Blog Tour! Review & Giveaway Always by Amanda Weaver

Genre: Contemporary romance-age 20-30. 

Publish Date: April 15, 2014

Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.  

From the moment they meet, their connection is perfect in every way but one. 

It’s New Year’s Eve, 2006, and Justine James is fronting her dead-end band for a less-than-adoring crowd. But there’s one person there who sees what she could be—one person who changes everything for her. 

Dillon Pierce clawed his way up from the LA streets with no one to count on but his best friend, Ash. Their years of struggle finally pay off when their band, Outlaw Rovers, gets signed and their single takes off. With Ash as the magnetic lead singer and Dillon as the band’s musical soul, they’re destined for greatness, provided Dillon can keep Ash from self-destructing first. 

Dillon might not be fronting Outlaw Rovers, but he’s always been the only one Justine sees. She’s followed his career from afar and when he shows up at her crummy New Year’s Eve gig, nothing will stop her from meeting him. They forge an intense connection, rapidly moving from friends to musical soul mates. Justine wants much more, but she’s not willing to climb over groupies and industry bottom-feeders to make it happen. Dillon becomes a fixture in her life, but she has to figure out how to keep him out of her heart. 

Outlaw Rovers begins to implode as Justine’s star is on the rise. The years that follow bring equal parts fame and ruin. For Justine, a new love supplants her old heartbreak, and Dillon has to reboot his life after losing nearly everything that matters. Despite the odds, Dillon and Justine remain devoted friends and musical collaborators. After all the missed chances, wrong turns and painful detours, can they finally find the happiness together that seemed destined from the start?      

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Smashword

REVIEW

Not bad this book. Not bad at all.

This is a story about friendship, about loving and letting go which kept me glued to my seat until I was finished.

Justine James is a singer. She has dreams of becoming famous someday but she's fast losing hope when her band, the Failsafe, can't seem to make it further than the usual crappy pubs and bars.

One night, she meets her idol, the one musician she's always admired.

Dillon Pierce is the guitarist of the Outlaw Rovers, the band he'd started with his best friend Ash Thoren. They hit it big when they got signed and are now at the top.

When Dillon allows himself to be dragged by Ash to this crazy party, he has no idea that one meeting will forever change his life.

Justine and Dillon connect from the first instant and he's impressed with her voice so, when they leave on tour, the Failsafe go with them. Justine has now the chance to make someone notice her.

What she hadn't expected from this experience was to fall in love.

Dillon is actually a nice guy and I could see why she fell for him. When they first met she expected him to be arrogant and condescending. After all, he is famous. But he actually listens to her and seems to really like spending time together. He has issues but in a way he managed to work through them or at least not allow them to condition his future... too much. His only flaw is his weakness when it comes to his best friend. In a way, I think he feels indebted to Ash and has a hard time saying no to him even when he knows that what they're doing is wrong and self-destructive.

Justine grounds them, even if it's only temporarily so. They seem to be better around her or at least they try, for her sake, not to do stupid things and upset her.

Justine … She's a strong girl who knows what she wants. When Dillon breaks her heart over and over again she prefers to walk away and not allow him to destroy her. And she doesn't give in to their life style.

The most important thing for her, or the second most important, is music. She's pretty levelheaded and determined. It was interesting to follow the evolution of her relationship with Dillon. That kind of friendship is quite rare, especially when stronger, unrequited feelings are involved. They manage to keep each other on the safe line. And when Dillon's world falls apart, she'll be the one who rescues him.

While the book is not exceptionally well written, I think the author did an awesome job in delivering the message that true friendship is a precious thing and it can survive and grow and overcome all the obstacles. Let's not forget that this is her first novel so, great job, Amanda! I really enjoyed it and I really think you should give it a try!

Happy Reading!

MIHAELA

Like many writers, Amanda Weaver spent her childhood constantly telling stories. College steered her in a different direction and into a successful career as a designer. Several years ago, she picked up writing again strictly as a hobby, to blow off some creative steam. One thing led to another, National Novel Writing Month happened, and here we are. Amanda Weaver grew up in Florida and now lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, daughter and two crazy cats.

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GUEST POST

The inspiration behind Always

For a long time I’ve wanted to write a story about a friendship mixed with unrequited love. I liked the idea of a girl in love with a guy and then getting over him. Like, really over him, and still preserving their friendship. And then he falls in love with her. That dynamic had been dancing around in my mind for quite a while. 

I’ve always had a soft spot for artists of all kinds. I’m an artist myself, and I love the idea of people bonding over what they create together. It’s powerful and the work exists outside of whatever personal dynamics people might be dealing with. The art can tie them together even when everything else might be pulling them apart. Mix that together with this theme of badly-timed love and Always slowly started shaking out. 

Brushing my teeth is golden writing time for me. I can’t tell you how many story-telling problems I’ve solved while brushing my teeth before bed. That’s exactly when Always started. Imagine me, toothbrush still in my mouth, toothpaste dripping off my lip, while I furiously typed an exchange of dialogue into the notes function on my iphone before it slipped away from me. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve started a story that way and hopefully it’s not the last. Anyway, that first bit of dialogue, which came before there was any kind of plot or characters, is still more or less in the book, at the tail end of Part 1. Let’s hear it for toothbrush inspiration.

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