Spotlight & Giveaway: STORM CHASER by Lindsey Duga

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lindsey Duga to HJ!

Hi Lindsey and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, STORM CHASER!

 
Hey there, book nerds!
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

When a teen wannabe storm chaser accidentally absorbs the power of an ancient weapon and its owner wants it back…lightning strikes.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

I’d never hated a blue sky more.
This was supposed to be my season. My first day as a storm chaser—albeit a novice one—and there wasn’t a damn cloud in sight.
The sun was a bright yellow disk in a sea of light blue. It taunted, and tanned, at the same time. Which reminded me…did I put on enough sunscreen?

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Storm powers and storm fight scenes
• Agonizing slow burn romance
• Nerdy MC and D&D references
• Queer older brother with sibling relationship goals
• Post-shower scenes

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

Well, initially, it’s the power Marley has stolen from Brae, and the fact that he can feel the energy inside her and it’s magnetically attractive. Then I think they both respect each other’s goals and lines that they won’t cross. They’re mutually stubborn in their values and that’s attractive to both of them.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Angsty, electric, denial, sweet, stubborn.
 

The First Kiss…

I wanted to argue with him, to scream and cry, and tell him that there was more that I could’ve done. But his hands on my skin, and his chest against mine and his breath heating my collarbone…it was all convincing.
The rain fell harder outside the barn, drumming against the ground in time with my own heartbeat.
Brae’s fingers moved into my hair and his mouth dropped to my jaw. More chills chased down my skin as my back arched to move closer. To feel something beyond the whisper of his breath.
My hands slid down his neck, fingertips skating across his collarbone. As I dipped my chin to chase after what I wanted—well within my reach—I pressed my palms against his chest and curled my fingers into the damp fabric of his shirt. His hands dropped to my waist and gripped my hips. There was heat in his fingertips, just like I’d felt that day in the park. The way he held me—so much tension coiled within his grip—I wondered if he’d been lying.
No attraction, my ass.
I brushed my lips against his.
Lightning.
It coursed through my veins like it had never left.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

As I spoke, Brae’s arm snuck around my neck and pulled my face into his shoulder. “Let’s just stop with the ifs. I’ll go crazy like that. I’m just glad I got to you in time.”
His breath tickled my collarbone and every sensation across my body became magnified by one hundred percent. One hand pressed against his chest, and I felt the warm cotton and hard muscle under my palm and fingertips. My shoulder was tucked into his side and I was acutely aware of each square centimeter of contact. Meanwhile, the oculus buzzed through my veins, sending little charges exploding across my skin like miniature landmines.
And then there was his scent. Petrichor filled me like I’d just stuck my face in a scented candle. Cold water hitting packed heat—humid air rising through the oncoming shower.
Combined with my flushed skin, I was sure steam rose from the both of us. I was the hot, dry earth and he was the cool, summer rain.
I felt like my heart was going to explode from my chest. Why was he still holding onto me? This was a really long hug—like seven Mississippis. But his arm was heavy around my shoulder, so it was harder than I would’ve thought to move away politely. Not that I wanted to. Exactly.
This is fine. This is fine. I’m not feeling anything. It’s just a friendly, I’m-glad-you’re-okay hug.
Then, right under my hand, there was a change in his chest. In his breathing. How it rose and fell slowly and rhythmically. Was he…In disbelief, I turned my head so my right cheek pressed into his shoulder and strained to look upward.
His eyes were closed.
The bastard fell asleep!

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

The oculus became more desperate and electricity started racing up and down my spine, causing my back to arch in pain. I let out a cry of agony just as a thunderclap resounded overhead.
“Shit.”
Cassen let go of the back of my neck and I dropped from the rim of the fountain to the ground, unable to hold myself up. A gust of wind tore through the street, ripping entire branches from trees. The next moment, Brae crashed into the ground, both his hands interlocked with Cassen’s. I threw an arm over my head and curled inward while concrete and water exploded as the two enlil tore through the Chi Omega fountain.
Brae’s impact pushed Cassen over fifty yards, their feet tearing up the concrete and pushing parked cars on their sides. Over all the explosive sounds, I heard distant screaming. Even though the campus had been relatively empty, people would notice a fountain exploding or cars falling back on four wheels, their alarms blaring. The wind soared upward and outward, bending the flimsier trees as Brae and Cassen’s grappling figures grew further from my sight.
A strong hand grabbed my arm and I looked up to find Kai kneeling above me. His long black hair loose and flying in the wind, his black shirt and leather jacket flapping against his chest. Without waiting for permission, he scooped me up into his arms like he would a fussy puppy. “Up you go, Blondie.”
Everything was sore and my ears were still ringing from the sound of shorn concrete, car alarms and roaring wind. Still, I managed to loop my arms around Kai’s neck and hold on for dear life. I was pretty sure if I didn’t, the winds would send me flying the next second.
Kai’s dark gaze met mine.
In these instances, being held like a damsel in distress in the arms of a teenage version of Hercules, you’d expect to hear something kind or protective.
Instead I heard, “If Brae dies from this…I’ll kill you myself.”

Readers should read this book …

If storms both thrills, fascinates, and terrifies them. If they love slow-burn romances with mystical energy zinging between the two MCs.

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

The sequel! *jazz hands*

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Print copy of STORM CHASER and $20 Amazon Gift Card

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s the scariest storm you’ve ever been through?

