Life on the Edge Tour: Excerpt, Guest Post, Giveaway

I'm excited to be part of the book tour for Life on the Edge by Jennifer Comeaux, hosted by Reading Addiction Blog Tours!

First, some more info about the book:

New Adult / Upper YA

Title: Life on the Edge

Author: Jennifer Comeaux

Date Published: 1/3/12

Nineteen-year-old Emily is new to pairs skating, but she and her partner Chris have a big dream–to be the first American team to win Olympic gold. Their young coach Sergei, who left Russia after a mysterious end to his skating career, believes they can break through and make history. 
Emily and Chris are on track to be top contenders at the 2002 Winter Games. But when forbidden feelings spark between Emily and Sergei, broken trust and an unexpected enemy threaten to derail Emily’s dreams of gold.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Astraea Press

Excerpt

The wind picked up, rustling the trees and sending my empty cup skittering over the table. Sergei snatched it and noticed the time on his watch.

“Oh, wow, it’s two thirty. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stay this late.”
“No worries. I can sleep till noon tomorrow.”
He rose from his chair, stretching his arms. “Do you think they all killed each other downstairs?”
“My guess is they played so hard they passed out at some point. That’s been known to happen.”
I got up and smoothed my skirt. I’d kicked off my sandals hours ago, and the weathered wood of the patio was cool under my bare feet.
Sergei took a step toward me. “Thanks again for the great meal. And the even better company.”
“You’re very welcome. I’m so glad you came.”
I stood on tippy-toes to give him a quick hug, but Sergei’s strong arms held me against him, enveloping my small frame. His body exuded warmth. I closed my eyes and breathed in the woody scent of his cologne. We’d shared plenty of hugs at competitions, but this felt so different, like we belonged nowhere else but in this embrace.
After what seemed like both an eternity and a split second, Sergei pulled away, his hands brushing down my back. He glanced downward and gestured to the door.
“I can let myself out.”
My head bobbed weakly. “Okay. I’ll see you Monday.”
“See you.” He held my gaze a moment longer than necessary. Then he was gone.
I stood paralyzed, listening to the blood pulse in my ears. My heart beat so fast I thought it might pound out of my chest. I couldn’t have imagined the electricity I’d felt in Sergei’s arms. It was too real. And I had no idea how I could ever forget it.

*sigh* after reading that excerpt when I first got it, I really regretted that I didn't request a review copy of this book! Alas, I didn't have the capacity to read and review it before the tour :( But it's definitely high up on my TBR list! Plus, it's New Adult - a category that I feel is really taking off at the moment, and I've enjoyed nearly all NA titles I've read so far.

Not convinced yet? Alright, there you are... meet author Jennifer Comeaux and read a guest post!

Author Bio

Jennifer Comeaux earned a Master of Accounting from Tulane University and is a Certified Public Accountant in south Louisiana. While working for a Fortune 1000 company, she sought a creative outlet and decided to put on paper a story that had played in her head for years. That story became Life on the Edge, her first published novel.

When not working or writing, she is an avid follower of the sport of figure skating, travelling to competitions around the country. Those experiences allow her to see another side of the sport and serve as an inspiration for her writing. Jennifer is blessed with a wonderful family and many friends who have encouraged her to pursue her dream of being a published author.

Website

Twitter: @LadyWave4

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Goodreads

10 Things You Didn’t Know About LIFE ON THE EDGE

Thanks so much for visiting my blog tour! Today I thought I’d share some “behind the scenes” facts about Life on the Edge!

