Blog tour: Choosing You by Allie Everhart + excerpt, review & giveaway
Choosing You
Jade Series #1
By: Allie Everhart
New Adult contemporary romance
When Jade is given a scholarship to an elite private college in Connecticut, she sees it as a chance to finally escape her painful past and get a fresh start. She’s determined to succeed and that means keeping her focus on school and not guys. But her plan falls apart her first day on campus when Garret, a rich prep school boy with swimmer abs and a perfect smile, offers to help her move in.
Jade tries to push him away, but she can’t deny her attraction to him and Garret won’t let her. Things quickly heat up between them, but then come to a sudden halt when reality hits and Jade realizes that a relationship with Garret may never be possible. He comes from a world of wealth where there are rules, including rules about who he can date. And not following those rules has consequences.
As the two of them try to overcome the obstacles working to keep them apart, Jade is confronted with another challenge. On her 19th birthday, she receives a letter that her now deceased mother wrote years ago. In it are revelations that explain her traumatic childhood but also make her question the past she’s been running from.
Note: This is a New Adult novel and contains mature language and situations.
When Jade is given a scholarship to an elite private college in Connecticut, she sees it as a chance to finally escape her painful past and get a fresh start. She’s determined to succeed and that means keeping her focus on school and not guys. But her plan falls apart her first day on campus when Garret, a rich prep school boy with swimmer abs and a perfect smile, offers to help her move in.
Jade tries to push him away, but she can’t deny her attraction to him and Garret won’t let her. Things quickly heat up between them, but then come to a sudden halt when reality hits and Jade realizes that a relationship with Garret may never be possible. He comes from a world of wealth where there are rules, including rules about who he can date. And not following those rules has consequences.
As the two of them try to overcome the obstacles working to keep them apart, Jade is confronted with another challenge. On her 19th birthday, she receives a letter that her now deceased mother wrote years ago. In it are revelations that explain her traumatic childhood but also make her question the past she’s been running from.
Note: This is a New Adult novel and contains mature language and situations.
Excerpt
As soon as
I start running, I feel the calmness I was craving. I get lost in the
repetition of my movement around the oval track and I lose all sense of time.
After a while the sun is really hot and I realize that it’s probably way past
noon. I take a break and sit at the side of the track, completely soaked in
sweat.
“Have a
good run?”
I turn to
see Garret walking toward me in navy athletic shorts and a gray t-shirt. It
looks like he’s been running, too, although he’s not nearly as sweaty as
me.
“It was all
right,” I say. “I don’t usually run on a track.”
“You
should’ve come with me. I ran a couple miles around campus.”
I shake my
head, sweat dripping off me like a wet dog. “That’s not far enough. I usually
run 8 or 9 miles.”
He sits
down next to me. As in right next to me. Can he not see how sweaty I
am? I’m sure he can smell me from 10 feet away. I can’t even stand
the smell of myself.
“Eight or 9
miles? You must be a serious runner. I’m a swimmer. I only run to improve my
cardio for the pool. I do a couple miles at a normal pace and then I do sprints
on the track.”
So that’s
why he has that body. He’s a swimmer. That explains the broad shoulders and
narrow waist V shape he’s got going on.
“Go ahead.”
I point to the empty track. “It’s all yours.”
“Why don’t
you do them with me?” he asks in a challenging tone. “Let’s race.”
I never
turn down a challenge. Well, sometimes I do, but it’s rare. “I’m a distance
runner, not a sprinter. But a distance runner can beat a swimmer any day. This
should be easy.” I stand up, stretching my legs which are stiffening up after
my short break.
“You think
you can beat me, huh?” He stretches as well. “So what’s with the insults? You
don’t like swimmers?”
I shrug.
“Swimmers are okay. I just don’t think they have to work that hard. I mean, the
water makes you basically weightless. It’s easy to go fast when you don’t have
to drag your body weight around. You don’t get that benefit with running.”
His jaw
basically drops to the ground. I’ve just insulted both him and something that’s
near and dear to his heart. Apparently this has never happened to him before.
Pretty boy must be used to only getting compliments.
“Are you
shitting me? Did you just say swimmers don’t work hard?”
“Yeah,
why?” For some reason, I’m really loving insulting this guy.
