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You guys know how much I love indie authors, right??
Well, Natalie Ward’s self-published debut novel “I Love You To Death” was released in September and the moment I read the blurb, I felt immediately drawn to the story.
I connected quite emotionally with this book and loved the way she incorporated music into each chapter – giving the story added depth.
Scroll down for book info, a teaser for the sequel, a fan Q&A with Natalie and… a *SIGNED* (International) GIVEAWAY!!
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Be sure to check the bottom of the page and
ENTER TO WIN A *SIGNED* COPY OF “I LOVE YOU TO DEATH”!!!
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NATALIE WARD
Well I was born and currently live in Australia, but I’ve also lived in England and the US. You’ll probably notice that I tend to use “Australian” spelling because I’m just not used to “American” spelling….plus my computer defaults to it.
I’m a seriously avid reader and have been known to read all night and go to work the next day with no sleep because I just can’t put a book down. I probably get a little too invested in stories and characters sometimes and should work on that.
I Love You to Death was the first thing I wrote that I actually seriously committed to. It was born out of two incidents, the first being a random thought that struck me on my way to buy lunch. That thought became Sam’s letter to Ash and it got me thinking about people dying and what it would do to you if you thought it was all your fault. Imagine having to go through the stages of grief over and over again. The second thing was making a friend a mixed tape. This was around the time of Adele and Christina Perri and their amazing power ballads about having your heart ripped out by some guy. My friend made the comment that no songs like this are ever written by men. I disagreed and proceeded to make her a mixed tape to prove it. Oh boy, did that create trouble! Well actually, it created Luke and when it did, he just would not leave me alone. That man occupied my head for months and months and because of him, I got to thinking all about the stages of love instead. But it also created some inspiration for the story (ie: the sexy rock star) and a playlist too which features some of my most favourite songs and artists. So, ta dah – that was how it got started!
When Ash loses her boyfriend, she is consumed by grief, loneliness and an overwhelming sense of guilt for her role in not only his death, but the deaths of everyone she has ever loved. Refusing to let anyone in for fear of losing them too, she becomes withdrawn, spending her days reliving the nightmares from her past.
Until she meets Luke.
Initially scared by his intensity and interest in her, Ash tries to push him away. But as Luke slowly starts to chip away at the walls she’s built, Ash finds herself doing the one thing she swore she’d never do again — falling in love.
When the familiar feelings Ash had hoped were long buried with her past begin to resurface, she is forced to ask herself if falling in love again is really worth the risk
My spoiler-free review of I LOVE YOU TO DEATH
(4 – 4.5 stars!)
“He walked into my life and slowly, gently he showed me how to smile again, how to start living again. He gave me a reason to breathe again. Showed me that living was worth it and it was worth fighting for. That it was worth taking a risk and making the choices you wanted to make. That he was choosing me, fighting for me and he wanted me to fight for him, for us.”
Here’s a TEASER from Luke’s book, which will be released early – mid 2013.
I’m lying in bed reading when Ash comes out of the bathroom. She’s completely naked, which is nothing unusual, but it’s the way she’s looking at me as she walks over that really takes my breath away. She’s looking at me like she’s got only one thing on her mind.
Sex.
I smile at her, my heart skipping in my chest. She smiles back and just when I didn’t think it was possible, she looks at me in a way that turns me on even more than usual.
We haven’t been together since the day she got shot, in that back room at the club and I’ve missed her so bad it hurts. I love her; really love her. Love every single thing about her, but she makes me want her like I’ve never wanted anything else in my life.
But I also know she needed to heal and I was so afraid of hurting her, that I’ve waited. Waited till she was ready. It looks like she’s ready now though, really ready.
We’re still smiling at each other when she comes to a stop by the bed. She’s on my side, not hers, but she doesn’t get in. Just stands there, naked, gorgeous and so unbelievably sexy, it hurts. My eyes drift down to her scar, which has a faded a little. The redness has gone and although it still brings back painful memories, I can look at it now. Because now I’ve realized what her scar really means. It’s her saving my life. It’s her coming back to me. And it’s her finally starting to live again. And because of that, I think it’s absolutely beautiful, just like her.
I look back up at her and she’s still standing there just smiling at me.
“You okay?” I ask, throwing my book onto the bedside table.
I watch her bite her bottom lip, still with the smile on her face and it makes my stomach flip, it makes me want to drag her down to the bed and kiss her. Kiss her senseless.
“Ash?”
She doesn’t say anything, just pulls back the duvet and gets in on my side of the bed. Straddling my naked and now very turned on hips.
My mouth goes dry at the same time my hands reach out and instinctively rest on her waist, holding her there maybe. I run my thumb lightly over the scar, never taking my eyes off her face.