1. The book started out as a serial that I wrote just for friends to read. It wasn’t until a year after I started writing that I decided to take everything I’d written and edit it into a publishable book.
2. I gave myself a cameo in the book! You’ll have to read it to see if you can spot me ;-)
3. The townhouse on Cape Cod where Emily and her best friend Aubrey live is in a complex where I stayed on vacation ten years ago. I loved it so much and always pictured it as a cool setting for a book.
4. The book is set in 2000-2002 because I first came up with the idea for the story about seven or eight years ago, and even though years passed before I put it down on paper, I still pictured the big event in the story being the 2002 Olympics and didn’t want to alter the timeline.
5. I’m in love with all things Boston and Cape Cod, so I couldn’t imagine the story being set anywhere else.
6. One of the first pivotal events in the book is a Sting concert that Emily and Sergei attend together in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and Sting actually did play a show in Mansfield in the summer of 2000. He also played there in the summer of 2010, and I just happened to be vacationing on the Cape that week (I thought that was fate!). Of course, I had to go to the concert and experience the venue where my characters had a memorable night!
7. The locations of the all the competitions in the book are the actual locations where those events took place in real life.
8. When I picture Sergei in my head, I see Josh Dallas, who plays Prince Charming on Once Upon a Time.
9. Emily’s best friend Aubrey is named after one of my favorite baseball players, former Tulane standout Michael Aubrey, who played in the Cleveland and Baltimore minor league systems.
10. The sequel, Edge of the Past, will be released this winter!

 I like figure skating myself (gotta support my Swiss champion Stéfane Lambiel) so I was curious to see how Jennifer Comeaux became such a big fan that she wanted to write a novel revolving around it - you can find that out below.


My Figure Skating Addiction

Many people ask me how I became such a big fan of figure skating. There aren’t any ice rinks near my city, and I’ve only stepped on the ice once in my life! I grew up watching every skating event on TV, but it wasn’t until I attended my first competition that my fandom turned into an addiction.

My addiction started innocently enough. A friend from college, who is also a die-hard fan of the sport, happened to be in Cleveland during the 2000 U.S. National Championships, and she called me from Gund Arena, so excited about everything she saw. She said we absolutely had to go to Boston for the 2001 Championships. I'd always loved watching Nationals on TV, but I was thinking, who really goes to those events?

My friend brought me the ticket order form, and before I knew it, we'd plunked down a few hundred dollars for All-Event tickets. I flew into snow-covered Boston in January 2001 and had no idea what I was getting into, how many different places I'd travel to during the next eleven years for competitions.

The first thing that jumped out at me in Boston was how the skaters I'd watched for years on TV were now walking all around me at the hotel and sitting next to me on the bus to the arena. I was completely star struck! I didn't know where to look first.

The next thing that blew me away was how bright and sparkly the costumes were in person. Remember, this was before HDTV became popular. When the first group of skaters came out on the ice, I felt like I was in that scene in The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy steps out of the black and white wrecked house and into colorful Munchkin Land. I couldn't believe how every sequin glinted under the bright lights of the Fleet Center.

Watching the competition live as opposed to at home, I could really feel the emotion of the skaters, and the energy of the crowd heightened the excitement even more. I enjoyed seeing skaters that never made the TV broadcast, especially the young up-and-comers. But the highlight was seeing my favorite skater of all-time, Michelle Kwan, compete. She owned the building. Nothing could compare to the frenzy she created when she stepped on the ice. Watching her skate was such a privilege.

After I returned home and told my sister all about my experience, I didn't have to do much convincing to get her on board for 2002 Nationals in Los Angeles. And from there, I couldn't stop – 2003 Dallas, 2004 Atlanta, 2005 Portland, the list goes on. Twelve straight Nationals and tickets purchased for 2013 in Omaha. Along the way, I also added in Skate America as an annual trip and threw in Worlds '09 and the 2010 Olympics (which was a dream come true!).

Attending skating events has allowed me to visit cities I never would've visited, and I've met some amazing skaters, skater families, and fans over the years. Being at competitions is so inspiring – it’s not only made me a bigger fan but it’s also given me lots of story ideas. So, I think my addiction is a healthy one! Do you have any healthy addictions?


Giveaway

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You can check out the full tour schedule here.

What's your impression of the novel? Did you like the excerpt? Do you watch figure skating? You're also welcome to share your thoughts on the guest posts :)