Title: Upside
Down
Author: Lia
Riley
Genre: New
Adult, Contemporary Romance
Series: Off the
Map #1
Publication:
August 5th, 2014 by Grand Central
If You Never Get Lost, You’ll
Never Be Found
Twenty-one-year-old Natalia Stolfi
is saying good-bye to the past-and turning her life upside down with a trip to
the land down under. For the next six months, she'll act like a carefree
exchange student, not a girl sinking under the weight of painful memories.
Everything is going according to plan until she meets a brooding surfer with
hypnotic green eyes and the troubling ability to see straight through her
act.
Bran Lockhart is having the worst
year on record. After the girl of his dreams turned into a nightmare, he moved
back home to Melbourne to piece his life together. Yet no amount of
disappointment could blind him to the pretty California girl who gets past all
his defenses. He's never wanted anyone the way he wants Talia. But when Bran
gets a stark reminder of why he stopped believing in love, he and Talia must
decide if what they have is once in a lifetime . . . or if they were meant to
live a world apart.
Purchase
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About
Lia
Lia Riley writes offbeat New Adult
Romance. After studying at the University of Montana-Missoula, she scoured the
world armed only with a backpack, overconfidence and a terrible sense of
direction. She counts shooting vodka with a Ukranian mechanic in Antarctica,
sipping yerba mate with gauchos in Chile and swilling XXXX with stationhands in
Outback Australia among her accomplishments. When not torturing heroes (because
c'mon, who doesn't love a good tortured hero?), Lia herds unruly chickens,
camps, beach combs, daydreams about as-of-yet unwritten books, wades through a
mile-high TBR pile and schemes yet another trip. She and her family live in
Northern California.
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Excerpt
“That’s it, Talia,” Bran’s voice
is encouraging. “You’re holding tight, that’s great. Now, I’m going to need you
to release your left hand and reach up a few inches to grab the next
hold.”
I grit my teeth. The way he talks,
you’d think I’m scaling Everest. Or at least Kilimanjaro. Instead—
“’Scuse, us, we’ll be by in a tic.
That’s the way, Andy, right around the lady.”
I’m the lady. Andy is a kid who
doesn’t look a day over seven who scrambles past me in a flurry of Spider-Man
shoes and gap-toothed smiles. His parents bring up the rear, smiling up at
their wild monkey child with obvious pride.
And they aren’t the first group to
pass me.
Five Swedish women, a couple, and
a guy who looked to be in his mid-seventies have also shot past me during the
course of the last quarter hour.
The top is so close I can taste
it. Bran is being nothing but encouraging, but below me is a twenty-foot drop.
Not enough to kill me, unless I fall with some sort of suicidal intent, but
enough to make me feel incredibly uneasy about the boulder field.
Bran eases toward me. “Talia, take
my hand.”
“Can’t let go.”
“Talia.”
“No.” This is it; this is the
reason. Bran isn’t going to admit it here, while I’m bordering on a panic
attack on a trail being conquered by elementary school children and senior
citizens, but there’s no doubt this is A REASON to lose interest in me. I’m
giving him a big capital-lettered reason, but I can’t stop. I physically can’t
let go.
“Talia. Take a deep breath.”
“Breath taken.”
“Another.”
“Okay.”
“Give me your hand, no bullshit. I
want your fingers in mine. You’ll be safe. I’m going to keep you safe. I need
you to trust me.”
Somehow I do it. I give him my
fingers. He assists me up. We’re doing this together. My head clears the
boulder and I can see the steel marker that identifies the summit ahead. Holy
shit, he’s right. I’m going to reach the top.
A few more steps, easy now, and
we’re there. The kid in the Spider-Man shoes munches a Vegemite sandwich. I
want to scoop him up in a smooshy squeeze. Except his parents would likely
object, so I switch gears to give Bran a long and passionate kiss.
“I knew you’d get here,” he
says.
“I didn’t.”
He turns me to see the view, his
hands tight around my waist. “Your place is here, Captain, in the sun,” he
whispers in my ear. “Don’t ever forget that.”
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Giveaway
Hosted by Good Choice Reading Blog
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