Hadley Arrington is the
career-driven editor-in-chief of her university’s prestigious newspaper.
Jack Diamond is a laidback student whose good looks have made things
even easier than they need to be. She’s the girl who came out of nowhere
and kissed him in the rain. He’s the boy who made her do something
crazy.
When the stakes seem too high, they have to decide if they’ll let their love show or if they’ll walk away for good.
When the stakes seem too high, they have to decide if they’ll let their love show or if they’ll walk away for good.
“That makes you happy? Being alone?”
Jack asked.
“Yes, actually,” I
said.
“And what about
sex?”
I could feel the
flush creeping down my neck. “Excuse me?”
“What about sex?
People are sexual. They have needs. You have needs.”
“Listen, I’ve had
sex. And I wasn’t impressed.”
He shook his head,
biting back a grin.
“What? I’m being
serious.”
“He wasn’t doing
it right then.”
“He did it just fine,” I said, thinking back to how I
lost my virginity in high school in Luke’s parents’ guest house, and how it had
been mostly awkward and painful and way too bright in that room. It had gotten
better, somewhat, but it had never been amazing.
“No, he definitely
did it wrong,” he said. “Which is criminal. I could fix that though.”
“Excuse me?”
He looked at me.
“I mean, if I were so lucky as to have the chance to sleep with you, you would
be, you know, impressed.”
“You’re extremely
arrogant.”
“Right back at
you.”
“How am I
arrogant?
“What kind of
person gives sex one chance and decides it’s not for them?”
“This
kind.”
He smiled. “But,
that’s a little arrogant.” He was teasing, mostly. “I mean, you’re so sure of
yourself, you think sex is overrated.”
“I didn’t say it
was overrated. I said I wasn’t impressed. I’m just telling you what’s true. I
had sex. I wasn’t crazy about it.”
“When?”
“What’s it to
you?”
“Tell me when.”
“That’s an
extremely personal question.”
He cocked his
head. “You don’t have to tell me, then. I just think he was doing it wrong.”
I took a breath.
“Junior year.”
“Was the last time
you had sex?”
I flushed.
“Damn,” he said.
He looked at me.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make fun of me.”
“I’m not,” he
said. He shook his head. “Honestly, I’m not at all.” He met my eyes. “Did you
have a bad experience or something?”
I took a breath.
“No. The sex was fine. But I broke up with the boy and he told everyone I was
easy.” I shrugged. “I didn’t sleep with anyone else after that. I didn’t want
anyone to think he had a point.”
“I’m sorry. That’s
bullshit,” he said.
“It’s really not a
big deal. It’s ancient history,” I said.
“Well, I could see
why you might not want to date people after that.”
“It’s got a lot
less to do with him than you think,” I said. “I don’t have the time, and
monogamy doesn’t exactly run in my family and—”
“You don’t want to
depend on anyone?”
“Exactly,” I said.
He nodded
seriously. “Yeah, see, the thing about that though, is that people who don’t
ever want to depend on anyone, people who don’t ever want to be touched, they
don’t jump into a stranger’s arms in the rain. Even on a dare.”
I met his warm,
brown eyes. They searched me and I looked away. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint
you, but sometimes they do.”
He jerked the
wheel and pulled off the road.
“What are you doing?”
He put the car in
park wordlessly.
“Excuse me?” I
repeated, staring at him. “I barely know you. Pulling over on the side of the
road is a serial killer move.”
“I’m not a serial
killer.”
“What
are you doing?”
He undid his
seatbelt and leaned across the seat and kissed me again. Without asking,
without anything that seemed like a warning.
He kissed me
deeply and instead of pushing him away, I leaned in.
I was surprised at
the whimper that escaped my lips as he moved his mouth down my neck. I was
surprised at the way my spine arched towards him and the way I wanted him to
slide his warm hands farther down my ribs to my hips. When his hand slipped
under my shirt, cool against my hip, I put my hand over it. “Wait, stop.”
He pulled his head
back and looked into my eyes. “You want me to stop?” He kept his hand there,
spread on my hip—not a particularly sexual or private place, but it made me
shiver.
I exhaled heavily
and didn’t say anything.
“Do
you want me to stop?” he repeated, more seriously.
I shook my head
slightly, wild-eyed and unsure of everything except for a single fact: I liked
being kissed by him. Even when I was sober. Even when I knew he was in a
fraternity with a bunch of idiots. Even when I knew how much most relationships
messed up your life, I wanted him to kiss me.
He pressed his
lips to mine and undid my seatbelt.
“C’mere,” he whispered, pulling my wrist. He coaxed
me over to his side of the car, so that I was straddling him. He kissed my
neck, and I could feel my pulse racing underneath his lips. He leaned back and
stared at me.
