Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Love Exactly by Cassandra Giovanni



Love Exactly (Sticks & Stones, #1)


Emma Walker was a writer who'd lost herself to someone else's anger--who had given up on ever feeling like herself again.
Evan Levesque was a rock-god--the one all the woman wanted, but he'd never gotten used to the loneliness between the stage and real life.
With just one cup of coffee they'll begin a journey of self-discovery at each others sides, but can Emma handle Evan's fame while dealing with her own demons? Emma's checkered personal past, a bad relationship that haunts the edges of her memories, threatens to make everything implode on them when Evan takes matters into his own hands.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words...they'll destroy my soul--Can Emma handle being put back together and facing who she's become because of it? 
GENRE: New Adult>Contemporary Romance
Mild to moderate sexual content


Excerpt:
I traced the outline of the beads on his neck showing through his v-neck t-shirt. "What does this symbolize?"

"Prayer beads."

I let my fingers follow the line of his vein down his shoulder, over the flowers that dotted his upper arm and down to his forearm. I turned it so I could trace the lion on the inside. "And this?"

"Lions are bad ass."

"Seriously?"

He shrugged. "Unfortunately, not every tattoo I have has a meaning."

"The roses?"

"My mom's favorite flower. I know it's not original," he commented as he took my hand and put it over his heart where the roses were. "But after everything my parents went through with me I wanted something to symbolize them."

"Everything they want through?" I asked as I let my fingers fan out across the shape of his chest muscles before bringing them back up and playing with the tips of his hair that were beginning to curl.

"I left home when I was sixteen to record our first CD, went on tour at seventeen, and started tattooing the crap out of myself at eighteen. I know I'm successful, but I can't say I think this was what my parents wanted."

Evan had moved his head so he was staring out at the ocean. I watched as the waves reflected in his eyes and his chest heaved with a deep outlet of breath.

"I'm sure they're proud of you," I tried to reassure him, but I could tell from the way his jaw tightened that this was something he had been dealing with for a long time.

His eyes met mine and he reached up to touch my face. "I know...but it doesn't change the fact I was their only child, and I abandoned them for a life they never approved of."

"I'm not an excellent poster child for things parents approve of either. There's so much guilt I deal with day to day. I know that I hurt them," I explained, my voice diminishing to a cracking whisper that was only just audible against the sound of the waves.  I closed my eyes, unable to bear the look on his face as I admitted, "What's worse is the anger I feel at myself for it."

I felt Evan get up and kneel in front of me, pulling my face to his own. I concentrated on the touch of his rough finger tips, the smell of his heady Axe cologne and then the feel of his forehead as it pressed against mine while I tried to calm my breathing.

"Tell me something..." his voice drifted with the waves; "tell me why it feels like you're a part of my soul?"

I opened my eyes to look into his, watching as the yellow around his iris darkened to a burnt orange and the brown faded to a muted green.

"Because you're a part of mine."

E-BOOK only $1.99

Paperback $12.99



Cassandra Giovanni
Cassandra Giovanni

About Cassandra Giovanni
Cassandra doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. In fact, the first time she was published was when she was seven years old and won a contest to be published in an American Girl Doll novel. Since then Cassandra has written more novels than she can count and put just as many in the circular bin. Her personal goal with her writing is to show the reader the character’s stories through their dialogue and actions instead of just telling the reader what is happening. In 2012 she became a published Young Adult author, releasing In Between Seasons (The Fall, #1) and Walking in the Shadows. In 2013 she branched out by using her artistic illustrating talents to publish her first Children’s novel, The Adventures of Skippy Von Flippy: Tales of Friendship (Skippy Tales, #1). Cassandra will also release her first New Adult novel, Just One Cup, in the Spring of 2013.

Cassandra is a freelance professional photographer known for her automotive, nature and architectural shots. She is the owner of Gio Design Studios, a photography and publication marketing company that designs covers and marketing materials for authors utilizing the company’s photography. She is currently studying to receive a degree in Marketing. Cassandra is happily married to the man of her dreams and they live in the rolling hills of New England with the other loves of her life their dogs, Bubski and Kanga.

www.cgiovanni.com       Blog       FaceBook


Jen's Review 

Awe! Loved that HEA!

Way cute story - Love the whole "Rock God" that Evan is - even if he doesn't know it.

Evan is a down to earth sweetheart who has had his fame as a Rock Star since he was 16 years old. His band mates are his best friends. Evan is the only one that isn't married out of his friends. But that doesn't make him the type to go on a rampage and sleep with everyone - he did that back when he was younger. Now he's looking for the one that will make him happy. The one that gets him...

And when she runs into the back of him spilling her coffee, he recognizes that chemistry right away...

Emma is your typical normal girl. Trying to get by in life, dealing with the troubled past. She use to love to write, but when things got a little complicated in high school, she gave it up. She's been afraid to try to write her own Novel since then.

But she writes for the local paper. She usually gets the crappy jobs that no one wants. But she does what she has to do in order to get by.

When Evan offer's to buy her a good cup of coffee instead of the 99 cent coffee she spilt, she knew she'd be crazy to pass up that opportunity.

Emma treated Evan as she would a regular person. After all, he seemed so normal. Evan wasn't even sure she knew who he was. But was happy to hear that she did know who he was, and still treated him like a normal person.
He offered to go to the high school basketball game with her since she had to go there for her story.


When Evan had to go back on the road to tour with his band, they stayed in touch. Texting and Video chat as much as they could.

And when Evan surprised Emma for a full week visit, blowing off part of his tour, because he missed her.. AWE!!!!

Too cute - they really got each other. They were like best friends who were able to finish off each other's sentences, without having to use words. And to Evan, that was everything.

But he knew about Emma's past. And he knew that she struggled with her writing. It was important to her. And since Emma's presence alone helped Evan fall in love with his music all over again, he was determined to help Emma get on with her life.

Really cute story - fun and easy going :)

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