BLOG TOUR: Escaping Me by Elizabeth Lee

All she wanted to do was forget. Forget the memory of walking in on her boyfriend in the middle of, well, another girl. Forget how she had her entire life planned out. And, forget about being perfect all the time. Unfortunately, she was Whitney Vandaveer and despite the fact that she moved to the middle of nowhere—she couldn't.

He always knew he would never be more than nothing. No job, no money, no future. Cole Pritchett had accepted the fact that he would always be the screw up and he was okay with it. Until he met her.

Here's the thing they quickly found out—sometimes we all need a little help escaping who we think we are.

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 Elizabeth Lee Interview:

Tell us a little bit about your inspiration for Escaping Me. Give us the scoop!

First off... Hey, Gutter Girls! Love the new blog and thanks for having me!

I wish I had an exciting back story to share about Escaping Me, but it is kind of boring. I started thinking about this girl running down an old country road and it all spawned from there. I know the kind of people and the kind of town I wanted to write about like I know the back of my hand so it was more about pulling from experiences. No, I will not tell you which things I've actually done. ;-)

We absolutely adored Mallory and would love to know more about that wild child. In fact, we feel the same about Leanne. Those women can bring men to their knees. So tell us, will we get to see more of Mallory and Leanne?

Of course! I'm actually working on a companion novel that will feature Mallory as a main character. She is so much fun to write because she is such a free spirit. I tried to set up a good storyline for in Escaping Me and I'm hoping it transfers for readers in her book, Finding You. It will be fun to see what kind of trouble she gets herself into and what kind of swoontastic guy comes along to help her out.

As far as Leanne... You know she is not the kind of mama that's gonna let her girls go off and find themselves without offering up some sage advice. You'll definitely hear from her.

In the same fashion, we're intrigued by Vince and Finn. So at this point, you may as well plan a five books series. Can you tease us with future plans?

Five books! You girls are trying to kill me! I have my mind set on three. The main character of the third is yet to be determined, so that one will be a surprise. I don't have any plans for Finn, but Vince is going to be an important person in Mal's story. Mallory's favorite friend with benefits, Zeke, will also be back for Finding You!

If Cole could have one song for Whitney, what would it be?

 Well, I'm sure if you asked the characters, Whitney would insist on some Trace Corbin song, but I think Cole's pick would be Hey Pretty Girl by Kip Moore. --I know you asked this question Tessa, because you love this song too.

So we're getting a little personal here. As a country girl, do you identify more with Whitney or Mallory? Or are you a mix of the two?

That's a tough one! I'd like to think I'm like Mal, headstrong and carefree, but in all actuality I'm a people pleaser like Whit. That being said, I have broke a few rules in my day and steamed up a couple truck windows.

This novel was a tad steamier than Shattered and Give Me Something. It was HOT! Can we expect that to be a trend?

I think so. That is, of course, if the steam fits the storyline. I feel like the chemistry between Cole and Whitney needed the scenes to intensify how strong their connection was. Whitney had been with the same guy for so long and her sex life was a little blah. I wanted readers to experience every aspect of Cole with her.

Shattered and Give Me Something were good for building my confidence as a writer. I was scared to death to put out a steamy scene for fear of readers thinking it was cheesy or unrealistic. I have a great great team of beta readers and an amazing editor that are quick to call me out if something isn't working and I always try to write something that I would enjoy reading as well.

Is there a chance we will see more of Cole and Whitney in future spinoff's?

Cole and Whit will both be back for Finding You as supporting characters. I wouldn't leave their fans hanging, though. There's plenty of the “Whole” love story left to share. I didn't want to stretch their story too thin into two full books, but you'll find out what they've been up to since the end of Escaping Me.

*****

  

Erica's Review:

Elizabeth Lee's best novel yet!

SO
much
STEAM!

Lust, Love, Laughs, Family, Great secondary characters... It has it all! The writing is flawless. It will consume you! I read it in one sitting, because there was just no way I was stopping.

Elizabeth Lee has a way with words. From her hilarious descriptions to her subtle sarcasm, you can always count on good entertainment and good writing when it comes to her novels. I loved everything about Escaping Me. I could definitely relate to the small town vibe. I read Shattered and Give Me Something by her and adored them both. Shattered is pretty high ranking on my favorites list, but, I have to say, you get a whole new Elizabeth Lee with Escaping Me. She grows as an author with each book. Her confidence is pouring off the pages in Escaping Me.

