Sunday, July 19, 2015

Tour-Review and Excerpt: Proposing to Preston by Katy Regnery (The Winslow Brothers #2/The Blueberry Lane Series)


Proposing To Preston
Katy Regnery
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Date of Publication: 7.7.15
Number of pages: 269

Purchase at Amazon

Book Description:
Preston Winslow has a heart as open as the sky and room in his life for someone special. When he falls in love with Broadway actress, Elise Klassan, he holds nothing back.

Elise, who has made tremendous sacrifices to forward her career, is swept off her feet by handsome, charming Preston...but the stage has been her first love for so many years, she doesn't know if there's room for Preston in her life. When the day comes that she must choose between her ambition and her heart, she profoundly hurts the one man who could have made her happy.

Two years later, Elise has become a world-famous actress and Preston is a very successful lawyer. But fame has not equaled happiness for Elise, and Preston is much too bitter and cynical to ever consider falling in love again.

Is it possible that the only person who can mend Preston's heart is the one who originally broke it? Only if Elise can figure out a way to make him believe in love all over again. 


Excerpt from Proposing to Preston:
“I like you, too,” she whispered, unable to stop herself, mesmerized by the clarity of his bright green eyes staring deeply into hers.

His gaze dropped briefly to her lips before claiming her eyes again, and she knew that it was her cue to get up and walk home, but she couldn’t. He was about to kiss her, and she wanted him to.

Leaning forward, he dropped his lips to hers, and her eyes closed as her heart fluttered madly behind the prison of her ribs. He cupped her cheeks gently, pulling her closer as his lips caught hers. As though he knew that rubbing his coarse scruff across her skin would burn, he was careful with her, his lips strong, yet soft, insistently taking hers, loving them before giving them back and then taking them once again. 

One of his hands slid into her hair, his fingers fanning out in the soft tresses as he cupped the back of her head. His other hand feathered slowly down her neck, tracing her shoulder and skating down her arm before winding around her waist to draw her up against his chest. 

Lifting his mouth from hers, he tilted his head, then dropped his lips again, sealing them over hers as she tangled her arms around his neck, arching her body into his.

And he kissed her.

Oh God, he kissed her.

Elise had been kissing men on the stage since she was sixteen years old, and many times the touch of someone else’s lips on hers had stirred a feeling within her, whether she actually liked her co-star or not. But never—not with her meager list of ex-boyfriends, nor with any man she’d ever kissed under the hot lights of the theater—had she experienced the sort of chemistry she now shared with Preston Winslow. 

His tongue, hot and velvet, slid against the length of hers, and she moaned softly from the back of her throat, a hum of pleasure as his fingers curled into a fist on her lower back, pushing her body closer to his. His hair, soft as silk through her spreading fingers, teased her skin as his lips continued their gentle invasion.

And then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. Preston rested his forehead against hers, his sigh hot and sweet against her lips as his chest pushed forcefully into hers with every deep breath he took.

Just another second, her heart whispered. Keep your eyes closed and memorize this. This. Him. Now.

“Elise,” he murmured, and she heard the question in the sound of her name—the plea, the supplication, the permission to keep going, to take more.

For years, she lived her life for one reason: to be a successful stage actress. She’d sacrificed, suffered and labored toward that goal single-minded, poor, and lonely, but always grounded in the belief that if she let nothing get in her way, she would eventually make her dreams come true.

Now? Here? With Preston Winslow’s arm around her, his breath warming her skin, his fingers wound in her hair, the low sound of his voice like precious music to her ears, she began to understand the magnitude of the threat he posed to her ambition. She’d sensed it the first night she met him, as his eyes dove into her very soul, that Preston Winslow unchecked in her life could become an addiction. And here she was, limp and languid against him, her heart begging for one more perfect moment before the brutal ache that would start when she walked away from him yet again.

Before she lost every shred of strength she possessed, she pushed at his chest, leaning away from him. He dropped his hand from her hair and unfurled the fingers that had been resting in a tight knot against her lower back.

“Elise?” he asked, his eyes searching hers.

“I have to go,” she said, standing up quickly before she lost her will.

My Review
*Sigh* Yeah, I was doing a lot of that while reading Proposing to Preston. Those deep down, "oh my goodness" sighs that are a clear indicator that what I'm reading is sweet, romantic, emotional, and deserving of my complete, undivided attention from page one thru to the end. Where my emotions are so wrapped up in what is going on that I feel every bit of what the characters feel--happy when they're happy, and torn apart when their world comes crashing down. Yes, Katy Regnery has done it again, in grand style, and with a matchup that will have you swooning...then aching...and finally breathing a final sigh of relief and happiness.

The first thought that comes to mind when thinking of Preston Winslow is that he's absolutely, undeniably perfect. Incredibly sweet, patient, devoted, smart, loves with his entire being and continually puts Elise first. Of every book Katy Regnery has written, Preston is my outright favorite male lead (I'm so sorry Fitz, you've fallen to an extremely close second). I can't imagine a more ideal leading man than Preston. And at the end of part one of the story, my heart was positively torn in two for him.

Elise is a strong, driven young woman who comes from a very simple, rural upbringing hoping to make a name for herself as an actress. She's innocent and charming, but when faced with the reality of what the relationship between her and Preston becomes and has to make a choice, everything is ripped apart. But she does realize what she's missing, and what her true feelings are in the second part of the story...and with some extra family drama thrown into the mix, has the opportunity to try and fix the hurt she caused.

Yes, there's angst. Yes, there's drama. But there's also love that comes from deep down in the heart, passion, and second chances (and not just for Preston and Elise). Fans of second chance romances will absolutely devour this story and come out with a huge smile and a new favorite story...and maybe some tears shed along the way.

5 flawless stars for Proposing to Preston, my new favorite Blueberry Lane story and a top recommendation for romance lovers. Be sure to clear a prominent place on your book boyfriend list for Preston...you're going to need it.


About the Author:
Award-winning and Amazon bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract for a winter romance entitled By Proxy.

Now a hybrid author who publishes both independently and traditionally, Katy claims authorship of the six-book Heart of Montana series, the six-book English Brothers series, and a Kindle Worlds novella entitled Four Weddings and a Fiasco: The Wedding Date. Katy’s short story “The Long Way Home” appears in the first Romance Writers of America anthology, Premiere, and she has published two stand-alone novels, Playing for Love at Deep Haven and the Amazon bestseller The Vixen and the Vet, which is book one in Katy’s a m o d e r n f a i r y t a l e collection. The Vixen and the Vet was nominated for a RITA® Award in 2015.

Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, and two dogs create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.

Upcoming (2015) Projects

The Winslow Brothers (Books #1-4)
Ginger’s Heart, a modern fairytale

Connect with Katy:

Katy LOVES connecting with her readers and answers every e-mail, message, tweet, and post personally! Click below to connect with Katy!





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