 
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Excerpt from STORM CHASER:

“It’s your first date with Brae, Marley. You need to leave an impression,” Carter said, walking into my closet and switching on the light.
I groaned, leaning over my dresser to bury my head in my arms. The excuse that we were dating just popped out. The conversation with my brother and Carter at dinner last night had gone something like this:
Patrick: What’s more important than our bike ride?
Carter: A boy?
Patrick: Holy shit balls.
Carter: Get. Out. It’s the dude who caught you, isn’t it?
Patrick: Freaking gooooooo.
While Patrick and Carter were basically perfect for each other, I was pretty sure the thing they agreed most on was how to watch out for me. Clearly they thought that a guy who “saved my life” was worth a date or two.
“Falling thirty feet into his arms isn’t enough of a first impression?” Patrick asked as he took Carter’s place in my doorway and chomped on a strip of bacon. Patrick dressed only slightly better than Carter. His aesthetic was subtle nerd t-shirts and a denim hoodie that he’d had for the last four years and never took off. Basically, he looked like he walked right off the set of The Big Bang Theory.
Carter leaned out of the closet, fixing my brother with a frown. “Pat, if you’d walked into the restaurant on our first date wearing a Marvel t-shirt, I would’ve dumped your ass.”
Patrick looked genuinely confused. “But you love Marvel.”
“I do, but it’s the effort that counts. We both respected each other enough to have our friends dress us, didn’t we? So that’s what we’re doing for Marley right now.”
“Right. See, sis? This is a tradition for all first dates.”
I knocked my forehead gently on my desk, counting to ten.
Carter started pulling out tops and laying them on the back of my desk chair. He let out a series of tsks before he stepped out of my closet and held up the pencil skirt and blazer I’d worn during my physical geography presentation to the STEM board of my school. “How is this the nicest thing you own?”
Patrick shook his head and headed for my closet. “No, I swear I bought her a dress for my dissertation reading. Remember? It was white with little blue flowers.”
“Pat, that was three years ago,” Carter pointed out. “Her breasts probably don’t fit in it anymore.”
I slammed my hands on my dresser. “If you guys don’t get out of my room right now, I’m going to change all your streaming passwords. Disney Plus will become a distant memory for you both.”
The doorbell rang downstairs and we all froze. I lunged for my phone.
Sure enough, it was 10AM, right on the freaking dot. I grabbed my shoulder bag and took off downstairs, my brother and Carter literally three steps behind me. But they were too slow. I wrenched open the front door, slipped outside, and slammed it closed. Two thumps on the other side told me they’d just ran into the door.
I didn’t even look at Brae as I grabbed his wrist and hurried down the driveway toward Alessi’s car. Guess he borrowed it again.
“Open it, open it, open it,” I rushed him, swerving to the passenger side just as Patrick and Carter barreled out the front door.
“Hey!” Patrick called across the lawn. “She needs to be home by eight! And I swear to God if she gets another hickie—”
“Pat, come on, you’re disturbing the neighbors.” Carter attempted to drag my brother back inside our townhome.
Face burning, I jumped into the passenger seat as Brae kindly waved back, not nearly in the same rush as I was. When he got into the car, I could feel his gaze turn on me while I had my face buried behind my hands. Mortified.
“A hickie?” he asked.
I sighed, making a shooing gesture at Patrick before he finally disappeared into the house. “Your friend Kai left a bruise on my neck, remember? My brother assumed…”
Brae was so quiet, I finally glanced over at him. He wore jeans and a simple gray shirt with a zip-up navy blue hoodie. On that note, I was kinda relieved I’d dressed down appropriately. But his expression was more than a little bit troubled. His gaze honed in on my neck.
“Show me,” he said, flicking his finger toward my neck.
“It’s faded,” I lied.
“No, it’s not. Show me.”
Dropping my gaze to my lap—because for whatever reason I couldn’t look him in the eye—I moved my curls to my right shoulder.
There was a slight brush of his knuckles against my skin before he pulled his hand away. It was so fast I thought I might’ve imagined it. But the heat there told me I hadn’t.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I knew he meant it. Regret was in every syllable, but somehow that made me feel worse. And I wasn’t exactly sure why.
“Kai should never have touched you.”
“He was worried about you,” I repeated the same exact excuse he’d given me. I thought about Patrick and Carter and how if anything happened to one of them, I’d want to tear the person responsible apart limb from limb. Separated by time, I could empathize with Kai’s reaction.
“Still.” Brae took a deep breath and turned the car on, backing up out of the driveway with the practiced grace of one who’d been driving awhile.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Chasing dangerous storms is in Marley Pascal’s blood. For her, it’s an obsession—a need to confront the powerful, destructive forces that killed her parents.

But the storm she and her brother track down seems to violate the very laws of nature, with lightning that strikes as if from another world. In its crater, Marley finds a small purple crystal with a terrifying energy that hits her like a bolt to the chest when she picks it up.

Suddenly, it’s like the electricity pulses through her blood, a charge she can’t control. Which is exactly when he comes looking for her—the ridiculously hot boy whose eyes spark and crackle with the same force that now resides in her body. And he smells like summer rain…

But what’s inside Marley isn’t meant for her—or for any human. It belongs to him. To his kind.

As long as this force stays in her body, she’s a living target. A weapon meant to protect…or destroy.

Because now she is the storm.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Lindsey Duga is a middle grade and young adult writer with a passion for fantasy, science fiction, and basically any genre that takes you away from the real world. She wrote her first novel in college while she was getting her bachelor’s in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University.
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