Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Blog Tour: The Key to Everything by Paula Stokes

Hi there! Today is day 3 for the Blog Tour of The Key to Everything by Paula Stokes. So today Paula will tell you all about Phuket (there's an excerpt and a giveaway!), but first, let's check out the book. And don't forget to check out my review!
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Synopsis:
College senior Oakland Fuller has always believed in signs and soulmates, so when both a therapist and a fortuneteller say that her repeated relationship failures are due to unresolved feelings for her high school boyfriend, Seth, Oakland tries desperately to get back in touch with him. Problem: Seth isn’t responding to her online messages.

To rescue Oakland from a pathetic Christmas break of sitting in front of the computer, her best friend Morgan books the two of them on a guided excursion of Thailand. When the girls meet a pair of American soldiers in Bangkok, Oakland takes Morgan’s advice and engages in a little harmless holiday hooking up. Sergeant Tyson Banks is the perfect mix of sexy and fun. Two weeks with him might just turn out to be the best relationship Oakland has ever had.

Until the day she spots someone familiar across a crowded temple complex—it’s Seth! Somehow the boy she’s been trying to reconnect with is in Bangkok too. If that’s not a sign, then what is?

Filed with friendship, romance, and gorgeous faraway settings, The Key to Everything is a book for anyone who's ever dreamed of finding love when (or where) they least expected it.

Here are some links you may be interested in:
Add it on goodreadsBuy the book
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And now, here's a message from Paula Stokes:

After Bangkok, Oakland and her friends travel by bus to Phuket, with a couple of mini-adventures along the way. Phuket (pronounced poo-ket) is a mountainous rainforest island off the West Coast of Thailand with over thirty beaches. The area was devastated during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami but has since completely rebuilt.

Here’s a mood board for Phuket, with lots of pretty beach scenes, a street food cart, and some muay thai or Thai boxing!
Here’s a short excerpt from the beach:

For the rest of the afternoon, I manage to put Seth out of my mind, sort of. I still check my phone about every ten minutes, but eventually Tyson convinces me to go in the water with him. I’m not usually one for getting wet at the beach, but the water looks so perfectly clear here and I could stand to cool off. I leave my phone on the beach in Morgan’s custody.
         “I’ll scream ‘shark’ if anything pops up okay?” she says. “That’ll get your attention.”
         Tyson tugs off his T-shirt and jogs out toward the water’s edge. I take a moment to make sure my bikini straps are tight and follow him out into the waves. We’re only knee deep when he points at a buoy bobbing in the waves about fifty meters offshore. “Race you out there.”
         “Um…is now a bad time to tell you I don’t know how to swim?”
         He looks back over his shoulder. “Seriously? A California girl who can’t swim?”
         “I’m a California girl by way of the Midwest. I can’t put my head underwater without starting to panic.”
         “You don’t have to put your head underwater to learn to swim,” Tyson says. “Want me to teach you?”
         “What? Like right now?” The water is almost up to my waist. The current is gentle but some of the waves are breaking right in this area. I inch my way a little farther out, to the point where my feet are still on the bottom but my head and shoulders are well above the surface.
         “No time like the present. You should at least know how to stay afloat. What if your plane had crashed?”
         “Who thinks like that?” I say. And then I remember how Tyson’s mom died. I remember he spends his days dealing with stuff that might blow up in his face. Of course he thinks like that. “Sorry,” I continue quickly. “That was a stupid thing to say. You’re right. I should know how to swim. But you don’t have to spend your vacation teaching me.”
         “We’ll just start with lesson one,” he says. “Treading water.”
         “Okay. If you want.”
         “Let’s do this.” Tyson slides his hands under my armpits and guides me a little farther from the shore.
         The sand beneath my feet falls away suddenly. My blood accelerates in my veins and my mouth goes dry. “I’m scared.”
         He smiles. The whole smile, with the eyes and dimples. “I got you. I promise. I’m not going to let anything bad happen.”

Aww, isn’t Tyson sweet? [SPOILER: He is very sweet ;D] To find out exactly how sweet he is, score yourself a Kindle version of THE KEY TO EVERYTHING for the introductory price of $2.99.

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter to win your choice of a wooden spirit house or an elephant print tote bag (or choice of bag up to $16.99 price from veradashop), both handmade in Thailand.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
What’s your favorite beach? Do prefer them quiet and secluded or full of jet-skis and partiers? Tomorrow’s tour stop is up north is the rainforest region of Chiang Mai. Stop by Gabriella M Reads to meet an elephant!
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About Paula Stokes:
Paula Stokes is the author of several novels, most recently Vicarious, Ferocious, and This is How it Happened. Her writing has been translated into eleven foreign languages. Paula loves kayaking, hiking, reading, and seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. She also loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on Twitter and Instagram as @pstokesbooks.
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