Release Day Blitz, Excerpt, Guest Post & Giveaway for Lost In Me By Lexi Ryan
Get ready for NYT Bestselling Author Lexi Ryan’s new
series Here and Now! The first novel in the series, LOST IN ME, is a sexy New Adult
contemporary romance released April 7th!
LOST IN ME
is on SALE for just .99 cents the first week of release as a fan appreciation
from the author!
LOST IN ME is the
first book in the Here and Now series, a spin-off of the New York
Times and USA Today bestselling New Hope series. This
sexy amnesia love triangle is intended for mature readers.
The last thing I remember is having drinks at Brady’s
and trying to avoid eye-contact with my life-long crush—the gorgeous,
unattainable Maximilian Hallowell. They tell me that was a year ago, but I have
no memories of anything since then. What I do have is this ring on my finger
that Max says he gave me, and this much-thinner body I’ve dreamed of most of my
life. Aside from a case of retrograde amnesia, everything seems almost…perfect.
But the deeper I immerse myself into this new world of
mine—planning a wedding to a man I don’t remember dating, attempting to run a
business I don’t remember starting—the clearer it becomes that nothing is as it
seems. Do I have the life I’ve always wanted or is it a facade propped up by
secrets I don’t even know I have?
I need answers before I marry Max, and the only person
who seems to have them is the angry, tatted, sexy-as-sin rocker Nate Crane. And
Nate wants me for himself.
LOST IN ME is not a standalone novel, as the story
continues in Here and Now book two, FALL TO YOU, releasing in June.
Guest Post:
The Here and
Now Series
By Lexi Ryan
“Do
you know what retrograde amnesia is? Because I just learned about it and I have
this story idea…” This was few years ago on call with my critique partner. The conversation was supposed to be about the
book I was finishing, but I was distracted by this shiny new story idea.
The
kernel of the idea was there, born from my fascination with retrograde amnesia.
A woman wakes up in the hospital and is engaged to a man she remembers (though
she doesn’t remember getting engaged…doesn’t remember anything from the last
year, in fact). She’s in the days approaching her wedding…but there’s this
other guy. This guy who seems to know things about her life that no one else
does. This guy who’s in love with her and doesn’t want her to marry her fiancĂ©.
This guy she doesn’t remember and yet
feels connected to somehow.
I
carried this kernel of a story idea with me. I wasn’t sure what I was going to
do with it or whose story it was. I never know much about my plot when I start
writing. Instead, I start with emotion and character, and I was fascinated with
how it would feel to wake up and think you had to perfect life, think you’d
finally gotten everything you wanted…but have no memory of how you got there.
Meanwhile,
I was also carrying the character of Hanna with me. Hanna who has struggled with her weight her
whole life, who’s totally in love with a guy she grew up with but believes
herself to be completely unworthy. I met Hanna while I was first writing
Maggie’s story (now Unbreak Me), and
I knew from the beginning she needed her own story.
Then,
one day while I was writing a scene in Wish
I May that had Hanna pining for Max, the puzzle pieces floating around in
my head clicked together. Since I’d already written about Max and already “met”
Asher’s musician friend Nate Crane in my mind (I know, writers are weird), the
rest of the premise fell into place. I knew not only that I needed to write
this sexy amnesia love triangle for Hanna but that it had so many twists and
turns it was going to take me more than one book to tell it. And so the Here
and Now series was born—a series where the main character has to choose between
the two incredibly sexy guys that want her. How do you make the right choice
for your future when you can’t remember your own secrets?
I
hope you’ll check out Lost in Me,
book one of the Here and Now series.
When
I return to the party, I immediately spot Nate sitting in a chair beside Asher,
his guitar in his big hands, his dark hair falling over one eye as he jots
notes on a piece of paper. Something twists in my chest at the sight of him. I
want to tell myself it’s regret or fear—anything but the longing I know it to
be.
Maggie
and Lizzy motion me over from the bar, but I shake my head and stay by the
stairs. As if he senses me, Nate lifts his head and his eyes immediately lock
with mine.