I tend to ignore my GR
messages and “friend” requests, not intentionally, I’m just not really
on there enough to always catch everything, other than to upload my
reviews for the blog. But when I got a review request, I decided to take
a moment to check out the book. The blurb wasn’t extensive but it was
enough to peak my interest. Although I didn’t read any of the reviews I
noted a majority rated LOVE SHOW highly; so I responded saying I’d
read/review it. I’m so glad Audrey took a chance and shared her book
with me; I’m sad to say that I may not otherwise have discovered it and
it’s definitely a beautiful - hidden - gem.
***
Hadley Arrington is an incredibly career driven young woman in her last year of college. Her dream is to be a reporter for The New York Times as a war correspondent. She’s the Editor-in-Chief at her school paper and fluent in Arabic. Everything she does is to get her one step closer to her dream; a dream she’s unwilling to compromise or get sidetracked from. One rainy night, a few drinks, a party and a dare, is the beginning of what challenges Hadley’s dos and don’ts in life.
Jack Diamond is Vice President at a fraternity with no plans for his future after college. On that same rainy night at a tailgate party, a cute tipsy-girl flings her self in his arms and kisses him madly. By a series of coincidental events he finds himself face to face with that nameless girl and wanting nothing more than to see her again.
Hadley and Jack agree to a friends with benefits relationship – but Hadley has rules…lots and lots of rules; but Jack is a rule breaker and Hadley eventually can’t help but give in to his rule breaking ways. It should be that simple but of course its not. With Hadley fighting for her dream job and her leaving getting closer with each passing day, Jack hides the secret of his biggest heartache and the real reason he can’t fully support Hadley’s dream to literally put herself in the line of fire.
I had serious goofy-smile-syndrome going on for a majority of the story. I loved watching Jack and Hadley together. They both are just good people that you root for, and so snarky funny together…anyone who knows me, knows I’m a huge sucker for good snark! But this is so much more than your typical sweet, boy-meets-girl love story. There are twists that will rock you, break you, and leave you breathless. The whole time you will know what HAS to happen but in the depths of your heart you hope that it won’t. Before the end, life lessons and heartache are plenty and you will most certainly get all misty eyed before Jack and Hadley can truly be together.
I loved this book…truly, truly LOVED it. It pulled me out of a serious book funk. Audrey is a very talented author; her writing drew me in from the very first page. I didn’t want to put it down and craved more Jack and Hadley when it was over. I can’t wait to see what’s next from her. Give LOVE SHOW a chance, you won’t regret it.
Love Show was a cute, fun, quick read! I laughed a lot during the story
and then at the end my heart was clenched. Love when a book can do
both!
Hadley Arrington is in her senior year of college. She is the Editor in Chief of the university’s newspaper so she is constantly working. She also pours everything in to school to become a war journalist; with a goal of being placed in the heart of the war. Her childhood wasn’t all that great. Her parents divorced when she was little, her mother has been remarried five times and doesn’t hang around long in the homes they lived in. Her father lives overseas and focuses a lot on his work. She has her best friend David who happens to be her roommate. David is set on getting Hadley out for some fun and drags her to a Tailgate to “kiss a stranger”….. Enter Jack.
Jack Diamond is a handsome frat brother who basically isn’t into doing much. He can rock a flannel like no tomorrow, I love me some flannel wearing guys! Jack had a good upbringing with his mother and father married and older brother at home. Everything went downhill after one of his father’s business trips went bad. His older brother is a doctor and is stationed overseas where it is fairly safe being he’s not in the middle of combat. Jack pretty much just lives day to day and doesn’t have many cares in the world, no real drive to do much of anything. At the Tailgate Hadley literally runs into him and surprises the heck out of him when she kisses him.
Jack and Hadley have decided a “friends with benefits” relationship will work for them. Hadley has rules she puts in place and Jack agrees. These two are hilarious! I loved when they interacted and the crap Hadley would say. She is a favorite female lead for me. I like a female that is strong and independent but can be changed after the right guy comes along. Once the rules become bent and feelings come into play, the story adds some heart clenching scenes. I don’t want to say too much on the story line because for me I was blown away by the end. The way Audrey portrayed the ending scenes was amazing!! Heart clenching good.
I can’t forget to mention more about David. David’s story in Love Show to me was just as big as Jack and Hadley’s. David is open about being gay and is confident being himself. That wasn’t always the case back home for him. He left his family who didn’t except him and basically turned him away. I love the banter between David and Hadley, you can tell these two truly care for each other. David has some ups and downs during the story and again I loved the way Audrey wrote his portion, lots of laughs and just enough heartache.
If you are looking for a well written story that will have you laughing and gives you just the write of heartache and suspense then pick of Love Story today!
I
was drawing on personal experience in the sense that I know what it's
like to have your dream job not align with reality. I also worked for my
college newspaper, but my position wasn't nearly as serious as
Hadley's. I have read a lot of long-form journalism on working in combat
zones, and that informed the way I described what Hadley went through
towards the end of the book.
