5 Days of Angel Island Day 3: Waiting for the Storm Excerpt

This week is the release of The Complete Angel Island Series, a box set that includes all three of my Angel Island companion novels, Waiting for the Storm, After the Storm, and Take Them by Storm. For this week only you can get the set for just $2.99 - that's all three books for the price of one! If you're curious about the series and haven't started it yet, or if you've read one but not the other two, now would be a great time to give them a try!

To celebrate the release of the box set, I'm dedicating this week to posts about the series. On Monday I kicked things off with fun facts about the series, yesterday I shared pictures inspired by the books, and today I'm sharing an excerpt from the first book in the series, Waiting for the Storm.

Waiting for the Storm is an emotional story that deals with some fairly heavy issues, so I tried to add in humour where I could to lighten the mood and keep things even. I had a lot of fun writing this scene. I hope you enjoy it!

When we got out to the car, Ezra helped Adam into the backseat and ordered him to buckle up. Without a word to me, he opened my door and waited for me to get in before closing it and going around to the driver’s side.

I watched Ezra’s face as he started the car and pulled onto the road. It seemed like he was purposely trying not to look at me. I angled so I could see Adam in the backseat; his eyes were closed, and I thought he must have drifted to sleep, but he called out, “Hey man, turn the radio on. You know I like my tunes.”

Ezra finally glanced at me, shooting me an apologetic half-smile. He flipped the radio on and turned the volume up. The sounds of Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’ filled the car.

“Ah man, this is, like, my favourite song!” Adam shouted, leaning forward and gripping the headrests. “Para-para-paradise! Such a great song.” He leaned back in his seat and continued to sing along, his voice loud and off-key.

My lips started twitching. I couldn’t help it. This was quite possibly the most bizarre situation I’d ever been in.

“Don’t you dare start laughing,” Ezra told me quietly.

I peeked at him from under my lashes. He was staring straight ahead at the road, but his lips were twitching too.

“I’m not sure I can help it,” I answered, my voice shaking slightly with suppressed laughter.

The song changed and ‘Mysterious Ways’ by U2 came on.

“No, this is my favourite song,” Adam said. He leaned forward again and suddenly his head was right between mine and Ezra’s.

I was so startled, a laugh burst from my mouth. Adam started to laugh along with me, and his cluelessness made me laugh harder.

“What’s so funny, man?” he asked after a minute. “Oops, sorry, lady,” he amended, smiling drunkenly.

I shook my head. “I really don’t know.”

“Put your seatbelt on, Adam,” Ezra said.

Adam slid back and I heard his seatbelt click into place. He continued singing, giving it everything he had, waving his arms around and rocking to the music. I soon discovered that every song was Adam’s favourite, and each time he said it I had to bite back another laugh.

Ezra didn’t speak, but we kept exchanging glances every time Adam hit a particularly sour note. He would cringe and look apologetic, as if it were his fault his friend was butchering song after song. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn’t really care.

We seemed to drive the entire length of the island before we pulled into the driveway of a small two-story house. The porch light was on, but the inside of the house was dark.

“I’d invite you and your lady friend in, man, but…you know how it goes,” Adam said, struggling with his seatbelt. He finally got it undone and he reached up to hand something to Ezra. He opened the door and stumbled out, and a second later he was leaning in my open window. With his face so close to mine, his beer breath made my eyes water.

“It was great seeing you again,” he told me, a goofy smile plastered on his face. He pointed at Ezra and thumped his chest right over his heart. “This guy…Ezra’s the best. He’s my guardian angel, you know? You two treat each other right, you hear?” He screwed up his face and blinked his eyes rapidly, and after a second I realized he was trying to wink, but he was too drunk to figure it out.

Suppressing yet another laugh, I winked back at him. “Good night, Adam.”

He waved and staggered off toward his house. He stumbled on the front steps, and called out something that sounded like, “I’m good!” When he had the door open, he waved again, then disappeared inside.

Without a word, Ezra put the car in drive and pulled back onto the road.

“Well…” I ventured. “That was interesting.”

A ghost of a smile touched Ezra’s lips, but he simply shook his head.

 

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#TeaserTuesday ~ It's almost THE GAME CHANGER's 2nd birthday!

Welcome to this week's Teaser Tuesday! I almost always post a teaser on my Facebook fan page on Tuesdays, but I decided to start posting them on my blog, too.

