FFBC: Welcome to the club, Swept Away (Sixteenth Summer) by Michelle Dalton

Swept Away (Sixteenth Summer)
by Michelle Dalton
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: May 5th 2015

Synopsis:

Beachfront love blossoms in this refreshing summer romance, in the tradition of Sixteenth Summer and Seventeenth Summer.

Mandy Sullivan isn’t exactly looking forward to the summer months as tourists invade her seaside hometown on the coast of Maine. Her best friend, Cynthia, has abandoned her for camp and her older brother just announced he’ll be staying at college taking classes for the summer, leaving Mandy with nothing to do and no one to hang out with. Hoping to keep herself busy, Mandy takes a volunteer job at the Rocky Pointe Lighthouse. On her very first day, Oliver Farmingham asks for a private tour. A new—and incredibly cute—face in Rocky Pointe, Oliver seems more interested in Mandy than the lighthouse and its history.

Without her best friend at her side, Mandy is scrambling to act the right way and say the right things when Oliver is around. Cynthia—not Mandy—has always been the confident, flirtatious girl that everyone wanted to be around. As Mandy and Oliver spend more time together exploring the coast, biking through the woods, and attending the local summer festivals, their budding friendship becomes much more. But with Mandy’s insecurities creeping to the surface, can she open her heart to someone who will only be in town for three months?

How can I choose just one?!?!?!! 

Some I’ve loved that I read (or reread) recently are David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing; Peter Carey’s Parrot and Olivier in America; Room by Emma Donoghue; Zone One by Colin Whitehead. They couldn’t be more different from each other, but all pretty intense in one way or another.

Of all time? Buffy the Vampire Slayer – which I still watch, thanks to the cable universe.

Currently – The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family.

Again, no fair making me pick!!!! I’m woefully behind in my movies. I just watched District 9 (I told you I’m behind!) and thought it was really great. I enjoyed Big Hero Six, and if I want to cry, all I have to do is channel surf and find Kathy’s death scene in Wuthuring Heights with Laurence Olivier.

At the moment, an oldie-but-goodie, “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake. I’m also listening to a lot of Ed Sheeran and Vance Joy. Though I have to confess I sometimes break out singing “Everything is Awesome” from The Legos Movie.

Sweet potato fries.

I’m a native New Yorker and can’t imagine EVER moving out of the city. So I think what I’d really like is to have a Tardis so I can visit places in different times and different universes, but only temporarily. First stop: Rocky Point, Maine, of course!

Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is probably TMI about me! And not a guy I’d ever recommend to my readers…

Leap and the net will appear.

To be totally honest – I don’t have a Fangirl gene. I like stuff, I even love stuff, but I’m not a “completist” like Oliver, don’t see movies multiple times, and have no need to be the first to own, see, or experience something.

Living: I’d love to meet Emma Donoghue who wrote Room to discuss her amazing book. It’s quite a writing achievement. 

Dead: Jane Austen. I think she’d be smart and funny, and we could people-watch and make up stories together about everyone who walks by.

As a fellow Book Addict myself, I say, surrender to your addiction!

Hello Michelle/Carla! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.

It’s the story of a romance that develops between Mandy, a sixteen-year-old girl living in the small town of Rocky Point, Maine, and Oliver, who is visiting from California. Mandy is expecting to have a boring summer, with her best friend away and a job her mom insisted on, but because of Oliver, things turn out very differently.

The best thing about them also makes them a good couple: they share a love of stories, and although for Oliver those stories come from history and Mandy’s from her own imagination, they complement one another. And they have such good hearts. 

Of course, they aren’t perfect -- who is? Oliver can definitely be stubborn, a bit on the obsessive side, and has trouble compromising. Mandy’s insecurity leads her to hide her real feelings, which results in arguments. They’re a perfect YA couple because it’s by falling in love that they learn about themselves and these flaws begin to be addressed. In some ways, that’s what love is all about – a way to discover yourself.

