Giveaway Alert: Tamara will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, so don’t forget to leave a comment with your email and good luck!
BLURB:
In the closing weeks of law school, Shannon Sutherland meets handsome and charming Englishman Will MacKenzie. Initially swept off her feet, Shannon finds that Will has a secret that, once discovered and the consequences realized, could destroy their fledgling relationship. Will and Shannon take great pains to have a normal relationship but, ultimately, find it impossible to do so. Will the pressures of their careers and the temptations of others drive Will and Shannon apart? Can Will and Shannon live a happy life away from the spotlight?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT 1:
“I met someone. His name is Will. He’s English, I think.”
“That would be different for you.”
She wasn’t wrong. I had very casually dated a number of men I had met in the various pubs in Santa Monica. They were from all over Europe, but not one of them had been English for some reason. There were Scottish, Irish and Welsh men among them, but never English. I had commented on occasion on the fact that I never seemed to meet English men at the English pubs I frequented.
“I’m going to see him again tomorrow night.”
“What’s he like?”
“Drop-dead gorgeous, smart, funny and with excellent taste in music. Just my type. Well, better than my type, actually. It’s hard to believe someone that perfect has any interest in me.”
“Please” Rachael said. “You get hit on every time we go out.”
“That’s overstating things quite a bit.”
“You seem oblivious to it half the time.”
I guess I did ignore some of it. When you spend time as part of a female minority in bars full of drunk men, it was hard not to think that some of them would have hit on me for no other reason than that I was female, regardless of how I acted, what I said, or what I looked like. I therefore learned that getting hit on wasn’t necessarily a compliment and, the later it happened in the evening, the less of a compliment it was.
Review:
The beginning of the book was interesting to me. The meeting backstage…been there. 🙂 The chemistry between Will and Shannon is great when they first meet. Their whirlwind courtship is not without some heartaches and misunderstandings. I like that author used to completely different careers for her characters and the issues that they have with said careers.
That said, I will admit that I was a bit bored about Shannon’s bar exam prep. It was too long for this reader and I will admit to skimming over parts of it. The career was great…but. What I wanted was the romance between the couple and it really didn’t start getting good until the halfway point. With the triangles between them and the break up, I was heartbroken for them.
I kept cheering for them and once I got through the halfway point, the book really picked up speed for me. I was completely unprepared for the ending. I cried buckets and I don’t think I’ve recovered. I will warn you, bring tissues because you will need them.
Overall, I enjoyed Will and Shannon’s story. I’m a sucker for an Englishman and the pressures of keeping a relationship going between two completely different people. My only problem with the overall feel of the book was the length. As I stated above, I did skim over some parts just because I was getting bored with it.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tamara Carlisle is a former attorney and business consultant. Away from the Spotlight is her first published work of fiction. She currently is working on two additional novels: one is about love in the music industry and the other is a work of paranormal fiction. Tamara currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her British husband and daughter. For further information, go to http://www.tamaracarlisle.com.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Away-from-the-Spotlight-by-Tamara-Carlisle/166846163445733
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6185721.Tamara_Carlisle
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/books/29531300/Away-from-the-Spotlight?amatc=kdp-c
Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/author/carlisletamara
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tamara_Carlisle
Tamara’s Goodreads Author Page also includes a blog detailing trivia relating to Away from the Spotlight.
Congratulations to Jess1, winner of the $25 Amazon gift card! I am extremely grateful to Harlie’s Books for hosting me and reviewing my book, and to everyone who joined us here and elsewhere on my tour. Thank you and I hope you’ll keep in touch!
Thank you for stopping by, Lyra. My book even makes me cry. I hope you enjoy the emotional story.
A book that makes one cry is certainly precious, since it must be very good to provoke such emotional reaction.
lyra.lucky7(at)gmail(dot)com
Hi, Alyson! I’m glad you joined us here at Harlie’s Books. I’m glad both you and Harlie felt the emotion of the story and I am so glad that you liked it! Thank you both for reviewing it – I appreciate your time and thoughtful consideration.
Didn’t you love this book? I really enjoyed the story…I felt exactly the same about the ending. ;(
Thank you, Vera, for stopping by and I hope that you will enjoy the book!
thanks for the reviews, honest reviews are refreshing and so informative
vera28546 at yahoo (dot) com or twitter: vera mallard at veramallard
Thanks for stopping by, Jess! I hope you like my story and that you’ll enjoy the book!
Good review with emotional impact on the reviewer.
strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com
Thank you, Trix and Karen, for joining us here. It’s been a lot of fun and I am very pleased to be “spotlighted” in Harlie’s Books. Glad you liked the post and hope you’ll enjoy “Away from the Spotlight.”
Sorry for the late post. I’m playing catch-up here so I’m just popping in to say HI and sorry I missed visiting with you on party day! Hope you all had a good time!
kareninnc at gmail dot com
Thanks for the honest review…sounds intriguing!
Christine, thanks for stopping by! I think many women try to be nice and act oblivious when they’re not interested and don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. They’re also oblivious when they don’t take it seriously (even if the “joking around” is quite serious). Hope you like the book!
This sounds like quite an interesting book. It has a dash of humor in it too. A lot of girls are oblivious when guys are flirting with them, or do they pretend? Hmm.
Lol.
chrysrawr@yahoo.com
Thank you again, Harlie, for hosting me today! I’m glad you liked the story! Thank you to Victoria, Catherine and Mary for joining us. I’m glad you like my story. Even I cry at my own story, Mary – my family laughs at me. Thanks to all who joined us today and I hope you’ll check into my website (www.tamaracarlisle.com) for the latest on my Tour and the status of my upcoming novel, “The Call of the Limelight.”
A book that makes you cry is precious.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Congrats on your first published work. It’s a great achievement.
catherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Thanks for the giveaway. I would love to read this book. Sounds like a very good romance.
Thanks, Jane! I’m glad you like the story. Thanks for joining us today!
I appreciate that you joined us here, Rita, and I’m glad you liked the excerpt!
Shame on me for the tractor comment, Harlie! That was a function of an early morning here in California and using my tiny phone. Love the motorcycles! I’m glad you like the concert scene – like you, I have my own backstage experiences. My purpose in writing that was to hint that Will was more than he appeared.
I think the story sounds really awesome.
I enjoyed the excerpt, thank you.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Good morning! Thank you, Harlie, for hosting me here and for reviewing “Away from the Spotlight.” I’m sorry you struggled a little through part of the middle, but am glad you enjoyed it overall and appreciate the four tractors.
Thank you for hosting today