Blog Tour: Losing at Love (Outer Banks Tennis Academy #2) by Jennifer Iacopelli

Losing at Love (Outer Banks Tennis Academy #2)
by Jennifer Iacopelli
Release Date: February 24th 2015

Synopsis:

Grass courts, tennis whites and the fiercest competition in the world. Wimbledon. After two crazy weeks in Paris, the girls of the Outer Banks Tennis Academy are headed to London with just one thing on their minds: winning.

Indiana Gaffney is fresh off a surprise win at the French Open junior tournament. Sponsors are clamoring for her attention, but what she wants more than anything—aside from a wild card to Wimbledon—is to be with Jack Harrison, but international fame and a secret relationship rarely mix well.

When Penny Harrison dreamed of playing at Wimbledon she never imagined agonizing pain shooting through her ankle with every step. With just a month until the tournament and the whole world expecting her to win, she’s determined to play, with or without the support of her coach or the love of her life, Alex Russell.

For the first time ever, no one expects anything from Jasmine Randazzo. After a crushing first-round defeat in the French Open juniors, the tennis world has given up on her, but worse than that, so have her parents, her best friend Teddy and maybe even her coach. With everyone writing her off, can she find it within herself to go after her dreams?

Jana Kramer as Penny Harrison, the fastest rising star in the tennis world. She's nursing a tiny tear in her Achilles tendon, but isn't going to let that stop her from winning Wimbledon.

Jesse Williams as Jack Harrison. Penny's older brother and agent, Jack's young, brilliant and knows it, but will giving in to his attraction to the still under-age Indiana Gaffney derail everything he's worked for?

Amber Heard as Indiana Gaffney, with her athleticism and powerful serve, everyone is talking about her, but as the spotlight heats up, decisions on the court and off it could send this raw talent spiraling.

Victoria Justice as Jasmine Randazzo. Expected to live up to her parents tennis legacy her whole life, recent set-backs on the court, namely losing to Indy at the OBX Junior Classic has lifted that pressure, but with everyone's faith in her gone, can she have enough faith in herself to keep fighting for her dreams.

Chris Hemsworth as Alex Russell. The biggest star in tennis is back after an amazing win at the French Open, but he's still trying to prove to Penny that his love his real and that she doesn't have to choose between him and her career.

Jacob Artist as Teddy Harrison. Teddy's world is tilted on its head when an old flame shows up at OBX, bringing back every ounce of pain that made him swear off relationships for good and one stupid decision may cost him his best friend, Jasmine, this time for good.

Eduardo Verastegui as Paolo Macchia. Alex Russell's best friend and training partner hadn't been able to get Jasmine Randazzo out of his head since he ran into her at the French Open, but is he willing to put those feelings aside to help her live out her dream?

Jennifer Iacopelli was born in New York and has no plans to leave...ever. Growing up, she read everything she could get her hands on, but her favorite authors were Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett all of whom wrote about kick-ass girls before it was cool for girls to be kick-ass. She got a Bachelor's degree in Adolescence Education and English Literature quickly followed up by a Master's in Library Science, which lets her frolic all day with her books and computers, leaving plenty of time in the evenings to write and yell at the Yankees, Giants and her favorite tennis players through the TV.

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Release Day Launch: Losing at Love (Outer Banks Tennis Academy #2) by Jennifer Iacopelli

It's release day for Jennifer Iacopelli's Losing at Love. This is the second book in Jennifer's Outer Banks Tennis Academy series, and I am so excited to be sharing it with you!! Check out all the fantastic release day info, and be sure to enter Jennifer's giveaway!!

Losing at Love (Outer Banks Tennis Academy #2)
by Jennifer Iacopelli
Release Date: February 24th 2015

Synopsis:

Grass courts, tennis whites and the fiercest competition in the world. Wimbledon. After two crazy weeks in Paris, the girls of the Outer Banks Tennis Academy are headed to London with just one thing on their minds: winning.

Indiana Gaffney is fresh off a surprise win at the French Open junior tournament. Sponsors are clamoring for her attention, but what she wants more than anything—aside from a wild card to Wimbledon—is to be with Jack Harrison, but international fame and a secret relationship rarely mix well.

