Book Blitz: A Midsummer Night's Fling by Beth Matthews - Excerpt & Guest Post

A Midsummer Night's Fling
The Stage Kiss Series #1

Beth Matthews

Contemporary Romance
July 4, 2014

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After dating her childhood sweetheart Max on and off for years, aspiring actress Nicola Charles is finally ready to move on. It’s time for her to focus on her stage career and stay away from Max–before he can break her heart again.

Max regrets hurting Nicola, but he wants another chance. So when his play loses its leading lady, giving Nicola the part seems like the perfect opportunity to win back his old flame.

But the course of true love—and a theater production—never do run smooth. As Max fights to reignite Nicola’s love, the onstage antics can’t rival the bedlam backstage: a neurotic cast, a prickly crew, and an evil diva of a director who’s got designs on Max.

As Nicola and Max battle to keep the drama onstage, Max can’t help wondering if their romance will end with the last performance. Or have the two of them finally captured what they’ve dreamed of all their lives? True Love.

A contemporary romance that should appeal to fans of the wry humor and playful sexiness in the works of Julie James and Victoria Dahl.

Excerpt

He shrugged, his massive shoulders rising and falling like some kind of geological event. "This is the tent pole production of the company's summer season. We need A-level talent, and none of the girls already in the company are up to snuff. Rita knows you, she's had you in a lead role before, and you've played Titania -- "

"In grad school."

As Nicola said it, Cassie shot her a shocked look from the bathroom door which was basically, Why are you sabotaging yourself?

Nicola pretty much felt the same way: furious with herself for being so childish. But as juicy as this opportunity was, Nicola didn't want anything to do with anything that had to do with Max.

Max was a trap, a dungeon, a freaking oubliette. She'd barely managed to survive leaving him five years ago. She didn't know how to process this, how to deal with him. She was swimming in cognitive dissonance. Part of her was glad to see him. Part of her was squealing with joy at the opportunity he was offering her.

And part of her wanted to punch him in the head and throw him out of her apartment.

"Which one is A Midsummer Night's Dream?" Cassie asked, turning toward Max with a polite smile.

Traitor. Nicola glowered.

"It's the play with the fairies," Max explained. "Puck. The two couples run into the forest, and the fairies meddle so people keep falling in and out of love with each other. Nicola would be playing the fairy queen --"

"I didn't say I'd do it!"

"Whose estranged husband, the fairy king, casts a spell on her so she falls in love with a man who's got the head of a donkey. And much wackiness ensues."

Cassie frowned, thinking. "Wasn't Christian Bale in that movie? He took his shirt off."

Max gaped at Cassie in horror.

Nicola bit back a grin. "Cassie isn't much for Shakespeare. You didn't used to be either, Max."

"I'm a reformed character," he said, his voice going warm and low.

Nicola shifted, feeling her cheeks heat. Liar.

Guest Post by Beth Matthews

Top 5 Reunited Lovers

Since my book A Midsummer Night's Fling is about a pair of reunited lovers (they were sweethearts in high school and college), I thought it would be fun to talk about my Top 5 Reunited Lovers of All Time.

5. Fred and Lily from Kiss Me Kate

"Deceive me, desert me, I'm yours 'til I die…so in love with you am I."

My favorite musical and my favorite feuding lovers. I grew up watching the 1950s version with Howard Keel. These two are immature, tempestuous, spoiled, and perfect for each other. You certainly wouldn't wish them on anyone else. 

4. Navarre and Isabeau from Ladyhawke

"Do you know that hawks and wolves mate for life? The Bishop didn't even leave us that... not even that."

One of my favorite movies as a teenager. The curse on these two is so poignant: "always together, eternally apart." She's cursed to be a hawk during the day; he's cursed to be a wolf during the night. When they're finally together again as humans in the end it makes me cry. Every. Time.

3. Captain Wentworth & Anne Elliot from Persuasion by Jane Austen

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago."

The classic example of lovers reunited. The yardstick, perhaps, by which we measure all other reunion stories? I know it's pretty darn hard to top Wentworth's love letter to Anne quoted above.

2. Logan and Veronica (LoVe) from the Veronica Mars TV show and movie

"I thought our story was epic, you know, you and me…Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. EPIC."

These guys are probably so near the top because I love them so much together, and I ended up waiting for their reunion in real time. Seven years! When the TV show was cancelled they were still broken up. I gnashed my teeth at that injustice but, luckily, **SPOILER ALERT** earlier this year LoVe got the reunion they deserved in a super romantic scene from the Veronica Mars movie. Yay! No more waiting!

1. Westley & Buttercup from The Princess Bride

"Death cannot stop True Love; all it can do is delay it for a little while."

Can anything top this line? Really? Westley braves pirates, kidnappers, evil princes, and all the dangers of the Fire Swamp to reunite with his true love. And, once they finally are back together, their kiss is certified as the Best Kiss Ever. And that's one of many reasons why this is my favorite reunited lovers story of all time.

Honorable Mentions:

*Allie and Noah from The Notebook (the kissing in the rain scene!)

*Charming and Snow from Once Upon a Time TV show ("I will find you. I will always find you.")

Well, I listed mine, your turn now. Who are some of your favorite reunited lovers? Who do you think should have made the list? :)

About the Author

Beth Matthews is a California girl, born and raised. She’s a total geek, a movie buff, and a mediocre swing dancer. She lives in sunny SoCal with her boyfriend and two of the neediest housecats on the planet.

Author links: 

Website: http://bethmatthewsbooks.com/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmBethMatthews
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Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22667014-a-midsummer-night-s-fling