Unzipped by Lauren Blakely- Review and Excerpt tour
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–> 100% of proceeds from the first 5 days of UNZIPPED sales go to California Fire Relief Charities! <–
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 14, 2018.
Wanted: Dating coach to help hot nerd win back the woman of his dreams…
Picture this – I’m ready to win back the love of my life, and I’m going big this time. We’re talking boom box, sing her name in the rain, let the whole damn neighborhood know I’m good and ready this time around. After all, if you’re going to grand gesture the ever-loving hell out of a second chance, you need to pull out all the stops.
There’s only one little problem.
My college girlfriend isn’t the one who shows up when I play my “I’ll do anything to win you back” tune.
The woman who flings open the second-floor window tells me my ex doesn’t live here anymore. But she’ll help me win her back. Anything for romance, anything for a guy so willing to go big for love. And that’s what I want at first. Until I get to know my new “romance coach” and discover she’s funny, clever, and keeps me on my toes. And boy, do I ever need that.
Now I don’t want to win anyone else’s heart. I want the woman who’s been helping me all along.
Trouble is – she thinks I’m in love with someone else, and when we take off on a road trip, everything I think I know about women is about to be unzipped and turned inside out.
***
He’s the last person I ever expected to pop into my life, but he might be exactly what I need to save the thing that matters most to me. All I have to do is not fall for him.
••••••••••
REVIEW: UNZIPPED by Lauren Blakely is a contemporary, adult, stand alone, romance story line focusing on roller coaster developer Kyler ‘Tom’ Sutcliffe, and television comedy writer Finley Barker.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Tom and Finley) UNZIPPED follows the accidental meeting and slow building relationship between twenty-eight year old, roller coaster developer Kyler ‘Tom’ Sutcliffe, and twenty-nine year old, television comedy writer Finley Barker. Kyler Sutcliffe aka Tom, wants to rekindle a romance with his college sweetheart Cassie, the woman who broke his heart but also the woman he hasn’t seen for close to eight years. Arriving at Cassie’s last known residence, and in an effort to win her over ala Lloyd Dobler style from the movie ‘Say Anything’, Tom will come face to face with television writer Finley Barker, who sees Tom’s challenge in the seduction department. Finley agrees to ‘teach’ a bewildered and baffled Tom the subtle art of wooing and romance, as she struggles to keep from falling in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Finley and Tom, and the potential fall-out as Finley’s life begins to spiral out of control, and Tom continues to move towards the woman he thought he once loved.
UNZIPPED is a story of friendship and fun with great back and forth banter between our leading couple. Finley battles between head and heart knowing Tom has only one goal in mind, and that goal will ultimately not include our story line heroine. Tom has always wondered what happened and why to make Cassie walk away without looking back. Little does our hero realize that there is more to the story than he could have ever imagined.
The relationship between Finley and Tom begins accidentally when Tom arrives to woo his former love. Finley is a film buff who is the perfect foil to Tom’s witticisms and movie quotes; their cross country journey finds there is more in common than they had previously expected. The $ex scenes are passionate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
We are introduced to Tom’s brothers Ransom, Nash and Gannon who are a constant source of teasing and taunts; their cousin Gabe; Finley’s friend and book store owner Arden, as well as Bruce Fargo, the man ultimately in charge of Finley’s future. There is something developing between Gabe and Arden.
UNZIPPED is a fast paced, energetic and humorous story line. The premise is fun and spirited; the characters are quirky, clueless and charismatic; the romance is passionate and entertaining. UNZIPPED is an enjoyable and entertaining story of one man’s attempts to woo, failing miserably, but in the end falling for his perfect match.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
I jerk back.
Rub my eyes.
What the hell?
Am I really seeing what I’m seeing? I don’t think I had that much wine. I had one sip.
Fine, fine. One large sip. One very large, very hearty sip. All right, it was a gulp.
But I can’t possibly be hallucinating, can I?
I peek again, and holy smokes.
There’s a guy on my front lawn going full Lloyd Dobler.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and my paranoid brain leaps three thousand steps ahead. Did he escape from Alcatraz? Is he going to bang down my door? Attack me?
I pivot and grab the baseball bat I keep handy. As the youngest sister of two older brothers, I’ve learned a few valuable lessons: boys are trouble, pizza is good cold, and always keep a baseball bat near the door and/or bed.
With my bat in hand, I scurry to the kitchen to grab my phone, then fly upstairs to the bedroom, taking the steps two by two.
I race into the bedroom, set the bat at my feet, and keep my phone clutched in my hand, ready to call 911 if need be. I pull back the white curtain a smidge.
And I nearly die laughing.
The song has stopped, and the Dobler wannabe is now kneeling on the ground, furiously hitting buttons on the boom box.
I peer around the curtain’s edge, and it’s like watching a sideshow act auditioning for my circus.
He hoists the boom box up above him again. A new tune plays. I cock my head, listening, and I cringe when I recognize the tune.
For real? Is he truly playing “Unzipped”? I could never stand that song when it was popular eight years ago. The music sounds like a can opener mating with a trombone. I wish he were playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” like Dobler did in the film.
But as I study the bizarre suburban male mating ritual, I decide to award him points for sheer balls. He also deserves bonus points because he chose to go without the super cheesy trench coat that Dobler wore. It worked for Cusack, but on anyone else that attire screams serial killer.
This guy seems harmless.
And admittedly, from my vantage point two stories above, he’s kind of handsome with the glasses, the thick, floppy hair, and the jeans that fit nicely. Strong jaw too.
Fine, fine. He’s more than kind of handsome. He’s 100 percent good-looking, in that hot nerd kind of way.
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than eighty times, and she’s sold more than 2 million books. In October she’ll release HARD WOOD, a sexy, standalone romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
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