Welcome to my stop on the Catching Liam Blog Tour! Today I have an excerpt to share with you. Be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of this post. (I read Catching Liam and really enjoyed it. Review coming soon!)
Kindle Edition, 380 pages
Published June 25th 2013 by Sophia Bleu Books
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Synopsis From Goodreads:
Twenty-one year-old Jillian Nichols only has one rule when it comes to boys: catch and release. Boy-catching isn't just a game for Jillian and her friends, it's a lifestyle. After all, boys might be good for a dance or a drink and certainly a little under-cover action of the scandalous variety, but expect much else and you're bound for heart ache.
So when her best friends and fellow boy catchers start dropping like flies junior year, Jillian is determined to keep boys in her bedroom and out of her heart. Until she meets Liam McAvoy, the kind of guy that sticks around to make waffles and who can't—or perhaps won't—take a hint.
Study abroad student Liam doesn't want to be another notch on Jillian's bedpost. Actually he has much more interesting ideas for Jillian and her bedposts, but his student visa's set expiration date means he can't promise her forever. That doesn't mean he's going to walk away from the challenge of discovering why Jillian is hell-bent at keeping people at a distance.
Before long, neither is sure who is catching who—or if they're playing for keeps. Jillian knows one thing though: falling in love will not only break the only rule of boy-catching, it could also break her heart.
Excerpt (PG-13 for language)
Tuesday nights at Garrett's were dead except for people dropping in for dinner. The pizzas were from a box, but the food was cheap and we'd gotten into the habit of going every week since we were freshman. The pub boasted a dance floor and a deejay on busy nights. A few people filtered in and out, but we had the place mostly to ourselves.
Cassie and Jess were busy comparing notes for their courses. Since Cassie was a Public Relations major, she was freaking out over her last required core science course, while Jess promised to help her. As they discussed labs and tests, I thought about my mom and her threat earlier today. Once again, Tara was hinting that she wanted me to drop out and come home. I wasn’t sure it was worth telling them, though. Jess would worry about it, and then she would become unbearable if I was so much as ten minutes late to class. I sat wedged into the corner booth, not saying a word for fifteen minutes before they noticed. Between the scene in Interpersonal Communications and my less than pleasant conversation with my mother, I didn’t feel like talking.
"How was your communications class?" Cassie finally asked. Whereas I had slipped into pajama pants before heading out with them, Cassie was perfectly polished. Her black hair was tucked in a neat bun. Her outfit looked like a fashion tutorial from Pinterest, complete with chic suede boots and chunky, handmade jewelry. She looked like she had walked off a runway, not out of a classroom at Olympic State.
I shook my head. "I'm dropping it."
"You only have a 12 hour load," Jess reminded me.
"I can't stay in the class. The professor humiliated me."
“Shit, I thought you were taking that with Markson. I heard he was a goddamn cakewalk." Cassie cursed like it was art form. She had managed to make it a required syntactical component.
I shrugged at her while Jess stayed silent. She had recommended the class after she took it last semester, and now I couldn't help but wonder if she was trying to tell me something.
Frank, Garrett's longest running bartender, slid a combo pizza in front of us. "That's hot," he warned us.
On cue, we all busted out, "That's what she said."
"You girls staying out of trouble this year?" he asked. Frank was old enough to be our grandfather, and he took the role seriously.
"It's too early in the year to determine that," I said to him with a sly smile. He shook his head, muttering under his breath as he headed back to the bar.
"How did he humiliate you?" Jess asked, grabbing for a slice of pizza.
"It was just Markson," I admitted, ignoring my own food.
"Intriguing," Cassie said.
"Liam was there."
"Wait, Liam, Liam?" Cassie asked with a squeal.
"You have not even met Liam," I pointed out. She had no business being this wildly excited by a bad camera pic.
"Well," Jess said, "she's about to."
I followed Jess's gaze behind us to spot Liam walking into the bar with a few other guys. He was still in a t-shirt and jeans, and I couldn’t help but admire how they hung off his hips. I knew what was under those jeans. My pulse increased just thinking about it, and I could feel heat creeping onto my cheeks. I wasn't sure why I was so embarrassed. It was hardly the first time I'd run into a guy I had slept with casually.
"Great Scot! Liam's hot!" Cassie said in a low voice.>/div>
“Cassie, darling, you’re rhyming.” But I could see how his body would have that effect on her. Liam looked every bit the Scottish Highlander fantasy at the moment—rugged and well-built, but without the kilt or long hair.
“Call him over,” Cassie begged.
“No freakin’ way,” I said in a warning tone. “You have a boyfriend.”
“You don’t,” Jess said.
I shot her my best withering stare. Ever since Cassie and Jess started seeing their boyfriends, they’d been sneaking plenty of hints about hooking me up with someone. The wicked gleam in Jess’s eyes suggested that she wanted to make this dream a reality. “Markson made an example of us in class today. I don’t need to give Liam any more false hope.”
“False hope?” Jess said, and her eyes sparkled as she spoke. “Don’t you think you’ve gone a little too far to not expect him to be hopeful?”
“I swear to God, if every guy I screw is going to expect a relationship, I’m going to have to start an application process,” I muttered.
About The Author:
Sophia Bleu is a secret identity where I can write about fantasies and falling in love and all the smexiness in between. In real life, I'm likely catching a plane, chasing kids, or making out with the love of my life—all 6 ft 3 inches of hotness that he is. Life is pretty good.
Grand Prize Giveaway:
Sophia Bleu is graciously giving away a Kilt Checker tote bag filled with Catching Liam swag and a $25 amazon gift card. Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway below:
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