Love a Little Sideways by Shannon Stacey – Guest blog and giveaway!

Liz Kowalski is heading home to Whitford, Maine—this time for good. Eager for her family, a fresh start and some fun, she doesn’t count on being rescued by the chief of police her very first night back in town. Drew is everything she’s not looking for…so why is she still so attracted to him?

After a brief, forbidden rendezvous at her brother’s wedding, Drew Miller expects Liz to return to New Mexico and stay there. He’s searching for someone to settle down with, not a casual fling with his best friend’s sister. But when they’re stuck together on the annual Kowalski camping trip, things start going a little sideways. Keeping their hands off each other proves just as impossible as keeping their secret from becoming public knowledge.

Amid family, mud and melted marshmallow, Liz and Drew try to fight what’s growing between them. But a little time alone, a lot of chemistry and too many opinions might be just what it takes to bring together two people so determined not to fall in love.

~*~I’m often asked about my inspiration for the Kowalski series and/or whether or not it’s drawn from my real life. Well, they say to write what you know, and I know the Kowalskis. Not literally, of course, because that would mean either I’m crazy or there’s a real Kowalski family that’s probably pretty mad at me by now.

But I know close-knit families who bicker and laugh and love one another no matter what. I know four-wheelers and mud and dodging flaming marshmallows at the campfire. I’ll confess that the snowmobiling that goes on in some of the books isn’t writing what I know, seeing as how my winter sport is reading, but my husband’s an avid sledder, so I nag him into helping me with the snow scenes.

We visit the scenic overlook that inspired the Kowalskis’ favorite picnic spot quite often. It’s a good place to sit and contemplate life. Or build those little piles of stacked rocks that, for some reason, makes us yell “Aliens!” every time we see them. I have no idea why we do that. You guys do that, too, right?

Camp wouldn’t be camp without practical jokes, like the time I woke up to find my ATV wrapped in caution tape. (I believe the occasion was my 40th birthday and payback for that little stunt is still pending. But it will come.)

And what’s happiness? A Blackberry Merlot slushie in a frosted Boston Bruins mug with a Dunkin Donuts straw in front of the campfire at the end of the day.

So tell me, what’s your happy drink? Whether it’s summer or winter, outdoors or inside, what drink do you savor at the end of a long day? Or maybe one of each. I like that wine slushie after a summer ride, but nothing beats Dunkin Donuts Hot Cocoa K-cups on a cold winter evening. Tell me yours!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her favorite activities are writing romance and really random tweets when she’s not riding her ATV. She loves mud, books, knitting, football & watching way too much TV. She can also be found blogging (almost) daily on her website, www.shannonstacey.com and is often spotted running amok on Twitter and Facebook.

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For the chance to win a digital copy of Love A Little Sideways and a $50 gift card to Amazon or B&N, just leave a comment below. The winner will be drawn on Sunday. Good luck!