Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: Ink & Lies by S. L. Jennings

This was one of those books that made you laugh out loud and then a few pages later a little teary-eyed. S. L. Jennings never disappoints me when I pick up one of her books. This one threw me for a bit of a loop (because the POV wasn’t what I was expecting), but I absolutely loved this book. I loved August. His quirkiness, his inability to see what’s right in front of his face, his need to fight his feelings while kicking and screaming and also being man enough to figure out that when you need to make the ultimate big gesture to the woman he loves, he use one of the things she always loved about him….his words.

August and Fiona have been best friends since college.  And while Fi has been off looking for her Prince Charming, August has been using her quest for love and his manwhorish ways to create a romance persona that gives him a somewhat creative outlet for his writing while he figures out how to be August.  And despite the many times August tips the scales towards the douchebag side, it’s still hard not to love him or understand why it is Fi stays faithful to him.  At the same time, you had to wonder how a man who is terrified of relationships couldn’t quite realize that what he had with his best friend was exactly what he was fighting.  Of course, August shows readers exactly why it took him so long to figure his shit out the last quarter of the book.  It was heartbreaking, but it was truly a journey August needed to travel to understand what he needed was right in front of him.

INK & LIES is going to be a book I will tell people about when I’m asked what my favorite book is.  August, despite his actions, is a man with an unbelievably huge heart, who’s fun, loyal and able to make women swoon with creative, off the cuff prose.  If you haven’t read S. L. Jennings before, this book is an absolute must.  And for those that have, it’s a story different from the others and one that will stay with you.

Are you ready to meet Rhys & Fi in the newest romantic stand alone by S.L. Jennings? 

INK & LIES IS NOW LIVE!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1PiWzM6

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1PiWGqX

iBooks: http://apple.co/1S2GcJ4

Nook: http://bit.ly/1O05C2w

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1O05Gzp

EXCERPT

“Yeah, but…” Her eyes grow wide and glossy as she tries to sift through all the reasons why that theory shouldn’t apply to her. In the end, she relies on her heart. “You said I wasn’t like those other women…that those other women weren’t me.”

I should tell her she’s right. I should put her out of her misery and reassure her that the last ten years were as real and meaningful to me as they were for her. That even though I may sling gift-wrapped bullshit for the general public, only she knows the true, honest parts of my heart. But with my tongue possessed by the taste of her rejection, I play the petty card, and do just the opposite.

“I guess I was wrong, especially considering yesterday’s events. Maybe you’re no different from them. And maybe you were right about me…that I do sabotage with sex to keep people at arm’s length. Because in the end, that’s all I want anyway, right?”

“You don’t mean that.”

I nod. “Yeah. I do.”

“So what are you saying?” The hurt is so thick in her throat that I can barely hear the words.

I suck in a breath, and scrub a hand over my forehead. “You were right about me. About us. We shouldn’t have done…what we did. And we can’t move on and pretend that it didn’t change us. What’s done is done.”

“I agree,” she nods, with a tinge of hope in her voice.

“So, maybe we should just see this for what it is—the end. You’re starting your life with Joshua and moving away, and I’m going on with mine.”

“Wait, August. No, that’s not—”

“You didn’t actually think we’d be able to keep this up, did you? What, you thought we’d turn out to be the modern day Cathy and Heathcliff? I’m not some swoony, literary hero, Fi. I’m not here to rescue you from your shitty love life that stems from your shitty childhood.”

“I never said you were—”

I’m rambling, spewing verbal diarrhea all over her blue cashmere, but I can’t stop. I can’t shut off the bile that has been choking me since this morning when she disclosed her impending nuptials. “You have Joshua. He’s the one you chose. He’s the one you want. You made that perfectly clear. So what the fuck do you need with me?”

“I thought we were friends, August. I thought you and me were—”

“Well, I guess you were wrong. Friends don’t fuck each other and then five minutes later get engaged. And why would you want to be friends with some empty, misogynistic prick like me anyway?”

“I-I didn’t mean,” her voice cracks, and the first tear escapes. She quickly dashes it away, refusing to let me play witness to her weakness. But I’ve already seen it. I share that very same weakness that has her bottom lip trembling. I’m just too much of a coward to show it.

“Look, I’m sorry. I think we just need a break.”

“A break. Yes,” she nods, dashing away tears. “You’re right. We both said things we shouldn’t have. Let’s just take a few days to…”

“No. A break from this,” I clarify, gesturing between us. “From us. This isn’t working anymore.”

“You’re being melodramatic, August. We’ve had fights before. We’ve said things we didn’t mean, and we always were able to work it out.”

I shake my head and look away, refusing to acknowledge the dejection on her face. “But I meant everything I said.”

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