Author Guest Post
And that gets me to thinking, back to the blog post that I’ve taken this break to write. The twenties. I adore my twenties. It holds all of my adult and “becoming an adult” memories, including ones I hold very dear like those last years of college and the friendships there that I forged.
The twenties hold that first career out of college (that lasted all of six horrifying weeks) and that godsend of a “new first” career that I absolutely loved. There were my two weddings (to the same man, I love him that much), a romantic Mediterranean cruise, a memorable PCH road trip, and a hilarious brief trek to Spain with my sister, all of which I’ll never forget. There have been the hallmark moments like friends’ and family members’ weddings, new additions to the family, building our first home. There’s been the leap over the pond from Oklahoma to Berlin, turning in my The-Bachelor-with-the-girls-nights hat in for one that has Ami Expat emblazoned on it. And, among the countless other memorable things that the twenties have brought me, there’s the writing career I love and a completed When Girlfriends series that I am still surprised is actually concluded (it was bittersweet writing the seventh and final novel this year). They’re not over, my twenties, but when I consider how they’ve treated me, I’d say they’ve more than succeeded my expectations.
It seemed only natural for me to write novels and construct my When Girlfriends series with ladies who are floating about in the same age waters. I’ve got an empathetic ear. I can relate and write with feeling, taking a seed of experience and watching it grow into a fully formed novel that’s honest.
It’s also a blast. It’s a fun time in life to write about because I think that just-out-of-college age is such a rare and brief and very new experience in a woman’s life. It’s that moment when you’re out of the nest, high school’s behind you, and you’ve suddenly got to figure life out. Many have lofty ambitions, maybe a skewed perception of what reality will be before it hits in the face; it looks very different than you ever imagined. Dreams and goals become two separate things, and both can seem daunting to reach. The beauty is that while daunting, they also seem possible, very real to attain. The world’s your oyster and you go out and try to claim it. The bumps and bruises and hilarious stories you share with you BFFs along the way are all part of the ride. It’s a time filled with challenges and experiences that, for the most part, has no prior relative experience worthy to fall back on. (I just think of sitting in front of that computer at my first job, being handed an assignment on some computer program I had never heard of, and thinking, I studied Chaucer. How is that going to help me with this? I then began to question if I’d frittered away the past six years of my life.)
I could endlessly wax lyrical about the all of the quirky plots, zany leading ladies, and myriad broken (and stolen) hearts that can come about when “writing in the twenties.” I’ve enjoyed doing it with my When Girlfriends series, I’m enjoying it with my current project, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it for many years to come. Of course, it’ll have to join among the ranks of the fabulousness that it will be to “write in the thirties.” Because, after all, I’ve heard they are some very fab years, and, well, they’re not that far away. With age comes experience, with experience comes a wealth of inspiration, and with inspiration come some fun and fresh novels that are waiting to be written. I can’t wait!
Until then, I’m going to get back to my current project, see what my twenty-something leading lady sisters have in store. I want to thank Kathleen for so graciously hosting yet another one of my When Girlfriends -Chick Lit Plus tours. And thank you, readers, for reading. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
If you want to meet the girls in my When Girlfriends series the first three novels are on a limited-time 99 cent sale at Amazon, B&N, iBookstore, and Kobo: When Girlfriends Collection, Books 1-3. Save a few bucks, have a few good reads, and celebrate female friendship!
Remember to enter to *WIN* some fun prizes here via Rafflecopter, including some fabulous GIFT CARDS! Entries are super easy.
About The Author
Savannah Page is the author of the seven-novel When Girlfriends collection, heartfelt women's fiction that celebrates friendship, love, and life sprinkled with drama and humor. When she isn't writing, Savannah enjoys a good book with a latte and jazz tunes, Pilates, and exploring her home of Berlin as an American expat.
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When Girlfriends Let Go by Savannah Page
Book 6: When Girlfriends Collection
Publisher: Pearls and Pages
Publication Date: December 18, 2013
Format: Paperback - 536 pages
Kindle - 678 KB
Nook - 628 KB
ISBN: 978-1494740474
ASIN: B00HFASG4A
BNID: 2940148933489
Genre: Chick Lit / Contemporary Romance / Women's Fiction
BUY THE BOOK: When Girlfriends Let Go
BUY THE COLLECTION: When Girlfriends Collection
Book 1: When Girlfriends Break Hearts
Book 2: When Girlfriends Make Choices
Book 3: When Girlfriends Step Up
Book 4: When Girlfriends Chase Dreams
Book 5: When Girlfriends Take Chances
Book 6: When Girlfriends Let Go
Book 7: When Girlfriends Find Love
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.