“Game on,
Iowa girl. Get your ass in position.”
He sets
himself up in lane one of the track. I take my sweet time walking over to lane
two, yawning just for added effect.
“Do you
need a head start?” I ask him, stretching my arms behind my back.
“Damn,
you’re annoying.” He smiles when he says it. “We do one lap around. Ready?
Three, two, one. Go!”
I take off
down the lane, my eyes straight ahead pretending he’s not there. I quickly
round the first end of the track and hit the straightaway. I imagine myself
running far away from that place. Running back home and seeing Frank and Ryan
again. I round the next end and keep running.
“Stop!
We’re done!” I hear Garret’s voice and slow down, noticing that I’m already
halfway through a second time around the track. I finish the loop and meet up
with him again. He’s bent over, hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
“Okay, I
admit it. You’re fast,” he says, panting as sweat drips off his face.
“Fast? That
was my normal pace.”
He glances
up at me, trying to figure out if I’m kidding. Then he stands up straight and
wipes the sweat off his forehead. “Remind me never to do that again.” He walks
over to the edge of the track and gets his water bottle. “You should sign up
for cross country or track. You’re really fast.”
“Nah. I ran
cross country in high school. Now I just run when I’m stressed.” It’s true, but
I wish I hadn’t said it. It makes me sound weak and I hate sounding weak,
especially around a guy.
Jade is a freshman, loves to run and comes from Ohio. Her past is filled with unhappy memories of living with an an alcoholic and pill-popping mother who not only verbally abused but physically abused her. When new neighbors, one which went to school with Jade's mom, move in down the street, she finds a place to run to for protection. Father and son, Ryan, become her comfort. Now Jade has to leave and attend college in Connecticut, at a private school named Moorhurst. Being awarded the Kensington Scholarship, Jade knows the other, more elite, students will learn she is a pity student and that's okay. The walls she's built around herself from childhood are hard to knock down. Until she meets Garrett.
Choosing You could have easily fallen into the trap I see some other New Adult books succumb to: the formulaic story line of girl meets boy, they fall in love, conflict, resolution or cliffhanger, the end. Author Allie Everhart puts a cool spin on her characters--Jade doesn't really like Garrett in the beginning. Yes, he's hot, she's not dumb or blind, but she doesn't trust him. As she begins to let him in, the story intensifies and I liked it, including the twist at the end and the cliffhanger ending. A strong, steady pace always kept my interest, likable and faulted characters were easy to root for, along with a sweet love story which took its time to unfold (and made it more convincing and realistic), I really enjoyed Choosing You. I know I will be picking up the next title in the Jade series.
Choosing You could have easily fallen into the trap I see some other New Adult books succumb to: the formulaic story line of girl meets boy, they fall in love, conflict, resolution or cliffhanger, the end. Author Allie Everhart puts a cool spin on her characters--Jade doesn't really like Garrett in the beginning. Yes, he's hot, she's not dumb or blind, but she doesn't trust him. As she begins to let him in, the story intensifies and I liked it, including the twist at the end and the cliffhanger ending. A strong, steady pace always kept my interest, likable and faulted characters were easy to root for, along with a sweet love story which took its time to unfold (and made it more convincing and realistic), I really enjoyed Choosing You. I know I will be picking up the next title in the Jade series.
Rating: 4
Cover comment:
Yes! I am so glad the cover reflects the story couple as I pictured them (Jade is actually wearing her customary black running clothes) and in a scene which actually takes place in the book. Gotta love it!
Book source:
I received a promotional copy.
About the author:
Allie Everhart writes about dating, love, and romance. She’s also a freelance writer for magazines and websites. Before freelancing, she was a book editor for a publishing company where she worked on several NYT bestselling nonfiction books. She loves to read as much as she loves to write. And when she’s not reading or writing, she’s outside running, which is when she gets her best book ideas.
website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Allie Everhart writes about dating, love, and romance. She’s also a freelance writer for magazines and websites. Before freelancing, she was a book editor for a publishing company where she worked on several NYT bestselling nonfiction books. She loves to read as much as she loves to write. And when she’s not reading or writing, she’s outside running, which is when she gets her best book ideas.
website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
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