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Thursday, August 25, 2016

Featured Author Riley Jean

Welcome Today's Featured Author 
Riley Jean!!





Use Somebody

Reeling from a traumatic and heart-shattering loss, Scarlett Rossi escapes back to her hometown, a place that never changes, though nothing about her is the same. The new Scar is fierce. Untouchable. Resolved to bury the twisted nightmares of that horrible night... the night when everything was stolen from her... the night that divided her life into two: before him, and after.

When do-gooder Vance Holloway makes it his personal mission to cheer up the new girl at work, he has no idea what he's getting himself into. Scarlett's tough shell doesn't fool him. He knows deep down, that sweet, innocent smile still exists, and he'll stop at nothing to prove it. Patience, persistence, and a little ice cream pay off. Slowly they become friends. Then best friends. Then more. Only one problem: he was never supposed to fall in love.

So begins an explosive tryst of pull and resistance between one worthy white knight, and the damsel who doesn't want to be saved. Scarlett won't survive another heartbreak. Can their friendship survive a compromise?

If Vance is so determined to break down these walls, he'll have to learn--just as she did--when it comes to things like trust and love, there are always consequences.

Because the last man that she loved swore to protect her, then paid with his life. And took with him a piece of her soul.
Now Scarlett must decide if true strength means guarding her heart or surrendering to it once more. One final secret remains: what really happened the night she swore she'd never love another man, and whose hands are stained with his blood?
A powerful journey of romance, mystery, and redemption. This is a standalone and full-length novel.







(FREE on Kindle Unlimited)
($0.99 Sale 8/29-9/4)

Goodreads Paperback Giveaway (August 1-31): https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/195435-use-somebody
About Riley Jean

Life has made me fearless, God has made me strong, and being married to my best friend has me laughing every single day. Sunny Southern California is where we call home. I enjoy scrapbooking, autumn sunsets, and surrounding myself with music and books. By day I am Pepper Potts: pencil skirt rockin’ executive assistant to a top leader at a Fortune 100 company. By night I am Riley Jean: reader, writer, rock star in disguise.




Interview With Riley Jean:
  1. Can you tell us a little about your book?
“Use Somebody” is a slow-burning, friends-to-lovers romance between Scarlett, the straitlaced girl who’s lost her way, and Vance, the boy who’ll stop at nothing to bring her back. It's a coming of age set in an ice cream shop, where the characters experience love, loss and redemption as they crawl inside your heart. And it's a story of mystery, one that will leave you biting your nails until that epic, heart-stopping reveal!

  1. What got you into writing?
It’s funny, I never actually intended to write a book. What began as journaling turned into a story about life and love that needed to be told.

Picture this: 2011, the year I graduated college, started a new job, moved out and got married. Four huge changes all at once! But they were good changes. Wonderful changes. After years of full-time work, full-time school, and full-time wedding planning, this was the year it all paid off.

Enter 2012. Life was settling down. Suddenly I had a ton of free time on my hands. So what did I do? I started journaling, which I hadn’t done since college. And since I loved romance novels so much, and was smitten with newlyweddedness, I started with my own love story.

I wrote down everything I could remember about the goofball I met in an ice cream shop, when I was stubborn and jaded, and he was determined to befriend me anyway. I wrote about how he became my very best friend at a time in my life when I had no one. I wrote about how when his feelings changed, he was patient with me, but persistent, and how he taught me to say what I was feeling and open up my heart again. I looked up old emails and texts, and recalled early conversations to get it as accurate as possible.

Just in case one day I pulled a “Notebook” and forgot all the beautiful details of how we fell in love.

So I guess I began where most writers begin: real life inspiration.

Here’s a fun fact! The original title of the document? “Ice Cream and Olive Juice.”

(Seriously though, feel free to laugh, that title’s freaking ridiculous.)

For two years I journaled our memories. But they were just random chunks, it didn’t resemble a story. That’s around the time my husband snuck a peek and encouraged me to do something with it.

So I created a timeline. I connected the dots. I added characters and back stories. I made a cover.

Fast forward to 2015: I clicked “Publish.” And it felt like I just publicized my own diary.

At this point, there’s been so much fiction and drama woven in, I definitely wouldn’t consider it a true story. But if it feels real, that’s because the love is real. Real life, real relationships, real heart.

  1. Using one sentence can you describe Use Somebody?
Scarlett Rossi hasn’t trusted anybody since that one traumatic night in college… that is, until irresistible Vance Holloway sets his sights on breaking down her walls.

  1. How did you choose the genre you write in?
This book falls somewhere between Young Adult and New Adult Romance. I chose to write in this genre because it’s a pivotal time in life that truly speaks to me. We’re all struggling to figure out who we are and how to handle adult situations while using young adult logic and hormones. Personally, I went through a lot during this time, but it was then that I grew the most. My hope is that it touches readers in the same way.


  1. Do you have a favorite spot to write?
My favorite spot to write is downstairs with the fireplace on and my dog, Delilah, asleep on my feet.


  1. Do you listen to music while you write?
Truth be told, I prefer to write in silence. But every other moment my fingers are not touching the keyboard, rock music is playing. There’s something about those lyrics and that nostalgic feeling that inspires me, in life as well as writing. You can find its influence in the book’s title, playlist, and references woven into every chapter.


  1. What writing projects are you currently working on?
There’s a lot going on at the moment! I’m currently working on a spinoff to my first book, another standalone that picks up just after “Use Somebody” ends. This one follows Ricky Storm, the sexy tattoo artist struggling with demons of his own. Readers have been begging for more of Ricky since they first met him in “Use Somebody,” and all I can say is they won’t be disappointed, this one’s going to be EPIC!

“Need Somebody” to be released in 2017.

Apart from writing, I’ve got a Goodreads Paperback Giveaway happening now, and kindle sale coming up. You don’t want to miss this!

Goodreads Paperback Giveaway (August 1-31): https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/195435-use-somebody

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