Book Description:
Jackie Kittredge is the consummate drama queen living the charmed life. She’s enthusiastic, outspoken, and is always looking for a good time. At twenty-seven she’s got a swanky Seattle townhouse, a wealthy husband, a designer wardrobe, the best of girlfriends, and a calendar filled not with meetings and deadlines, but spa appointments and happy hour reminders. On the outside, she’s got it all.
On the inside, though, Jackie’s charmed life isn’t as it seems. She’s seeing a therapist, battling the demons of coming from a broken home and a past of promiscuity and heavy drinking. She can be selfish and demanding, sometimes even wearing her best friends thin. And now her marriage—what she thought could be her solid foundation—is on the rocks. Her husband Andrew spends nearly all his time at the office (and possibly with his secretary), and apologizes for his absence with lavish gifts and empty promises.
Miserable and desperate, Jackie questions if her marriage is worth fighting for. Then a string of events begins to put things into perspective…into a perspective she didn’t quite anticipate. With her best friends by her side and some tough love, Jackie finds herself not only asking if she’s where she belongs, but if she’s who she’s supposed to be.
This is a passionate story about having to answer some of life’s most important and difficult questions. It’s a story about fear, courage, and personal growth. About what happens when girlfriends let go.
Book Excerpt:
I take a long, slow drag on my cigarette as I lean against the ice-cold, steel railing of the balcony that wraps around my luxurious townhouse. The muffled post-five-o’clock traffic sounds that travel up these twelve floors have retired for the evening. At quarter past eight on a Friday most businessmen, however stressed and strapped, are home from the office.
Those unsettling thoughts of my marriage that crept up at Randy’s are still plaguing me, nearly a week later. They were there before—long before, actually; perhaps a little more light was shed on those thoughts during the discussion of Nathan and Lara. Right now, it’s just me and these disconcerting thoughts as I stand alone in the crisp winter night. Just me, wondering how the hell I went from the altar as an excited, blushing bride, to a woman too often unhappy in her marriage—looking for a fix, maybe even a way out.
The story of how Andrew and I met and fell in love wasn’t exactly something out of a Cary Grant film. No meet-cute, no coy romance, no charming repartee. Yes, there was me, a damsel so often in distress; yes, there was the knight, Andrew, in very shiny armor. There was attraction, there was fondness, there was love—but an affair to remember? Ha!
No, the way I met, fell in love with and eventually married my knight was not in the style of one of my many beloved romantic, black-and-white films. It was me, Jackie Anderson, a twenty-six-year-old hostess, desperately trying to hold onto one of the only jobs I’d survived long enough to earn a full payroll, always on the prowl for a potential relationship—someone to save me from myself, or at least boredom…or poverty.
And then there was Andrew Kittredge, a successful, attractive, and sophisticated businessman, nearly twice my age, looking for a bite to eat but ending up getting much more than he paid for. There was a bit of flirting, a wad of cash handed to my boss to get me off my hostess duties that night for a date, and sparks that danced spiritedly over drinks, dinner, and dancing. Lather, rinse, repeat—you get the picture. Hot attraction and flirty fun, but certainly not a classic Hollywood romance.
Taking another drag, I survey the deep blue Elliott Bay, on past to Puget Sound. Two ferries are leaving the city, probably filled with happy couples who have made plans for a weekend of R&R in Bremerton or a romantic evening on Bainbridge Island. I blow out a steady stream of smoke and lightly chuckle at the imagery of a damsel in distress, high up in her tower, waiting for her knight to ride on in and scoop her into his arms. Oh, irony and it’s not-so-subtle ways.
Some might think our love story is actually charming in its own way. Some of my best girlfriends think it a bit crazy that I was kind of “bought” for our first date. I think it set the precedent for what would eventually become our marriage. Andrew sees what he wants, he goes after it, and if that means paying whatever price, so be it. When I see a man who’s willing to offer me love (and lasso the moon), I’m no fool. When we fall in love and exchange vows, well, maybe we’re both the fools, then.
I rub out the nub of a cigarette and immediately smack another one out of the pack.
Whatever started back at that jazz bar two and a half years ago eventually culminated into what is, thirteen months later, my marriage to Mr. Andrew Kittredge. Often they call marriage “taking the plunge,” but I think the plunging begins a couple months into the marriage. I don’t know; every couple’s different. God knows Claire, who’s been married to her college sweetheart Conner for nearly half a year now, would say that “the plunge” only applies to people who aren’t marrying their soul mate.