Next week is the second anniversary of the publication of THE GAME CHANGER, my sophomore novel. I can't believe my little book baby has been out in the world for two whole years! Melody and Julian (and Olivia and Ava) have a very special place in my heart. So special, in fact, that THE GAME CHANGER isn't the only book they'll be appearing in...*zips lips* ;-)

Here's a bit about the book before I share the teaser:

Melody Cartwright has never had a problem with change, but for the first time in her life the changes are beyond her control—she suddenly has a niece she never knew, but has to prove herself to; her best friend is making huge life changes of her own; and she has to deal with her ex and his crazy new girlfriend who has stalker tendencies. 

 
When Melody meets confident, sexy Julian, she’s not interested in a relationship. He tells her it’s possible for a man and a woman to just be friends, and despite his ultra-charming ways there’s something about him that makes Melody believe he could be right.

During a time of change and turmoil, it doesn’t take long for Julian to become everything Melody never knew she needed in her life. But is it possible for them to remain ‘just friends’ or will Melody be a game changer for Julian the playboy?

 

I think if you click the image it'll expand it to its original size...I'm bad at this stuff lol. If you can't read it but want to, check my FB page for this same teaser today ;-)

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Blue Sky Days Relaunch Blitz + Giveaway

Welcome to the Blue Sky Days Relaunch Blitz!

Today (June 27th) is the 20th anniversary of my dad’s death from leukemia. For a long time I’ve wanted to honour him in some way, and I thought having the relaunch of Blue Sky Days, a book that was partly inspired by him, would be the perfect tribute. My dad was a wonderful man—smart, funny, kind, and loyal. He was an amazing father, husband, brother, and friend. Even before he died, I knew I wanted to be a writer, and he would listen to my crazy made-up stories with the patience of a saint.

From the 27th-30th of June, half the proceeds from all sales of Blue Sky Days will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. If you already own a copy, maybe you’d consider buying the book for a friend or family member? Or buying another copy from a different retailer (like Smashwords, which offers the book in every format)?

I greatly appreciate the support of the online reading/writing community for helping me honour my dad.

Contemporary new adult

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A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother - studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing - and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time.

When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes - he's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan - sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.

Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

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Thanks to eight incredible sponsors, there's a huge blitz-wide giveaway! There will be three (3) $20 PayPal cash prizes. Three chances to win - not too shabby, huh? This giveaway is open internationally to people aged 18+ who can accept PayPal cash.

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Blue Sky Days Teaser #4

Hi guys! How is it Thursday again? Or a better question: how the hell is it December already??? Where did November go? Time is flying by so fast...I'm thinking I should start a daily countdown to the release of Blue Sky Days since it's only a month and a half away now. *gulp*

Anyway, you know what Thursday means: Blue Sky Days teaser/excerpt day! This one is like last week's where it's a bit longer than a teaser, but shorter than a normal excerpt. I'm thinking I'll save the longer excerpts until closer to the release. 

Teaser #1

Excerpt #1 ~ First Kiss

Teaser #2

Teaser #3 

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Teaser #4

When I woke up, the sky was just beginning to turn orange. For a moment I thought we must have slept for seven or eight hours, but then I remembered it was autumn and the sun had begun setting late in the afternoon. For years, it wasn’t something I had ever consciously noticed. Time never had much meaning to me other than ‘it’s time for class’, or ‘I have another hour left to study’, or ‘this project is due in three days’.

The passing of time and even the passing of seasons had all sort of blended together until I came to Riverview, and time finally started to mean something. Spring had eased into summer and summer had rolled into fall; I could remember every single day with vivid crystal-bright clarity. It was like life had finally come into focus after being fuzzy for most of my life.

I looked over at Nicholas, his features soft with sleep. I wanted to kiss the dark circles under his eyes and bring colour back to his cheeks. He was normally so full of life, so vibrant, it was hard to get used to seeing him any other way, just like it was hard to get used to the sun setting earlier in autumn.

I'm hoping to announce the dates for the Blue Sky Days Blog Tour next week, so stay tuned for that. I feel so incredibly blessed to have a whole bunch of truly fantastic bloggers as part of the tour. Since I'm still contacting people and working out dates, if you'd like to be part of the tour, be sure to email me because I can still squeeze people in at this point. Full details and my contact info are at the top of the blog in the tab called Blue Sky Days Blog Tour. 

 

Blue Sky Days Teaser #3

Hello my darlings! It's Thursday, and you know what that means...it's Blue Sky Days excerpt time! Today's snippet from the book is somewhere between a teaser and an excerpt. It's longer than a normal teaser, but kind of short for an excerpt. A teaserpt? I dunno lol. Anyway, this is from the scene where Nicholas finally tells Emma that he's been diagnosed with cancer. I hope you enjoy it!

