Excerpt + Giveaway: Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

I am pleased to participate in the Nantucket Blue blog tour that is hosted by IFB. Today I have an exclusive excerpt for you and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end.

You can see the complete tour list here.

Publication Date: May 7th 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Purchase: Amazon   

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

Excerpt: 

     "Here's the thing. Everyone has a story to tell." Out of the corner of my eye I saw George fan out his fingers, the way he does when he's explaining something he's passionate about. "Everyone's life has love and death and drama and hope and fear. And if you make them comfortable, if they feel they can trust you, they'll tell you. They actually want to tell someone." I always know when George is done making a point because he folds his hands together and rests them on his big belly.
      
       "So, what are you looking for from his brother?" I asked. "What do you want him to tell you?"

       "Family stories. The humanizing details. Anecdotes that reveal character. Boaty wasn't born into this world. He scrambled to get to where he was. I want stories that show that incredible determination, drive and intelligence.  I also wonder when he started stepping on people. Who was that first rung on his ladder to the top? People think his career started at the state house, but I think it also started when he figured out how to charm the right people into leaning over so he could step on their backs."

      "You think his brother's going to tell you that?"

      "He might tell me without telling me, if you know what I mean."

George shifted in his seat. I slowed down to take a look at the cross that Zack had pointed out to me, the one where the ghost likes to hang out. As I looked out the window, I noticed that George shuddered. I screamed which made George scream and grab at his chest.

      "You just got the chills! You just got the chills!" I said, slapping the steering wheel and accidently slamming the horn.

      "You scared the living shit out of me!"

      "Holy, holy shit, you just got the chills."

      "Eyes on the road, Thompson," George said, putting his hand on the wheel and steering us more solidly to the right side of the road. "Eyes.On.The.Road.Jesus, how long have you been driving?"

      "Almost two years, but holy, holy shit." I shook my head, and pointed at him. "I can't believe it, you got the chills."

       "Yes, I've been coming down with something since, like, May."

       "The ghost," I said. "There's a ghost girl at that cross back  there. Any they say that's why people get chills when they pass it. And that's why I was watching you and oh my god. Oooh, should we drive by and see if it happens again?" I couldn't wait to tell Zack. How come I never happened   to me? Was I not spiritual enough for ghosts to contact?

       "No, no, no. Let's just focus on getting there alive."     

 


About Leila:

LEILA HOWLAND loves to read, explore L.A., and engage in funny and meaningful conversations with her friends and family, especially her brother who calls from Washington D.C. whenever he’s waiting for the bus. A lot gets discussed in those phone calls, but they tend to end abruptly when the bus shows up. She can really cut the rug, but wishes she could sing without people covering their ears. A graduate of Georgetown University, Leila spent five years acting in New York where she was a company member of the award-winning Flea Theater in Tribeca. It was a lot of fun and she often talks about “getting back into it.” The closest she has come was a stint as an extra on The Young and the Restless in 2010. Leila now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two dogs. She teaches high school English and blogs for HelloGiggles. NANTUCKET BLUE is her first novel.

You can also find her at: Tumblr | Goodreads | Twitter

Giveaway:  
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