Excerpt Tour for The Secrets Of Attraction by Robin Constantine

I’m so excited to for what I have for you guys today. The year before last, I read this little novel with an adorable cover and an interesting title. It was The Promise Of Amazing by Robin Constantine and it was near perfect. Things only got better when I read the companion to it, The Secrets Of Attraction. Here for you today, I have an excerpt from TSOA and I hope you enjoy it!

TITLE: The Secrets Of Attraction
AUTHOR: Robin Constantine
PUBLICATION DATE: April 28, 2015
PUBLISHER: Balzar + Bray
PAGES: 384 pages
RATING: 5 Bows
MY REVIEW: here
PURCHASE LINKS: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | IndieBound

Set in the same world as The Promise of Amazing, this smart, surprising, and romantic follow-up to Robin Constantine’s debut novel follows two New Jersey teens as they become friends and fall in love. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins, Sarah Mlynowski, and Jennifer E. Smith.

Madison Pryce thinks she’s got everything figured out—she’s working on a portfolio for a summer art program and hanging with her friends. Plus she has her hot boyfriend, Zach. But then a visit from a family friend turns Maddie’s life upside down.

Jesse McMann is still reeling from a breakup that shattered his heart and his band. Then pride (and some goading from his bass player and fellow barista) forces him to find a new drummer—and the inspiration to write music again.

Kismet arrives in the unlikely form of Grayson Barrett, who tries out for Jesse’s band, and whose girlfriend is BFFs with the cute girl who orders a chai latte after yoga every Thursday: Maddie. What Jesse and Maddie thought they knew about the secrets of attraction and the rules of romance changes once they start falling for each other.

EXCERPT

“Ava, come on, stop being a dance Nazi. It’s a success. Enjoy it,” Madison said, pulling me along. “And Wren wants to dance with her boyfriend, no one cares about cupcakes!”

Ava opened her mouth to say something but then just shook her head and almost…almost smiled before walking into the cafeteria. Did that mean? I was in the clear. Madison held onto my hand, leading me down a narrow, darkened hallway toward the pounding thrum of the band. People were coming and going through the hall, like an ant tunnel, but she held onto me, looking over her shoulder once and saying something I couldn’t hear. It was hot and loud, I gripped her hand a little tighter. We finally made it to a door that opened to the gym.

The gym floor was thick with people in front of the stage dancing to a craptastic version of What I Like About You. Kenny was breathless as he sang — probably from jumping around the stage like an idiot. We wove our way through the mob, stage lights flashing red and green and purple over the crowd. Madison stopped to chat with a few people, then held the camera in one hand over the mass of heads and started snapping random pictures. The flash made my vision spotty. We made it to the far wall where she finally let go of my hand.

“So are they friends of yours?” she yelled, gesturing to the band and rocking a little to the beat.

“Not really – that’s our old drummer. Just checking out the competition.” I yelled back. She nodded. The gym was less crowded than it appeared from up front. Most of the people were toward the stage, with a few stragglers hanging around the perimeter of the room. Tanner was still MIA. I checked my phone. Nothing.

“Hey I’m going to find my date. You okay?” Madison asked.

I wouldn’t have minded hanging out with her some more, but yelling at each other over the music wasn’t exactly the perfect situation to get to know someone. Oh, yeah, and the fact that she was here with someone made the whole thing a bit inconvenient.

“Yeah, thanks for helping me.”

“You still owe me that chai.” She waved as she walked off into the crowd. What guy would be idiot enough to let her out of his sight at a dance?

Wasn’t that awesome? Trust me, if you liked that, you’ll love the rest of the book. Be sure to check out Pandor’s Books, Bookish Things & More, & The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club to see the other excerpts they posted. They are all wonderful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Constantine is a born-and-raised Jersey girl who moved south so she could wear flip-flops year-round. She spends her days dreaming up stories where love conquers all, eventually, but not without a lot of peril, angst, and the occasional kissing scene. Visit her at http://robinconstantine.com/ and on Twitter: @RConstantine14.

Contact Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Pinterest | Instagram | Blog | Tumblr

Review for The Secrets Of Attraction by Robin Constantine

TITLE: The Secrets Of Attraction
SERIES: The Promise Of Amazing Companion Novel
AUTHOR: Robin Constantine
PUBLICATION DATE: April 28, 2015
PUBLISHER: Balzar + Bray
PAGES: 384 pages
FORMAT: eARC / ARC
SOURCE: Publisher via Edelweiss / Won
RATING: 5 bows

Madison Pryce has her life all figured out. She is working on her portfolio to make sure she can become the architect she dreams of, she has a close group of friends, and a hot boyfriend. Then she finds out something that changes everything. Suddenly she isn’t so sure she knows what she wants and who she wants it from. Jesse McMann still hasn’t gotten over his last girlfriend. She smashed his heart to smithereens when she dumped him in favor of his best friend….who also happened to be his drummer. He lost his love and his band in one fell swoop. Now that his finally gotten around to auditioning a new drummer, fate steps in. The new drummer just happens to be Grayson Barrett, boyfriend to Wren who is besties with Madison (AKA, the girl who comes in every Thursday for a chai). The more time Jesse & Madison spend together, the more they feel the pulls of attraction. Can they get over their issues and make things work or will their problems get in the way?

