EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY
15 Days With You
(Pacific Coast Sunrise Book 3)
(Pacific Coast Sunrise Book 3)
by Ara Grigorian
15 Days With You is the third book in the Pacific Coast Sunrise series by Ara Grigorian. Also available: Game of Love and Ten Year Dance (both ON SALE for only $0.99 for a limited time).
15 Days With You is currently on tour with YA Bound Book Tours. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
A mother’s dying wish. A son in search of answers. A fifteen-day surf odyssey with the California girl who will dare him to rethink everything.
Alone after his mother’s unexpected death, seventeen-year-old Shep leaves Texas to crash with his uncle’s family in Malibu. Before he can hang his cowboy hat, Shep learns something that blows his mind - in her youth, his hard-working single mom was a gifted surfer on her way to international fame. And her dying wish was for him to recreate the surf tour she completed when she was eighteen - the summer she got pregnant with him.
Along with his cousin Carmen (the red-blooded competitive surfer) and her best friend Samantha (the opinionated and mildly annoying beach goddess), Shep hits the road for a surf trip up and down Pacific Coast Highway. Armed with his mother’s ashes and fifteen sealed envelopes - each containing a page from her high school diary - Shep will discover a new side of the complex woman he’d only thought of as Mom, and might finally learn the identity of a man he’s never met - his father.
But each time he paddles out into the waves, a nagging question haunts him - the one he may not be ready to answer: Is he learning to surf because he wants to honor his mother’s dying wish, or running from the real reason he can’t go back to Texas - his own terrible mistake?
Excerpt from Chapter 14
From behind, the tap of the horn pulls my attention. “Down to spot nineteen,” Carmen says as they slowly pass me. “We got oceanside with hookup!”
“Score.”
By the time I reach them, the RV is parked and Carmen is already out looking over the bluff. Shep’s unloading the small grill.
“I’m gonna prepare breakfast,” he says as I walk by him to join Carmen.
“Overcast,” she says. “Small, textured surf.”
“Two footers, at best.” I track the direction of the winds. “Surfers in the water. Waiting.”
“Let’s get our boards,” she says and we immediately turn back to the RV.
“We’re going to hit the water,” Carmen tells Shep.
He freezes. “What about breakfast?”
“Priorities, Shep. Priorities,” she says then punches his shoulder.
I walk by and punch his shoulder, too. “You heard the woman.” I step inside, close the door, then pop it open again. “Don’t come in, we’re changing.”
His little ears turn red, but he still manages to tip his hat.
We quickly change. Like me, Carmen is wearing her bikini under her clothes. No point in wasting time. She’s wearing a hot green cross-back top. Very functional. Nothing worse that discovering a boob has popped out. Neither of us bothers with wetsuits. Down here, the water is outright warm.
“Ready?” she asks.
“You know it.”
We hop out and go to the rear of the RV. The board rack has been unlocked. Shep is leaning against the RV.
“Need help taking them down?” he asks.
“Do you need help milking a cow?” I reply.
He scoffs then says, “I’m gonna lock her up and join y’all on the beach.”
“Why don’t all y’all you change into your board shorts?”
He shrugs. “We’ll see.”
He disappears after we unfasten the shortboards which are ideal for the conditions. With them tucked under our arms, we march toward the walkway.
Carmen picks up her pace. Not me. The process is sometimes as wonderful as the surf. I love everything about getting ready, about studying the waves, and breathing in the scents of the ocean. Each beach has its own unique fingerprint. Also, I prefer to study the surfers that are already there and see what skill level I’m going up against. Not Carmen. The water could be bobbing with twenty pros and she’ll get right into the mix, without hesitation.
“The overcast is burning away,” she says. “The troops are sensing the shift.”
A handful of surfers, not too far from us, run into the water. “We better join them before we lose the next set of waves.”
We place our boards down. “Time for salad dressing,” she says.
Methodically we apply sunscreen. This is not suntan lotion. We’re not trying to get sexy. This is protection so we can do this for as long as we can stand upright.
“You look like a geisha.”
We both glare at Shep who saunters in. “You’d be wise to protect that pasty white skin of yours,” I say.
His face contorts and he looks down at his exposed arms. “Pasty?” he whispers.
“Yes, pasty,” I repeat.
He sets his beach chair down and drops his rucksack. “Go on then. Pass it over so I can apply some.”
Carmen throws it at him and he snatches it. The way his muscles ripple when he grabs the errant toss reminds me of the baseball game. That was awesome.
I toss a wax bar to Carmen and we kneel in front of our sea chariots. I rip it open and the sweet scent completes the sensory experience.
The sound of crashing waves pulls my focus toward the water. The ocean is awakening.
Praise for the Book
“Filled with tumultuous emotions of grief, romance, guilt, secrecy and anger, 15 Days With You is an accomplished work of drama sure to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.” ~ K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite
“I wasn't sure what to expect but I was blown away and sucked into this book right away. […] Fabulous story, loved the characters, loved the book!” ~ Jennifer
“A beautiful, epic experience that is emotional, spiritual, motivational and so unforgettable. These characters will tattoo your heart. You will never forget this book and the journey you were lucky enough to take with them.” ~ J. Ockenhouse
“This was a book that was wonderfully written and it gave me the feels with the great character and storyline development! This was a book that stayed with me long after the last page was read! I look forward to reading more from this author!” ~ Pat
“This was my first time reading this author and it was amazing. I loved this story. It was very strong, very poignant. I liked it and I will definitely read more from this author.” ~ Maja
About the Author
Ara Grigorian is the international award-winning author of Game of Love, his debut novel. He is a technology executive in the entertainment industry. He earned his Masters in Business Administration from University of Southern California where he specialized in marketing and entrepreneurship. True to the Hollywood life, Ara wrote for a children's television pilot that could have made him rich (but didn't) and nearly sold a video game to a major publisher (who closed shop days later). Fascinated by the human species, Ara writes about choices, relationships, and second chances. Always a sucker for a hopeful ending, he writes contemporary romance stories targeted to adult and new adult readers.
Ara is committed to helping writers tell better stories. He is the co-founder of the popular Novel Intensive seminar. Also, he is a workshop leader for the Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference, the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and the Southern California Writers' Conference (both Irvine, CA and San Diego, CA). Ara is an active member of the Romance Writers of America and its Los Angeles chapter.
He is represented by Stacey Donaghy of the Donaghy Literary Group.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.
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