Tuesday 1 July 2014

Happy Release Day! Beautiful Oblivion (Maddox Brothers #1) by Jamie McGuire


Synopsis

Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.

Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt. 

Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red. 

As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.

In the first installment of the Maddox Brothers books, readers can experience the rush of reading Beautiful Disaster for the first time, all over again


IT'S HERE!
I adored Beautiful Disaster and I'm so happy that this book now exists in the world. Just from reading the excerpts over this past month I can tell it's gonna be amazing!

Here are some of the excerpts that you may have missed!


Excerpt #1

“So,” Kody said as he chewed, “Trent Maddox.”

I shook my head. “No. Don’t even start.”

“Looks like you already did,” Kody said with a wry smile.

“You’re both acting like I was all over him. We talked.”

“He bought you four drinks. And you let him,” Raegan said.

“And he walked you to the car,” Kody said.

“And you traded phone numbers,” Raegan said.

“I have a boyfriend,” I said, a bit snotty and maybe a little val­ley girl. Getting ganged up on did weird things to me.

“Who you haven’t seen in almost three months, and who’s canceled on you twice,” Raegan said.

“So, he’s selfish because he’s dedicated to his job and wants to move up the ladder?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. “We all knew this was coming. T.J. was honest from the beginning about how demanding his job could be. Why am I the only one not surprised?”

Kody and Raegan traded glances, and then continued eating their disgusting chicken fetuses.

“What are you guys doing today?” I asked.

“I’m going to lunch at my parents’ house,” Raegan said. “And so is Kody.”

I paused midbite, and pulled the bagel out of my mouth. “Re­ally? That’s kind of a big deal,” I said with a smile.

Kody smirked. “She’s already warned me about her dad. I’m not nervous.”

“You’re not?” I asked, in disbelief.

He shook his head, but seemed less confident. “Why?”

“He’s a retired Navy SEAL, and Raegan’s not just his daugh­ter. She’s his only child. This is a man who has strived for perfection and pushed himself beyond his limits his entire life. You think you’re going to walk in the door, threatening to take more of Raegan’s time and attention from him, and he’s just going to welcome you to the family?”

Kody was speechless. Raegan narrowed her eyes at me. “Thanks, friend.” She patted Kody’s hand. “He doesn’t like any­one at first.”

“Except me,” I said, raising my hand.

“Except Cami. But she doesn’t count. She isn’t a threat to his daughter’s virginity.”

Kody made a face. “Wasn’t that Jason Brazil like four years ago?”

“Yes. But Daddy doesn’t know that,” Raegan said, a little an­noyed that Kody said The Name We Shall Not Speak.

Jason Brazil wasn’t a bad guy, we just pretended that he was. We all went to high school together, but Jason was a year younger. They decided to seal the deal before she went to col­lege, hoping it would solidify their relationship. I thought she would tire of having a boyfriend who was still in high school, but Raegan was dedicated, and they spent most of their time together. Not long after Jason began his own freshman year at ESU, the wonders of college, joining a fraternity, and being Eastern State football’s star true freshman kept him busy, and the change spawned nightly arguments. He respectfully broke it off, and never once spoke a bad word about her. But he took Raegan’s virginity and then didn’t keep his end of the bargain: to spend the rest of his life with her. And for that, he was forever the enemy of this house.

Excerpt #2

“Does T.J. know you went out last night?”

“Yes.”

“Does he know about Trent?”

“He didn’t ask.”

“He never asks about your nights out. If Trent was no big deal, you’d think you’d mention it,” Raegan said with a smirk.

“Shut up. Go to your parents’ house and let your dad torture Kody.”
Kody’s eyebrows pulled together, and Raegan shook her head, patting his massive shoulder as they walked to her bed­room. “She’s kidding.”

When Raegan and Kody left a couple of hours later, I opened my books and laptop, and began to write my paper on the effects of growing up with a personal computer. “Who comes up with this shit?” I groaned.

When the paper was written and printed, I began to study for the psych test I had on Friday. It was the better part of a week away, but experience had taught me that if I waited until the last minute, something would inevitably come up. It wasn’t as if I could study at work, and this test would be particularly difficult.

My cell phone pinged. It was Trenton again.


Excerpt #3

This is new. I’ve never had a girl give me her number and then ignore me.
I laughed, and picked up my phone with both hands, punch­ing in the letters.

I’m not ignoring you. I’m studying.
Need a break?
Not until I’m done.
Okay, and then can we eat? I’m starving.
Did we make plans to eat?
You don’t eat?
. . . yes?
K, then. You plan to eat. I plan to eat. Let’s eat.
I have to study.
K . . . THEN can we eat?
U don’t have to wait on me. Go ahead.
I know I don’t have to. I want to.
But I can’t. So go ahead.
k.

I put my phone on silent, and slid it under my pillow.


