NEW RELEASE and GIVEAWAY
The Romeo Club
by Rebekah L. Purdy
The Romeo Club has just been released. You can read an excerpt and my review below. This release day blitz and giveaway is brought to you by YA Bound Book Tours.
Description
What happens when you agree to help your brother "de-nerdify" so he can catch the attention of the popular Chloe Anders, and to everyone's surprise, he actually lands her?
And what if his equally geeky friends come running with girl wish lists of their own, offering money for your services?
Well, if you’re sixteen-year-old, Delyla Denson, then you start The Romeo Club. A secret club where she’ll teach these guys how talk, act, and be cool around girls. It’s a win-win situation.
She’ll get enough money for the awesome prom dress she’s had her eye on, and the guys, well, they’ll get dates and maybe learn how to do something other than beat the next level on their video games.
There are only two problems with this plan. One, her quarterback/track star boyfriend is getting jealous of how much time she’s spending away from him and decides to try and figure out what’s going on. And two, Delyla is kind of falling for her brother’s BFF, Trey who she’s been hanging out with a lot more. And, who thanks to her help, has caught the attention of the beautiful, perfect, and popular, Portia Rickard. With Portia and Trey heating up, Delyla realizes that maybe the person she’s meant to be with has been in front of her all this time.
But falling for Trey means she’ll have to take drastic measures including sabotage, with a capital S.
Excerpt
A few minutes later we arrived at Bogarty’s. We went inside and found Kevin working the counter.
“Hey,” he said. “I thought you had a date tonight?”
“I do. But I wanted to treat Del out for helping me.” Trey took some cash from his pocket. “Can we get two chocolate vanilla swirl ice creams?”
Warmth spread through my chest. He remembered my favorite flavor. How is it he knew more about me than my boyfriend?
“Coming right up.” Kevin took his money then gave him the change. He waved me closer to the counter then leaned forward. “Melanie’s working tonight.” He nodded to a petite girl making milkshakes. She had black hair with a shock of electric blue highlights. Her ears had numerous piercings, and she wore dark eyeliner. She had the whole rocker chick thing going on.
“She’s pretty,” I said. And to say I was surprised was an understatement. She didn’t seem like his type, but then again, who was I to judge.
He grinned. “Yeah. She is.” He handed us our ice cream. “I’ll see you guys later.”
I licked the side of my cone to keep the chocolate from dripping. Trey and I sat down in a corner booth and devoured our food. When I finished, I wiped my mouth with a napkin. My eyes shifted to the window. No way. Did he have GPS attached to me or something?
I shot to my feet. “Crap.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Rex is here with his friends. I told him I was having a Science Club meeting today.”
Trey followed my gaze. “They’re coming in.”
We rushed toward the counter. Maybe there was a back way out. “Kevin. We need to hide.”
“What?”
“Rex.” I nodded over my shoulder. “Please, Kev. There’s gotta be a back way out.”
“I can’t let you go through the kitchen. I’ll get fired.” He glanced behind him.
“Ah, I’m so dead.”
“Wait, I have an idea. Hey, Melanie can you watch the register for a second?”
She looked up. “Sure. But hurry.”
“Thanks.” He came around the counter. “Quick, follow me.” He led us down a narrow hall toward the bathrooms. But before we got there, he opened a door and pulled out two costumes.
“Oh brother. I’m not gonna like this, am I?” Trey took a giant ice cream cone costume from him.
“Nope. In fact, you’ll probably hate it. But it’s the only thing I got.” He handed me a Poppy the Popsicle costume.
I groaned. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
“Hurry up, he’s coming in.” Kevin shoved the giant popsicle over my head.
I put my arms in, while he tugged it down. He then put big rubber shoes on me. I attempted to adjust the top so I could see out the eyeholes. Next to me I saw Trey and giggled. His head looked like a giant vanilla swirl ice cream. The cone part came down to his ankles so he had to waddle while he walked.
Kevin, shut the closet. “Just go out in the lobby area and dance around or something. When he leaves, you can get out of here.”
“You owe me big,” Trey said from beside me.
Just then a group of elementary kids saw us. “Look it’s Poppy the Popsicle and Icy the Ice Cream.”
