YESSSSS!!! IT IS FINALLY TIME TO REVEAL THE COVER, BLURB AND A VERY AWESOME TEASER OF 'WHO I USED TO BE' FIRSTS AND FOREVER #12 BY ALEXA LAND! I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL YOU GUYS SEE WHO THE LOVE INTEREST IS, AND MAY I SAY I HAVE BEEN ASKING ( BEGGING, PLEADING, WAILING: WHATEVER :p) FOR THIS GUY TO GET HIS HEA EVER SINCE WE MET HIM! YAYYYY I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER AND YOU GUYS WILL LOVE IT! OK WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE IS THE STUNNING COVER:
HOW PERFECT IS THIS GUYS? AHHHH YOU LOVE IT AS MUCH AS ME RIGHT !!!! :) NOW FOR THE BLURB AND THE (DRUMROLL) BIG REVEAL:
Zachary Paleki’s life is careening toward disaster.
At just 24, he’s had to do whatever it takes to survive, including selling his body, and the ways he’s found to escape from his bleak reality are destroying him.
On one of the worst nights of his life, Zachary meets TJ Dean, a broken man with demons of his own. A former drug addiction and time in prison took him from his son Trevor at a young age and left TJ crippled with guilt. He’s slowly rebuilding his life and his relationship with his son, but TJ can’t forgive himself for past mistakes. He thinks he can help Zachary though, not that he wants to be helped.
It takes hitting rock bottom for Zachary to reach out to TJ, the one person he thinks will understand. Neither is expecting the attraction that flares between them, not with their substantial age difference, and certainly not while drowning in a sea of pain and regret. In the process of healing, both begin to discover so much more than they ever dreamed possible.
But does love stand a chance between two lost souls who are convinced they aren’t worthy of it?
Who I Used to Be, the twelfth book in Alexa Land’s best-selling Firsts and Forever series, will be out in August (exact date TBA). For updates, follow Alexa on Facebook or join her email newsletter by sending a message to AlexaLandWrites@gmail.com
EEEEEEPPPP! HOW PERFECT IS THIS! TOLD YOU GUYS IT WAS GREAT, I LOVE TJ,
( AND NOT JUST BECAUSE HE IS MY TREVOR'S DAD) ALEXA HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK WITH THIS ONE FRIENDS! NOW FOR THE TEASER :p
In this scene from Who I Used to Be, Zachary and TJ are just getting to know each other and are spending the day in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Random fun fact: what happens to them when they decide to take a pedal boat out on Stow Lake actually happened to me when I was there a few years ago. ☺
We rented a pedal boat at the counter of the quaint boathouse and followed a tall, skinny teenager onto a dock lined with little vessels. Most were open-topped two-seaters with white decks and brightly colored bottoms, and they reminded me of enormous bath toys. When we reached the one we’d been assigned, TJ climbed aboard first and held his hand out to me. The boat had a big number forty-two on the side, and I said, “How appropriate, we got the Hitchhiker’s Guide boat. It should say ‘don’t panic’ in huge letters across the front.” We were right in the middle of reading Douglas Adams’ terrific series, and my comment made TJ grin.
I’d never been on a boat of any kind before, so trying to get in wasn’t pretty. When I stepped onboard, the little boat bobbed and swayed, and I waved my arms frantically to keep from tipping over. TJ held on to one arm while the kid working the boat rentals grasped the other. I quickly swung my butt into the plastic seat and said, “I have no idea how I’m getting back out of here.” I gave the teenager a little wave and called, “Sorry for almost pulling you into the lake.”
“You’re not the first. Have fun,” he said cheerfully, before unhooking a rope and giving the boat a push.
“Well, we’re screwed,” I said as we drifted away from that nice, solid dock.
“Pedal with me.” At least that part was easy. As we began to propel the boat forward, TJ asked, “Do you want to steer, or should I?”
“You saw me trying to get in this thing, right? Clearly I don’t have a seafaring bone in my body. Or lakefaring, for that matter. Why would you trust me with the controls?”
“It’s not like I’ve ever driven a pedal boat either, so you’re just as likely as I am to figure out the steering.”
“You do it, “I said. “I’ll screw it up.” The controls consisted only of a single joystick between the seats, and after a moment I asked, “Where are the brakes?”
“Boats don’t have brakes.”
“Then how do you stop?”
“Just quit pedaling.”
“But momentum will still move us forward.”
“I know.”
I asked, “Do we at least have an anchor to throw in the water?”
“Nope.” TJ was grinning as he experimented with moving the joystick left and right. Or port and starboard. Whatever.
“Don’t hit that duck,” I said, pointing at a big mallard ahead of us.
“If you’re going to backseat drive, you have to take the controls.”
“I’m not. Just don’t hit the duck.”
“I’m pretty sure it knows to get out of the way.”
“He. The females are the plainer brown ones.”
“I did actually know that.”
“I figured you did,” I told him. “I’m just spouting off some random duck facts to make up for being too dumb to know boats don’t have brakes.”
TJ glanced at me and grinned. “The duck got out of the way.”
