Spotlight & Giveaway: The Friend Zone by Sariah Wilson

Posted June 13th, 2019 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Spotlight / 29 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sariah Wilson to HJ!

From the bestselling author of the #Lovestruck novels comes a rousing romance about following your dreams, second chances, and playing the game of love.

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Disgraced college quarterback Logan Hunt was on his way to NFL stardom when he messed up big-time. Now the Texas star player with a bad temper has a new option: Seattle’s EOL College—as in End of the Line, to his fellow misfit recruits. It’s Logan’s last chance. If he can follow the rules. No parties, no fighting, no swearing, and oh, no dating the coach’s daughter, Jess. Simple. Yeah, right. For Logan, there has never been a rule he’s more tempted to break.

The deal is “just friends.” The pretty, confident, and fiercely smart math whiz is fine with pizza, tutoring, and keeping Logan in line. But the closer Jess gets, the more receptive she is to his warm heart and spirit—not to mention his irresistible off-field passes. With defenses down, they’re both heading into the danger zone.

It’s more than thrilling. It’s love. It’s also a game changer that could sideline Logan’s NFL goals—and more important, a future with Jess. But dreams are worth fighting for, right?

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“Are you Logan Hunt?”

I’d climbed off the bus after a three-day ride from Texas wanting nothing more than a shower and a nap. Instead I got the woman standing in front of me. Young. Cute. Fresh-faced. She had dirty-blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail, zero makeup on and dark-brown eyes. I also noticed her clothes. An oversized hoodie, big sweatpants. Almost like she had something to hide

I briefly wondered if this was part of the college’s pitch to get me to stay. It wouldn’t have been the first school to offer me an unlimited stream of coeds if I accepted its offer to play football. It didn’t seem like Coach Oakley’s style, but when in Rome, right? I’d never pass up the opportunity to flirt with a cute girl.

“That’s me,” I told her with a wink. “And you are?”

“Jess.”

“Just Jess?”

“Just Jess,” she repeated. “I’m here to drive you to EOL.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

I got inspired to write this story after seeing the Netflix documentary “Last Chance U.” I loved the idea of a junior college that gave Division 1 football players a second chance at the NFL or to play for a Division 1 school again after they’d screwed up their scholarships.
I relied on social media for specific football questions. I know how many people are serious fans of the game, and I wanted to make sure I was portraying everything correctly!
I wrote this book in less than a month, which was longer than I usually take to write a novel (I’ve done a couple in seventeen days).

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

Logan is someone who recognizes the mistakes that he’s made, is committed to his goals and wants to take advantage of the second chance he’s been given to get a college degree. He had his dreams within his grasp but his temper got the better of him and he got kicked off of his team. Now that he’s at EOL, he will do whatever he has to do to keep his scholarship and graduate. Even follow his coach’s crazy rules. He’s funny and kind and a real cinnamon roll of a hero.

Jess is strong, determined and has overcome a lot. Even with all she has to deal with, she hasn’t lost her sense of humor or her loyalty to her loved ones. She is willing to sacrifice to make the people around her happy, even if it means hurting herself. She’s really smart and rediscovering herself as a person after a scary incident her freshman year of college.

I’ve never had a character surprise me, to be honest. I create them in my head before I begin writing, and I know who they are. They act the way they’re intended to act/react.

Set the scene for your characters’ first kiss.

Their first kiss is (hopefully) surprising, and I think it would ruin it if I gave you any details, as those would definitely be spoilers!

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

I would probably use Logan and Jess’s first time together in the math lab. You’d get to see both characters’ senses of humor and their attraction to one another. I’d want to make sure they had actors who could accurately portray their personalities and fantastic chemistry!

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

My main goal in writing is to entertain and uplift. My sister died while I was in high school and my mom spent a lot of time watching comedies and reading romance novels.

Because for a couple of hours she got to forget. I want to do that for other people. I want to create a world they can get lost in and put off the real world for a little while.

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

I’m currently working on the edits for the sequel to THE FRIEND ZONE. It’s the story of Bash, Logan’s best friend and roommate. It is scheduled to release next year.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A digital copy of THE FRIEND ZONE (End of the Line Book 1) by Sariah Wilson (Gifted via Amazon)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Leave a comment with your thoughts on the book…

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Meet the Author:

Bestselling author Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane or climbed Mount Everest, and she is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soul mate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance series like The Royals of Monterra and #Lovestruck. After growing up in Southern California as the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children, she graduated from Brigham Young University with a semi-useless degree in history. She currently lives with the aforementioned soul mate and their four children in Utah, along with three tiger barb fish, a cat named Tiger, and a recently departed hamster who is buried in the backyard (and has nothing at all to do with tigers). For more information, visit her website at Website | Facebook | Twitter |

Monica Turner

13th Jun, 2019, 4:02am

Sounds awesome! I can’t wait to read.

Pamela Conway

13th Jun, 2019, 4:26am

Sounds like a good book’

[email protected]

13th Jun, 2019, 5:20am

Sounds great.

Sue Galuska

13th Jun, 2019, 5:56am

This looks fun and I love the cover! 🙂

Latifa Morrisette

13th Jun, 2019, 5:58am

Sounds really good

Tammy V

13th Jun, 2019, 6:36am

I love an opposites story. Can’t wait to read.

laurieg72

13th Jun, 2019, 7:04am

I like intelligent heroines. I like athletic heroes. People make mistakes especially when they are young. Second chances are a gift definitely take advantage of the opportunity and go after your dream. If love happens treasure it.

Amy R

13th Jun, 2019, 8:24am

Sounds good

joab4424

13th Jun, 2019, 8:25am

I like that the guy who thinks he is so great gets taken down a peg. Now that he sees what it’s like in the real world, I wonder how he handles it, especially with the coach’s daughter.