Title: Be Here
Now
Series: Cedar Creek Book
#2
Author: Julia Goda
Genre: Contemporary
Romance
Release
Date: August
17, 2015
Synopsis:
Six years ago,
Loreley Cooper thought she had it all. Head over heels in love with her boyfriend Jason and ready to take on the
future after college, she landed the internship of her dreams. But things came crashing down during a fight, when
she believed she found out he’d done something she knew she could never forgive. Completely heartbroken she
walked away and hasn’t talked to him since.
Now, six years
later, Loreley is recovering from a painful tragedy that almost killed her. Finally finding her way back to herself,
now famous rock star Jason Sanders storms back into her life and seems determined to win her back. Why he would
seek her out after all this time, Loreley has no idea. She has sworn to never talk to him again after what he
did.
Jason Sanders is
determined to not let the love of his life walk away from him again and is willing to do anything and everything to
make her give them another chance.
Misunderstandings
are uncovered and secrets are revealed that lead to pain and heartbreak yet again. Will they have what it takes to
forgive each other and themselves and fight for their happily-ever-after or is it too late?
Buy The Book
Now:
Review -3 Stars!
I liked the book. I really did. It kept me entertained and invested in the characters which is the two things I require in any novel. There weren’t giant plot holes or random scenes that confuse you. It was very well written and well-edited, which makes things nice.
The Good:
The interaction between the two protagonist in this love story are reminiscent of Kristen Ashley’s hot guy/sassy girl interaction. It wasn’t exactly like her and it wasn’t overt, but it was similar enough I enjoyed it and that is the highest compliment I could give any author as KA happens to be one of my all time fave authors. Seriously!
The Bad:
Honestly, the only thing I didn’t like in this novel is sometimes the interaction and character’s emotions changed a bit TOO quickly. It felt almost rushed how quickly Loreley changed her colors regarding Jason. She did it on a drop of a dime, which during the scene that changed it was understandable, but she did it with almost NO lingering effects of her grudge and pain she had held onto for years. She had like two instance where she did things without trusting Jason later, but she had done that in their first relationship by jumping to conclusions which was more her thing personality-wise than an effect of lingering pain from the years she lived with it.
This is really hard to do without spoilers. I felt this book could have been truly wonderful if it had been drawn out a lot more. The change in emotions of the characters during a lot of scenes was rushed to me. This sometimes makes the dialogue a bit odd to me too.
Overall, I want to read more from this author, especially as this series grows!
Excerpt
When I came out of the store (…), I stopped to admire the black Challenger parked at the curb. Challengers were sweet. Not as sweet as my 1965 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, but still, they were nothing to sneeze at. They were pretty unusual in Cedar Creek. Especially at this time of year. It was early summer and camping season was starting, so the town was usually filled with big SUVs that could pull trailers, not sexy sports cars. The driver’s door opened and my heart stopped for a second before it restarted and beat in overtime as I saw the person emerging.
It was Jason.
He threw the door shut and leaned against the side of the car, his arms crossed on his chest and his sunglass-covered eyes fixed on me as if he expected me to come to him.
Great.
Jason was not someone I wanted to deal with this morning or today or ever.
I looked away from him and drank some more water as I started walking past him, initiating my strategy to ignore he existed like I had told Chris and Rick last night I would.
But Jason didn’t let me.
He walked towards me and started right where he had left off last night: lying to “Where did you get the idea I cheated on you?”
I kept walking without answering him. I wouldn’t let him rile me up again.
“Where, Loreley?”
I took another drink of water and carried on towards my house when just like last night, a hand on my arm stopped me.
“Don’t touch me, Jason. Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.” I snapped.
He let me go immediately. What he didn’t do was leave. Instead, he moved closer, and I had to force myself not to take a step back.
“Fine. I won’t touch you, but you gotta talk to me. I swear to God I never cheated on you. If someone told you I did, they were lying—” His boldness of approaching me and confronting me as if he had a right to infuriated me. Chris had been right. Jason wouldn’t let me ignore him. So I broke my promise and got riled up.
“Tell me, Jason.” I interrupted him, “What is it you are trying to accomplish here? Why are you here in my town, tracking me down, following me, lying to me? What is it you want from me?”
“I told you last night. I wanted to apologize. I was a dick and an asshole and lost you because of it. I’ve regretted saying those words to you every single day, Loreley, I’ve missed you every single day.”
“That’s it? That’s what you came here to do? Apologize and tell me you missed me? All right. Consider your mission accomplished. You can leave now.” I started to turn away from him again, but he stepped around me and blocked my way.
“That’s not all I wanted to say.”
“Then what is it? Spit it out so we can get this charade over with and I can forget about you again and get back to living my life!”
