Jul 3, 2015

Promo & Review-- A Lush Reunion by Selena Laurence





A Lush Reunion
(Lush No. 4)
by Selena Laurence
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Releases June 29, 2015





Synopsis

Ten years ago Lush bassist Colin Douglas met the love of his life. Then she broke his heart. Now, in a small Texas town, in the midst of the breakup of his band, Colin has found Marsha, and he has no idea what to do with her. 

Marsha O’Neill hasn’t had it easy. Since losing Colin nothing's gone right for this east Texas waitress—except for Sean, her six-year-old son. She’s worked hard to give Sean what he needs—the best of her. Then a hot bass player walks into her bar and she knows the world isn’t done screwing with her yet. 

What happens when life gives you a second chance? Can you learn to trust again, live again, love again? Colin and Marsha are about to find out that second chances don’t come easy.
Excerpt

     She looks down, fiddling with her bracelet, taking a deep breath. "It's hard I guess. Imagining you with other people. All these years you've sort of been stuck in my imagination as my boyfriend. I never saw you with other people, didn't have to go through that, so when you showed up here it was like being tossed back ten years. I don't know who you were after you weren't mine anymore."

     "Yea, that's a good way of describing it. Like all those years never passed. The feelings are all still there. I guess we never dealt with them, did we?"

     She shakes her head. "Have you forgiven me?"

     "Excuse me?" I ask, thinking I heard her wrong.

     "Have you forgiven me? Or do you think you ever will? I've wondered all these years if you ever forgave me. And if you did, could we be friends or something. And now you're here, and we're talking like civilized adults, and I just wonder if that means you've forgiven me?"





Review

 "If only I could figure out how to make it go away. How to make her go away. But I know it's no use. She's so far inside of me that I'll never be free. It's karma's way of sticking it to us. Both her and me. It's our punishment. We can never have each other, but we can never be rid of each other either."

 First off, I must say, hearing that Selena was writing another Lush book and the title was A Lush Reunion had me all EXCITED!!! After the ending of the previous book, I was left wanting so much more. Boy, did I get it!!!

 I knew Colin and Marsha had a story to tell. Right from the moment they laid eyes on each other after ten years apart, you could sense the heartbreak. 

 "How do you summarize the greatest joy and the greatest sorrow you've ever felt? How do you talk about the one person you trusted more than anyone else in your life, and the way that person betrayed you in the absolute most personal and permanent way?"

 As their story unfolds, you find out the reasoning behind Colin and Marsha's heartache and separation. You might want to grab a tissue. Just saying. 

 You get an in-depth look into the workings of Colin. He spent so many years just being a rock star. Being the bass player that was always high was what he was known for. Once he made the choice to change his life around, he was hit with his past he tried so hard to forget. I loved being in his head. Does that sound weird? I mean, you learned so much about him and find out how amazing he really is.

 Marsha brought heart-breaking to a whole other level! So many things happened to her in the past ten years that Colin had no clue about. Her struggle made her strong, but her will to carry on made her the most admirable.

 "Spending time with Colin--it's like my worst nightmare and my greatest dream all rolled into one."

 Now don't think this story is all sad and tissue worthy the whole way through. Nope! You know Selena and her Lush men;) The things that came out of Colin's mouth were-how shall I say-HAWT!!

 Their attraction never went away. Even though they hadn't seen or spoken to each other in all those years, Marsha and Colin couldn't deny their feelings anymore.

 "Part of me wants to run and hide, while the other part wants to rip Colin's t-shirt off and lick him like an ice cream cone."

 "You smell like honey. God, I want to lick every inch of you."

 I mean, COME ON!! Hot right?! 

 This book was full of every emotion. And you feel it all! These characters hold a place in my heart and I don't want to let them go. 

 Selena has done a wonderful job not only telling Colin and Marsha's story, but telling the full story of Lush. Each of these books weaves in and out of each of their lives. 
I have loved every one of them!!

 Wonderful story!!!

 "Touching her is a secret dance, and I remember the steps like it was yesterday."


Discover The Lush Series
A Lush Triangle (Lush No. .5)

** FREE **


A Lush Betrayal (Lush No. 1) 

** FREE **
iTunes   |   Goodreads

Loving a Lush (Lush No. 2) 

Lowdown and Lush (Lush No. 3)
B&N   |   iTunes


A Lush Engagement 
(Free Short Story) 
The Origin of Lush
Ideas for stories come to writers in all sorts of different ways. And for me it’s been different each time I’ve written a book. I started the Hiding From Love series after I dreamed the first book. It went through some different iterations after that initial dream, but the core of the story remained the same. 

The Lush series, appropriately, originated in a song. Long Black Veil was a song originally written by The Band in 1968, then made famous by Johnny Cash. It was covered by Dave Matthews Band a few decades later, and that was the version I first heard.

Long Black Veil tells the story of a man who is accused of killing his best friend in an old west town. The accusation is sketchy and the justice is swift, ending with the man’s execution. But the song tells us that he had an alibi he didn’t use. His alibi was his best friend’s wife…who he’d been having an affair with.

So, we have a story where the wife and her husband’s best friend are in bed together while her husband is out on a street getting shot. When her lover goes to trial, the woman doesn’t step forward, and even though he was cheating with his best friend’s wife, the main character has some integrity left, and he won’t reveal the widow’s infidelity.

The chorus of the song is this:


She walks these hills in a long black veil

She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me.

(Those of you who have read the first book in the Lush series, A Lush Betrayal, should recognize significant elements of the story by now).

Long Black Veil is a short little song, just three verses and the chorus, but as any well-written words can do, it raises powerful emotions and issues. Those emotions and issues were what sparked the idea of the Lush series, and they carry on throughout all four books. 

When I listened to Long Black Veil what I thought of was, “is there a way to take this and give it a happy ending?” See, I hate sad endings (hence the whole romance writing gig), and this one crushed my heart. So I set out to take the idea—two friends—as close as brothers, one woman, a horrible mistake, and the ideas of guilt, consequence, repentance, and forgiveness. From that was born the story of Joss, Walsh, Tammy, and the band that loves them all. 

My newest release, A LUSH REUNION, gives the whole group the happy endings that Long Black Veil couldn’t. I hope you like reading it as much as I loved writing it!

**To listen to Long Black Veil the Johnny Cash version click here.

The Dave Matthews version click here.


Series Playlist

The Lush series is about a rock band, the story originated from a song, and music has been a very important part of writing the books too. Here is a playlist of some of the most important songs (according to me!) for each of the books in the series. Take a listen and tell me if you see story or character elements from Lush when you hear these songs:

A Lush Betrayal:


Loving a Lush:



Lowdown and Lush:


A Lush Reunion:



About the Author



Selena Laurence
Selena Laurence is the Barnes and Noble Bestselling author of what she likes to call Edgy Contemporary Romance. Her books have been Amazon Top 10 bestsellers in multiple categories including Multicultural Romance, Hispanic Fiction, Urban Fiction, Military Romance, and Romantic Suspense. Her New Adult romance, Hidden, won the 2014 Reader's Crown Award for Contemporary Romance of the year.



Selena lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and spends a hell of a lot of time at soccer games, on her laptop, and reading. She requires a Mocha Latte every day to function, keeps a goldendoodle at her feet most of the time, and has more kids than she or Mr. Laurence know what to do with.

Connect with Selena






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