I want to start by saying what a great series this is, the book is truly wonderful. Check out my review at the bottom of this post. Also, check out the great giveaway for a chance to win the series signed.
Review and Excerpt Tour for MY LIFE AS A MIXTAPE by LJ Evans!
We are so excited that MY LIFE AS A MIXTAPE by LJ Evans is finally here. As the last and final installment in her My Life As An Album series inspired by music and romance., we just know you’ll love Lonnie and Wynn’s story. Keep scrolling to read an exclusive excerpt and don’t miss a chance to win the WHOLE My Life As An Album series in print…and signed!
Title: My Life as a Mixtape
Author: LJ Evans
Release Date: November 13, 2018
Publisher: Self-published
Series: My Life as an Album #4
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 410
Format: Print and digital
Print ISBN: B07HLRFZ26
Digital ISBN: 978-1723958847
Synopsis:
From award winning author, LJ Evans, comes the last story in the MY LIFE AS AN ALBUM SERIES, inspired by music and romance.
LONNIE
I came to Tennessee to help a friend.
And now, I’m stuck.
By the Southern charm,
By the sweet tea and
By a tall, red-headed “Strawberry Shortcake.”
And when my world crumbles apart,
Wynn is there to help me pick up the pieces.
To show me the way.
WYNN
My life was a huge disappointment.
My marriage,
My job,
Everything slipped away.
Coming home seemed like the final failure.
But then I meet him,
Lonnie Brennan, the sexy bass player,
Who adds laughter to my life.
And now, I realize that I can
Change my tune,
Sing a new song.
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MY LIFE AS A MIXTAPE Excerpt
Copyright © 2018 LJ Evans
“Okay. But being twenty-five,” she emphasized her age like I should have known it. “And already having a divorce under your belt doesn’t bode well for any future endeavors.”
I turned back to the sky because looking at her was harder than I could have ever expected.
“One mistake doesn’t make you a failure,” I replied automatically but truthfully.
She didn’t respond, and we just laid there watching the stars wink into existence in a way I never got to see in L.A. Here in this part of Tennessee, they were out nightly. And here at the lake, they were stunning. Like her, glimmering…shiny…heart wrenching.
“Look at it this way,” I told her. “Now you get to have a whole bunch more firsts.”
“What?” she asked. I could feel her looking at me now, and I risked turning my head to meet her eyes. They were so pale that it was hard to see them in the darkness that had settled over us as the sun disappeared.
“You know. First time getting drunk…after the divorce. Well, hell, you already did that.” She smiled weakly, and I continued. “How about first date…after the divorce? First kiss…after the divorce. First time making love…after the divorce. It’s like you get a whole shitload of do-overs now but with more experience than you had when you did those things the first time. You can do them better than you did them as a kid.”
She held her breath at my words and stared at me.
Then she leaned slightly forward and kissed my cheek. Her lips hit my skin and filled me with a scent of berries and lake and I had to clench my fingers into my fist to prevent myself from pulling her all the way to me and devouring all of her, not just those sweet, full lips.
“Thank you,” she breathed out as she settled back on the dock and stared at the night.
“For what?”
“For trying to make me feel better. For reminding me that there’s more to life than this moment.”
But as soon as she said it, I was struck with a longing I don’t normally have. A longing to have this particular moment last forever. Because laying on the dock in the dusk with this beautiful creature might be something I could do three hundred and sixty-five days a year. And that was definitely not in any of my plans.
Enter to win a complete, signed set of the My Life as an Album series! Plus, nine will win an eBook copy of their choice from the series!
New to the My Life as an Album series? Start from the very beginning!
MY LIFE AS A COUNTRY ALBUM, book #1
(Cam and Jake)
Available on Amazon and FREE on KU
MY LIFE AS A POP ALBUM, book #2
(Mia and Derek)
Available on Amazon and FREE on KU
MY LIFE AS A ROCK ALBUM, book #3
(PJ and Seth)
Available on Amazon and FREE on KU
About LJ Evans:
Award winning author, LJ Evans, lives in the California Central Valley with her husband, daughter, and the three terrors called cats. She’s been writing, almost as a compulsion, since she was a little girl and will often pull the car over to write when a song lyric strikes her. While she currently spends her days teaching 1st grade in a local public school, she spends her free time reading and writing, as well as binge watching original shows like The Crown, Victoria, and Stranger Things.
If you ask her the one thing she won’t do, it’s pretty much anything that involves dirt—sports, gardening, or otherwise. But she loves to write about all of those things, and her first published heroine was pretty much involved with dirt on a daily basis. Which is exactly what LJ loves about fiction novels—the characters can be everything you’re not and still make their way into your heart.
Rae’s Reading Lounge Review:
I had met Evans in a takeover sometime during the summer and she had the most bubbly personality. When I went to check her Amazon author profile (as my stalking tendencies are want to do), I realized I already owned one of her books, My Life as a Country Album, I just hadn’t read it. The next day I won a paperback copy of her next book, My Life as a Pop Album. I moved her first book up my TBR and started reading, I didn’t put it down, even when I started crying, even when there was a pile of tissues messing up my comfy seating spot, I cried so hard. Then I finished the book and declared it the best book I had read of the year, and I stand by that statement. This is such an amazing series, it’s so creative, and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to read her newest, My Life as a Mixtape, here’s my review:
My Life as a Mixtape is a beautiful addition to the series, it includes everyone we fell in love with from the previous books and gives us a wonderful new story in Wren and Lonnie. It’s a slow-burn, a nice long one that is well worth the wait.
Wren isn’t in the best place, she’s getting over a divorce and the last thing she is thinking about is a relationship. Lonnie is too busy working with life and the band to consider anything serious. So when they meet, they agree that they should be friends, and nothing more. And they do build an amazing friendship filled with fun and laughter, with honest and heartfelt moments.
Evans makes it a point to talk about real life issues in her books, including mental health and I appreciate that so much. She writes about anxiety realistically and incorporates it into the story. I was doing a good job throughout this series to not get too attached but I think Lonnie is my favorite. He is such a good man and even though Wren was so insecure, she found herself through him.
There are so many elements to love about this book that I can’t add without spoiling it for the reader, but I will finish off with a quote from the book I especially loved. “My heart flipped like crazy. Because an almost four-year-old could say the thing my heart felt but that I knew I couldn’t say”. Very well done.
Read the review on my blog HERE
Rae's Reading Lounge 