The one I had… :)

A few things percolated in my mind that seemed to go together. I’d been thinking about my time in Stonington, Maine (hoping to make a return trip!) and how the tiny fishing community expanded because of summer visitors. It occurred to me that some residents would find their little town too small, and others love it. Then I had houseguests who had never been to New York City. Their visit made me see my own city differently, the way Oliver changes Mandy’s perception of Rocky Point.

I think the most romantic is also kinda the most heartbreaking – a note Oliver writes to Mandy. But I won’t tell you what it says – that’d be a spoiler!

The contest Mandy and Oliver have trying to top each other with the best stories about the lighthouse exhibits. I got to mix crazy stories with quirky facts!

Firework by Katy Perry

Get in a hammock with your fried clams, your potato chips, and a tall glass of lemonade – but none for me! I share Mandy’s complete aversion to seafood. So what I’d have is iced coffee and a blueberry muffin. Set your music to shuffle -- let yourself be surprised!

I just finished writing a really fun “choose-your-own-adventure” style book for Disney, based on an upcoming movie, which I’m not allowed to talk about yet! And I’m about to go back to writing a YA fantasy I’ve had in mind for a long time that I’m dying to finish. It’s based on an old Scottish folktale, so I get to combine my love of history and research with contemporary YA issues!

Thank you so much for everything, Michelle/Carla!

Follow the Swept Away by Michelle Dalton Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Michelle Dalton is one of the many names Carla Jablonski uses when writing. Her two YAs written as Carla Jablonski (published by Razorbill/Penguin), Thicker than Water and Silent Echoes, were included on the NYPL Books for the Teen Age list, and her graphic novel trilogy Resistance (illustrated by Leland Purvis, published by :01 Books) has won several awards, including the Sydney Taylor Silver Medal. In addition to writing novels she is an actor, playwright, and former trapeze artist. A native New Yorker, she is eternally grateful to her friends who invite her to their beach houses.

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Book Blitz: Swept Away (Swept Away #1) by J. Haymore

Swept Away (Swept Away #1)
by J. Haymore
Release Date: October 20th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Synopsis:

He is everywhere. He surrounds me, permeates the air, wends his way under my skin. I can’t escape his strength, his intensity, his presence.

I’m trapped.

There’s nowhere to run.

Nowhere to hide.

But even if I could escape…would I be strong enough to leave?

I needed something—something big—to get myself out of the rut I’d fallen into after the car accident that killed my sister. This sailing trip was meant only to mark a new chapter in my life. Until Ethan Williams stepped on board.

Ethan radiated confidence. His darkly handsome good looks and ocean-blue eyes mesmerized me. But it was the way he looked at me that drew me in. He wasn’t looking at my past or at my scars, but the real me behind all that baggage I was trying so hard to leave behind.

But Ethan had secrets—dark, dangerous secrets. I was trapped in the middle of the ocean in a tangle of lies, sex, and violence. The problem was, I was happy to be trapped forever…if it meant I could have him.

Warning: Swept Away is a 4-part serial. This story is messy and twisted and very, very sexy. It is not for people under 18.

Swept Away

by J. Haymore

A shuffling movement comes from the direction of the navigation area. It’s Ethan, of course. Without trying to—without wanting to—I track his every movement whenever he’s near.

The trampoline grows taut beneath me as he steps on it. He sits beside me and stares up at the sky for a moment. Just having him this close washes heat over my skin.

He’s spoken to me over the past few days, of course. It’s unavoidable. He’s put on the mask of the unflinchingly polite gentleman again. It’s no wonder he’s good in business. He can be hard, terse, and commanding, but he can also be gracious and charming.

He turns to me and asks quietly, “Are you okay?”

This is the most personal question he’s asked me in days.

I give him a tight smile. “I’ve been through worse.”

“Yeah.” There’s a gruff edge of emotion in his voice.

He doesn’t know the half of it. I told him about my parents, but not about Em and the accident and the cause of my limp. He doesn’t know that I was almost killed in a convenience-store shooting, and that the only reason I’m lying here right now is because of a Good Samaritan who took a bullet for me.