Teaser #1

Excerpt #1 ~ First Kiss

Teaser #2

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Teaser #3

     He closed his eyes for a moment and when they reopened, they seemed clearer, brighter. “The doctors don’t know how bad it is yet. They’re still running tests. I’m supposed to hear back tomorrow.” 

     “It might not be that bad then, right? You never know. People recover from cancer all the time,” I said, unsure of whether I was trying to convince him or myself.

     “Emma…” he said slowly, his gaze steady on mine, his expression pained. “My mother had leukemia. My mother died from leukemia.”

     I swallowed audibly, my suddenly dry throat making a clicking noise that seemed to echo in the room. I had no idea what to say, although a thousand possible responses ran through my mind. That won’t be you, Nicholas…it can’t be you. They’ve made medical advances in the last decade. Everyone’s different. Each person responds differently to treatment. You won’t die…you can’t die.

   

My latest Blue Sky Days artwork ~ Emma's desk

I'm almost done signing people up for the Blue Sky Days blog tour. It looks like it's going to run for 3 to 4 weeks, which is mind boggling to me! It's a lot of work getting it organized, but I'm getting more and more excited. I'm heading out of town for 3 days tomorrow, but when I get back, I'll get the dates finalized and sent out. I'm putting out one final call to bloggers who are interested - if you'd like to be part of the Blue Sky Days Blog Tour, which starts January 17th, 2012, please check this blog post for details. Also, if you'd like to simply review the book and not be part of the tour, my contact info is in the blog post mentioned above. Thank you!

2 months until Blue Sky Days book launch + another teaser

It's teaser time again! This is my third week posting something from Blue Sky Days. Today it's extra exciting for me for two reasons: 1) the book launches two months from today. I seriously almost start to hyperventilate every time I say that. I'm going back and forth between happy dancing and nearly having a panic attack lol. 2) I started organizing the blog tour yesterday and I already have a dozen people signed up, plus another handful or so to work things out with. So yeah, big, exciting day for me, and I owe it all to the amazing people who have supported and encouraged me. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!

Want to be part of the Blue Sky Days blog tour? It's already shaping up to be epic. Looks like I'm going to have to add in some extra incentives for tour hosts! Anyway, if you're interested, check here for details. 

Teaser #1

Excerpt #1 ~ First Kiss

 

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Teaser #2

I had just turned nineteen that spring. The past few weeks had been unseasonably rainy, the sky stained a gloomy gray that seemed to seep into everything and affect the moods of everyone around me. People appeared to be bogged down by the weather, waiting in limbo for the rain to break so life could get back to normal. But I didn’t want normal, or at least what normal had been for me the last nineteen years. As much as I longed for sun and blue skies, I had put my life on hold long enough and I refused to wait on the weather.
 

 

As always, I'd be so grateful to anyone willing to share this post on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, wherever. Thank you! :-)

Blue Sky Days Excerpt #1 ~ First Kiss

Last Thursday when I launched my new author site (which I'd love for you to visit!), I celebrated by posting a short teaser for Blue Sky Days. This week, I’m going to post an excerpt so you can get a better idea of the story, as well as my writing style. I hope you enjoy it, and I’d love to hear some feedback!

 

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Excerpt #1 ~ First Kiss

There was a delightful breeze moving across the field, unhindered by buildings or trees. It rippled across the low-lying greenery surrounding the strawberries, sending the mouthwatering scent of ripe berries into the air. The wind moved around us, teasing the hem of my shirt and ruffling Nicholas’s hair so that it fell forward across his forehead, giving him a slightly roguish look that had my fingers itching, as they had before, to touch his hair. To touch him.

We worked away in silence until the container between us was full. Nicholas plucked one more strawberry from the vine and held it out to me. When I reached for it, he shook his head and held it to my lips. My stomach tensed as I leaned forward to take a tentative bite of the berry, careful not to graze his fingers with my teeth. I laughed when juice spurted from the ripe berry and rolled down my chin. When my eyes met Nicholas’s, expecting him to be laughing too, his face was serious, his eyes intent on my mouth.

I licked my lips self-consciously and wiped the juice from my face with the back of my hand. Nicholas’s gaze lingered on my lips a minute more before meeting my eyes as he popped the rest of the berry in his mouth and smiled slightly. “Sweet,” was all he said as he stood.

He moved around, working the kinks out of his legs before stretching, arms reaching up toward the sky. “Where’d those clouds come from?” he asked.

