Best Kind of Broken Blog Tour (Review, Interview & Contest)

I am truly honoured to be part of the Best Kind of Broken blog tour, especially as I beta read this book back when it was just a sparkle in Chelsea's eye.  Below you will find my review, an interview with the lady herself as well as a contest to win signed books and more!

Pixie and Levi haven't spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are... awkward.

All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.

It’s no secret that Chelsea Fine is one of my favourite authors, I love her writing and I love her guts!  If she wrote the phone book, I’d read it.  So what is it that I love so much about her books? Well, not only are they *my* kind of stories, but I feel like I’m reading about characters that I want as my best friends.  Also, Chelsea has an extraordinary gift of pulling you right into a story from the get go – no warm up needed; no reading a few chapters to get into it and it’s ALWAYS highly entertaining.  I knew from the very first line that I was going to love this book.

Best Kind of Broken is Chelsea’s first foray in the New Adult world and it definitely won’t be the last.  Pixie and Levi have known each other since they were kids.  He was her hero, she was his to protect.  As they grew older, they started to see each other in a more romantic light but something big came between them and they haven’t seen or spoken to each other in a year before they are thrust back together in comedic circumstances.  Pixie and Levi are the epitome of sexual tension which is falling off the pair of them in huge, great tsunamis and to stop things from getting weird and awkward, all they do is fight.  Fight with each other and fight with themselves to stop the overwhelming attraction they have for one another. But the question is, can they overcome the incident that rocked both of their worlds to the core and changed things forever?

Obviously you know I’m going to say that I loved the book, because I did.  It was brilliantly executed, well written and to be honest, the words flow so naturally that Chelsea makes it look easy.  Damn her.  I loved the relationship between Pixie and Levi, and I understood what made them act the way they did.  I GOT the characters, I GOT the story and I couldn’t have asked for more.

The only criticism I have is regarding the title.  I don’t know about you but I’m super tired of reading books (especially NA books) about broken characters and if it hadn’t been for the fact that Chelsea wrote this, I may not have picked it up.  I’m pleased to tell you that this book is different from all the other broken character stories – for one, it has a very decent amount of humour in it, bucket loads of sexual tension, and an original story, and I’m glad I didn’t miss out on an awesome story because of any preconceived ideas I may have had after reading the title.

Best Kind of Broken proves to me that Chelsea Fine can write in any category she chooses, be it Young Adult, New Adult or Middle Grade and no matter what she comes up with it, I’ll be first in line to read it.

Best Kind of Broken was published on 4th March, 2014.  To find out more about Chelsea Fine and her books, please click here to visit her website.

Chelsea lives in Phoenix, Arizona where she spends most of her time writing stories, painting murals, and avoiding housework at all costs. She’s ridiculously bad at doing dishes and claims to be allergic to laundry. Her obsessions include: superheroes, coffee, sleeping-in, and crazy socks. She lives with her husband and two children, who graciously tolerate her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of skill in the kitchen.

I recently grilled Chelsea and asked her all of the questions that I wanted answers to so without further a do, here's what she had to say...

1.    You’re known for your YA books primarily and we know that you’ve got an MG book coming out soon.  What was it like writing for the New Adult market?  (We all just want to know how embarrassed you were when you wrote the sexy times).

Haha. You know, it wasn’t as awkward as I’d anticipated. I think we all like reading a little sizzle in our books and writing sizzle is just as much fun. You don’t really have to hold back or think about a “better way to phrase” something so I enjoyed it.

2.    What do you think about the New Adult market, do you read any and who are your favourite authors/books?

I’m a big fan of the new adult market. I like the NA genre because it’s about those lost years in between high school and real adulthood so I have an easy time relating to the characters. I read a lot of different books and authors. But two of my favorites are Abbi Glines and J.Lynn (or Jennifer L. Armentrout) because their voices seem very realistic to me.

3.    I loved the Archers of Avalon series with a passion (and still do) and what we’re all DYING to know is – will there ever be a Chronicles of Heather spin off?

YES! That is my plan, anyway. I really loved writing Heather and letting her personality take over scenes, so I’m hoping to write a book where Heather is one of the main characters. I’ve actually already outlined a spin-off series…so we’ll see. ;)

4.    You said that one day you’d write a sequel to Sophie and Carter.  Can you give us any update on this?

This will happen. I know it’s ridiculous because I’ve been saying “the sequel is coming!” for years, but it really is. Honestly, I just haven’t had time to go back in and finish the sequel. But I’ve penciled it into my writing schedule for this fall, so that’s where I’m at right now.  

5.    What are you working on next?

I’m finishing up the remaining two books in my Finding Fate new adult series. Then after that, I’ll be working on my MG again. And hopefully the Sophie & Carter sequel will be after that. 

6.    Tell us about the sequels to Best Kind of Broken? Are they more companion novels? 

They are stand-alone novels based on characters from Best Kind of Broken. Book two, Perfect Kind of Trouble, is based on Daren and a girl named Kayla who have to handcuff themselves together and go on a scavenger hunt to find some inheritance money. And book three, Right Kind of Wrong, is about Jack and Jenna heading on a cross-country road trip to New Orleans. I’m really excited about all of them!  

7.    Did you do anything special to celebrate the release of Best Kind of Broken?

I went out to dinner with my family and spent the rest of the night playing games. It was really fun!

8.    Who was your favourite character to write in BKOB and why?  I loved Pixie because she rambles and she’s kind of a mess and I can totally relate to both!!

Haha. I loved rambling Pixie so she was pretty fun to write. But I think my favorite was Ellen. I like how she’s like the “cool aunt” but has important things to say. Ooh! And I loved Mable when she hit Levi with the spatula.

9.    Will you write more NA books in the future?

Maybe! I have a few ideas for some so we’ll see where my passion drives me. But I think I’ll always be drawn to it as a genre.
 
10.    How long did it take you to write BKOB?  What inspired you to write it?

I first wrote Best Kind of Broken as a novella. It was 30,000 words and it took me three days. But my agent encouraged me to make it a full-length novel (which made it so much better) so I spent another five or so months revising it to be the story it is now. :)

11.    What’s the one question that you wish someone would ask you so you could answer (and please answer it)

Haha. Oh I love this! I always like it when people ask, “What’s one thing about you that would surprise us?” because I like to hear the responses when I confess that I can’t type without looking at my keyboard. Haha. I seriously can’t. I never learned how to type, professionally, so I have to stare at the keys while I’m typing. It makes the first drafts of all my books very messy, haha.  

 Thank you so much to Chelsea for appearing on my blog today and for putting herself in the firing line by agreeing to an interview!  I highly recommend all of Chelsea's books and I hope that you'll take a look or just browse my reviews page for them.

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