I
might not understand the tangle of emotions in my chest, but there’s no
mistaking the anger that flashes over his face when he sees me, and because I’m
a coward, I can’t face it.
I
run back upstairs.
“Where’s
she going?” I hear Maggie ask.
“She
wasn’t feeling great,” Lizzy says. “I’ll check on her.”
I’m
in the hallway when I feel her behind me, her hand on my shoulder.
“What’s
wrong?”
Everything. “Nothing. The doctor said the
headaches and dizziness might give me a problem for a few days. A party
probably wasn’t the best idea.”
Her
expression is more worried than disappointed. “Let me take you home.”
“No.
It’s a beautiful night, and I’d actually like the fresh air. And I think I’m
going to swing by the club and see Max.”
“Okay,”
she whispers. “Promise you’ll call me if I can help?”
I
take in a long, slow breath. “Go back down there and have a good time.”
“Oh,
right.” Her eyes light up. “I have a rocker to seduce.”
My
stomach lurches, but I force a smile. “Right.”
I
watch her go back down before I turn back to the basket of cell phones by the
stairs. After shuffling through it, I pull out the few phones I don’t recognize
as belonging to me or one of my sisters.
I
hit the buttons to bring them to life and swipe all three screens to unlock
them. One screen, no doubt Asher’s, has a picture of Maggie and Zoe as the
wallpaper, one has a young woman I don’t recognize, and the other has Storm
Troopers.
There’s
no question in my mind that the Storm Trooper phone belongs to the man with the
Hulk tattoo and the Spider-Man shirt. The idea of this hard-ass rocker being a
closet geek is so adorable. I soften toward him without wanting to.
Before
I can think it through, I’m swiping my fingers across the screen and pulling up
Nate’s text messages. It doesn’t take long for me to find a thread with my
name.
The
last one I sent was the day of my accident.
Hanna: Left you a message. We need to talk
when you get into town.
What
did I want to talk to him about? Was I going to tell him I was marrying Max? I
scroll back through some harmless if flirty Good
morning and Good to hear your voice
tonight texts before I land on a conversation so damning it makes my hands
shake.
The
hallway is empty, but I can’t risk anyone else seeing these. I take the phone
out onto the back patio, sink into a chair, and scroll back to the beginning of
the incriminating conversation. I don’t take a single breath while I read it.
Nate: Did you remember to take your gift
home with you?
Hanna: I did. God knows what airport
security thought of it when they searched my bag.
Nate: I’m sure they’ve seen worse. Glad you
have it with you.
Hanna: It’s a sorry substitute for you.
Nate: I’ll make it up to you when I get to
Indiana. I’m coming straight to your place and keeping you in bed for days.
Hanna: Hmm. That sounds kind of boring.
Nate: Get naked, woman. I want to tell you
how to use my gift.
Hanna: Bossy.
Nate: Only because it makes you wet.
Hanna: Naked.
Nate: In bed?
Hanna: I’ve been in bed since you first
texted. I have a 6 a.m. running date tomorrow.
Nate: You should cancel it. I don’t want
you running off those curves.
Hanna: You’re the only one who likes my
so-called “curves.”
Nate: Who else matters?
Hanna: Good point. I miss your face.
Nate: I miss yours too. You know what else
I miss?
Hanna: Tell me.
Nate: The sound you make when I touch your
breasts. The feel of your nipples against my tongue. I miss sliding my hand
between your legs and finding you wet. I miss the taste of you. The feel of
your heels against my back as I take your clit between my lips. But mostly, I
miss holding you in my arms. So fucking perfect. So completely mine.
I
don’t know what I expected. Maybe it was supposed to be like in the movies,
where the amnesia patient sees something from her past and suddenly everything
comes flooding back to her. But there’s no memory here, and my half of this
conversation might as well have been written by another woman.
When
I lift my head, Nate is standing in front of me, hands tucked in his pockets,
his eyes bored.
“See
anything good?” he asks.
About the Author
Once a college English professor, I now write full
time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out
with my husband and two kids–a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er,
girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities,
though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I
enjoyed before I had children. When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running
(I use that word liberally. I’m really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry,
I’m always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice
cream or a chocolate martini.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment