06 September 2013

Finding Olivia Tour Stop!

How far would you go to find yourself?


That’s the question that’s been haunting Olivia Owens for years. 
All Olivia has ever wanted to do is live and make mistakes, but her preacher father has made that impossible. She believes that her years at college will be her ticket into the real world and her chance to be wild and spontaneous.


But she’s never been able to do it on her own.


At the start of her sophomore year, she only has four things crossed off her Live List, but that’s all about to change thanks to a chance encounter with Trace Wentworth. She’s about to learn that there’s more to this reformed bad boy than just his looks and panty dropping smile. 
Trace can’t explain what it is that draws him to Olivia.


All he knows is that he wants to get to know the girl with the sad smile but sparkle in her eyes. 
 
When she tells him about her list, he knows that this is his chance to get to know Olivia Owens. Trace is determined to show Olivia that she can do all the things she’s ever wanted to do. So, he begins to help her cross things off her list, even the more outlandish requests. 


What happens along the way is more than what Olivia or Trace ever expected. 
Love, laughs, and a list.


That’s the name of the game when you’re Finding Olivia.


Christmas music played softly in the background, and the smell of hot chocolate permeated the air, along with the scent of freshly baked snickerdoodle cookies. Not only could Trace cook, but he could bake as well. Was there anything he couldn’t do?
“How many marshmallows do you want?” He asked from the kitchen.
I sat on the couch and turned so I could watch him. “Are they mini’s?”
“No, the big ones,” he looked up at me, and held the bag aloft, shaking it for emphasis.
“Two, then,” I smiled.
He fixed the hot chocolate in coffee mugs, and added the marshmallows, then carefully carried them to where I was. He placed them on the coffee table and winced. “They’re a little too hot.”
Before he sat down, he went back to the kitchen, to grab the plate of cookies.
He held the plate out to me and I took one of the cookies. It was cooked to perfection and every bite was chewy, just the way I liked them.
“You’re Betty Crocker,” I laughed.
“It’s not like I made them from scratch or anything,” he defended, sitting down beside me so that the sides of our legs touched. “It’s not that difficult to heat up the oven and stick em’ in. You just have to watch them so they don’t burn.”
“They’re delicious,” I finished off the first and reached for a second.
“I’m glad you like them, but you haven’t tried my hot chocolate yet. Now, that I do make from scratch,” he grinned, a cookie crumb sitting on the corner of his mouth.
I couldn’t help myself. I leaned over and licked it away.
When I pulled back, his eyes were closed, and his Adam’s apple was bobbing.
“That wasn’t nice,” he whispered and opened his eyes. The green was light and playful.
He pounced on me and my second cookie fell to the floor as I squealed.
He pressed me into the couch as he hovered above me.
“Fair is fair,” he grinned, pinning my wrists to my sides as I squirmed against him. He bent and licked the side of my mouth in the same spot I had licked his.
“Now we’re even,” he gazed down at me and pressed his hips into mine.
“No, we’re not. I didn’t have any cookie crumbs on my mouth,” I panted.
“I can fix that,” he folded both of my hands into one of his and lifted them above my head. With his free hand, he reached for a cookie. He broke a corner off of one and held it above my mouth, crushing it in his palm, and letting go so that the crumbs covered my mouth and cheeks. I’m pretty sure a few went down my shirt but I wasn’t telling him that.
He appraised his handy work, and before I could come back with something snappy, he covered my mouth with his, sucking the crumbs away.
My body responded and my mouth opened underneath his. I felt his tongue nudge its way inside and I welcomed it. He growled low in his throat and released my hands so his fingers delved into my hair.
I grasped his ears in my hands, forcing him closer to me.
“Olivia,” he gasped my name.
“Don’t stop,” I begged, clutching at his shirt.

                There is something about those gentle sweet romances.  Whenever you are having a bad day, and you just want something to smile about, if you pick one up and start reading it can always make you smile.  They bring that little bit of happiness to your day and keep you pushing along.
                In the efforts to be perfectly honest, I had this book pegged from the start.  Now, there were some twists that were thrown into the story that I didn’t see coming, but for the most part I had a really good idea what was going to happen.  But the best part about this book?  Even though I did have it pegged, I still wanted to keep reading it.  There was something about it that I just wanted to follow the path that Olivia was taking.
                The characters in this book are very well written; there is enough mystery to each of them that you want to find out more.  But you know can tell how they really are, what their personalities are like.  One factor that I enjoyed about Olivia is that she didn’t just switch completely overnight.  Throughout the book, you watch as she gradually changes, which is how it is in real life.  Your personality doesn’t change completely right away.
                There were some parts of the book that seemed over the top, Avery’s character seemed to overtake the book whenever she was in the scene happening.  With that going on, I focused more on her than Olivia and Trace.  But I have to say as well, Avery did have some great comic relief qualities at times.
                All in all, I completely enjoyed this book and it is a complete must read from me.



Micalea Smeltzer is an author from Virginia. Her name is pronounced Muh-call-e-uh. She is permanently glued to her computer, where she constantly writes. She has to listen to music when she writes and has a playlist for every book she’s ever started. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading a book or playing with her three dogs.






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