Welcome to the
I was so excited to be able to host the awesome Sarah Ashley Jones for this event. I am pretty terrible at coming up with original ideas and questions, but I tried my best and Sarah was totally awesome at coming up with some great answers to my questions!
-Kait
I was so excited to be able to host the awesome Sarah Ashley Jones for this event. I am pretty terrible at coming up with original ideas and questions, but I tried my best and Sarah was totally awesome at coming up with some great answers to my questions!
-Kait
Ten Random Facts About
Sarah Ashley Jones
Sarah Ashley Jones
- I went to college for K-6 Education with dreams of being a Kindergarten teacher. I worked in a Kindergarten classroom for three years and absolutely loved it, but realized I ONLY wanted to teach Kindergarten when I subbed in other grades.
- I met my husband when I was fourteen, but we didn’t get married until I was twenty-one. Bonus fact: His name is Indiana Jones.
- I’m obsessed with cupcakes. So much in fact that I have a dog named Cupcake, a cupcake themed kitchen, and a cupcake tattoo.
- I didn’t graduate from High School. I left when I was a junior and got my GED. When I was in college, I only received a handful of B’s and one C. I loved college and did really well! I hated High School.
- I’m a crazy The Vampire Diaries fan. Team Damon, FTW!
- When I was younger, I wanted to be a zookeeper, a vet, a teacher, a Broadway performer, and a full-time mommy.
- Pink is my absolute favorite color….with the exception of rainbows. They are equal in my mind.
- I’m the worlds biggest scaredy cat. I scare super easily and I freak out, but I love being scared. Watching horror movies is thrilling and yet terrifying.
- I was team N*sync.
- The smell of peanut butter makes me gag. I don’t really mind the way it taste, although I don’t ever really eat it. But the small is nasty!
I gotta say, I am huge fraidy cat too, and I was definitely Team NSYNC! Also, any girl who has a cupcake tattoo is cool with me.
Now that you know a little more about S.A.J.[can I call you that? I kind of like it] I want to tell you about her debut novel, Promise Me This.
Welcome to the South - where the tea is sweet and the accents are sweeter. This Southern way of life is all Charlie has ever known. It’s not until she loses the only person who pushed her to break free of the Southern Belle mold that she starts living the life she needs and not the life her parents forced on her.a Rafflecopter giveaway
Jhett has lived on the edge for as long as he could remember - constantly teetering back and forth between being a rock star and living a normal life. His rebellious and sometimes arrogant attitude is known to get him into trouble, especially with the girls who hang on his every move.
Charlie never thought that a trip to pack up her brother’s apartment would leave her feeling even more unsettled about the grainy details of her brother’s death. Her quest for information leads her straight to his old hangout and into arms of Jhett, who suspiciously knows more about her situation than he ever should.
Only a few questions remain - Can you trust someone based on their word alone? And if you make a promise, how far will you go to keep it?
-From Goodreads
MY REVIEW
Woo, that sounds good, right? And it was. Promise Me This was the perfect mix of sweetness and tragedy. There was just enough heartbreak to give me that pain I crave from books[I know, I'm sick], but not enough to reduce me to snot nosed tears. Which was kind of nice.
Jhett and Charlie were adorable. I was really digging the way they met and how different Jhett was from the other guys I've been reading about. He rides a bike. I'm dead serious. I know it sounds silly, but that one little thing really made a difference for me. I was totally into his rocker vibe, but didn't feel his connection with the music as much as I felt his connection to cooking. Don't get me wrong, I could fall in love with a man who can cook, but I think I expected more of a music centered character with Jhett.
Charlie is all fiery yet delicate. I really felt for her, losing her brother, but sometimes she seemed a little naive. I really wanted her to scream at her parents and tell them to screw off! Charlie is definitely the kind of girl who needs a little rescuing, but I would like to see who she is beyond that girl in a relationship, I want to know he passions and what drives her beyond her feeling for Jhett.
The romance in this book really made it for me. It was nice to read something that was steamy but didn't revolve around the bedroom. It's all seeming a little overdone and I was beginning to feel overexposure until this sweet love story gave me what I've been wanting: enough swoony moments to keep my knees weakening and a silly grin on my face.
The only thing I will say about the ending[not saying whether there is a HEA or not] is that it has me excited to read the next book.Overall I truly enjoyed this story and can't wait to see what will happen next with Charlie & Jhett.
Alright, now that you've got my two sense about the book I'll share some of the questions I had for S.A.J.
What inspired you to write your debut novel, Promise Me This?
Charlie’s story really hit home with me. I knew there would be a romantic element (I’m a sucker for romance), but it really was all about her. From the first chapter, I could feel her pain and her internal struggle with who she really is and I could relate to her so much. She changes so much from the first chapter to the last, and I really enjoyed writing her so much.What makes Jhett special when compared to the other rockstar bad boys?
Jhett has this hard outward image, when in reality, he’s a giant teddy bear. He really is a genuine and caring guy. I mean, the guy is oozing sexy, but then he’ll sing you to sleep. He’s just got the perfect amount of rock star to him.You wrote that Jhett likes being challenged by Charlie. What else does he like about Charlie?
Everything? Is that an answer? Just kidding…kind of. He is enamored with Charlie from the very beginning, as he’s never met anyone that makes him feel the way she does. She’s stubborn, and he hates to love that. She drives him a little crazy sometimes, but again, he eats it up.Do you have any special writing routine or process you use?
I always ALWAYS write to music. That’s my routine. I will search for hours on end trying to find the perfect song for the scene I’m working on. I can’t write in silence. It’s too….quiet!Do you have any advice for someone who wants to write a book? What I’ve told some people who have asked me is to just write what you want to write. Don’t try and write what you think is “in” or “hot” or because it worked for someone else. That doesn’t mean it has to be overly unique, but it should come from a place inside yourself that only you have. It will be unique because there’s no one else like you out there. Own it! And keep writing. Don’t give up!What's the best thing that's happened since Promise Me This was released?
I think it has been the response from readers. It still blows my mind that people I don’t know have read it and have contacted me to tell me about it! I LOVE that and I am so thankful for social media when this happened. The stories of loss and love and pain that people have shared with me is something that I hold so close to my heart. I shared just one story, and in exchange, many of my readers have shared theirs with me. That’s what writing is about for me.I love finding songs that remind me of books, is there a PMT playlist out there?
There is, actually! I create a compellation of songs while writing, and then weed through it at the end and organize it in order of the book. I use Spotify so that I can have a playlist for each book, each character, and sometimes different relationships. Here’s the Promise Me This ‘Soundtrack’
If you were only able to read one book[not your own] for the rest of your life what would it be?
This is hard! I was actually asked this on my live YouTube broadcast I did the other night and I couldn’t pick just ONE. It’s like picking your favorite child. You just can’t! I’m going to cheat and say it’s a tie between series. The Premonition Series by Amy Bartol and The Chaos Walking Series by Patrick Ness.
And now for the GIVEAWAY!
Visit Sarah Ashley Jones:
Website
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Get Promise Me This
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
I LOVE the cover for Promise Me This. I really want to read it now!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
A cupcake tattoo and a husband named Indiana Jones? Those are 2 seriously cool facts! :-) Where do I sign up to be reincarnated thusly?
ReplyDeleteI'm not much into murder mysteries, but I do like NA Romances with heroes who can cook! So 'Promise Me This' is definitely being added to my TBR list. Thanks guys! :-)