, she needed a bit more time to find herself drawn to Arthur, which was really fun to write. He sort of figures out that she likes vulnerability and honesty, and he works to open up!

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

SO MANY. At one point, Lilah says something about how it’s a good thing that they don’t cross the line between them, since their relationship would be fairly taboo. But Arthur instantly says, “Let me show you what good looks like.” And I screamed.

Readers should read this book….

If you like sports romances, banter, and a contemporary take on the wallflower x rake trope! Also, seeing a playboy character fall completely head-over-heels in love.

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

I’m working on another story right now! It’s a bit different, more grumpy x sunshine. I forgot how fun that is to write … she’s totally rocking his world.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A print copy of SLIPSTREAM by Madge Maril (US addresses only)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Have you ever watched a Formula 1 race?

 
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Excerpt from Slipstream:

Chapter One

Stories sell. People think of directors and screenwriters as the ultimate storytellers—human gods shaping real life into fables. But really it’s me, the camera. A documentary is where metalworkers
become heroes and empty store shelves become plot. Veterans in vacant fields, tiny pageant queens, real life made better. Documentarians can’t promise our subject matter will stay neat and pretty after the credits roll; after all, happily ever after doesn’t exist in real life.
But for a moment there, at the end of a documentary? My movies can trick you into thinking that the world makes sense.
And that’s a story people want to buy.
“Hey, it’s me again. I managed to find a cab, so now I’m standing out front of this . . . building.” I blow a strand of hair from my face and squint at the intimidatingly large locked gate. “Can you
text me the code to get in? I can’t find it in the email.” I end the voicemail to my boyfriend, Max Black. Then I wait. And wait. He must be busy—like me, he can get distracted—so I swallow my pride and press the call button to the front office.
“Lilah Graywood from Black & Graywood here,” I tell the intercom. “Do you mind letting me in the front door? It’s a little hot outside.”
The intercom crackles ominously. Then a voice slithers out. “The schedule says you should’ve signed in at eight a.m. with your business partner?”
“Sorry. My flight was delayed.” And my business partner refused to skip the morning meeting to pick me up from the airport after I moved from Washington, D.C. to Glory Run, Texas for him. And
all the rideshares were booked until tomorrow morning, making me spend cash I didn’t have on a cab I didn’t want to take. And—you get the gist. Bad day, busy boyfriend, new job.
The door buzzes as it unlocks. “The documentary crew is in the pool training room. Go down the water aerobics hallway, then left, then right, then right, then slightly straight before another left.”
“Sorry, that was left and then . . . ?”
No reply.
I love my job. I love my life. I love this world I’ve built myself. I repeat my words of affirmation as I wander through the brightly lit hallways of Ignition Energy Drink Racing’s Formula 1 training
facility. Yup. Formula 1. After graduating from film school, starting my own documentary company with my then-best-friend, now boyfriend, and winning the Rising Documentary Director Award for our film about a congressman’s campaign-trail sex scandal—total luck, right place at the right time with the right questions—Max had decided we’re trading politics for motorsports.
Because, as he put it, Formula 1 is cool and it’ll make us fuck-you money.
Weirdly, I don’t feel cool as I navigate the glossy orange-and-white hallways, still in my wrinkled plane clothes and completely alone. I feel like my creative life partner has gone off the deep end.
But it’s fine. This whole building smells like fluorescent light bulbs and citrus Clorox, and it wants to impress the same fear of God in me as an ancient gothic cathedral while looking like a Clockwork Orange set, and I may be contributing to the death of the ozone layer by even stepping foot in here, but it’s fine.
Max is still my best friend.
I can still talk him out of making this movie.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

In the high-speed world of Formula 1, documentarian Lilah teams up with racing driver Arthur Bianco for a whirlwind of revenge—and perhaps something more.

Lilah Graywood never imagined she’d be spending her summer amidst the roaring engines and adrenaline-fueled world of Formula 1 racing. As a serious documentarian, her passion lies in capturing the raw, unfiltered truth. But when her best friend, business co-owner, and secret boyfriend Max decides to pivot their documentary company to film the Ignition Energy Drink Racing team, Lilah is thrust into a world she despises. Her disdain turns to fury when Max blindsides her, not only ending their relationship but also threatening the company she painstakingly built.

Enter Arthur Bianco, the charismatic and enigmatic F1 reserve driver whose career is as tumultuous as the races he dreams of winning. Initially, Lilah is supposed to document Arthur’s relegation to backup driver, but together they concoct a plan to take control of Max’s documentary, each with their own motives—Lilah’s revenge and Arthur’s redemption. Their secret alliance promises to change the narrative, both on and off the track.

As they navigate the glamorous circuits and behind-the-scenes secrets of Formula 1, an unexpected speedbump forces Lilah and Arthur’s partnership to evolve into a fake relationship that feels all too real. The chemistry between them is off-limits and undeniable, and as Arthur’s cinematic comeback plays out over the hot globe-trotting summer, Lilah finds herself drawn to his true charm and hidden vulnerability. But as the cameras roll and the world watches, Lilah must confront her own feelings and the reality that no script can dictate the course of true love.

Slipstream is a captivating tale of love, revenge, and the unexpected turns life takes. With its blend of humor, heart, and high-speed drama, this contemporary romance is a must-read for anyone who believes in the power of second chances and the thrill of the chase.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Madge Maril is a writer, editor, and Byronic hero enthusiast whose work has been published by Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and more. Previously a beauty and fashion journalist, Madge fell back in love with fiction through fandom and has been writing stories about big feelings ever since. She lives in Ohio with her husband and cat.
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