Friday, May 13, 2016

Good Girl Review & Giveaway with Lauren Layne



Good Girl
By: Lauren Layne
Releasing May 17, 2016  

Loveswept


Blurb
In this steamy novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Blurred Lines, country music’s favorite good girl hides away from the world—and finds herself bunking with a guy who makes her want to be a little bad.
Jenny Dawson moved to Nashville to write music, not get famous. But when her latest record goes double platinum, Jenny’s suddenly one of the town’s biggest stars—and the center of a tabloid scandal connecting her with a pop star she’s barely even met. With paparazzi tracking her every move, Jenny flees to a remote mansion in Louisiana to write her next album. The only hiccup is the unexpected presence of a brooding young caretaker named Noah, whose foul mouth and snap judgments lead to constant bickering—and serious heat.

Noah really should tell Jenny that he’s Preston Noah Maxwell Walcott, the owner of the estate where the feisty country singer has made her spoiled self at home. But the charade gives Noah a much-needed break from his own troubles, and before long, their verbal sparring is indistinguishable from foreplay. But as sizzling nights give way to quiet pillow talk, Noah begins to realize that Jenny’s almost as complicated as he is. To fit into each other’s lives, they’ll need the courage to face their problems together—before the outside world catches up to them.


Buy Links:      Amazon | B & N | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo
Review:
2016 is definitely the year of LL! It's only March and all of the books I have read by her I loved in some way or another and trust me Good Girl is no different. I loved meeting a whole new set of characters and the new location Layne took me. 

In this story we meet 22 year old country star Jenny who is living in Hollywood because her people thought she needed a change of scenery while she wrote her next album. Well, that is until a story breaks that she has slept with a married man who she only ever met once. Needing to get away until it all blows over she heads to Louisiana where she will be off the grid and where she hopes all the music will come back to her but she didn't expect to have to deal with the cranky mansions owner who is not only hot but is growing on her day by day. 

Noah aka Preston just found out this property was left to him by his rich deceased father and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. He just ended things with his cheating fiancé and needs something to do. Surprisingly he loves working with his hands so when Jenny asks to rent the place for a few months he agrees but it's not like he needs the money but the distraction from his own life is welcomed. He new Jenny was hot but seeing her is person is going to test him and the last thing he wants in his life is another woman like his ex.

The one thing that jumped out of me when I was reading was the humor LL brought out in her characters. I loved how different Noah and his friends were but yet he fit perfectly in the middle of two worlds so even Noah doesn't know who he really was. The banter between these three friends hand me cracking up and also had me thinking now these are true friends. 

As far as characters go I loved them what can I say?! No matter how characters are written you can always relate to them in some way and with Jenny and Noah you definitely do. From the moment they first meet you can see just a spark of interest in them both but they both want to shut it down mainly for different reasons. I love how they started out giving each other a hard time yet looked forward to seeing each other during the day. They had this cat and mouse thing going on that had me wondering when would they give into the pull of them chemistry that was sizzling between them.  

What added to this book was the dogs.
I know that sounds strange but I love when authors bring animals into their stories. I feel with them the moods are lightened and they feel more real as the pages turn. One of my favorite parts is when Jenny is speaking to her dog and her dog is playing with a chew toy and the squeaks are the answers she is searching for. I know all about this because my dog and I do the same thing. 

I honestly did want to put this book down or wanted it to end. Not only did I love the characters but I loved the writing and the details that went into this story. The best part is that this story was told from dual povs!! I loved knowing what Jenny and Noah were thinking and feeling the whole time. It made them more real and showed there different layers. 

In a way I'm glad this is a standalone but I'm also bummed because I want more to their story and want Noah's friends to have their own stories. LL if you read this maybe think about having Vaughn and Finn have their own stories with maybe some appearances by Noah and Jenny ;) 

I highly recommend reading this book and entering this new world LL has created you won't be disappointed.

Author Info

Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of more than a dozen contemporary romance novels.

Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. A year after moving from Seattle to NYC to pursue a writing career, she had a fabulous agent and multiple New York publishing deals.

Lauren currently lives in Manhattan with her husband and plus-sized Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll likely find her running (rarely), reading (sometimes), or at happy hour (often).


Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 


Rafflecopter Giveaway (Kindle Fire Tablet 7”)



Excerpt 
Jenny
A week ago, I had my first burrito baby.
I mean, I didn’t know I was even pregnant. Thank God I have the tabloids to tell me these things.
It happens that way sometimes, at least in Hollywood, land of the flat bellies.
See, if your belly isn’t completely flat, if maybe you’ve put on a few pounds courtesy of a penchant for extra guacamole on your Chipotle burrito . . .
Bam. You’re at the grocery store buying tampons and M&M’s and you glance over, and there you are, all over the rag mags. Pregnant.
Or at least accused of it.
Because the tabloids don’t seem to care that it’s been quite some time since a guy’s been near my . . . ahem. Apparently in Hollywood you don’t need a guy. All it takes to get “knocked up” in L.A. is a tortilla the size of a hubcap and an avocado or four.
Let me be clear: I am not pregnant.
I just like to eat. A lot.
To be honest, up until last week, when I naïvely ordered extra sour cream while wearing a tight-fitting T-shirt that apparently accentuated the fetus that wasn’t there, I hadn’t really thought a lot about Hollywood beauty standards.
I mean, for starters, I’m not Hollywood. At all.
I live in the Hollywood Hills, yes. I rent a Hollywood director’s home, yes. Even did a tiny cameo in a movie a few months back.
But I, myself, am Jenny Dawson.
A country singer.
Don’t.
Roll.
Your.
Eyes.
get that country music can be polarizing, I do, I really do. But I swear I don’t twang about dead dogs and dusty highways. I just write songs about real life. My life. And then I sing them.
Formerly in the shower, and now on the radio.
Where was I going with this?
Oh, right. Hollywood. And how I’m not it.
It’s not that I hate Los Angeles. Sure, the traffic sucks, and the women of SoCal have more than their fair share of silicone between the shoulders, but the city’s got its good points too. The weather. The ocean. The shopping.
But the paparazzi thing has been getting under my skin.
I’m not one of those girls who moved here to get famous. I was already famous, courtesy of All of Me going double platinum last year.
When my agent and label suggested that some time in L.A. might be good for maintaining my “mainstream” popularity, I didn’t really fight it. See above points about weather and ocean.
But I wasn’t counting on being quite so center stage all the time.
I certainly wasn’t counting on the fact that I’d be embracing the homemade smoothie revolution. And actually, embracing is a strong word. Let’s just say I had to actually read the instructions before I knew how to work the fancy blender. And yes, I may have allowed my weight gain, and the tabloids’ notice of it, to shame me into the land of kale and quinoa.
And there you have it. The backstory of why I’m currently standing in the kitchen of a rented house, wearing yoga pants and a pink sports bra, and trying to work up the courage to ingest the green goo in front of me.

1 comment:

  1. Great review! Thank you for hosting GOOD GIRL today!

    Crystal, Tasty Book Tours

    ReplyDelete