Hey everyone, I'm really excited for this post, because I have author Kendra C. Highley here as a guest! Woohoo! Read on for more info about her new book, "The Bad Boy Bargain", an excerpt, and an exclusive playlist she's put together especially for my blog!!!
Baseball player Kyle Sawyer has many labels: bad boy, delinquent, ladies’ man, fearless outfielder… Only one of them is actually true. But then sweet ballet dancer Faith Gladwell asks him to help wreck her reputation, and everything goes sideways. Faith knows a thing or two about love, and what she had with her cheating jerk of an ex wasn’t it. When he starts spreading rumors about her being an Ice Queen, Faith decides it’s time to let a little bad into her life. Lucky for her, Kyle Sawyer–dark, dangerous, totally swoonworthy Kyle Sawyer–is landscaping her backyard over Spring Break. Shirtless. And if she can convince him to play along, ” dating” Kyle will silence the rumors. But Faith’s plan threatens to expose Kyle’s biggest secret of all…and that’s a risk he’s not willing to take. Disclaimer: This book contains drop-the-book-and-fan-yourself kisses…and touches. Fall in love with a bad boy at your own risk.
Excerpt:
By the time she made it home, took a smoothie from Mom’s
outstretched hand, and went upstairs to shower, six Snapchat notifications, all
from different people, had popped up on her phone:
A sad-faced Skye: I’m so sorry
about last night. I should’ve warned you. I feel awful.
An angry Piper: I’m at the
mall and there’s some asinine shit coming out of Cameron’s mouth right now.
Should I punch him?
A gossipy Fiona: Is it true
that Cameron dumped you?
A sneering Mitchell: You as cold
as Cam says?
A dumbfounded Katrina: Holly
is telling everyone at the mall that she stole Cam from you because you don’t
put out. Want me to dump a Slurpee in her hair?
A smirking Jackson: My car
overheated. I heard you could cool it down for me. How about it, ice queen?
Tears of rage filled Faith’s eyes, especially when a new Snapchat
chimed: Cameron, sending her a picture of Holly sitting in his lap at the party
last night.. The message read: Trading up.
She squeezed her phone in her hand. What was she going to do? She
had half a mind to tell Kat to pour that Slurpee down Holly’s shirt and Piper
to punch Cam in the throat. But that wouldn’t solve anything. Not at all.
No, she needed something bigger. Faith wandered to her window, to
stare outside and organize her thoughts. Except, when she caught sight of the
ripped, shirtless guy in her backyard, she forgot what she’d been thinking
about.
“Who’s that?” she
whispered, touching the glass.
His back and shoulders flexed under tanned skin. A black tattoo—was
it a bird?—was on one of his shoulder blades. There was a bruise on his side,
too, but she couldn’t make herself wonder about it. The guy’s dark hair was in
his face as he tugged hard at a holly bush, yanking it from the ground.
Look at those arms. Faith stared, her mouth open. Who was he?
The holly bush gave way and he tipped back, dirt flying. Faint
laughter drifted up through her window as he climbed to his feet with his
prize, and she caught a look at his face.
She gasped. Holy crap, that was Kyle Sawyer. The stories she’d heard
about him were numerous, and if a quarter were true, he was not the kind of guy she’d want to talk
to. He shoplifted, vandalized buildings, drank, hung out with college students—girls. College girls. And rumor had it he ran illegal street races with his
Charger.
So why did he look like he was having a blast ransacking her
backyard? He had an awfully nice smile for such a bad boy.
A thought exploded in her brain—wait a minute…bad boy. Kyle was the one guy at Suttonville High who’d seen enough
action to have his own lore. His exploits were darker than sin, and being with
him was an instant reputation killer for any girl at Suttonville.
This was it. Kyle would be
her revenge.
The Songs of The Bad Boy
Bargain
Music is one of the most
important “must-haves” of my writing process (well, that and dark chocolate
M&Ms). Faith is a ballerina, and music is the palate for her art. But, more
than that, this entire book germinated from a song my editor heard by a young man
on The Voice: Sawyer Fredericks, “Please.” Here’s “Please” and the other songs
that inspired The Bad Boy Bargain:
1.
“The Fall” by Imagine Dragons
2.
“Please” by Sawyer Fredericks
3.
“Cecilia and the Sattelite” by Andrew McMahon
in the Wilderness
4.
“Renegades” by X Ambassadors
5.
“People Will Say We’re in Love”
from Oklahoma, Rogers and Hammerstein
6.
“Up&Up” by Coldplay
7.
“Something” by The Beatles
8.
“Captain” by Dave Mathews Band
9.
“Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star
10.
“Beautiful” by Moby
11.
“Burning Bridges” by One
Republic
12.
“Who Are You, Really?” by Mikky
Ekko
13.
“How Do You Like Me Now?” by
The Heavy
14.
“How Soon Is Now?” by The
Smiths
15.
“Feel Again” by One Republic
Kendra C. Highley
lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as
staff to four self-important and high-powered cats. This, according to the
cats, is her most critical job. She believes in everyday magic, extraordinary
love stories and the restorative powers of dark chocolate.
I love creating a playlist for the book. I wasn't initially sold on the book but after reading the playlist I am actually thinking about it!
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