Jason ground his teeth and clenched his fists. Then he moved in even closer and said trough his clenched teeth, “I love you and I want you back. I have wanted you back since the moment you walked away from me six years ago. I get now why you didn’t answer any of my calls that day if you thought I fucked someone else. But I swear, Loreley, I never did. I never cheated on you. I loved you too much to hurt you like that. I still do. I want you back.”
Spotify Playlist
for Be Here Now
Interview
I have been writing stories in my head since I can remember. Much to my teachers’ dismay, given the task of writing a short essay I would always come back with way too long and detailed stories. Many discussions and bad grades were the result, so that for most of my life I thought I couldn’t write worth a damn and pursued other careers. But the dream of being an author wouldn’t be ignored and kept lingering. With a little help from my fantastic husband, who gave me the necessary kick in the behind, I was finally brave enough to start writing my first novel last year and finished it only a few short weeks later—well, the first draft, that is. But the seal was broken and since then I have enjoyed given myself over to my stories and making them come to live.
2. Have you always wanted to be an author, was it a talent you had, or did something inspire you to pick it up out of the blue?
Yes, it’s always been my dream to someday write a book. Throughout my life lots of people would tell me that I should. I’m not quite sure why exactly, but it happened often enough that it kept nagging at me. I always loved well-told stories, could give myself completely over and disappear into them. When I read I don’t see the words, I see the story play out in front of me. But as I said earlier I didn’t think my writing was very good. I have always been somewhat of a daydreamer, so even as a kid I would sit somewhere (mostly in front of my window staring out) and make up stories and see them unfold in front of my eyes. I called it the “What if game” in my head. I never told anyone about it or shared my stories. I think people were a little concerned about me always being so quiet and disappearing into my head, but it’s just how I’ve always been. I’m a thinker and a dreamer. My husband often has to tell me to stop staring at people or things and I don’t even realize I’m doing it because in my head I’m creating a story as I observe what’s going on around me. So finally having the courage to actually write my stories down has been a blessing, because now when I’m caught staring at someone or off into the distance I can use my profession as an excuse!
3. What are your feelings towards being an Independent Author?
Hm. That’s a tricky one. What I like about being an independent author is the fact that I can control everything about my books. From the title to the cover to the release date everything is my decision. But that sometimes can also be overwhelming when you get caught up in promoting or designing a website or finding the right designer to do your cover when all you really want to do is write. It can also be very scary, especially if you’re a new author like me because you have no idea if al the effort is actually going to get you anywhere. It’s hard because you have to build your own network of people you can trust and ask for advice if you run into a problem. With a publisher that might be less so in the sense that you have a team around you that is supposed to take care of you, though whether that’s always the case in reality I’m not sure. For now I am happy to be an independent author, but I’m not averse to working with a publisher either. It would all depend on the kind of contract.
4. Do you feel all independent authors are “created equal?” – Why or why not?
I’m not quite sure that it is possible for all independent authors to be “created equal”. There are always people who have better connections than others, be it knowing a good editor who will edit your book for free, or be it knowing someone in the publishing world that can help you out with their connections, or be it a certain book blog that will help you promote your book. But in the end what I think is important is that it is about the books that are published and the love of reading, or at least it should be in my opinion. If you create a great book that people love then you deserve to be successful.
Also, different authors have different reasons as to why they write books and have different aspirations as to where they would like that book to end up. It’s the same with readers as they have different reasons as to why they like a particular book and don’t like another one and what made them pick up a book and why they enjoy reading in the first place. The number of book sales or likes or reviews doesn’t necessarily tell you if you as a reader will like a book because tastes and interpretations are always different. And that diversity in writing and reading I think is a wonderful thing because it gives us authors the chance to be diverse and maybe explore and write about something that we otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to and it gives the readers a chance to maybe try something new as well.
So in the end it doesn’t really matter if all independent authors are created equal because it’s not about that. It’s about people having the chance to do what they enjoy doing and if as an author I can make one person happy they read my book, if I could help that one person in some way or another then I believe I have already succeeded.
5. How many books have you written?
I just finished writing my third book. My first novel “Bent Not Broken” was self-published in mid-April of this year. I wrote another book during last year’s NaNoWriMo, which is more geared towards the New Adult audience, but it still needs some tweaking here and there, since I am not one hundred percent satisfied with the flow, but I am confident that I will publish it some time this year.
6. Is the book we’re interviewing about, your first novel?
No, Be Here Now it’s my second published novel. Bent Not Broken is my first novel, the first standalone in a series of interconnected standalones that all take place in a small town in the Rocky Mountains.
7. Is it a part of a series?
Yes, it is part of the Cedar Creek Series, but all books in the series can be read as standalones. There are no cliffhangers.
