The world can seem like a pretty dark place some days. Sometimes just checking
your Twitter feed can leave you wanting to crawl back into bed and hide under
the covers. But before you do that, you find the remote and take it under there
with you – and then, after your panic attack subsides, you peek out and turn on
the TV. And there, in all its glory, on some random cable channel, The
Holiday is being shown for the millionth time, and there you are, with
Cameron Diaz, in that quaint English pub, looking up and seeing Jude Law, who
smiles at you like you are the only other person in the entire crowded room. You
watch the rest of the movie—Will Cameron finally get in touch with her emotions
and cry? Will Iris find the strength to finally leave the Jerk? YES! Of course,
all these things will happen! Then, when the credits roll, you take a deep
breath, and emerge, ready to face the day.
Romance novels do the exact same thing, don't they? Except they're portable and
available whenever you need them. If you think about it, they're like little
paperback (or electronic) weapons against the less appealing aspects of life on
this planet. Having a bad day? Open the book, dive in, pick up where you left
off, and things will get better, even if for just a little while.
As a romance novel reader, you know that your hero and heroine will end up
living happily ever after. That's the payoff, of course, but HOW will it happen?
How much trouble will they get in first? How close will they come to disaster,
and how in the world will they finally come together? Like a good movie, the
author will keep you guessing, on the edge of your seat, amping up the heat
between the characters and bringing you along for the ride.
To put it quite simply, a good romance can give us hope despite our
circumstances. Hope that true love, no matter how difficult it is to find, is
out there. Hope that everything will work out in the end. And I don't think it's
living in denial or putting faith in something silly. In fact, I think that's
how the human heart works—it's made to want love, to have faith in love, and to
seek out reminders that love is real, and attainable, and worth it.
Whether they're told on film or on the page, love stories have the ability to
transcend the problems and concerns of a world that seems to get weirder and
darker by the day. They shine a light, and make us forget, even for a little
while, about struggling relationships, politics, finances, diagnoses, even the
laundry. I'm a big fan of anything that makes me forget about the piles of
laundry that constantly wait for my attention. In short, they lift us up.
Who doesn't need that kind of lift once in a while?
Thank you for having me here today, and Happy Reading!
Nora Reid believes scientific laws control everything, even love. With her
grandparents' epic first kiss story cemented in her brain, Nora develops a
hypothesis she's determined to prove:for each person in the world, there is
exactly one other person, and at first kiss, they'll experience an immediate and
intense reaction.
But after four years of zero-reaction kisses, she comes up with a new theory:
maybe that pesky crush on her stunningly hot best friend Eli Costas is skewing
her results.
She needs to get rid of him, and fast.
Eli Costas is an injury-prone lacrosse star with a problem—the one chance he had
at winning over the girl next door resulted in the most epically sucktastic
first kiss ever. And now she's…trying to get rid of him? Hell no. It's time to
disprove her theory and show her exactly what she's missing.
Game. On.
Disclaimer: This book contains a stunningly hot lacrosse player who
isn't above playing dirty to win over the stubborn girl-next-door of his
dreams.
Young Adult [Entangled Crush, On Sale: November 6, 2017, Paperback /
e-Book, ISBN: 9781979039826 / eISBN: 9781640633568]
Christina Mandelski loves to bring the characters in her head to life on the
page. When she isn't writing, she spends time with her family, working as a
substitute teacher, eating (sweets, usually), traveling and reading (preferably
under an umbrella at the beach). Chris lives with her husband and two daughters
in Houston. You can visit her at www.christinamandelski.com.
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