“He’s smart. He probably even knew that brake thing.”
We pedaled along for a while, and TJ said, “I’m proud of us. Check out what we’re doing right now. We left the house. We’re participating!”
“I think we’ll be set for another six months after this.” Suddenly, I pointed to something on a fallen tree at the water’s edge and exclaimed, “Turtle!”
TJ smiled and said, “That’s like your version of ‘squirrel!’ It’s very cute, please keep doing it.”
“You just referenced a Pixar movie.”
“I did.”
“Turtle!” I pointed to another little animal on a rock and TJ laughed. It was the best sound imaginable.
“Oh hey, look at that,” he said a little later. We’d rounded a bend, and a graceful red pagoda with a green tile roof had come into view.
“It’s beautiful. If we survive this three-hour tour, let’s go over to the island and take a closer look.”
“Sure, Gilligan.”
“I think I watched every single rerun of that show as a kid,” I said. “I have no idea why.”
“Neither do I.” TJ let go of the controls and draped his arm over the back of my seat. “Tag, you’re it. Time to take the wheel. Or, you know. The stick.”
I muttered, “Oh hell,” and grabbed the joystick with both hands.
I found it didn’t do much. Even pulling it quickly to one side just made the boat meander in a lazy arc. “Okay, this isn’t bad,” I said after a while. But when a rowboat appeared ahead of us, I got nervous and told TJ, “Maybe you should take over.”
“Nah. You’re doing great.”
I managed to get around the other boat without causing a full-scale maritime disaster, then announced, “I’m going to hit that bridge.” A graceful stone structure arched over the lake, connecting the island to the rest of the park.
“Just stay in the middle and you’ll be fine.”
When I failed to Titanic us into the bridge, I relaxed a bit. After a few minutes, TJ glanced over his shoulder and frowned, and I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. There’s just a duck following us.”
“Is it the one you tried to run over?”
He smiled at me and said, “No, it’s a huge, white one.”
“Is it a swan?”
“Not unless it’s wearing a duck disguise.”
I glanced over my shoulder and said, “I think that’s a goose, and he’s gaining on us. What do you think he wants?”
“A fight to the death so he can take back the Black Pearl? Or in this case, the Plastic Pedaler?” I chuckled and TJ announced, “He’s still gaining. Pedal faster.”
We both increased our efforts, and when TJ looked behind us again, he said, “He seems pissed off. Did you do something to make him angry?”
“I did. I showed him a cookbook with a recipe for Christmas Goose and dragged my finger across my neck in a threatening fashion. Apparently he didn’t find it funny.”
“He must be overly sensitive. Out of curiosity, have you ever eaten a Christmas Goose?”
“Hell no. Who am I, Tiny Tim? I always have Chinese food.”
“I’ve heard that’s a tradition in some Jewish families, since everything else is closed. Are you Jewish?”
“No. My dad wasn’t much of a cook, and we both loved Chinese, so he’d take me as a treat on Christmas day. I’ve kept that tradition alive.” TJ glanced at me, and I said, “Don’t worry. I don’t automatically go into a tailspin every time I talk about my dad. I have a lot of good memories from my childhood, including that one.” A splashing sound behind us made me glance over my shoulder. Our pursuer was flapping his big wings and seemed like he was trying to run in the water. “The goose is gaining.”
We both applied an extra burst of energy, and passed three other pedal boats. Their occupants stared and pointed, and a couple people pulled out their phones to film the goose pursuit. “We’ve been singled out,” TJ said. “The goose has no interest in the other boaters.”
“Maybe he just wants to be friends.”
“Do you want to stop and find out?”
“I really don’t.” After a few more minutes of intense pedaling, I gasped for breath and said, “I’m incredibly out of shape. My legs are about to snap like twigs. Thank God I gave up smoking at least, even though my lungs were in no way prepared for this.”
“When did you stop smoking?”
“A few weeks ago. Everything smelled completely disgusting to me when I was so sick, including cigarettes, so I quit by default. I need to stop talking now because I need my breath for aerobic goose avoidance.”
“Stop pedaling for a minute and take a rest,” he said. “I’ll keep going.”
“Oh no. This is a two-person operation. We live or die together. If it’s the latter, they can bury us side-by-side. Our headstone will say ‘their goose was cooked.’ I need to shut up now.”
We probably broke some kind of record for fastest pedal boat ride around Stow Lake. The flapping goose remained in hot pursuit right up until we approached the dock. Then he veered away and floated off tranquilly, as if nothing had ever happened.
After the high school kid secured it to the dock, TJ stepped out of the boat and offered me his hand. I flopped out gracelessly and rolled onto my back. A moment later, I burst out laughing. TJ dropped down beside me and cracked up, too. People were staring. We didn’t care.
HEHEHE GREAT HUH? I CAN TOTALLY SEE THIS HAPPENING (TO THEM AND ALEXA :p)! THANKS FOR DROPPING BY FOR THIS COVER AND ' LOVE INTEREST' REVEAL! I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE AS HAPPY WITH THIS AS I AM! BELIEVE ME YOU WILL LOVE THIS CHOICE!
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