She’s looking at me with nothing but that sexy grin on her lips and a fire in her eyes. I can’t look away. I cannot take my eyes off her.
“You sure?” I ask, my voice hoarse with want now.
She leans down to kiss me but just before her lips touch mine she whispers, “Oh yeah Luke, I’m very sure.”
I feel my hands slide up her naked back, the lingering warmth of the shower still on her skin. Ash slides her hands over my chest and around my neck and I groan so loudly it’s almost embarrassing.
“Asha…” I hear myself say. “You sure you’re okay?”
I feel her smile against my mouth before she says, “You know, you ask me that question a lot Luke.”
“I do?”
“Yeah,” she whispers, “you do.”
“It’s only cause I need to know, I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her hands hold my face as she looks into my eyes. “I’m okay Luke, I’m actually a whole lot more than okay, at least I will be in a second.” She’s smiling now and that fire is still there.
I groan again, cause I just can’t stop it. I want her. I want her so badly.
She slowly moves against me as she sits on my hips and I can’t help myself, I sit up, pull us closer together. Our arms wrap around each other, our chests touching and we kiss now, like we haven’t kissed each other in years.
Oh god, I need her.
Her fingers dig into my back, her arms wrapped around me. I slide us down the bed and pull her down so she lies on top of me. I’m kissing her like I can’t get enough of her and I know it’s because I can’t. It’s been weeks, but it feels like years and all I want to do is be with her, be inside her, love her.
“God I want you so bad Asha,” I hear myself say, unable to control anything anymore.
“Luke,” she whispers, her lips still kissing mine.
“Yeah?”
“Show me.”
“Show you?”
“Show me how much you want me.” It’s like she’s reading my mind, like she knows exactly what I want, what I need. And it’s exactly the same thing she wants.
I groan again. “Fuck Asha, I want you more than anything. More than anything.”
She pulls back and looks me in the eye. “Show me.” Her voice is confident, sure, determined.
So I listen…
Here are some of our readers’ questions answered by Natalie.
Audrie C ~ What is your writing process?? I loved the quotes at the beginning of every chapter and how they foreshadowed the chapters, loved the playlists and how perfectly they went with each section. How did you put it all together?
Natalie ~ My writing process is chaotic at best! I write whatever appears in my head whenever it happens to appear. This means I often don’t get a lot of sleep! None of it comes in order either, so for a long time I’m all over the place trying to work out how the story is going to play out. I’ve tried planning it and making lists and outlines, but none of that works for me, so now I just go with it!
The quotes at the start of the chapters were me wanting to do something that was not just “chapter 1” and also really wanting to use Infinity as my epilogue, because of its ties to their band name, to love and to what infinity means.
I liked the idea of incorporating the chapter number into a little quote that also told you what was to come. When I came up with the idea I did some research on what various numbers meant or represented and then I just played around with it, and eventually came up with each of the quotes. It’s actually one of my favorite parts of the book.
As for the music. I write to music and me making a playlist for a friend created Luke, so I thought why not include a playlist for each chapter, especially as it drives so much of the story.
And yes the song’s title and lyrics tell you so much more about what is going on in that chapter, they are the soundtrack to Luke and Ash’s relationship.
Natalie ~ Oh hard one! I can see him crystal clear in my head and I wish I could just take that picture and show you! I do remember when I was watching Prometheus a couple of weeks ago just staring at the guy in it [Logan Marshall-Green] thinking wow, he kinda looks how I see Luke! The guy is hot, there’s no doubt and he has a lot of Luke’s features with the shaved head, gorgeous smile and mouth, sexy body etc. He’s probably the closest in looks, although you’d have to throw in a lot of Jared Leto too. That guy is seriously sexy and he definitely has Luke’s eyes, body and voice….ah seriously sexy that man.
And what was the first and last scenes that you wrote?
Enter the Rafflecopter link below to win
a *SIGNED* paperback copy of I LOVE YOU TO DEATH!!!
Open internationally.
TOMORROW’S GIVEAWAY
11:00 AM EST
featuring
C J R O B E R T S
(author of Captive In The Dark )
Kim Box Person says
AWESOME BOOK! There was a poont in this book where I swore I would throw my Kindle out the car window if ine more thing occured 🙂 Love Love Love Luke and I will be buying the next book! Fantastic review and giveaway!
Lee Clements says
One of my favourite books EVER and from a fellow Aussie too. so excited for your success Natalie.
Thanks for the great interview Aesta and Natalie. Can’t wait to read Luke’s book.
Thanks for the giveaway 🙂
Len Francisco says
Great book and I super love the cover!
Nansi says
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK! Even though i have a paperback copy, i’d LOVE a signed one! XO
Angie Doyle McKeon says
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! Squeeeeee. I am so excited about this. Thank you for always having such amazing giveaways.