{"id":14108,"date":"2014-10-25T07:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=14108"},"modified":"2014-10-25T07:00:04","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T11:00:04","slug":"cover-reveal-excerpt-giveaway-leaving-amarillo-by-caisey-quinn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/25\/cover-reveal-excerpt-giveaway-leaving-amarillo-by-caisey-quinn\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover Reveal, Giveaway & Excerpt \u2606 Leaving Amarillo by Caisey Quinn"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love this cover!<\/strong> Isn’t this fabulous?! And you have to read the excerpt.<\/strong> I’m a total sucker for the whole brother’s-best-friend storyline. Especially when the best friend is ordered to keep his hands–and everything else–off the little sister who’s completely in love with him. I can’t wait to read.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coming March 17, 2015<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"LeavingAmarillo\"<\/p>\n

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Some promises are made to be broken…<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Music is my everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

After my parents died when I was a kid, moving into my grandparents\u2019 ramshackle house on a dirt road in Amarillo seemed like a nightmare. Until I stumbled upon my grandfather\u2019s shed full of instruments. My soul lives between the strings of Oz, my secondhand fiddle, and it soars when I play.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Houston, I’m a typical college student on my way to becoming a classically trained violinist headed straight for the orchestra pit. But on the road with my band, Leaving Amarillo, I’m free.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0We have one shot to make it, and I have one shot to live the life I was meant to. Leaving Amarillo got into Austin Music Fest and everything is riding on this next week. This is our moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s only one problem. I have a secret…One that could destroy everyone I care about.<\/span><\/p>\n

His name is Gavin Garrison and he’s our drummer. He’s also my brother’s best friend, the one who promised he’d never lay a hand on me. He\u2019s the one person I can\u2019t have, and yet he\u2019s the only one I want.<\/span><\/p>\n

One week.<\/span><\/p>\n

One hotel room.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t know if I can do this.<\/span><\/p>\n

I just know that I have to.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"excerpt-sheilabold\"<\/p>\n

For a long time I knew he only saw me as Dallas\u2019s little sister. I used to have frizzy hair and knobby knees and a chest as flat as both boys. But somewhere along the way, I changed. I\u2019m having a hard time convincing myself that he really sees me for who I am now. Maybe he still sees knobby knees, frizzy hair, and freckles on my shoulders.<\/p>\n

His eyes narrow and he shakes his head. No.<\/em> \u201cDon\u2019t. Don\u2019t do that to me. I just told you. You know why.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LAteaser1\"I frown involuntarily while swallowing the knot of emotion that\u2019s rising steadily in my throat. \u201cHow could I possibly know? You treat me like we\u2019re related most of the time. You put your hands on random waitresses right in front of me. You sleep with anything that moves. Except me. I tell you how I feel and you can\u2019t get rid of me fast enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly Gavin is a burning man, coming toward me with angry gleaming eyes. He steps into the room, forcing me back against the wall. The door slams heavily behind him, and he braces his arms on either side of my head. I\u2019ve only seen him this worked up when playing his drums. My heart morphs into a hummingbird inside my ribcage. It\u2019s trapped and wants to escape. Desperately.<\/p>\n

His words come out with force that would shove me backward if there were anywhere for me to go. \u201cAs flattering as your honest opinion of me is, how about you just tell me what the hell you want from me so we can both get on with our lives. You want to hold hands and go steady, Bluebird? Because I gotta say, you\u2019re not as smart as I thought you were if you\u2019re looking for that from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I jerk my chin upward, faking a confidence I don\u2019t have but refusing to let him intimidate me. \u201cDid you sleep with that waitress? I want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

He snorts out a harsh humorless laugh. \u201cNo you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do. Tell me the truth.\u201d I look up into his eyes, praying the answer is no. Something about that specific waitress is really bothering me. Maybe because I saw their initial flirtation or maybe because of what she said to me in the ladies room. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m well aware of the fact that he\u2019s been with countless women, but somehow this one feels different. More personal. Because this time, he knew how I felt and if he slept with her anyways, then he actively chose her over me. \u201cPlease,\u201d I add to my already pathetic plea.<\/p>\n

He releases me from my forearm prison and throws both of his hands into his hair. I inhale a much-needed breath and relax just a little. Until he slams a palm against the wall. I flinch, only because it startled me, but I can see in his wounded expression that he believes he scared me. As if I could ever be afraid of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, okay? No I didn\u2019t sleep with her. There, you happy now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell you\u2019re obviously not. If you were going to be so upset about it, why didn\u2019t you just go ahead and do her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta be fucking kidding me,\u201d he says, raising his voice a few decibels shy of shouting. \u201cWhich is it? You want me to have screwed her or not?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m all wound up, like the toys from my childhood. The ones with the knobs you turn and turn, winding so tight the spinny thing breaks and falls off. I\u2019m confused and hurt and angry and turned the hell on in a way I can\u2019t even process. The combination is more than I can handle rationally. I take a page from his broody book and let my palm smack the wall behind me. It stings so I clench it shut. The pain distracts me and I blurt out the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t want you to have screwed her. I don\u2019t want you to screw anyone<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

His reaction is wide-eyed shock and disbelief. \u201cAnyone<\/em>? Christ, you want me to be celibate? Do you hate me or something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LAteaser2\"Licking my lips, I take several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. It almost works. \u201cI want you,\u201d I begin slowly before taking another deep breath. \u201cTo not engage in foreplay in front of my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

He opens his mouth to respond\u2014most likely to deny that he did that tonight\u2014but I place my trembling fingers against his lips, firmly breaking our ten-year unspoken no-touching rule. I\u2019d like to take a moment to enjoy the soft, full, sensuously masculine mouth of his, but there isn\u2019t time. I need to focus all cylinders of my brain on what I\u2019m trying to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you how I feel, what I want. And I get it. You don\u2019t feel the same way. Or you won\u2019t act on your feelings. But that doesn\u2019t mean I can switch mine right off for your convenience. And it doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m not jealous, not hurt, and that I don\u2019t hate, hate,<\/em> being in the presence of any woman who is going to have you in a way that I never will.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m breathing hard, tasting his anxiety and frustration in the air between us. Removing my fingers from his mouth and placing them on mine, I watch him go to war with himself.<\/p>\n

He neck loosens, allowing his head to fall forward. Remaining completely still while he inhales the length of my neck, I swallow hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me I\u2019ll never have you that way. Tell me to move on and let this go,\u201d I whisper, needing to hear him say it and terrified that he actually will in equal measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re my best friend. Growing up, you were my safe place,\u201d he tells me on a ragged breath that seems to pull the life completely out of both of us. \u201cI don\u2019t want to ruin you, Bluebird.\u201d<\/p>\n

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