2) I loved Hadley and Jack together. I loved watching Jack break down Hadley's barriers. They are so fun together....and I'm a total sucker for good snark. When you were developing their story did you always know how their relationship would start, as sort of a friends with benefits relationship or was that something that kind of surprised you as you wrote?
3) With LOVE SHOW and your After Forever series and soon to be released The Fall of January Cooper, are there people in your life that are the inspiration for your characters? Is there a real life Jack out there?
5) Wrapping up the interview portion before rapid fire...What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author and the best compliment?
1) Beer, Wine or Mixed
Hadley Arrington is in her senior year of college. She is the Editor in Chief of the university’s newspaper so she is constantly working. She also pours everything in to school to become a war journalist; with a goal of being placed in the heart of the war. Her childhood wasn’t all that great. Her parents divorced when she was little, her mother has been remarried five times and doesn’t hang around long in the homes they lived in. Her father lives overseas and focuses a lot on his work. She has her best friend David who happens to be her roommate. David is set on getting Hadley out for some fun and drags her to a Tailgate to “kiss a stranger”….. Enter Jack.
Jack Diamond is a handsome frat brother who basically isn’t into doing much. He can rock a flannel like no tomorrow, I love me some flannel wearing guys! Jack had a good upbringing with his mother and father married and older brother at home. Everything went downhill after one of his father’s business trips went bad. His older brother is a doctor and is stationed overseas where it is fairly safe being he’s not in the middle of combat. Jack pretty much just lives day to day and doesn’t have many cares in the world, no real drive to do much of anything. At the Tailgate Hadley literally runs into him and surprises the heck out of him when she kisses him.
Jack and Hadley have decided a “friends with benefits” relationship will work for them. Hadley has rules she puts in place and Jack agrees. These two are hilarious! I loved when they interacted and the crap Hadley would say. She is a favorite female lead for me. I like a female that is strong and independent but can be changed after the right guy comes along. Once the rules become bent and feelings come into play, the story adds some heart clenching scenes. I don’t want to say too much on the story line because for me I was blown away by the end. The way Audrey portrayed the ending scenes was amazing!! Heart clenching good.
I can’t forget to mention more about David. David’s story in Love Show to me was just as big as Jack and Hadley’s. David is open about being gay and is confident being himself. That wasn’t always the case back home for him. He left his family who didn’t except him and basically turned him away. I love the banter between David and Hadley, you can tell these two truly care for each other. David has some ups and downs during the story and again I loved the way Audrey wrote his portion, lots of laughs and just enough heartache.
If you are looking for a well written story that will have you laughing and gives you just the write of heartache and suspense then pick of Love Story today!
1)
There is a lot of detail in LOVE SHOW about the career that Hadley is
so driven towards. When she finally obtains her dream job, those
sequences are equally detailed. How much research went into bringing
that side of the story to life? Were you drawing on personal experience?
2) I loved Hadley and Jack together. I loved watching Jack break down Hadley's barriers. They are so fun together....and I'm a total sucker for good snark. When you were developing their story did you always know how their relationship would start, as sort of a friends with benefits relationship or was that something that kind of surprised you as you wrote?
Yes,
it definitely started as a friends-with-benefits relationship. I wanted
to write a real college romance for today and I think so many
relationships today, especially in college, start pretty casually.
3) With LOVE SHOW and your After Forever series and soon to be released The Fall of January Cooper, are there people in your life that are the inspiration for your characters? Is there a real life Jack out there?
I've known a few people like Hadley, but nobody exactly like her. Jack is much more a work of my imagination, and so was everyone in the After Forever series.
4) Can you tell us anything about 'The Fall of January Cooper' and what's next for you after its release?
It's
a little bit darker than LOVE SHOW in a lot of ways--and the hero's
definitely more troubled than Jack. But there's a lot of back-and-forth
banter. After that, I'm working on the sequel to Carry Your Heart, which
is told from Hunter's POV. And then, it'll either be a new book or else
a sequel to Love Show--I haven't decided yet!
5) Wrapping up the interview portion before rapid fire...What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author and the best compliment?
The
best compliment I ever received was from Tammara Webber, who emailed me
after she read LOVE SHOW and told me she loved it. It was the first
time I really believed that I was doing something right with my work.
The toughest criticism? "It really seemed like she [meaning me, the author] was drunk." :)
Random Rapid Fire Five
1) Beer, Wine or Mixed
Wine
2) Early Riser or Night Owl
Early Risers
3) Boxers, Briefs, or Commando
Boxers
4) Alpha or Beta
Beta
Beta
5) Super Power?
Invisibility
Audrey Bell is a young adult and new adult author living in
New York City. Love Show is her
second novel. She loves to hear from readers at audrey.b.bell@gmail.com.
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