The Last Summer Excerpt and Giveaway

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Welcome to my humble blog!

As part of the Brandy Bruce Blog tour, there is a lot going on in this post so I want to make sure you don’t miss anything. First, there is the synopsis of the book (About The Book) and then there is an excerpt from Chapter Two, and THEN…..then keep scrolling because you will have a chance to enter our rafflecopter draw for the A-Ma-Zing prize, check it out:

Does that say SUMMER, or what?

ABOUT THE BOOK

For twenty-something Sara Witherspoon and her group of friends, a perfect Southern summer includes lake-house getaways, wedding planning, outdoor concerts, and a dash of romance. But for these seven friends who love each other like family, this year, summer rolls in with changes for everyone.

Sara’s longtime crush, Luke, has been her best friend for as long as she has been a part of the group. When Luke begins seriously dating another of their friends, Sara’s forced to deal with her hurt and jealousy, while outwardly try to support them both.

While Sara comes to terms with her own heart and her friends’ relationships, an unexpected handsome pilot from North Carolina and an old flame are thrown into the mix. Knowing her heart suddenly becomes much more complicated.

But as time unfolds and friendships begin to unravel, Sara and the others are presented with the reality of what a season of change does to old friendships and new love interests.

Does growing older mean growing apart?

The Last Summer by Brandy Bruce (371 pages)
Publisher: Bling! Romance (June 9, 2017)

Goodreads || Amazon

Here is an exclusive excerpt from Chapter Two:

FROM CHAPTER TWO

Addison slid on her sunglasses. “Can you believe this heat?”

I dug through my purse for my own sunglasses. “After a lifetime spent in Texas, unfortunately, yes, I can believe it. Where are my sunglasses? Grrr! And I just realized I forgot sunscreen. Someone better have some.” I shook my purse.

Addison tsk-tsked. “How many Diet DPs have you had this morning?”

My addiction: Diet Dr Pepper. The gang liked to tease me about it. As if drinking Dr Pepper in Texas was a novelty. Sure, I might drink more soda than most—but we all have our vices. Thankfully, I’ve managed to keep my unnatural-for-anyone-older-than-ten-years-old appreciation for cherry Fruit Roll-Ups a secret to this point.

“What about Yoda?” Addison asked.

“She’ll be fine. She’ll have complete run of the place for two days and she’ll love that. I’ll come home to so much fur everywhere that you’d think I lived with a gorilla.” I found my sunglasses and calmed down, then sweet-talked Addison into pulling through a McDonald’s drive-through so I could get a large Diet DP. It was Addison’s fault really. She’d brought it up and then I realized I’d forgotten to bring one for the road.

Summer in Texas was brutal. And even in early June . . . well, you learned to get used to it. The temperature on the car dial read 95 degrees. We chit-chatted as we drove through the city; once we passed the Houston city limits, I turned down the radio.

“So tell me how things are with Glen,” I told Addison, speaking of her boyfriend of the past nine months. She’d met the African-American youth pastor from a nearby Bible church at a leadership conference.

“Good. I adore him,” Addison said.

“Well, what’s not to adore?” I said, thinking of Addison’s attractive, outgoing, crazy-smart but kind-of-obsessed-with-bike-riding boyfriend, and Addison smiled.

“So true.”

“Are you doing that bike marathon with him this summer?” I asked and worked hard to keep my lips in a line to keep from laughing at the immediate frown on Addison’s face.

“Hmm. I don’t know. Probably. It’s kind of a long marathon and I’m not really . . . but, yeah, I mean, if I buy a new bike seat . . .” her thoughts trailed off.

“Are you in love with Glenn?” I asked.

“Without a doubt. I’m one hundred percent in love with that man,” she sighed a happy sigh, all thoughts of bike-riding having vanished.

“How do you know?” I wondered.

“When it’s love, Sara, you know.” She gave me a sideways glance and her demeanor shifted again.

“How’s Luke doing?”

It wasn’t strange that she asked me. Everyone in our group knew that Luke and I were close.

“You know, he called me earlier, sounding a little distracted, saying we need to talk. Probably a work issue. Other than that, I think he’s fine. He has a lot of pressure on him at his job. That promotion last year has been a mixed blessing. More money, way more responsibility. Still, he’s so capable,” I felt like I was rambling. The conversation with him earlier kept flashing back.

“Like you,” Addison said, turning on her blinker and switching lanes.

“What?” I asked, my mind on that phone call.

“Capable like you,” Addison said again. “It’s like you two are the same person, Sara. You know that. We all know that. You finish each other’s sentences. It’s almost creepy how similar you and Luke are.”

“It’s not creepy!” I protested. But she was right. My friendship with Luke had started slow; conversations that ran long after hanging out with friends, running errands together because we always seem to take the same approach about shopping, about getting things done. Our taste in restaurants, entertainment, our views on spirituality—everything clicked. Eventually we just started spending more and more time together because our friendship was so easy.

Easy.

Easy for him.

“Do you think it’s hard for girls and guys to be friends?” I asked Addison. From her side profile, I watched her nod.

“Yes. But it’s possible. Look at the seven of us. Our friendship is . . . “

“Unique,” I answered after a moment.

“Right,” she agreed, checking her blind spot before switching lanes again. “You and Jason are friends, and I was afraid you wouldn’t be after you two broke up.”

“I was afraid of that, too. I’m incredibly thankful we’ve managed to stay friends, great friends. And Luke—well, Luke and I are BFFs and he isn’t even a girl.”

Addison chuckled.

“He’s your match, I guess,” she said. I didn’t answer. The words swirled in my head. For some reason, they didn’t land, they just kept swirling.

“Could you tell from the beginning?” I asked. “Was that why you wanted me in the group, Addison? Because Luke and I were so much alike?”
Addison turned off the freeway. She shook her head without looking at me.

“Oh no, Sara. It was because of how Jason looked at you from the moment you walked in the room that day. I thought you were Jason’s match.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brandy Bruce is a mother, a wife, a book editor, an author, and someone who seriously loves dessert. Originally from Texas, she now makes her home in Colorado with her husband and three children. She’s the author of Looks Like Love, The Romano Family Collection, and The Last Summer.

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