Ethan lies beside me, stretching his tall form out next to mine. He’s large, and his weight makes the trampoline dip. My muscles tighten so my body doesn’t roll toward him. “Look at the stars,” he murmurs.

“I know.”

“I never thought I’d find it so peaceful out here.”

“What did you think sailing across the ocean would be like?”

“Dangerous,” he answers. “Uncomfortable. Miserable, actually.”

I turn to him, raising a brow. “Really?”

He nods.

“Then why did you come? I know you said it was something you needed to do. But if you thought it would be dangerous, uncomfortable, and miserable, then why?”

He laughs quietly, but he doesn’t answer.

Fine. By now I know how private he is.

I stare at the stars brightening the sky. Below us, the Temptation dips and rolls. All is silent except for the gentle slosh of water against the hull.

“Tara,” he murmurs. His tone draws my gaze. He turns fully onto his side, propping his head up on his hand as he watches me.

“Yes?”

“Have you ever been on a runaway train?”

I give a soft snort.

“That’s what I feel like I’m on right now.”

My lips twitch up, but they don’t quite make it to a smile. “Then put on the brakes, and you’ll stop moving before you crash.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Why not?”

“Because… I’ve tried to stop it since I… Since the first moment I saw you on that ramp and every day since then. But it isn’t going to work. I’ve tried, and... And I can’t.” He swallows hard, but his gaze doesn’t leave mine, not for a second.

My heart starts to pound. Emotions grab at me, excitement and fear and hope, along with a sharp edge of anger. “You’ve been doing a fine job of it for the past few days.”

He reaches out and touches my cheek. It’s just the gentlest touch, but it sends a bolt of electricity through me. “No. I’ve been doing a shit job of it. I’m good at pretending, but if you knew what was going on in my head—” He breaks off abruptly. After a quiet moment, he adds, “I can’t stop it. I can’t ignore it. Trying to is only going to make me crazy. So I’m done trying.” 

In three words, how would you describe Swept Away?

Suspenseful, erotic, romantic

If you could be any character from Swept Away, who would you be and why?

I think I’d be Kyle, Tara’s best friend. He goes through a lot in this book, but there’s a lightness and a playfulness in him that I’d really like to have!

Do you ever picture particular actors or actresses as you write your characters?

I very rarely do this. The characters turn into flesh and blood in my mind (as I hope they do in the readers’ minds) and I always have a very difficult time when people ask me to cast my books, because I can never find the actors and actresses who exactly fit the image in my head!

Do you have any rituals that help you get in the mood to sit down and write?

There are a few things that help me to get in the mood:

(1) Having my headphones & my long, eclectic playlist ready to go on my phone

(2) Having a comfortable chair

(3) Being away from my kids (i.e. no distractions!)

(4) Having a hot, tall cup of coffee or tea nearby

Tell us some special research you did for this book.

I actually did a lot of research for Swept Away. Here is a sampling of things I Googled (this is just a few of the MANY):

“How to sail from California to Hawaii”

“What’s it like to drown?”

“Private jet interiors”

“Sociopathic behavior”

“Firsthand accounts of hypothermia”

“Best seafood restaurant in Honolulu”

“What’s it like to be high on MDMA?”

“Most expensive sports cars”

What’s next for you?

I also write historicals as Jennifer Haymore, so I have a Highlander clamoring to get onto the pages next. Then... I think I’ll probably be writing Kyle’s story. After all he’s been through, he deserves his happily ever after, I think!

Where can readers get in touch with you?

www.jenniferhaymore.com

Facebook: facebook.com/jenniferhaymore-author

Twitter: @jenniferhaymore

USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Haymore is the author of sexy historical and contemporary romance.

You can find Jennifer in Southern California trying to talk her husband into yet another trip to England, helping her three children with homework while brainstorming a new five-minute dinner menu, or crouched in a corner of the local bookstore writing her next novel.

Win a copy of Swept Away #1 (eBook or Print - winner's choice) [INT]

Win an early copy of Swept Away 1-4 (complete series) [INT]

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