8. What genre and age group is your novel geared towards?
The Cedar Creek Series are Adult Romance Novels and should be read by readers eighteen years and older.
9. Can you give us a brief summary of the book?
The two main characters in this book are Loreley Cooper and Jason Sanders. They used to date during college, but Loreley left Jason when she thought he cheated on her. Six years later, Jason is back in Cedar Creek. He wants his second chance. Secrets and misunderstandings are uncovered and now both of them have to take a leap of faith if they want their HEA.
Here is the synopsis:
Six years ago Loreley Cooper thought she had it all. Head over heels in love with her boyfriend Jason and ready to take on the future after college, she landed the internship of her dreams. But things came crashing down during a fight, when she believed she found out he’d done something she knew she could never forgive. Completely heartbroken she walked away and hasn’t talked to him since.
Now, six years later, Loreley is recovering from a painful tragedy that almost killed her. Finally finding her way back to herself, now famous rock star Jason Sanders storms back into her life and seems determined to win her back. Why he would seek her out after all this time, Loreley has no idea. She has sworn to never talk to him again after what he did.
Jason Sanders is determined to not let the love of his life walk away from him again and is willing to do anything and everything to make her give them another chance.
Misunderstandings are uncovered and secrets are revealed that lead to pain and heartbreak yet again. Will they have what it takes to forgive each other and themselves and fight for their happily-ever-after or is it too late?
10. What was your favorite part about writing this book?
My favorite part during the writing process of Be Here Now was seeing how the characters developed. They kind of took on a life of their own. What I had initially envisioned isn’t exactly how everything turned out in the end. It’s almost like there was a certain way the characters wanted to be portrayed and that’s how I had to write them. It’s quite fascinating actually, if sometimes frustrating.
11. How long does it normally take you to write a full-length novel?
Usually the first draft of a full-length novel of about 100,000 words takes me anywhere between six weeks to three months, depending on the story and how much time I have to write. Then come the editing and proofreading and formatting part, which I think every author enjoys the least, me included.
12. Is this your first time writing for this particular genre?
Bent Not Broken and Be Here Now are my first romance novels. I’m an avid reader and enjoy all kinds of genres and have all these stories flitting around in my head though, so I don’t believe it will be the only genre I will write in.
13. What is your favorite genre of books and why?
If it’s a well developed and flowing story with depth I don’t much care what genre it comes in. I have read pretty much every genre there is. I like a good romance novel just as much as I like a good YA or crime or mystery or fantasy novel. I have different reading phases I go through and I am a mood reader so it always depends on what speaks to me that particular day. The only genre I can’t quite get into is Science Fiction. I don’t connect with Sci-fi stories in general, be it a book or a movie. I don’t know, it just somehow doesn’t touch me.
14. Do you have any future novels in the works?
Yes, I have lots. One is a New Adult Romance novel that just needs some tweaking and editing. And then I have a notebook full of ideas and notes for more stories, no clue how many to be honest. Just for the Cedar Creek Series alone I have about eight books I would like to write, then at least four or five in the New Adult Series and a few ideas about books that might end up to be standalones.
15. What are your goals for your future as an author?
I hope to be fortunate enough to keep writing and telling stories. Even though I am still in the early stages in my career as an author I can’t see myself not writing anymore. Hopefully, the readers like what I have to offer them to escape the real world for a few hours here and there and they will keep reading my books. I try not to have too high expectations and take things for granted, but instead try and go with the flow and see what happens next.
16. Where can we go to shop for your books, author pages, or full website?
My books are published through Amazon and Smashwords. So far only in e-book format, but I am looking into publishing paperback copies through CreateSpace some time this year.
All About Julia Goda
I have been writing stories in my head since I can remember. Much to my teachers’ dismay, given the task of writing a short essay I would always come back with way too long and detailed stories. Many discussions (I have always been somewhat of a smart-aleck) and bad grades were the result, so that for most of my life I thought I couldn’t write worth a damn and pursued other careers. But the dream of being an author wouldn’t be ignored and kept lingering. With a little help from my fantastic husband, who gave me the necessary kick in the behind, I was finally brave enough to start writing my first novel and finished it only a few short weeks later—well, the first draft, that is. The seal was broken.
My novels jump
genres and touch on all kinds of different topics, but the things I try to focus on no matter what are romance, strong
women, and a good sense of humor.
Now, when I’m not
in my writing cave, spinning the tales that have been hounding me or editing (yes, I am also a professional editor,
guess that degree in Literature and Linguistics turned out to be useful after all!), I enjoy reading, drinking coffee,
eating good food, and listening to rock music.
Stalk Julia
Goda
Website: www.juliagoda.net
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/juliagodaauthor
Twitter:
@julia_goda
THANK
YOU!
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