C. J. Anthony on Roller Coasters, Road Trips and her latest novel ‘Runaway Rock Star’ (guest post)

Runaway Rock Star (States of Love) by C.J. Anthony
Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anna Sikorska

Available for Purchase at

Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host C.J. Anthony today on her Runaway Road Trip Blog Tour! Welcome, C.J.!

 

Thank you Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for having me on the blog today! Today is my fifth stop on my Runaway Rock Star Road Blog Tour! Join me as I hit the road—I’m going to be visiting some great blogs, sharing background about the book, about Ohio, and there may also be a fun interview with Lucas and Brandon along the way. The stops are listed below and any posts you comment on during the tour will enter you for a fun prize pack at the end that includes a $20 GC to the eBook retailer of your choice.

Runaway Rock Star is a part of the States of Love series from Dreamspinner Press. A little background on the series for those who may not know what it is, the States of Love series is a series with one book about each state in the United States, all written by different authors.

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So in Runaway Rock Star, the first stop on Lucas and Brandon’s road trip (after they leave Cleveland) is Cedar Point. If you live in Ohio or even in a surrounding state—or if you’re a roller coaster fan—you probably know what Cedar Point is. But for those of you who have never heard of it, Cedar Point is an amusement park. They make the claim to be the “Roller Coaster Capital of the World, “ and that just might be true.

Cedar Point is located on a peninsula off of Lake Erie on the northern border of Ohio. According to ohiohistorycentral.org, the park officially began in 1870 when bath houses and other attractions were built to draw tourists. The first coaster was built in 1892 and the rest is history!

Today there are miles and miles of roller coasters, tons of places to eat, fun musical shows and entertainment and even a water park too.

I have to say, I have only been to Cedar Point once, many, many years ago, because I’m not a roller coaster fan. When I went, I made myself ride several coasters, and I survived in one piece, LOL. But that was enough for me.  Cedar Point, though, is a popular place for Ohio families to visit and tourists come from all over for the roller coasters.

In the book,  Lucas begins navigating and directs Brandon on the highway toward Cedar Point, already having made hotel reservations and plan without him knowing it. Here’s an excerpt of the beginning of their day at the park:

By the time Brandon caught up with him, Lucas was rubbing his hands together in delight. “All right, Harris. It’s on! What should we ride first?”

“What kind of thrill do you like? Riding upside down? Death drops? Wooden coasters? Or speed?”

“Well, considering I’ve never ridden any roller coaster before, I would say… all of them!”

Brandon stopped walking. “Wait a minute, you’ve never…? How…?” After what Lucas had told him so far of his life, he guessed it shouldn’t be a surprise that Lucas had never ridden a roller coaster. And he didn’t want to make the guy feel bad about it. But it did give him an idea.

“Okay,” Brandon said, striding ahead of Lucas. “I know exactly where to start.”

A few minutes later they arrived at their destination, Brandon smiling broadly.

Lucas glared at him. “The Woodstock Express? Are you fucking kidding me?”

A mother with two children in tow gave Lucas a dirty look as she tried to cover her little girl’s ears. Too late for the little boy though. “Mommy, he just said fuck-king!”

Brandon leaned over to Lucas. “Watch your language… there are little children present!”

“Of course there are, because you brought me to a kiddie ride!”

Brandon held up his hands. “Now, now… adults are allowed to ride too.” He smirked. “As your copilot on this roller-coaster adventure, I need to make sure you’re going to be able to handle the big-league coasters. After all you did say you were a roller-coaster virgin.”

Lucas scowled. “You are a devious arsehole, Harris. I am shocked!” Defiantly he stalked over to the line, towering a good two to three feet over his fellow riders.

Brandon laughed out loud. He stood on the sidelines and took pictures and video of Lucas riding on the train ride, like a proud parent. He also watched as Lucas’s car-mate, a little dark-haired boy, conversed with Lucas and pulled him out of his indignant mood. Lucas was chatting and laughing with a look of pure joy on his face.

When the ride was over, Lucas brought the little boy over to Brandon. “This is my new best bud, Martin.” Looking down at Martin, he motioned toward Brandon. “Marty, go ahead.”

Martin looked up at Brandon with a seriously bored expression on his face. “Dude, he rocked the ride, didn’t scream or puke once. He’s good to go.”

Martin and Lucas did some kind of hand-slap fist-bump, and then Martin ran off to find his family. Lucas looked smugly at Brandon.

“See, I was just coaster-approved. Now, can we please ride a big-boy ride? Please, Daddy?”

Brandon just rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine.”

Lucas threw his fist in the air.

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If you enjoyed the excerpt, pick up the book, there are more shenanigans to be had. And the itinerary for my blog trip is listed below; I hope you’ll visit each blog along with me! Don’t forget to leave comments to be entered for the prize giveaway. Also be sure to check out the blurb and info about the book.

May 3  MM Good Book Reviews

May 10  My Fiction Nook

May 11  Love Bytes Reviews

May 12  Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

May 15  Open Skye Book Reviews

May 17  The Novel Approach

May 18  Boy Meets Boy Reviews

Blurb:

Just hours before Brandon Harris is supposed to head home to Cincinnati for a Labor Day family picnic, his boss at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame forces him into giving a private tour to bratty British pop rock star Lucas Black. Before he knows it, he finds himself swept up in a whirlwind road trip through Ohio with Lucas riding shotgun. 

Lucas grabs hold of this wild opportunity to run away—even for a few precious days—from the gilded cage that is his carefully managed life. He’s just looking for a little fun and freedom as a normal person. From  roller coasters to a college football game, Brandon begins to see the real Lucas Black buried under the famous persona. But by the time he and Lucas discover their mutual attraction, they only have one night left before both of them have to go back to their real lives. The fun is over…unless Lucas can run away for real this time and keep their adventure going.

About the Author

C. J. Anthony grew up watching soap operas and reading piles of books. She attributes her love of reading and romance to her mother, who not only taught her to read but also made countless trips to the library lugging piles of books home for her. It wasn’t a far jump to start writing her own stories, early childhood tales about flower families and traveling to the moon with her best friend.

C. J.’s favorite stories to read and write include “opposites attract” pairings—couples who appear to be an odd couple to the rest of the world, but fit together perfectly, finding their own happily-ever-after with a little hard work and a whole lot of love.

Not surprisingly, C. J. is a big lover of rom coms—she’ll gladly take Julia Roberts standing in front of Hugh Grant asking him to love her over car crashes and shoot-em-up movies any day. She also watches way too much TV and every singing reality show there is. She loves music of all genres and attending live concerts.

She spends most of her time juggling a day job and a commute and freelance and falling asleep on her couch, dreaming of a day when she can write all day in her pajamas while living in a house by the beach.

E-mail: cjanthony70@gmail.com

Blog: https://cjanthony.wordpress.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cjanthony.writer

Twitter: @C_J_Anthony