Dear Readers,
I am so happy to be able to say that I have been chosen to be apart of the Lake Effects blog tour. Lake Effects is a book that I think you will all enjoy. I am here today to bring you a summary of that book from Chapter 18. I have also attached below some information about the book, author, ways you can purchase the book for yourself or follow the author on social media, and a giveaway link.
Lake Effect
By Nicole Tone
Publisher Pen Name Publishing
Published September 25th
Pages 308
Lake Effect is a raw exploration of human emotion and what it takes to save your own life.
After the death of her fiance, Sophie Daniels is struggling to keep herself together. Painting is the only way she’s able to clear her head and stay grounded. For her art isn’t a hobby—it’s her religion.
With a semester away from finishing graduate school, she knows that, despite her loss, things are going to get better. In fact, her thesis advisor has even taken a special interest in her. Sophie’s convinced that she’s found the mentor that she’s been looking for. When he shows he’s interested in her in more than just a student/teacher way, she obliges him. Until his wife leaves him.
Sophie learns the hard way what happens when a man cannot take responsibility for his own actions.
Now she’s back to square one in pulling herself back together.
She hasn’t just lost her fiancé anymore: she’s lost parts of herself she’s not sure she’ll ever get back.
Like her ability to create.
Purchase through Amazon
Nicole Tone has always had a passion for writing. She has her BA in Creative Writing and Literature and an MFA in Writing. Nicole is a freelance writer and editor with pieces in Heels Down Magazine, Hello Giggles, Femsplain, and more. She is also the editor-in-chief of Pen Name Publishing.
When she isn’t writing, she likes to dabble in photography, horseback riding, and traveling. She has a deep love for herbal tea, craft beer, and good coffee.
Nicole lives in Buffalo, NY, with her husband, three cats, and two very large dogs.
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Click the link above for the chance to win a signed copy of Lake Effect + Specialty Candle made by Novelly Yours.
Excerpt from Chapter Eighteen
By Nicole Tone
“Are you okay?”
A man’s whispered voice reached out, causing her to jump.
“What? Oh. Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry.”
Sophie looked over at Liam, liking how he didn’t remind her of Franz or Oliver. His face was soft and compassionate where age had not yet touched.
“It’s cool. Just wanted to make sure because of, well, the crying.”
Sophie wiped her face, embarrassed. She hadn’t realized she had been crying. On the small platform, Abby had just finished her poem to clapping, snapping, and whistles from the crowd. Sophie felt bad she had daydreamed through the rest.
“Sorry.” She did her best to brush off tears, ignoring how momentous the occasion actually was. When she had wanted to cry, she couldn’t: Adam’s funeral, in the weeks after Franz attacked her. But now, in a sea of strangers, she couldn’t control herself.
“Hey, what did you think? Was it terrible?” Abby’s questions came out in a hushed tidal wave, rushing past Sophie and dragging her back out to sea.
“You were good. I liked it.” Sophie was sure that was what she was supposed to say. What parts she had caught didn’t sound like what she thought they would but saying anything else would have hurt Abby’s feelings. Sophie couldn’t afford to alienate herself even more than she had already.
“Awesome. I was so nervous. But come with me.”
Abby pulled Sophie away, leaving Liam and the other poets behind.
Sophie looked over at Abby, her arm wrapped through Sophie’s, as they walked towards the restroom sign. In a way, Abby reminded Sophie of someone she would have been friends with in high school. She was different, but not so different that she turned people’s heads when she walked through the room. Her happiness, her optimism about even a bleak future in Port Townsend, was just as infectious as her cynicism about the world outside the city limits. She would be the one to never move away and still make a name for herself.
“So what did you think of the poem? Really think of it?” Abby asked as she closed herself in a bathroom stall.
“I thought it was good. Sort of a representation of everything I’ve been feeling lately.”
“This is that age, isn’t it? The age of our discontent, our loss of innocence, or whatever.” Sophie could hear Abby peeing even over her loud voice. The nostalgia for high school she had been fighting back all day surged forward. But there were no hand-dryers to drown out basic human function here. Instead, they would converse.
“Yeah, but it was good. A lot of people seemed to like it.”
“Did Liam like it?”
Abby flushed and came out of the stall. She looked over at Sophie as she washed her hands.
“I think so. Why?”
Abby shrugged as she dried her hands off with a paper towel.
“He’s just a writer type. He’s into good literature and poetry. His opinion on that stuff matters to me. When I’m working through new stuff I always have him critique it. He’s really helped me.”
“Kryptonite to girls like us, huh?” Sophie forced a laugh.
“I know, but his opinion is an educated one. I mean, we probably won’t work out because of how nice he is. Like, the dude stayed back from joining the military for his mom. She was sick, ended up dying a little while after his buddies all left for boot camp. But he’s still here. And he seems to have taken an interest into you, which doesn’t surprise me.”
“Why?” Her stomach churned, nerves on edge. She wanted to make friends here, not enemies.
“Well, you’re sort of a damsel in distress, aren’t you? Came out here all broken, in need of fixing or something.”
Sophie looked over at Abby, eyes narrowed, annoyed.
“I’m just saying, he loves your type. Most guys don’t want to marry the girl that keeps them up until four debating the merits of best-selling literature versus the obscure. He wants the girl who cleans up well and who wants to have kids. That’s not me. It’s just fun for now. That’s why we’re not exclusive.”
“With as much as I don’t know about myself right now, the idea of someone else fixing me isn’t what I want. I need friends. But I’m not interested in someone who is just looking to try and fix me.”
I want to thank Unbound for organizing this book tour. I hope that you all will enjoy this book.
As always please like, comment, and follow.
Until next time dear readers.
-Jessica
There are some books that you wish would be written. There are some books that you you can’t wait to be written. And then there are books that you never expected to be written, but end up even more brilliant than you could have hoped.
Dear Readers,
Hey Readers!