Even if some plunging does occur in my marriage, and regardless of when, I honestly do believe that Andrew’s my soul mate. I’ve dated a lot of assholes and wasted plenty of time on men who were boys. Andrew’s the real deal; the best I’ve ever had. I do believe he loves me, he does try to treat me like a princess, and I know he’d never allow for another man to come between us…or for someone to hurt me. And I love my husband. I married him for his charm, his care, his passion, and his expressed and deep love for me. And, yes, I won’t lie—his copious amounts of wealth made signing that marriage certificate a little easier.
I come from a broken and poor home. Getting showered with expensive gifts and whisked off on exotic trips is the royal perk of being the apple of a rich man’s eye. But it certainly isn’t what made me decide to marry Andrew, no matter what those judgmental onlookers might think when they see a mature man with a twenty-something on his arm. If I was looking for marriage for money, I could’ve run off to Vegas with Phil the thick-walleted car salesman from West Seattle or decided to “take the plunge” with the U Dub golfer and Tau Sigma honors student senior year, trust fund, adenoids, and all.
No, I love Andrew. He’s the one I was meant to marry. Can I stay married to him, though? That’s the question that’s gnawing so deeply at me. Is being soul mates enough in a marriage? Does it mean you stay together when the relationship that made you believe you were soul mates to begin with has changed beyond recognition? When people change, when situations change, when life changes… Can you love someone with all your heart but let go and love from afar? What do you do when your marriage becomes a stranger, when you begin to think you just might be better off alone?
Those unsettling thoughts of my marriage that crept up at Randy’s are still plaguing me, nearly a week later. They were there before—long before, actually; perhaps a little more light was shed on those thoughts during the discussion of Nathan and Lara. Right now, it’s just me and these disconcerting thoughts as I stand alone in the crisp winter night. Just me, wondering how the hell I went from the altar as an excited, blushing bride, to a woman too often unhappy in her marriage—looking for a fix, maybe even a way out.
The story of how Andrew and I met and fell in love wasn’t exactly something out of a Cary Grant film. No meet-cute, no coy romance, no charming repartee. Yes, there was me, a damsel so often in distress; yes, there was the knight, Andrew, in very shiny armor. There was attraction, there was fondness, there was love—but an affair to remember? Ha!
No, the way I met, fell in love with and eventually married my knight was not in the style of one of my many beloved romantic, black-and-white films. It was me, Jackie Anderson, a twenty-six-year-old hostess, desperately trying to hold onto one of the only jobs I’d survived long enough to earn a full payroll, always on the prowl for a potential relationship—someone to save me from myself, or at least boredom…or poverty.
And then there was Andrew Kittredge, a successful, attractive, and sophisticated businessman, nearly twice my age, looking for a bite to eat but ending up getting much more than he paid for. There was a bit of flirting, a wad of cash handed to my boss to get me off my hostess duties that night for a date, and sparks that danced spiritedly over drinks, dinner, and dancing. Lather, rinse, repeat—you get the picture. Hot attraction and flirty fun, but certainly not a classic Hollywood romance.
Taking another drag, I survey the deep blue Elliott Bay, on past to Puget Sound. Two ferries are leaving the city, probably filled with happy couples who have made plans for a weekend of R&R in Bremerton or a romantic evening on Bainbridge Island. I blow out a steady stream of smoke and lightly chuckle at the imagery of a damsel in distress, high up in her tower, waiting for her knight to ride on in and scoop her into his arms. Oh, irony and it’s not-so-subtle ways.
Some might think our love story is actually charming in its own way. Some of my best girlfriends think it a bit crazy that I was kind of “bought” for our first date. I think it set the precedent for what would eventually become our marriage. Andrew sees what he wants, he goes after it, and if that means paying whatever price, so be it. When I see a man who’s willing to offer me love (and lasso the moon), I’m no fool. When we fall in love and exchange vows, well, maybe we’re both the fools, then.
I rub out the nub of a cigarette and immediately smack another one out of the pack.
Whatever started back at that jazz bar two and a half years ago eventually culminated into what is, thirteen months later, my marriage to Mr. Andrew Kittredge. Often they call marriage “taking the plunge,” but I think the plunging begins a couple months into the marriage. I don’t know; every couple’s different. God knows Claire, who’s been married to her college sweetheart Conner for nearly half a year now, would say that “the plunge” only applies to people who aren’t marrying their soul mate.