Madison was a character I liked instantly. She’s smart, fun, driven, and she knows exactly where she wants her life to go. She’s also so artsy, which is something I admire. I can’t draw a stick figure or imagine an awesome new lay-out for a house, or take dynamic photographs (though I can snap near perfect concert pics). Madison can do all those things. Though she wants to go into architecture, she’s always trying to do other things to add to her portfolio to showcase her willingness to take risks and try new things. She also doesn’t take things too seriously. She likes to keep things light and fun, never really the type to get into a serious relationship. Even when she starts getting closer to Jesse, she just wants to hang out and fool around with him, enjoy his company. The thought of a serious commitment doesn’t really enter her mind. That’s thrilling for me because I was the exact opposite. I was more of a Wren than a Madison, but it’s fascinating to read from an entirely different perspective. The way she handles her feelings about the changes and new information in her life was so heart-breakingly realistic. She’s in a no win situation. This is something that should make her happy. It’s definitely not bad news and yet, she can’t come to terms with it. I loved it so much. I also loved how confident she was in herself. In YA, we get a lot of girls who don’t think much of themselves. We get those girls that think they are ugly but all the guys swarm telling the oh so clever audience that the girl is far from ugly. That is not to be found here. Madison knows she’s attractive. She isn’t overly cocky about it, just confident enough to admit she looks good. It was entirely refreshing to read that after all the Bella Swan character types I’ve been seeing.

Jesse may have been more swoon-worthy than Grayson was….at least until Gray shows up here and starts stealing my heart again.

Nope, must focus on Jesse! Part of what I loved about Jesse is his dual personality. There was normal Jesse and then there was Stage Jesse. I loved that he was entirely aware of how confident he became onstage and tried (and failed) to emulate that in normal life. That is something about the lights and the crowd and the guitar that allows him to let go and know it’ll be okay. It was wholly adorable. Everything about him is adorable. I’m sure that’s not what he’s going for. He’s going for that hot rock god thing and, while he succeeds at that, I’m more a sucker for the adorable-ness that comes around when he isn’t on stage. Plus, you kinda just want to give the guy a hug. He literally had his heart torn out and stomped on. He’s best friend stole his girlfriend from underneath him. Losing your girlfriend is hard enough, but knowing your best friend cares so little about you that he’d take that away and ruin your band in the process (because no high school band can survive that kind of drama) is beyond devastating. Plus, neither one of them seem sorry. They both act as if Jesse’s feelings don’t factor in to the equation. Which is really shitty. I’m not a fan of that whole “love makes it okay to fuck with people thing.” Love is important and I’m behind that emotion 100% but it doesn’t negate basic courtesy. If things weren’t working, Hannah should have said something instead of fucking around with Jesse’s friend. Said friend should have turned down Hannah’s advances because he knows better. I kinda wanted to bitch slap both of them. But it’s okay because Jesse’s better off. The only thing I didn’t love about Jesse was his taste in music. I’m probably the only rocker on the planet who can’t stand Nirvana or Pink Floyd, but I despise both of them. Every time I see them mentioned anywhere, I can’t help rolling my eyes. I do applaud Constantine for putting in actual band names. I know people say specifying the bands or songs can date a novel, but I prefer that. Even if it’s songs I hate, at least I can ground the novel more by listening to what the characters are. And it can introduce me to new music which is always a plus.

This was possibly better than The Promise Of Amazing. Me saying that is a huge thing because I loved TPOA. My only issue with it was some of the dialogue felt a bit off. I did read an ARC of that, so it’s quite possible it was fixed before publishing and my issue became a moot point, but sometimes Gray’s words bugged me and pulled me out of the story. That is not the case here. All the talking (verbal or otherwise) felt very realistic. I loved that the cursing wasn’t just limited to the guys. Madison and Wren both say fuck at least once and that makes it more believable for me. I know that’s not the case for everyone, but I cursed in high school (and still do ^-^) and though I know there are people who don’t, I find that hard to believe and relate to. Sometimes in life, I feel like swear words are necessary. When you stub your toe and it hurts so bad you think you might have broken it “oh poo” just doesn’t cover it. So I loved that the characters spouted real swear words and not stupid substitutes. That’s actually a pet peeve of mine that I blame on the House Of Night series. At no point in life should one ever utter the words bullpoop in lieu of bullshit. It doesn’t work. If you must refrain from cursing, simply say BS and let it be. Mini-rant over.

This should have annoyed me in many ways. I hate love triangles.