The story opens with Whitney going for a run. It’s hot out and she’s not used to the heat in her Mother’s hometown. Her parents divorced when she was younger and she chose to live with her Father while her sister, Mallory, stayed with their Mother. She just went through a bad break-up, because she caught her ex-boyfriend, Wes, doing the dirty with another girl. As she’s nearing the end of her run, she passes out. That’s when Cole stumbles upon her. He’s pretty perturbed that he has to stop to help her at all, but can’t just leave her on the side of the road. He takes it upon himself to make sure she makes it home safely.

When Whitney wakes up, her Mother goes on and on about the cute boy that brought her home. Whitney doesn’t think much of it until she gets a good look at Cole later on at a local bar. The thing is, Cole’s in town to work and plans to leave as soon as he can. He got in a little trouble back at home and just wants to be left alone. He’s not looking to make friends. He catches Whitney off guard when she approaches him and he gives her the cold shoulder. Eventually they agree to be friends, but we all know how the “friends” arrangement usually works out ;)

“I’m backwoods, baby. The sooner you figure that out, the better off we both will be.”

If that’s not an invitation, I don’t know what is. This. Book. Was. So. Hot. So hot! Cole Pritchett is something else. And by something else I mean something wonderful. I devoured every page as Whitney and Cole’s relationship developed. It’s not often that you find a book that allows the secondary characters to pull you in just as much as the main characters, but this one did. I’m itching for the next installment in this series so I can learn a little more about Mallory. She exudes sass and has trouble written all over her!

Do not pass this one up! If you do, you are seriously missing out. You need to get to know Cole. To love Cole. Trust me, you will LOVE Cole! And just a note to Elizabeth…YOU ARE SO MEAN! You nearly killed my heart right at the ending. NOT FUNNY! ;) To everyone else, no cliffy but you’ll have to read to find out what I’m talking about!
 

*****

Ashley's Review

*Note: I condensed this a little since Erica already did such a great review. You can read my full review on Goodreads -- I'll have it posted soon!*

Sweet Jesus, I looooved this book. I loved it more than Dr. Evil loves frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads. And let's just be honest...that's almost damn near impossible. So yeah - think about that for a second. If that statement alone doesn't make you want to read this book, I don't know how to help you. 

Escaping Me is the story of two people trying to escape themselves; to start fresh with a clean slate. Whitney wants to flee the life where her boyfriend cheated on her and her father refuses to let her make her own decisions. Cole wants to run away from his past where everyone views him as the fuck up who will never amount to anything. They're both running away from everything...but there was no way for them to know that they were also running right towards each other. 

The relationship between Cole and Whitney was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. There's adorableness, hilarity, smartass-ness (yeah, I just made that word up; I do what I want), angst, and a lot of heat. Like, smoldering my panties right off heat. And with a character like backwoods, bad boy Cole, I would expect no less. And let me share a little something with you -- Cole is without a doubt on my top 5 all-frickin'-time book boyfriends list. That's how hot he is. He's the kind of hot that makes your vagina do back flips...and I'm pretty sure this perfectly describes how I feel about him....

Whitney wasn't at all the character I thought she would be, and I'm thankful for that. I was so afraid she was going to be a "Miss Priss" city girl that I wanted to roll my eyes at repeatedly, but she wasn't...at all. I absolutely adore her, and I felt for her when it came to dealing with her controlling dad and asshole ex-boyfriend. She's the kind of female character where you think to yourself, "I'd totally be friends with this chick in real life." And while we're talking about characters that you'd be friends with in real life, I'd say the same thing for her sister, Mallory. She's carefree, outgoing, sassy, and doesn't mind getting a little tangled up with a guy in the bed of his truck. And let's be honest...as a country girl, I can relate to that last part ;) 

Elizabeth gets better and better with each novel she writes. She approached me for a review when her first novel, Shattered, was released and after our first couple email exchanges, I remember thinking, "If her book is even half as awesome as she is, I'll be one happy camper." Well, it was every bit as amazing as she is and with each new novel, they only keep getting better. Escaping Me is my favorite Elizabeth Lee novel to date and in my opinion, her writing took a huge leap forward in this latest release. It is just so, so good. I could go on and on about Escaping Me, but in all honesty...I shouldn't have had to say anything after the first paragraph of my review! :-) 

Read this book and read it now!

 

*****

 

Elizabeth Lee Bio:

When I'm not writing or playing the part of wife and mother, you can find me dancing back-up for Beyonce, singing back-up for Miranda, or sunning myself on the beach with a drink in hand. Here's the thing about being born and raised in a small town—you have a very vivid imagination! Now, I channel it all to create stories where the girl always ends up with the right guy, first kisses are magical, and a happy ending is just that!

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