When Penny Harrison dreamed of playing at Wimbledon she never imagined agonizing pain shooting through her ankle with every step. With just a month until the tournament and the whole world expecting her to win, she’s determined to play, with or without the support of her coach or the love of her life, Alex Russell.

For the first time ever, no one expects anything from Jasmine Randazzo. After a crushing first-round defeat in the French Open juniors, the tennis world has given up on her, but worse than that, so have her parents, her best friend Teddy and maybe even her coach. With everyone writing her off, can she find it within herself to go after her dreams?

La Metropolian Hotel

Paris, France

Indiana Gaffney gasped, her eyes flying open and locking on the glistening object across the hotel room. It reflected the muted television behind her, the French Open final, the red of the court, blurry in the polished silver. A large, round plate, innocuous to the untrained eye, with the sizeable laser carved logo of Roland Garros at the center, was braced against the mirror hanging on the hotel room wall. The mirror reflected the match clearly, the broad steps and fierce rallies of two men battling it out for the French Open Men’s title. But those men were mere afterthoughts as her eye caught a set of shoulders stretching the material of his t-shirt thin, not a mere image from the television, but broad and warm and real. Strong hands slid down her back, fingers twining into the ends of her long blonde hair, tugging on it gently, drawing her gaze away from the mirror and back to the green eyes of the man in her bed.

He kissed her soundly, sending shivers down her spine and making her hips rock against his and her legs tighten around his waist. “It’s not gonna disappear if you take your eyes off it,” Jack Harrison muttered into the skin of her neck, nipping at it lightly with his teeth.

“Feels like it will,” she whispered back, tilting her head to give him better access. Most of her mind was focused on what he was doing with his hands and mouth, but that plate, the one that declared in no uncertain terms that she was the new French Open junior champion, would not be ignored. Not even for the guy who made her heart pound like no one else ever had before, the guy who, up until a few days ago, could barely look at her without his shoulders slumping with guilt. Their age gap hadn’t shrunk in the days full of soft kisses and nights far more intense — though perhaps not as intense as she’d like — but he wasn’t fighting their attraction anymore. She hadn’t chased him, not really, but he’d known she wanted him, almost from the moment they first met. Then he’d found out how old she was and he started treating her like a flashing red SEVENTEEN was stamped across her forehead, every year between them creating an accompanying foot of distance. In the end, the attraction had been too much, even for someone as painfully good as Jack Harrison.

“Hey, Champ, you in there?” Jack’s voice brought her back, his lips spelling out the words against her shoulder.

“Champ?” Indy hummed and smiled. “I like the sound of that.” In fact, she liked the sound of it so much she planned on winning again the next chance she got, on the grass courts at Wimbledon.

“I bet you do. Get used to it, baby,” Jack said, his whole face lighting up as he shifted his weight forward, tilting her back onto the bed. A shriek bubbled up through her throat and the giggles followed as he leaned over her, bracing himself on his elbows and then smothering her laughter with the press of his mouth. As his tongue slid against hers, she turned herself over to it, letting herself revel in the dreams of future victories and the celebrations that would follow.

Jennifer Iacopelli was born in New York and has no plans to leave...ever. Growing up, she read everything she could get her hands on, but her favorite authors were Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett all of whom wrote about kick-ass girls before it was cool for girls to be kick-ass. She got a Bachelor's degree in Adolescence Education and English Literature quickly followed up by a Master's in Library Science, which lets her frolic all day with her books and computers, leaving plenty of time in the evenings to write and yell at the Yankees, Giants and her favorite tennis players through the TV.

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Book Blitz + Giveaway: The Apollo Academy (The Apollo Academy #1) by Kimberly P. Chase

The Apollo Academy (The Apollo Academy #1)
by Kimberly P. Chase
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: February 22nd 2015
Genres: New Adult, Science Fiction

Synopsis:

Take off with this dynamic, thrill-seeking, sexy New Adult Science Fiction series debut. Welcome to the exclusive Apollo Academy, where Aurora is about to discover that achieving her dream is only the first step towards her future.

