Today I'm thrilled to welcome Kyra Lennon to my blog as part of her blog tour for SIDELINED, her latest release.
Thanks
so much to Trisha for having me over!
This
excerpt from Sidelined comes from Chapter 4, when Bree starts to figure out what
is missing in her life – and she’s faced with some unexpected opposition. (I
hope you don’t judge her too harshly for her behaviour here, there’s a lot
going on in Bree’s world!)
For
the first time ever, I couldn’t wait to end the visit with Jesse so I could go
home and do some research. Leah had lit a fire under me. Maybe this would be my
“thing” to help me find out who I wanted to be, without being defined only as
Jude Collinson’s wife.
Perhaps
make-up artist sounded like the kind of air-headed profession a girl like me
would get into. I didn’t care about that. I cared about finding a way to stop
the boredom, and having something interesting to tell people beyond, ‘Today I made Jude spaghetti bolognese for
dinner, and before that I bought some shoes’.
I
spent more than an hour online, searching for make-up courses in Los Angeles.
There were so many. The job seemed real competitive, though. In this city
there’s no point trying anything unless you’re sure you’ll be the best, or damn
close. I can do this. I made Kayla
look gorgeous, and did so in a super sort time, too. What if I’d had longer to
play around? What kind of awesome might happen if I had hours to work instead
of minutes?
Excitement
took over me. This was it. Something I could be enthusiastic about. Something
I’d enjoy. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful for what I already had. I wasn’t.
Not at all. But I hadn’t contributed. I hadn’t earned the big house with the
swimming pool. I hadn’t paid for any of the state-of-the-art gym equipment or the
plush furniture. Any money I had came from Jude's bank account and I was tired
of it. I wanted to bring something into our household besides mindless chatter.
Mostly I wanted to chase away the feeling of being destined to spend the rest
of my life rattling around the house, living for the weekends; the weekends
Jude wasn’t playing soccer in a different city.
By
the time Jude got home I'd decided on a course and written down all the
information I needed to give to Jude.
I
pounced on him the second he walked into the living room, where I'd been
bouncing around, desperate to tell him my idea.
“Easy,
Bree.” He laughed as he caught me in his arms. “Was I gone that long?”
“Well,
yes you were but that's not why I'm jumping on you.”
Jude
kissed me, long and sweet, and my heart swelled. Life was about to get perfect.
“So,
what's going on?” He set me down on the sofa and sat beside me, pulling me
close. Mmmm cuddles. Well, I would have enjoyed the cuddles more if I could
have contained my enthusiasm enough to sit still.
“I
went to Jesse's today and helped his sister to get ready for a party. We had
fun, and then Leah had this idea that maybe I should do a make-up course!”
Jude
pulled away a little, frowning. “Are you serious?”
Not
the reaction I expected or wanted.
“Yeah,
I'm serious. Why? Don't you think it's a good idea?”
He
shrugged. “You've never mentioned anything about wanting to learn before.”
“I
know. I only just realised this is what I want.”
“Because
Leah suggested it?”
My
eyebrows rose. Jude’s prejudice strikes
again. “You're really asking me that?”
“It's
a fair question, Bree. Be sure it's what you want, not what someone else wants
for you.”
The
fact he hadn't spotted my recent unhappiness kinda pissed me off. Leah
pinpointed my mood right away. I hadn’t done a good job of hiding the way I
felt. How had he not noticed? Why
hadn't he?
“What
do you want for me, Jude?” I asked in
a tone I hadn't used in years. Cold. Un-me.
Jude
backed away a little farther, his eyebrows drawn in confusion. “What's this
about?”
“This
is about you not listening to me,” I told him, standing up. “I said I want to
learn a new skill, not fly to the moon. You're making a make-up qualification
sound like the worst thing ever.”
“No.”
Jude stood up too, reaching for my hand. “I'm sorry. This has come out of
nowhere so I'm just asking you if you've really thought about it. I know how
you get when you have a new idea in your head.”
I
snatched my hand away. “Forget it. I'll carry on being your little housewife
and making sure your dinner's on the table when you come home.”
Blurb: At the age of twenty-one, Bree Collinson has more than she ever dreamed
of. A handsome husband, a fancy house, and more shoes than
Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos combined. But having everything
handed to her isn’t the way Bree wants to live the rest of her life. When an idea to
better herself pops into her head, she doesn’t expect her husband to question her, and keep her tied by her apron strings to the kitchen.
Isolated and unsure who to turn to, Bree finds herself falling back into a dangerous friendship, and developing feelings for the only person who really listens to her. Torn between her loyalty to her husband and her attraction to a man who has the perfect family she always wanted, she has some tough choices to make.
While Bree tries to figure out what she wants, a tragedy rocks the Westberg Warriors, triggering some dark memories, and pushing her to take a look at what’s really important.
About the Author:
Kyra is a self-confessed book-a-holic, and has been since she first learned to read. When she's not reading, you'll usually find her hanging out in coffee shops with her trusty laptop and/or her friends, or girling it up at the nearest shopping mall.
Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels.
Her debut novel, Game On (New Adult Contemporary Romance), was released in July 2012, and she scored her first Amazon Top 20 listing with her New Adult novella, If I Let You Go.
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