Hiya guys, we have Cate Ashwood visiting today with her newest release The Storm Before the Calm, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant giveaway and Aerin’s review for you to enjoy. So enjoy the post and click that Rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~
The Storm Before the Calm
Cate Ashwood
Charlie has one passion in life: dancing. It’s his salvation when it feels like the world is swallowing him whole. When his mom secretly secures him a spot in the summer intensive at the Free Rein Dance Company in New York, he is thrilled. He knows that once the summer ends, he’ll have to return to Beacon to get a job and help support his family, but for those two months, he can spread his wings.
In New York he meets Max, a junior instructor who is everything Charlie wishes he could be. Bold and self-assured, Max radiates pride in who he is. As they spend time together, Max shows Charlie what life can be like past the walls of his closed-minded home town. But Charlie doesn’t know if he’s ready to show the world who he truly is when standing in the spotlight is the last thing he wants.
Excerpt
My fingers tugged at the edge of the cardboard cozy wrapped around the cup as I waited for him to speak. The silence between us felt heavy, and the awkwardness settled in around me as he stared at me, his mouth quirked in a playful expression.
“What?” I asked finally.
“Nothing,” he replied, smiling. “So I guess we should get started.”
“Sure.”
“I think maybe just one, two songs at most. The festival isn’t until the end of the summer, so we have lots of time.”
“What festival is it again?” I asked.
“OutShine,” he responded.
“What kind of festival is that?” I asked.
“It’s a big arts festival that takes place throughout the city, mostly in parks. There are exhibits and performances, and a huge celebration at the end. It was started a few years ago to raise awareness and money for gay rights.”
“Oh. Are you… I mean….”
“Gay?” Max supplied.
“Yeah.”
“Yes. Are you?”
“I… no, uh I…,” I stuttered. I was stunned by how nonchalant and completely unapologetic he’d been about his sexuality, as though admitting to me he was gay was the most ordinary thing in the whole world. A part of me wished I could do that. I could nod and say the words like it was as natural as telling him I was blond or I liked chocolate ice cream.
“It’s okay, Charlie. No big deal. You don’t have to be gay to participate. Originally, all the artists were gay, but it has grown and evolved now to include everyone, which is how it should be,” Max said, shooting me an understanding look.
I should have corrected him. I should have told him, but I’d never said the words out loud. Hell, it was hard enough for me to form that three-word sentence in my head. Even as I sat there, my brain rebelled, doing its own version of sticking its fingers in its ears and humming. So instead of being honest with him about who I was, I let him assume I was something else.
About Cate
Cate Ashwood wrote her very first story in a hot-pink binder when she was in the second grade and found her passion for writing. Her first successful foray into romance writing came five years later when she wrote her best friend, who was experiencing a case of unrequited love, her own happily ever after.
Cate’s life has taken a number of different and adventurous roads. She now lives a stone’s throw from the ocean, just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband, her brand new little boy, and her two cats. Her life is filled with family and friends, travel, and, of course, books.
Where to find the author:
Giveaway!
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Review
Title: The Storm Before the Calm
Author: Cate Ashwood
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, New Adult
Length: Novel (200 pages)
ISBN: 9781634760867
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (June 5th 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Aerin
Blurb: Charlie has one passion in life: dancing. It’s his salvation when it feels like the world is swallowing him whole. When his mom secretly secures him a spot in the summer intensive at the Free Rein Dance Company in New York, he is thrilled. He knows that once the summer ends, he’ll have to return to Beacon to get a job and help support his family, but for those two months, he can spread his wings.
In New York he meets Max, a junior instructor who is everything Charlie wishes he could be. Bold and self-assured, Max radiates pride in who he is. As they spend time together, Max shows Charlie what life can be like past the walls of his closed-minded home town. But Charlie doesn’t know if he’s ready to show the world who he truly is when standing in the spotlight is the last thing he wants.
Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Before-Calm-Cate-Ashwood-ebook/dp/B00YHHHJZ6
Review: Another lovely book from Cate Ashwood; I’m a happy girl! This is a beautiful, low in angst young adult story, one I enjoyed reading this from the beginning to the end. I’m not a frequent reader of YA books, but Cate Ashwood is one of those authors who successfully writes this genre, so I know I’m in good hands with her.
This is the story of Charlie and Max, two dancers who touched my heart in different ways. Charlie escapes to New York the summer after his high school graduation for an intensive dance program at a renounced school. The bullying he endures at his small town high school makes his life a living hell, and Charlie found a very unhealthy outlet for all the emotional pain he feels.
Max is a junior dance instructor at the school Charlie goes to for the summer, and the chemistry between them is instant and obvious. When they start training together for a duo and have to spend hours together getting very close and personal, sparks start flying, and Charlie has to come to terms with his sexuality.
I loved their friends to lovers story, and while there are not very explicit sex scenes between them, what we get is extremely sensual and romantic. You know the type of teenage love that’s all-consuming, greater than everything, passionate, a love that knows no bounds? That’s what we get from them, and I loved it! There’s plenty of kissing and snuggling, and the boys like to experiment a lot sexually, so have no worries, this book isn’t steam-less. I guess we get a more innocent type of sex, which was fitting since the boys are on the young side.
There are two things that would have made this book perfect.
1. We needed Max’s POV. He is such a patient, amazing, supportive, sexy, attentive man! He’s a perfect boyfriend without leaving us feeling like his character was overdone. Unfortunately, we don’t get to know much more about him than that, because this story is told exclusively from Charlie’s POV.
2. Charlie’s reluctance to discuss his feelings and expectations with his mother…it didn’t need to be here; it just didn’t make any sense to me why he was so set on going back home after the summer was over. I understood and admired his determination to help his mother financially, but that could be done without him giving up on the happiness he found in New York alongside Max. Charlie’s mother was such an amazing woman; loving, caring, understanding and accepting; I love it when we get amazing characters like her.
Beautiful HEA, adorable, lovable MCs, amazing secondary characters, and beautiful sensual dancing. What more do you want? Recommended!
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Sounds like a great book.
Hi Cate! This sounds like a great book, definitely have to read this!