EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY
Inebriated
by Katey Taylor
Inebriated by Katey Taylor is currently on tour with Xpresso Book Tours. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Keep an eye out for the sequel, Neon Nights, coming March 2020.
Description
Barely seventeen and as pretty as can be: the summer is their playground. Cait and her best friends Steph and Allie take on San Francisco’s party scene with fake IDs and short dresses.
When Cait meets Adrien Cross, the charismatic lead singer of her favorite indie band, she’s introduced to a hedonistic world of liquor and lust that she never wants to leave. But then that world spirals out of control and the harsh realities of reckless living take a toll on Cait and the ones she loves. What will be left when the makeup masks wash off, the bottles are empty, and Cait begins to lose her grip on everything?
Katey Taylor’s heart-wrenching debut novel will have you strapped into the intense rollercoaster ride of Cait’s life and one chaotic summer that will change it all.
Book Video
Excerpt
I’m cold. I’m alone. I’m stranded in this city and have no idea the street name of this random apartment stoop I’m lying on. I can hardly think. The city lights are a blur all around me. How did I get here? Where are Allie and Steph? How did I get so wasted last night?
My mouth is so dry, and my head is pounding like my brain is trying to escape my skull. I’m still in the scratchy sequin dress I went out in last night. The sun is turning the dark night into morning, and no one is out on the streets. My eyes open more, and I scan my surroundings. My purse is here. That is a glimmer of hope, at least. Rummaging through my bag I find my wallet and phone are still inside. Thank God. My phone is dead and more panic rises in my chest as more questions flood my mind.
What happened last night?
How did I get here? What time is it?
Are Steph and Allie okay?
Why would they leave me here?
At this point, I know I should get up and try to find a taxi or someone capable of helping me, but I am suffering from the worst hangover I’ve ever experienced. God, my head hurts so bad, and my stomach is still burning, and every time I sit up the rumbling in my stomach becomes so intense I have to lie back down and try not to vomit. I attempt to make a bed in the corner of this cement staircase, cradling the exacerbating pain in my head. I need to remember how I got here. I start with what I do remember… the beginning of the night. The fog from my brain starts to dissipate and the night becomes clearer to me.
It all started last night, the first Friday of junior year’s summer break. I remember being on my way to my favorite music venue, Swank, with Steph and Allie. It’s where all the most fashionable youth from San Francisco go to dance, get wasted, and check out the latest music on the scene. Swank is one of the only places in the city that looks lightly on fake IDs. Lucky for us, we scored our very first ones during spring break. My new identity added four years, making me the legal drinking age. Since then we’ve been going to Swank every weekend we can. We don’t live in SF, so we have to take the forty-five-minute BART train. The BART is the one form of transportation from suburbia to inside the city that doesn’t involve a driver.
On our train ride to San Francisco, we each had a water bottle filled with vodka that Steph had stolen from her older sister’s liquor stash. We took turns taking swigs, chasing the vodka with some old, flat soda I found in my fridge, which helped kill the burning in our throats. Steph can drink the most and always makes it a race to finish first. She is a tiny, sixteen-year-old but I swear she can drink like a fifty-year-old alcoholic man. Steph has been my best friend since kindergarten, and she definitely has grown into her looks over the years. Braces straightened her teeth, and her once mousy brown hair has been meticulously highlighted by the most expensive salon in town. Steph is the master at planning our San Francisco adventures.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
“This book was fantastic. It depicted down to a tee what it is like to be a high schooler on summer vacation. Anybody could read this book and see themselves in Cait and her friends. I know I did. Even though this is most likely a work of fiction, it had elements of truth behind it and that is this books biggest strength. Inebriated is a one of kind book that everybody should read. It has well written teenagers, a great, albeit heartbreaking plot and a main character that you will absolutely fall in love with.” ~ YA Book Central
“This is a wonderfully written, emotional story with some real gut-wrenching moments. The characters were well portrayed and I was fully invested in each of their lives. Adrien and Caitlyn are both characters that are haunted by their pasts, but the way they attack life is so different. It's heart-wrenching and eye-opening going on this journey with them. Their story is one I'll remember for some time to come and one that has definitely made a lasting impression.” ~ K&M Sultry Reads
"What a powerful and gripping story! This was a wonderful debut novel, well done Katey! I was hooked from the very first chapter. Inebriated is a great young adult novel that sheds light on the realities of partying and drinking and all of the unfortunate repercussions that can come with it.” ~ EmilyReads a Goodreads User
“I think the author did a wonderful job at bringing important issues to light all the while adding a bit of romance to the thick plot (when I say thick I am talking about the heavy topics). While it's clear to readers that the two have a toxic relationship I think many can remember what it felt like to be young, in love, and causing trouble. In any event, I think this is a fantastic debut novel.” ~ Elle's Book Blog
About the Author
Katey Taylor is the author behind the emotionally wrenching Young Adult novel Inebriated. Katey’s passion for storytelling stemmed not long after she first learned to write with a pencil. Every story she writes is infused with a piece of her heart and her absolute muses of music and travel. She’s a San Francisco Bay Area native living in a house that sits on a bayside lagoon with her husband and two cats.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.
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