In that moment, I wanted to die. Kids screeched at our legs. I hopped around in circles, giving them high fives. I attempted a booty shake dance and nearly toppled over, right into Rex’s lap.
“Hey, Rex. Looks like Poppy has a thing for track stars.” Bart laughed and slapped his back. “If you want to dance with the popsicle, I won’t tell Delyla.”
Rex grinned, grabbed my giant rubber hands and twirled me around. “Hey, can I get my picture taken with you?”
Holy balls. This wasn’t good. “Sure,” I said in a high-pitched Minnie Mouse type voice. He held up his phone and leaned in close. Wow, this would be one for the memory books.
“I think the popsicle is melting at your touch,” Bart said. “Maybe you should go for the ice cream cone instead.”
If he made one more popsicle comment, I was gonna shove my stick somewhere where the sun didn’t shine. Behind me, I heard Trey mutter something about a jack ass.
At last, Kevin called them up to the counter for their order.
“See you, Poppy.” Rex patted my back.
“Yeah, see you,” I said in the same high-pitched voice from before.
When they left, Trey and I raced to take the costumes off.
“Remind me never to come to the ice cream shop with you again,” Trey said. “I swear, if one more kid hit me in the crotch, I was gonna shove them in a trash can.”
“At least you didn’t have to deal with my boyfriend.” I laughed.
“Yeah, there’s that. But I think I’m ready to go now.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. Goodbye ice cream, hello world.
Some of My Favorite Lines
"Sure my parents made good money, but they were also the President and First Lady of the Cheap Parents Club."
"This wasn't quite what I expected when my brother said he had something important to discuss. Because on my scale of one to important this ranked like a negative ten."
"I hopped up and down, trying to get into my skinny jeans. Today definitely wasn't the day to wear these things. It was like trying to squeeze a watermelon into a straw."
"My heart skidded into my ribs like a car on ice."
"Drizzle splattered down my window like tiny teardrops."
"Irritation rolled off me like tsunami-sized waves."
"I loved it out here. You could look across the lake and see forever. Like the sky and water were one."
"Portia glanced at me, her lips turned up in a permanent too happy smile. It was like she had unicorns and sunshine and butterflies coming out of her butt or something."
"The familiar scent of her perfume wrapped around me like a warm hug."
"Day one of life suckage underway.
Review
By Lynda Dickson
Delyla gives her brother Drake a makeover so that he can win over Chloe, the girl of his dreams. Little does she know that this action will change her life. Her brother's friends, C.C. (Clyde Cornelius), Trey, and Kevin, collectively known as the Nerd Herd, are impressed with the results and want Delyla's help as well. Delyla reluctantly agrees, as their payment will allow her to buy the prom dress of her dreams. Thus is born The Romeo Club (or TRC). In between dealing with TRC, wrestling with Jimbo the underwear-stealing dog, and keeping TRC a secret from her boyfriend Rex, Delyla manages to stir up some trouble in her own relationship.
Things become even more complicated when Delyla realizes she is interested in Trey, who is Drake's best friend and who she's known all her life. As they spend more and more time together, Delyla's feelings for Trey deepen. How long can she keep giving him advice on how to win over Portia? Everyone has a breaking point, and Delyla may have to resort to sabotage to get what she wants.
This book offers of great blend of romance, comedy, and tragedy. The author especially uses humor to great effect. I love the scenes where Delyla's mother serves up her weird meal concoctions and her father praises them. My only complaint is the use of annoying names such as Drake, Delyla, Kenadi, Rex, Mikah, Clyde Cornelius, Trey, Portia, Deandre, Carver, and Latasha. It's obvious one person (namely the author) came up with these names, not eight sets of parents. This is a light, quick, and fun read suitable for younger teens but sure to please older teens as well.
About the Author
Rebekah L. Purdy grew up in Michigan, where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. When not hiding at her computer and getting lost in her stories, she enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games and hanging out with her kids. She loves the unexplainable like Bigfoot, the Dogman, and the Loch Ness Monster (lots of good story material)! She admits to still having all the books she bought throughout her childhood and teen years, and she may or may not have an obsession with anything chocolate …
Giveaway
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Links
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