Book Blitz + Giveaway: Dating by the Book by Mary Ann Marlowe
Dating by the Book
Mary Ann Marlowe
Published by: Kensington
Publication date: June 25th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Is love just something you find in books?
Six months ago, writer and bookstore owner Maddie Hanson was left at the altar. Since then, she’s had zero interest in romance—despite the fact that she runs a book club full of sexy eligible bachelors. But when her latest novel is panned by an anonymous blogger who goes by the name Silver Fox—and who accuses her of knowing nothing about passion—she decides to prove her nemesis wrong by seeking a romance hero in real life . . .
There’s the smoldering rock musician, the bookish college professor, and her competitive childhood friend who may want to steal her bookstore more than her heart. Even Silver Fox is getting in on the action, sending Maddie alarmingly—and intoxicatingly—flirtatious emails. And that’s not all. Her ex wants her back.
Now Maddie is about to discover that like any good story, life has twists and turns, and love can happen when you least expect it—with the person you least expect . .
I gave them a chance to settle down, but the energy in the air had changed, charged. I read the question on my notes, feigning business as usual. “It’s notable that Lizzie’s love for Darcy grows despite a lack of direct contact through much of the book. Is this realistic? What is her love ultimately based on?”
Shawna blurted out, “His ten thousand pounds yearly,” in the voice of the foolish mother from the movies, and everyone laughed.
“Funny,” said Max, not laughing. “But I think it’s because she was finally matched in intelligence and wit, and it drove her mad.”
He was taunting me, recalling how we’d vied for the best GPA in high school, but also getting in a dig at Dylan, as if intelligence and wit had played no part in our attraction. That assumption was both rude and wrong. He’d never taken the time to get to know Dylan and mistook quiet for shallow, but I knew how deep those waters ran.
Charlie exhaled ponderously. “On a practical level, Darcy ends up proving his own so-called love for her beyond a shadow of a doubt through his actions, by saving her family’s honor.”
I gave him the stink eye. “His so-called love?” Charlie didn’t hold out hope for romance, but sometimes his cynicism pushed the bounds of plausibility.
Dylan cleared his throat. “She may not always be in contact with Darcy, but she knows him.”
He rubbed the sexy day-old stubble on his chin. Had he learned that calculated move from copious photo shoots? As a writer and a connoisseur of scruff, I lamented the dearth of words to describe the beauty of a man’s facial hair. It made my fingers itch with the desire to touch.
He found me gawking and flashed his professionally whitened smile at me, like a perfect toothpaste ad. “She has his letter after all. Reading his words, she recognizes a soul like her own.”
He could have been describing us. We were a study in opposites, Dylan and me. In high school, he rode a motorbike and played guitar. I was a bookworm who lacked the courage to look at nonfiction boys. But I knew him by his words. When Dylan sang his lyrics to me, there’d been no hope for my virginity.
I caught Shawna watching me, watching Dylan. I knew it was only a matter of time before the town would start speculating on my own swooning heart. But I was made of tougher stuff than when I was seventeen, when my body had only recently developed enough to attract the male gaze and glorify in such attention.
Some Kind of Magic is Mary Ann Marlowe’s first novel. When not writing, she works by day as a computer programmer/DBA. She spent ten years as a university-level French professor, and her resume includes stints as an au pair in Calais, a hotel intern in Paris, a German tutor, a college radio disc jockey, and a webmaster for several online musician fandoms, plus she has a second-degree black belt. She has lived in twelve states and three countries and loves to travel. She now lives in central Virginia where she is hard at work on her second novel. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.maryannmarlowe.com, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/marlowemaryann/, and at twitter.com/maryannmarlowe.