As the heiress to Titon Technologies, eighteen-year-old Aurora Titon can have whatever she wants—clothes, expensive gadgets, anything money can buy. But all she really wants is to escape her pampered, paparazzi-infested life for the stars. Becoming the first female pilot to train as an astronaut for the exclusive Apollo Academy is exactly the chance for which she has been waiting.

Flying is everything she ever dreamed, her best friend also got into the Academy, and the paparazzi is banned from campus. Everything would be perfect, but for her unreciprocated crush on a fellow student, the sexy astronaut bent on making her life hell, and the fact that someone keeps trying to kill her.

The most important education doesn’t happen in the classroom…

The Apollo Academy

by Kimberly P. Chase

Chapter 10. Aurora in flight training with Sky, her domineering (and not to mention hot) flight instructor

Whoop, whoop. ‘Thrust warning, loss of main engine one.’ Whoop, whoop.

The shrill warning bell caused the hair on the back of Aurora’s neck to stand on end. She thrust the throttles on the remaining two engines full forward. She knew Sky stood behind her simulation panel, probably smiling as she struggled to recover from the engine failure he’d just caused with the flick of a switch.

He'd been overseeing everyone’s progress and of course decided now to come over, waiting until she was at an extremely critical altitude before creating this failure for her to handle.

Whoop, whoop. ‘Stall imminent.’ Whoop, whoop.

Aurora knew she was approaching the aircraft’s stall speed, but the loss of a single engine made it extremely difficult to control the overly large shuttle. Her yoke shook, another warning that a stall was close.

Aurora had to resist the urge to pull the nose of the aircraft up.

"Aurora, you’re going to stall if you don’t increase your airspeed," he whispered right next to her ear. She jumped, accidentally pressing her foot down on the rudder pedal. She still felt his breath on her cheek. Sky’s constant hissing in her ear was more distracting than being yelled at.

“Shit!" She didn’t even have a chance to alter the course of events because she was at too low of an altitude to recover from the spin she'd just entered.

‘Terrain, terrain.’ Whoop, whoop. ‘Pull up, pull up.’

She wasn’t going to make it. It was like her last simulation flight all over again.

The screen cracked and blacked out when the shuttle hit the ground, killing everyone on board. This was followed by flashing red lights and a loud siren that alerted her and everyone else around her of the failure.

She slammed her finger down on the automatic warning system. The red warning lights swarmed around her, making her cringe in on herself. She already knew she had messed up; she didn’t need the incessant light show. If Sky hadn’t scared her half to death, she wouldn’t have stomped down on the rudder so hard at such a low speed. Okay, so maybe scared wasn’t the right word, but his breath on her face definitely distracted her.

"Damn it, Sky!" she said taking her frustration out on the one who was really responsible for her crash.

Now sitting down beside her, his large frame towered over her. He whispered in her ear, "Tell me why you crashed."

He was still too close. "Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you scared me half to death by hissing at me." She touched her ear. "Who does that? It made me stomp down on the rudder."

Sky grinned, showing off his dimples. "Are you saying you were distracted by my very presence?" He had the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively.

Heat ran to Aurora’s face, but instead of backing down like she normally would, she decided to wipe that grin off of his face. She'd had it with everyone treating her differently. It might not have been the best idea, but she flirtatiously leaned toward Sky anyway. His eyes widened in surprise.

Now that he was distracted, she discreetly pulled a piece of gum from her bag on the seat next to her. "Here, maybe next time your breath won’t cause so much trouble."

His mouth opened in shock, and Aurora took the opportunity to place the gum into his mouth. The instant she did it, she felt horrible. What was wrong with her? That was the most immature thing she’d ever done.

Sky calmly shut his mouth and popped a bubble, but the grin on his face was definitely gone. 

Oh stars, he was going to make her regret that . . .

"I am obsessed with this book! Suspenseful, sexy, and just a great read!" - Cora Carmack, New York Times Bestselling author of LOSING IT.

“Exquisite worldbuilding, thrilling suspense, and a sexy flight instructor! Chase’s exciting debut novel is one you don’t want to miss.” - K.A.Tucker, Author of Ten Tiny Breaths and One Tiny Lie

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