The note of surprise in his voice had my head snapping up to see a dark, foreboding mass crawling across the sky that had been a beautiful forget-me-not blue only moments before. “I didn’t hear anything about rain in the forecast.”

“Sure looks like a storm.” Nicholas stood there, his face upturned, and watched the clouds pick up their pace across the sky. He wiped away a fat raindrop that fell on his arm, and had just opened his mouth to say something when the sky  seemed to burst open and pour sheets of rain down on us.

I let out a surprised shriek as the cold raindrops hit my face. My first instinct was to run for shelter, and I turned in the direction of Farmer Milligan’s old red barn to do just that when Nicholas grabbed my hand and held me where I was.

“Stay!” he yelled over the noise of the heavy rain pounding on the ground. “Feel it. Enjoy it.” He took both my hands and turned them over, holding onto my wrists so I could feel the rain slip through my fingers and see it puddle in my palms before it overflowed and slid down to drip onto the earth.

As it washed over my face and hair, drenching my clothes so that they clung to my body, I turned my face toward the sky again and closed my eyes. When the rain started falling harder than I thought it possibly could, I began to laugh. I had never seen it rain so hard in my life. It was coming down so thickly that when I opened my eyes to look at Nicholas, who was no more than two feet away from me, even he was blurred.

When he saw that I was laughing, a quick grin spread over his face. I couldn’t stop, and he started to chuckle, too. He let go of my hands and put his arms around my waist to pick me up and spin me around. I giggled harder as the rain flew from his hair. Closing my eyes, I buried my face in his neck, feeling dizzy but not from being spun.

When my feet hit the ground again, Nicholas kept his arms around my waist. The rain let up slightly, but was still coming down in buckets with the sound of it drowning out all the previous springtime noises—the birds chirping, the insects buzzing, the occasional far-off sound from the park. It was like we were in our own little rain-soaked world, the downpour creating a curtain of water around us that blocked out everything else.

Nicholas pushed a few strands of wet hair away from my face. Droplets of rain clung to his eyelashes and dripped from his hair. His mouth was curved into a hint of a smile, his eyes locked on mine. When his body shifted to lean toward me, my knees began to shake and I worried that I would melt into a puddle and wash away with the rain. He paused, his lips lingering close to mine, barely touching, but just enough to have my lips tingling in anticipation. This was it; I was about to have my first kiss, and it just happened to be with the most beautiful boy in the world.

Nicholas laughed under his breath as I sighed, and when he finally brought his mouth to mine I was glad he still had his arms around me so my quivering knees didn’t land me in a heap right there in the middle of the field.

The kiss was slow and soft, mingled with the barest hint of strawberry sweetness as our lips parted and our tongues met. I knew I would never forget this moment—the feel of the rain as it slid over my skin; the way Nicholas’s hands moved to cup my face; the pungent smell of soaked strawberries and earth.

As I clung to Nicholas, the rain washing over us, I knew that everything would be different from that moment on. I may have been nineteen years old, but my life was really just starting in many ways. This was another new beginning: right there in Nicholas’s arms, in the middle of Farmer Milligan’s strawberry patch.

 

I'd be so grateful to anyone willing to share this post on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, wherever. Thank you! :-)

Author site launch + very first teaser from Blue Sky Days!

Hi everyone! Today's a big day for me - I'm officially launching my brand new author site - Marie Landry, Author! It's where I'll be posting information about Blue Sky Days, plus all my future work. I'll be blogging occasionally over there - mostly about the book, writing, my journey to publication, etc - but Ramblings of a Daydreamer will still be my main blog. I'm hoping to have some swag soon so I can start hosting giveaways, and in another couple weeks I'll be sending the eARCs out to reviewers, so hopefully I'll have some reviews to post soon!


To celebrate the launch of my new website, I'm posting my first official teaser from Blue Sky Days. You guys will be the first people to read anything from the book other than my betas, proofreaders and editor. I'll try to post a teaser or excerpt from the book at least once a week until the book launch in January. Make sure to keep an eye out around the blogosphere, because some fantastic bloggers have offered to post teasers and excerpts too! If you'd like to post one on your blog, please let me know - I'd be so grateful!

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Expected publication: January 2012

Synopsis: A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother - studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing - and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time.

When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes - he's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan - sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.

Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

Teaser #1 from Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

He neared the top of the hill, peering out at me from under long, dark lashes, with his eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat. A blissful floating sensation started in my stomach and rose slowly to my head, like a helium-filled balloon caught by the wind and set to dancing through the sky. I tried to force myself back down to earth as he got closer and closer, finally stopping in front of me.