Happy Monday! I hope your week has gotten off to a great start! As you know, we normally celebrate our Mondays with a dose of My Favorite Things, and sometimes, like today, we bring you a little something extra. Today’s extra comes to you courtesy of Entangled Teen, an excerpt of Lisa Brown Roberts’ Spies, Lies, and Allies: A Love Story (May 1st) which doesn’t sound like our usual fare here at Speculative Chic. Oh, sure, we enjoy a good romance or love story, but we want magic and monsters and spaceships (or all of the above!) mixed in as well. But Lisa Brown Roberts’ novel doesn’t have any of that: instead, we’re given a love story about characters who can’t help but be geeky and drop pop culture references. Sound like anyone you know?
To make your Monday even better, following the excerpt, we’ll also be hosting our very first giveaway! So you know you want to learn more, right? After all, what’s better than free books? Wait, don’t answer that: just keep reading!
So what’s this love story about, anyway? Let’s find out…
Summers are supposed to be fun, right? Not mine. I’ve got a job at my dad’s company, which is sponsoring a college scholarship competition. I just found out that, in addition to my job assisting the competing interns, I’m supposed to vote for the winner. Totally not what I signed up for.
There’s a crazy guy running the competition like it’s an episode of Survivor. Then there’s Carlos, who is, well, very distracting — in a good way. But I can’t even think about him that way because Crazy Guy says any fraternizing on the job means instant disqualification for the intern involved.
As if that’s not enough, an anonymous weirdo with insider intel is trying to sabotage my dad’s company on social media…and I’m afraid it’s working.
Much as I’d love to quit, I can’t. Kristoffs Never Quit is our family motto. I just hope there’s more than one survivor by the end of this summer.
Interesting…. but let’s see how geeky this gets! Check out the excerpt and the giveaway below the cover art!
Excerpt from Spies, Lies, and Allies: A Love Story:
Carlos studies me intently and I’m convinced he knows I’m lying. He inhales deeply, nostrils flaring. “You’ve gone to school with him for how long?” He drums his fingers on the conference table. He should definitely become a lawyer; he could stare the truth out of criminals.
“Are you cross-examining me, counselor?”
“I’m just curious.” His cocky grin reappears, and I can’t decide which is more discombobulating — his smile or his stare-glare.
“You and the monkey.”
His nose wrinkles, then he laughs. “Curious George? That’s me.”
The last time a guy this good-looking talked to me for more than five seconds it ended with mortification. For me, not the guy.
He takes another long swig of his soda and I decide to tell him the truth. He’ll probably just find it on Google, anyway, since he’s great at research.
“I’ve known Jason since the third grade, when he transferred to Clarkson. I mean, I’ve known who he is.” My cheeks start to burn. “Obviously he doesn’t know who I am.”
Carlos nods slowly as he scans my face. My hair. Every part of me that’s visible over the table. My skin burns under the heat of his perusal.
“Well,” he finally says, “it’s too bad you girls voted him back on the island.”
My hackles rise. “Why?”
“Because he’s obviously an idiot.”
“He’s not,” I protest. “He’s smart.” At least I hope he is, though in real life he’s never at the honor roll assemblies with me. Still, some people struggle with class work even though they’re geniuses, like Einstein. I’m sure Jason’s brilliant at something; I just don’t know what it is. Yet.
Carlos’s eyes narrow, never leaving my face. “Not the type of smart that matters. Like remembering someone he’s gone to school with for eight years.”
I feel like I’ve just spiked a fever. I glance at the wall clock; our break is over soon. Carlos leans back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head like we’re old friends just hanging out.
“You want to study photojournalism but…”
“Huh?”
His wide mouth curves and I hate how my body responds, like he’s fresh spring water and I’m parched. Shields up. He flashes the dimple again, like a missile aimed straight at my protective shield.
“You started to say you want to major in photojournalism, but then you stopped yourself. Why?”
“Maybe you should major in journalism,” I say. “You definitely know how to research.” I take a deep breath. “No offense, Carlos, but you’re, uh, sort of freaking me out.”
“How so?” He unclasps his hands from behind his head and grips his chair arms, a frown knotting his forehead.
“You knew all that stuff about my dad and his company and now you’re, um, sort of putting me on the spot.”
“I don’t mean to freak you out. I’m just curious.” His eyebrows meet in a dark slash over troubled eyes.
I swallow and glance out the window, but all I see is the wall of another brick building. I’m starting to feel trapped, like Leia and the gang in the trash compactor.
Carlos tugs at his tie and suddenly stands up. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to weird you out. I’m going outside to get some air.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and exits the room before I can think of a response.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I blow out a long breath. Surviving a summer on the Death Star is going to be trickier than I thought.
Buy it now: Entangled Teen, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo
Award-winning romance author Lisa Brown Roberts still hasn’t recovered from the teenage catastrophes of tweezing off both eyebrows, or that time she crashed her car into a tree while trying to impress a guy. It’s no wonder she loves to write romantic comedies.
Lisa’s books have earned praise from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and the School Library Journal. She lives in Colorado with her family, in which pets outnumber people. Connect with Lisa at www.lisabrownroberts.com.
Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, Newsletter
Author Photo by Silent Expressions
Giveaway! As promised, Entangled Teen is offering fresh-off-the-presses paperback copy of Spies, Lies, and Allies to one lucky winner! To enter, you must at least 18 years old or older, and Entangled will only be shipping to a U.S. Address. If you meet those two qualifications, check out the Rafflecopter below and start earning entries! You have to “Answer the Question” to qualify, but I promise: it’s an easy question. The rest are easy ways to rack up more entries, so don’t ignore them either!
We’ll announce the winners Monday, April 30th at 1:00 pm EST, and you will have 48 hours to respond to our email to claim your prize. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll select someone else (please, don’t make us do that!).
Clear as mud? Good luck!
Terms & Conditions: Prizes sponsored by Entangled Publishing, LLC or their authors. No cash value. No purchase required. Sorry, but Entangled Publishing contracted workers, employees, and their family members are not eligible to enter. Entrants must be eighteen (18) years of age or older and U.S. residents to qualify. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter, or any other third party site. Winner(s) will be contacted by email 48 hours after the giveaway ends. If you have any additional questions, feel free to send us an email!
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