Even if some plunging does occur in my marriage, and regardless of when, I honestly do believe that Andrew’s my soul mate. I’ve dated a lot of assholes and wasted plenty of time on men who were boys. Andrew’s the real deal; the best I’ve ever had. I do believe he loves me, he does try to treat me like a princess, and I know he’d never allow for another man to come between us…or for someone to hurt me. And I love my husband. I married him for his charm, his care, his passion, and his expressed and deep love for me. And, yes, I won’t lie—his copious amounts of wealth made signing that marriage certificate a little easier.
I come from a broken and poor home. Getting showered with expensive gifts and whisked off on exotic trips is the royal perk of being the apple of a rich man’s eye. But it certainly isn’t what made me decide to marry Andrew, no matter what those judgmental onlookers might think when they see a mature man with a twenty-something on his arm. If I was looking for marriage for money, I could’ve run off to Vegas with Phil the thick-walleted car salesman from West Seattle or decided to “take the plunge” with the U Dub golfer and Tau Sigma honors student senior year, trust fund, adenoids, and all.
No, I love Andrew. He’s the one I was meant to marry. Can I stay married to him, though? That’s the question that’s gnawing so deeply at me. Is being soul mates enough in a marriage? Does it mean you stay together when the relationship that made you believe you were soul mates to begin with has changed beyond recognition? When people change, when situations change, when life changes… Can you love someone with all your heart but let go and love from afar? What do you do when your marriage becomes a stranger, when you begin to think you just might be better off alone?
My Book Review:
In When Girlfriends Let Go, the sixth installment of the When Girlfriends ... collection, author Savannah Page transports the reader back to Seattle for another visit with the six best girlfriends that we've come to know and love: Claire, Sophie, Robin, Lara, Jackie and Emily. This time it's finally Jackie's turn to tell her story!
Jackie Kittredge lives a charmed life: a wealthy husband, a swanky Seattle townhouse, and awesome best friends ... she's got it all. But this consummate drama queen can't seem to appreciate what she has because she battles demons from her past, which now has her marriage on the rocks. For Jackie, it takes a journey of self-discovery and putting her life in perspective, a bit of tough love from her best girlfriends, letting go over her past fears, and having the courage to embrace self-growth to accept happiness in her life.
I really enjoyed catching up with all six girlfriends, the author does a great job of intertwining all of the latest news about each of the girls within the main storyline. She has a smooth style of integrating snippets from the previous books' storylines into the current book that makes it easy for the reader to feel like they haven't missed a thing while waiting to read the next installment in the collection.
I loved each of the books in the series, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed Jackie's story the best, because I love how her journey of self-discovery and self-growth changes her into a better person. I loved how her five best girlfriends weren't afraid to call Jackie out and kick her butt with some much needed tough love. I loved the mixture of humor and drama, these six girls are a hoot to follow and they sure do keep the reader thoroughly entertained!
This is such a fun collection to read, the six girlfriends continue to show what true friendship is all about: through good and bad times, thick and thin, ups and downs, and every trial and tribulation that befalls them, these six lovely ladies are supportive and always there for each other. I am looking forward to reading about Sophie's story (part two) in the seventh and final installment in the collection, When Girlfriends Find Love.
If you are looking for a fast-paced, thoroughly fun and entertaining collection of Chick Lit stories that celebrates womanhood and the strong bonds of friendship, then When Girlfriends collection ... is a must read, you won't be disappointed!
RATING: 4 STARS
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Tour Schedule:
August 6 – Shelf Pleasure – Guest Post
August 6 – Relatively Yours – Guest Post
August 7 – Book Reviews and More by Kathy – Excerpt
August 8 – Novel Escapes – Q&A
August 11 – Ski-Wee’s Book Corner – Review
August 13 – Second Bookshelf on the Right – Excerpt
August 14 – Books Etc – Review
August 15 – The Little Reading Cabin – Review
August 20 – Reading in Black and White – Excerpt
August 21 – Annabel and Alice – Review
August 21 - Karma For Life Chick – Review & Excerpt
August 22 – Fiction Dreams – Guest Post
August 25 – Every Free Chance Book Reviews – Review
August 26 – Chick Lit Plus – Review
August 27 – Authors to Watch – Review
August 28 – Two Children and a Migraine – Guest Post
August 28 – Two Children and a Migraine – Excerpt
August 29 – Two Children and a Migraine – Review
August 29 – Karen’s Korner – Review
September 1 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt
Wow, this is quite the giveaway! Great review, I like the sound of this book already! The excerpt was a fun read :)
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Thank you for stopping by! :)
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