We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Day Launch for Ann Aguirre's I WANT IT THAT WAY! I WANT IT THAT WAY is a New Adult contemporary romance and is the first book in the 2B Trilogy Series, published by Harlequin HQN. We are already in love with this series and Ann's characters! Read the excerpt, then go grab your copy today!!
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WANT IT THAT WAY Synopsis:
Nadia Conrad has big dreams, and she’s determined to
make them come true. But between maintaining her college scholarship and
working at the local day care to support herself, dating’s the last thing on
her mind. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet
irresistible guy in 1B….
Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a
single dad at twenty turned his life upside down—and brought him heartache he
can’t risk again. Now, as he raises his four-year-old son while balancing a
full-time construction management job and night classes, the last thing he
wants is noisy students living in the apartment upstairs. But one night,
Nadia’s and Ty’s paths cross, and soon they can’t stay away from each other.
The timing is all wrong—but love happens when it
happens. And you can’t know what you truly need until you stand to lose it.
"A
tender, sweet, and sexy story about how life—and falling in love—can never be
planned."
—Jennifer
L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You
EXCERPT:
“Where are you from?”
Ah,
an actual question. That means I can ask one back.
“Nebraska, toward the South Dakota and Wyoming side,
if that helps.”
“I’ve never met anyone from there.”
Michigan was
a long way from home. “I usually get ‘not in Nebraska anymore’ jokes, and then
I have to decide if I’m going to remind them that’s Kansas or play along.”
“What do you usually do?”
“Play along.”
“You don’t like conflict, huh?” He sounded normal
tonight, as if talking to me wasn’t an unpleasant chore anymore.
That was a relief since I’d come to look forward to
these moments with him so much. More, maybe, than I’d like to admit.Right. Friends. I distracted myself by
considering his question. “Not if it can be avoided. I’m not what you’d call
pugnacious, no. But I like to think I don’t back off important issues. What
about you?”
“No.” His voice was bleak and quiet. “I don’t. Even
when I should.”
Wow,
that took a dark turn.
If I could’ve jumped onto his patio without breaking
an ankle or waking Sam, I’d have been down there like a shot. The distance
between us seemed intolerable, and from the knot in my throat, I didn’t see how
I could live another second without touching him, finding out if his hair was
as soft as it looked or what he smelled like. I wanted him in a way I never had before.
In high school, I had a boyfriend who played
basketball, and we broke up when I left the state. It was a rational decision,
and I didn’t miss him that much once I was gone. My freshman year, I went out
with a lot of different guys, one date here, two dates there, but I never
clicked with anyone enough to focus on them. Sometimes there were hookups with
no strings, no expectations. Classes, friends and work seemed a lot more
important. The intensity of this attraction was foreign and frightening, if
exhilarating. I might already be backing off if I had the faintest sense that Ty
was jerking me around on purpose.
Wish
he didn’t make me feel this way. It’d be so much simpler if I could friend-zone
him.
I realized I still hadn’t touched his verbal
grenade. “We all have things we’d do differently in hindsight.”
“What is it about you?” he asked in a wondering
tone.
“Huh?”
“You make me…better. Calmer.”
“Like a sedative?” I snickered. It was the least sexy thing a guy had ever said to
me, including a junior high squeeze who said my face wasn’t actually that bad.
He laughed, too, a sheepish sound. “I didn’t mean it
like that. Just…I’m worried pretty much all the time that I’m dropping the ball
somewhere, about to face-plant, but when I come out here and hear your voice,
everything backs off like ten steps. I can breathe again.”
What I thought about I Want It That Way
4 solid stars for I Want It That Way! This really isn't a falling in love sort of story -- although that is a beautiful part of this story, it's just the easy part. I Want It That Way is more of a story about taking a chance on love in spite of everything, past present and future.
What I liked most about this was Nadia's voice. She's a good student, a good friend, a good employee, a good daughter. It's no wonder that she's drawn to Ty and Sam, her downstairs neighbors. Ty's a single dad with no time for love. He's got his boy and his own heart to protect.
In spite of Ty's intention of just being friend-with-benefits, Nadia and Ty fall in love. It's all very lovely, until a small emergency has Ty thinking too much and eventually running scared.
I love writers who can take the highs and lows of everyday life and make it interesting, and Ann Aquirre does just that. There are a few slow spots, but it was easy to move through them. If you are looking for a lot of drama and external forces messing up the relationship to provide the conflict, you may not like this. Most of the drama in this one comes from Nadia's roommates and they didn't have enough page time for me to get invested in them.
I Want It That Way is a feel good story that shows love isn't always easy and sometimes you have to have faith and not give up. In the end it's all worth it.
I really liked this and I'm looking forward to the followup books in this series.
This is my honest review. Thanks for to Harlequin HQN for the opportunity to read and review.
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About Ann Aguirre:
Ann Aguirre is a
New York Times &
USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.
