Synopsis

“Love is an earthquake.  It comes when you least expect it. It rips the ground clear away. Right out from under you.”

The day Lia Smart met Grayson Walker, eight years ago, was the day she fell helplessly in love with him. Coincidentally, it was the same day Grayson fell in love with someone else: Lia’s smarter, sexier, superior-in-every-way older sister, Alex.

Now, nearly a decade later, Alex and Grayson are long over and twenty-two-year-old Lia has finally managed to forget all those lonely nights she spent pining after her sister’s boyfriend. But when Grayson unexpectedly arrives back in town with Alex for Labor Day weekend and the two announce that they’re not only back together but engaged, all the feelings that Lia buried suddenly come bubbling back to the surface.

But Lia is no longer the awkward, gangly tomboy she was at fourteen. Far from it. And Grayson is conflicted by the lustful thoughts he’s now having for her. He knows he could never act on those thoughts, however. Grayson has always prided himself on being one of the “good guys.” But as the weekend wears on, he’s finding this new grown-up version of Lia more and more impossible to resist…

Heartbreaking and sexy with a dash of humor, Sophie Swift crafts a passionate, unforgettable tale about desire, growing up, and the kind of love that shakes us to the core.

Contains adult situations and explicit content. Recommended for ages 17+

Excerpt

Grayson

My chest hitches when I see her, barely visible in the porch light, lumbering down the walkway to the beach, the blackness of the night swallowing her up with each step.

I eye the door to the hallway.

The door to everything that happens after this moment.

I suddenly feel like my entire life will be decided by which side of it I’m on.

This side—right here where I stand—is the side I’ve always known. The one I have all the answers to. This is the side on which I marry Alex and she bears my children and we buy a town house in Brooklyn together. This is the side I always thought I wanted to be on.

And that side, over there—through that doorway, down those stairs, onto that beach—that is the side I know nothing about. A foreign land. With no certainties and no answers. The side that terrifies me.

My gaze drills into the wooden door. My skin feels hot. My mouth is dry. My fingers twitch.

And then suddenly, there is no more choice.

My body moves without permission from my mind.

In three paces I’m in the hallway. In ten juddered heartbeats I’m down the stairs. In a dizzying montage of choppy, breathless still frames, my bare feet stagger down the walkway, sinking into the cool sand.

Lia stands motionless at the edge of the water, staring out into the darkened horizon, as though she might find answers there. As though the world beyond this shore might make more sense. The full moon casts a faint light on the side of her face, causing her skin to glow.

The sand hides the sound of my heavy footfalls as I stride toward her.

When my hand tightens around her arm, she is startled but doesn’t scream. When I pull her around to face me, she opens her mouth to protest. To continue the tirade she began in the parking lot of the bar. But when my lips crush decisively against hers, claiming her with a consuming, covetous kiss, everything falls silent.

Only the waves dare to breathe. “

Giveaway 

One (1) ebook copy of Out from Under You. Open Internationally.
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About the Author

Sophie Swift is an east coast girl who recently transplanted to Southern California. She writes about sexy boys by day, and dates them by night. Her sizzling, new adult romance, OUT FROM UNDER YOU, the first in a new contemporary series, will be released in August of 2013. She loves books that quicken her pace, music sung by adolescent boys, and cupcakes with too much frosting. Visit her online at: www.SophieSwift.com

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Author Interview

1)    Where did you get the idea for OUT FROM UNDER YOU?

I think the idea came from two different fascinations of mine: relationships between sisters, and the complexity of infidelity. My sister and I have always had a complicated relationship, something I wanted to explore in this book. But also I’ve always enjoyed books that blur the line between right and wrong when it comes to infidelity. So I set out to write one of those.

2)    Why did you choose to write the book from alternating points of view (Grayson and Lia) and did you find one easier to write than the other?

You know, the book didn’t start out that way. Early on in the first draft, it was just Lia’s narrative. But for some reason, Grayson kept bugging me. Like he was in the back of my mind, poking me with a stick, wanting to be heard. So I sat down, started a new document, and wrote a scene from his point of view, just as an experiment. I ended up loving his voice so much, I simply had to find a way to work it into the story. After the decision was made to alternate points of view, I could almost see him smiling smugly, going, “See, I told you!”

In terms of who was easier, Lia was definitely more straightforward. Because she’s more like me. But Grayson was definitely the most fun. He surprised me so many times. So I think I looked forward to his voice the most.

3)    Which fictional character do you have a secret crush on?

Any character played by Liam Hemsworth. God, that man is sexy. I pictured Grayson whenever I was writing his point of view. As a daily little treat to myself. J

4)    What scene in the book is your favorite?

OH! That would definitely be the schmexy restaurant kitchen scene. That scene was not in my outline. It just kind of popped into my head as I was writing and I had to race to get it down fast enough. I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say there are some fairly creative uses for tomatoes that I still need to try out myself. J

5)    If you could have dinner with one of your characters who would it be?

Um, Grayson! No contest! Not only is he smokin’ hot, he’s also a bit of a food connoisseur, so he would pick the best restaurants ever for our date. And since I know everything there is to know about him (because I’ve been inside his head) I would know all the best ways to seduce him. *Rubs hands together mischievously*

6)    What’s up next for you?

I’m super excited about tackling book 2 in the Smart Girls Finish First series. Book 2 will be told from Alex’s point of view, Lia’s older sister. She was a really fun character to write as the antagonist in this book so making her the protagonist in the next book will be an entertaining challenge, I think! The rest of the books in the series will all feature young women in the Smart family. And since Alex and Lia’s father has four brothers, all with daughters, there are lots more stories to tell!