by: Amanda Ashby
Genre: Teen/Young Adult Romantic Comedy
Releases: December 4, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Teen ~ Crush
This bad boy is so tempting...
How to get over a heartbreak:
Step one: Eat your body weight in brownies.
Step two: Throw yourself into your dreams of becoming a famous writer.
Step three: Beg your (hottie) ex-neighbor to act as your fake boyfriend.
Step four: Skip step three unless you’re ready for some serious fallout.
After being dumped and humiliated over the summer, Cat Turner does what any sane girl would do. She asks bad boy Alex Locke to be her fake boyfriend and show the world (and her editor at the school newspaper) that she's fine. Problem is, the more time she spends with Alex, the more she risks getting her heart broken. For real this time.
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains a swoony bad boy who will melt your heart, brownies, and witty banter. One, two, or all three might prove addictive…
Hi Amanda. Welcome back to Read Your Writes Book Reviews. I didn’t realize you wrote teen romances, as well as adult contemporary romances. Outside of the age of the characters, what do you find to be the difference?
Great question! I actually also write middle grade fiction under the name Catherine Holt just to make things even more confusing!!!! For me the main difference comes down to their life experiences, because that dictates how they react to everything (be it hunting ghosts or zombies, or falling in love).
Middle grade is very much a case of first crushes, where YA is first loves and first heartbreaks, and with contemporary romance it’s very often the second time around for everything and there are a lot more wounds to heal (and bad dates to forget).
Thank you for the insight. Cat binge eats brownies and convinces her neighbor to pretend to be her boyfriend. While binge eating chocolate, ice cream and fudge sounds good, what's your advice on getting over a broken heart?
I’m a big believer in seasons and if you’re in the season of heartbreak it’s quite okay to go underground and hibernate for a while. Though once the raw pain has passed getting back out in the world is a must. And also trying to remind yourself that there is more to life than your ex. I use to go and see uplifting documentaries about people doing great things in the world, because it helped shift my focus. Plus, if that fails there’s always a voodoo doll, because revenge is also fun!!
Lol. Tell me about Cat Turner and Alex Locke.
Cat has wanted to be a writer her entire life and isn’t going to let anything get in her way, while the only thing that Alex wants is to graduate high school and leave his hometown behind him.
What do you love about them?
I love Cat’s relationship with her mom and with her best friend. Plus she’s smart and determined, with just a hint of drama, because otherwise what’s the fun in being a teenager? With Alex, I love all the hidden sides to him and that despite how hard he is on himself, underneath he’s a softie!
What’s your favorite scene from the book and why?
I actually love the very first scene. Often first pages get rewritten so many times but this one virtually stayed exactly the same. The reason I like it is because Cat and Alex are so comfortable together and there’s a quietness to their relationship I found very endearing. Plus, she’s wearing her pyjamas, which is something I would so do!!!
When the reader reaches the end of The Heartbreak Cure, what feeling do you hope they have?
I hope that they think it’s a sweet story about two people who bring out the best in each other. And that they fully understand the healing power of brownies…
Amanda, thank you so much for stopping by and answering some questions for me. Congratulations on your new release.
Thank you so much! It was so nice to hang out with you all!!!
“Please don’t tell my mom that one. She doesn’t need any more bad puns to put on her cards,” Cat said as Alex’s cell phone buzzed. He read the text message before looking up.
“You could tell her yourself—or not tell her, as the case might be. She wants you to call her.”
“What?” Cat said in surprise before dragging out her own phone and staring at the dead screen. She’d obviously played one too many games on it during math. “How did she even get your number?”
He shrugged. “I guess Joe gave it to her.”
“Oh.” It seemed Cat wasn’t the only forgetting Alex wasn’t her real boyfriend.
The darkening afternoon sky was a spectrum of blues as he held up his cell. “You can use mine.”
“Thanks.” She took the handset. The screen was cracked, and there was a fine coat of grease on the keys. She grinned at his screen saver, which was of Snoopy dressed up as the Red Baron. “Frozen and now Snoopy? I always knew you had a marshmallow heart.”
“Yeah. I’m a total softie,” his voice was light, but his knuckles whitened. Cat winced. Franklin had tarred and feathered him with the same brush they’d used for his parents. The worst thing was he seemed to believe it, too. Frustration gnawed at her chest.
How I am the only one who can see how amazing he really is?
Her mom answered on the second ring and explained she’d been held up in a sales meeting and it was going to run for another two hours, which meant she couldn’t pick Cat from school.
“It’s fine. I’ll hitch a ride with Nikki,” Cat said, promising to charge up her cell phone, eat some vegetables with her dinner, and on no account throw a house party.
“You’ll never guess what just happened.” Nikki came running outside, her eyes glowing and her cheeks bright.
“Mackenzie fell into a vat of glitter?” Cat suggested. “Or glue?” Alex added.
“Wrong. Parker just asked me if I wanted to grab a burger with him. Well, he said you guys could come, but I told him you were busy. Right. Right?” Nikki narrowed her gaze so there could be no misunderstandings.
“Right,” she agreed with a smile before recalling her transport predicament. “Go, have fun, and don’t tell him about the time you beat your brothers up. It will only scare him.”
“Duh.” Nikki grinned and went racing over to Parker, who was nervously chewing his lip.
“I can give you a lift,” Alex said once they were alone.
“Are you sure? I feel like every day I impose on you more,” she said, achingly aware of how close they were standing.
“What kind of fake boyfriend would leave his girl stranded?” He shrugged.
His girl.
His. Girl.
She tested out the words like a new flavor. Her body trembled in response and she nodded. “Okay, great.”
Purchase The Heartbreak Cure from:
Amazon US | Paperback | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AUS | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Goodreads
Places to find Amanda Ashby:
I think fake relationships are fun books. I have never been on one myself, but I did play a trick on my mom one time when I brought a co-worker to meet her for lunch one day and told her we were dating. She freaked out when she saw the big scary looking (but really nice) guy. She didn't say anything then, but she sure let me know about it when I got home that night.
ReplyDeleteI have never had a fake relationship. Fake relationships are fun in books, but not so much in real life.
ReplyDelete