But this was done so differently that I couldn’t be mad at it. Besides, it was more like a love….what kind of shape pentagon. It make me think of that Amanda Bynes movie She’s The Man. Zack loves Madison, who likes Jesse, who is hung up on Hannah, who is with Duncan. It’s hard to be mad at Madison for the triangle when its clear that she never meant for it to happen. It’s obvious to annoying who pays attention that she just wanted things to be causal with Zack and he just couldn’t handle that. And Jesse isn’t really in a triangle, he is just mopey over HannaDunk, which is understandable. Fuck, poor Jesse. I just feel so bad for him.

What it comes down to is this: this is the perfect contemporary YA romance. You get angst, drama, wit, charm, and, of course, romance. It’s fun, it’s heart-breaking at times, and it has that perfectly imperfect ending that we call crave. Things end on a good note, but there is still enough room for growth and development for the characters that you know everything won’t be 100% perfect. I loved it so much, I don’t think there are words. Basically, if you are a fan of Stephanie Perkins or Kasie West or Claire LaZebnik, you’ll love this!

****Thank you to Balzar + Bray for providing me with an eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review****

Flirting Fails inspired by The Promise Of Amazing by Robin Constantine (& Giveaway)

Robin Constantine is quickly becoming one of my favorite YA contemporary authors. The Promise Of Amazing is pretty awesome and The Secrets Of Attraction is even better. They both showcase the best and the worst of dating advice. I was relatively lucky when I was younger, never really doing anything over the top to grab a crush’s attention….or if I did, I’ve blocked it out. But regardless of whether or not you act on it, there is always advice in abundance from your friends on how to make that special someone notice you. The worst among those for me was always the line about pretending to like whatever it is they like just to show you have common interests. Every romcom movie or show can show you how that’s a bad idea because you invariably end up in a situation where your fake love is put to the test and found wanting. However, in the heat of the moment, it always seems like a good idea. One of my bigger blunders was faking interest in basketball to catch a guys attention. I have no interest in sports what-so-ever, so I know nothing about basketball except that the main goal is to put the ball through the hoop. I was hanging out with a group of people at a friends house one afternoon and my crush was sitting on the coach watching a basketball game. I oh-so-causally plopped down on the sofa beside him and he immediately started talking about how he loved the sport. My overenthusiastic response about loving the sport as well gave the impression that I knew all about and he was quickly asking my opinions on different teams and recent games. That definitely didn’t go well. I think I was hoping he’d be more of a quiet type or just talk about his opinions so I can agree with them instead of asking me what I thought. After that, my biggest bit of advice to anyone is just to be yourself. It sounds cliche, but really, why spend time lying about things to get someone to like you? What happens when they realized you lied about things? Beyond that, what happens when you are going on dates with someone you have no common interests with because you faked enthusiasm for things you really don’t care about? That doesn’t sound like a fun way to spend time to me! Robin’s books have a good bit of that message in them. Just be yourself!

TITLE: The Promise Of Amazing
AUTHOR: Robin Constantine
PUBLICATION DATE: December 31, 2015
PUBLISHER: Balzar + Bray
PAGES: 371 pages
RATING: 4 Bows
MY REVIEW: here

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who’s always done what she’s supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

TITLE: The Secrets Of Attraction
AUTHOR: Robin Constantine
PUBLICATION DATE: April 28, 2015
PUBLISHER: Balzar + Bray
PAGES: 384 pages
RATING: 5 Bows
MY REVIEW: Check back here on April 3rd to check out my review!

Set in the same world as The Promise of Amazing, this smart, surprising, and romantic follow-up to Robin Constantine’s debut novel follows two New Jersey teens as they become friends and fall in love. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins, Sarah Mlynowski, and Jennifer E. Smith.

Madison Pryce thinks she’s got everything figured out—she’s working on a portfolio for a summer art program and hanging with her friends. Plus she has her hot boyfriend, Zach. But then a visit from a family friend turns Maddie’s life upside down.

Jesse McMann is still reeling from a breakup that shattered his heart and his band. Then pride (and some goading from his bass player and fellow barista) forces him to find a new drummer—and the inspiration to write music again.

Kismet arrives in the unlikely form of Grayson Barrett, who tries out for Jesse’s band, and whose girlfriend is BFFs with the cute girl who orders a chai latte after yoga every Thursday: Maddie. What Jesse and Maddie thought they knew about the secrets of attraction and the rules of romance changes once they start falling for each other.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Constantine is the author of The Promise of Amazing and The Secrets of Attraction. A born-and-raised Jersey girl, Robin likes to spend her days dreaming up stories where love conquers all, eventually, but not without a lot of peril, angst, and the occasional kissing scene. She loves swoony books, flip-flops, dark chocolate and the full moon.

Contact Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Pinterest | Instagram | Blog | Tumblr

GIVEAWAY

I’ve been generously provided with a paperback copy of The Promise Of Amazing to give to a lucky follower. In addition to that, I have a little TPOA swag in my possesion, so I’ll do two winners. The first prize is the novel and the second is a swag back. This giveaway is US only. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway