GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY
Crashing Prom
by Milda Harris
Description
Avery Rylee never went to her high school prom. It is one of her biggest life regrets. Now, at the age of twenty-four, Avery has many more regrets. She is stuck in a rut with her career and she has just been dumped by her fiance. After a night of cheap wine and hitting rock bottom, all Avery wants to do is lie in bed at home with a gallon of ice cream, but her three best friends have other ideas. They have planned a cross country road trip to a prom to help Avery start over.
Step one is an Ex-Bachelorette Party in Vegas to help Avery try and forget her ex-fiance. Instead of forgetting him, though Avery finds herself the star of her own web series. As a result, she goes on a filmed hunt across America to find a prom dress, a hot date, and a pair of amazing shoes.
Will Avery be able to heal her heartbreak, survive internet reality show fame, and have the perfect prom?
Excerpt
"You and Uncle Flynn broke up?" Hannah's voice raised an octave in utter teenage shock. "Are you serious? But you were engaged."
Hannah was already calling him Uncle Flynn. My heart wanted to crack open and then burst into flames. I couldn't think about Flynn right now. Hannah had to go to the prom.
"Yes, I'm serious. And I'm serious about you going to prom," I said.
"But I can't. Nash said..." Hannah started.
"I don't care what Nash said. You have to go anyway. Seize the day. Carpe diem," I said feeling suddenly impassioned and inspired for Hannah.
Hannah had to go to the prom for me, for all girls who didn't have a date, for anyone that had been dumped, for anyone that was an ex-fiancée and also hadn't gone to her prom.
"I don't have anyone to go with, though, Aunt Avery," Hannah reminded me.
"I'll go with you," I heard myself say.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Okay..." Hannah said. "But, seriously, what about a date? I mean I kind of dreamt I'd go to prom with a guy and..."
"I'll find us both dates!" I said.
Hannah was silent and then seemed to have a dawning realization, "Are you drunk?"
I ignored her, "So, when's your prom?"
"Saturday," Hannah said sounding dazed. "But Aunt Avery you can't..."
"This Saturday? As in six days from now?" I asked.
"Yeah," Hannah said. "Aunt Avery, I don't think...."
"Go buy a dress. I'll be there," I said and hung up the phone before Hannah could say anything else.
My mind was spinning. I might not have a fiancé, but I was about to go to the prom. I took another sip of wine. This was a great idea, a really amazing idea. I was going to start my new life with no regrets. It was perfect. I was excited. I had purpose. Now, I just needed a dress, a date, and a limo. Life was awesome.
Featured Review
The story starts with Avery Rylee's fiancée breaking off their engagement to Avery's total surprise. She thought things were great and was totally blindsided when Flynn dumped her. After a long night of drinking away her misery Avery wakes up hung over and finds out she has agreed to convince her niece to go to her prom by going to it with her. Avery has always regretted not going to her prom and her friends decide it's just what she needs to get her life on track and get over her broken engagement. So she ends up on a road trip with her three best friends to make it to her nieces prom. Much to her shock and disbelief it ends up being filmed for a web series and all the craziness that follows is on the web for everyone to see.
I loved this book and really hope Milda Harris turns it into a series because I really want more of Avery and her friends. I laughed so hard and fell in love with these characters and their story. Please more!!
Guest Post by the Author
I actually started writing Crashing Prom a few years ago. I wrote it for fun as a 23,000 word novella for the 3 Day Novel Contest that takes place every year on Labor Day weekend. If you’ve ever tried to write a book that fast, you’ll know this – it has to flow fast if you’re going to get it written in three days. For me, that usually means wacky things have to happen. That’s how the tone of the book came about. It’s silly and fun and very romcom, although there are some serious topics in there, like Avery’s breakup with her fiancé and how hard breaking up with someone can be.
Anyway, I didn’t win the 3 Day Novel Contest and I wasn’t sure what to do with a novella at the time, so it sat on my computer. I always meant to go back to edit it and maybe make it into a full length novel. This year, I finally did. I was looking for a project to fix, maybe something a little less time consuming than writing a book from scratch because in my personal life, I had just given birth to baby twins!
So, I reread the entire book. I had a ton of things that I wanted to fix and add to the book. I also had one big question. I wasn’t sure that Avery should end up with the guy she ended up with in the novella. I didn’t think it worked. So, I pondered and after much debate, I changed the ending completely. I also filled in details that got lost when I was writing the book in those original three insane days. I added in way more about Avery’s friends and I feel like the female friendships in the book are really a cornerstone of the novel. Now, I hope to write future books as a series based on that.
Who knew? That’s right, Crashing Prom was originally going to sit on my computer for eternity and now I’m thinking of writing multiple books based on it! My experience writing Crashing Prom showed me that even an old story sitting on your computer can be revamped, molded, and turned into a fun, satisfying story. It doesn’t have to gather dust. You just have to take a chance on it!
About the Author
Milda Harris has a dog named after a piece of candy (Licorice), was once hit by a tree (seriously), and wears hot pink sunglasses (why not?). She is the young adult author of Doppelganger, Adventures in Funeral Crashing (FREE), Adventures of a Graveyard Girl, The New Girl Who Found A Dead Body, and Connected: A Paranormal Romance. She also works in production on television shows like Austin & Ally, Hannah Montana, and That's So Raven.
Giveaway
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