Excerpt #4

His persistence was as admirable as it was annoying. I knew who Trenton was, of course. We were in the same graduating class at Eakins High. I had watched him grow from a dirty, snot­nosed kid who ate red pencils and glue, into the tall, tattooed, excessively charming man he was now. From the second he got his driver’s license, he had made his way through high school classmates and Eastern State coeds, and I swore I’d never be one of them. Not that he’d ever tried. Until now. I didn’t want to be flattered, but it was hard not to be after being one of the few females Trenton and Travis Maddox had never attempted to sleep with. I guess this proved that I couldn’t be completely unfortunate-looking. T.J. was magazine-quality beautiful, and now Trenton was texting. I wasn’t sure what was different about me between high school and college that had caught Trenton’s attention, but I knew what was different for him.

Less than two years before, Trenton’s life changed. He was riding in the passenger seat of Mackenzie Davis’s Jeep Liberty on their way out to a spring break bonfire party. The Jeep was barely recognizable when it was hauled back into town on a flat­bed trailer the next day, just like Trenton when he returned to Eastern. Swallowed by the guilt of Mackenzie’s death, Trenton couldn’t concentrate in class, and by mid-April, he’d decided to move back in with his father and drop all of his classes. Travis had mentioned bits and pieces about his brother on slow nights at the Red, but I hadn’t heard much more about Trenton.


Excerpt #5

After another half hour of studying and chewing at my barely there fingernails, my stomach began to growl. I ambled into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Ranch dressing. Cilantro. Why in the hell is the black pepper in the fridge? Eggs . . . ew. Fat-free yogurt. Even worse. I opened the freezer. Score. Frozen burritos.

Just before I pressed the buttons on the microwave, a knock sounded on the door. “Raegan! Stop forgetting your damn keys!” My bare feet padded around the breakfast bar and across the beige carpet. After twisting the bolt lock, I yanked on the heavy metal door, and I instantly crossed my arms over my breasts. I was only in a white tank top and boxer shorts, no bra. Trenton Maddox stood in the doorway, holding two white paper sacks.

“Lunch,” he said with a smile.

For half a second, my mouth mirrored his, but then it quickly disappeared. “How did you know where I live?”

“I asked around,” he said, walking past me. He sat the sacks on the breakfast bar, and began pulling out containers of food.

“From Golden Chick. Their mashed potatoes and gravy remind me of my mom’s. I’m not really sure why. I don’t remember her cooking.”


Excerpt #6

Dianne Maddox’s death had rocked our town. She was in­volved in the PTA, the Junior Welfare League, and coached Taylor’s and Tyler’s soccer team for three years before she was diagnosed with cancer. It caught me off guard that he mentioned her so casually, even though I suppose it shouldn’t have.

“Do you always surprise attack a girl’s apartment with food?”

“No, but it was time.”

“Time for what?”

He looked at me, blank faced. “For lunch.” He walked into the kitchen and began opening cabinets.

“What are you doing now?”

“Plates?” he asked.

I pointed to the correct cabinet, and he pulled out two, sat them on the bar, and then began spooning out potatoes, gravy, corn, and dividing up the chicken. And then he left.
I stood next to the bar, in my small, quiet apartment, with the smells of chicken and gravy wafting through the air. This had never happened to me before, and I wasn’t sure how to react.


Excerpt #7

Trenton wasn’t fazed. “Then he’s not much of one. I’ve never seen him around.”

“He doesn’t live here. He’s . . . he goes to school in California.”

“He never comes home to visit?”

“Not yet. He’s busy.”

“Is he from here?”

“None of your business.”

“Who is it?”

“Also none of your business.”

“Fine,” he said, picking up our trash and tossing it into the garbage can in the kitchen. He grabbed my plate and then his, and rinsed them off in the sink. “You have an imaginary boy­friend. I understand.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he motioned to the dish­washer. “These dirty?”

I nodded.

“Are you working tonight?” he asked, loading the dishwasher, and then looking for soap. When he found it, he poured some in the small container and then shut the door, pressing the start button. The room was filled with a low, soothing purring sound.

“No, I have the weekend off.”

“Awesome, me too. I’ll swing by later to get you.”

“What? No, I—”

“See you at seven!” The door closed, and once again the apart­ment was quiet.


Excerpt #8

What just happened? I rushed into my room and grabbed my cell phone.

Not going anywhere w u. I told u, I have a bf.

Mmk.

My mouth fell open. He really wasn’t going to take no for an answer. What was I going to do? Let him stand at my door, knocking until he gave up? That was rude. But so was he! I said no!

There was no reason to get riled up. Raegan would be home, likely with Kody, and she could tell him I went out. With some­one else. That would explain why my car was still in its parking spot.

I was pretty damn smart. Smart enough to have kept my dis­tance from Trenton all these years. I’d seen him flirt, seduce, and evade since we were kids. There was absolutely no trick Trenton Maddox could play that I wouldn’t be ready for.

Buy Beautiful Oblivion


About The Author


Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Her most recent novel, Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written bestselling contemporary romance Beautiful Disaster, and the Providence series.


Jamie now lives in Enid, OK with her three children and husband Jeff, who is a real, live cowboy. They share their 30 acres with six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.

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