Hi everyone,
I’m so excited to share the cover of Gypsy Hope with you! I love the way the designer captured Brock
and Hope for the cover of their novel. They are a very special couple with a very special story. I promise
all of the hot sexiness that always comes with a Gypsy Beach novel, but Brock and Hope’s tale has
another element that I think makes their story all the more compelling.
Around the world, 757 million adults over the age of 15 cannot read or write a simple sentence. Thirtytwo
million American adults cannot read and the illiteracy rates in this country aren’t improving. We
know that one in four American children grow up without learning how to read, and that students that
don’t read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school.
My oldest son was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was eight. Dyslexia is a learning disability that
affects the ability to read and comprehend. Forty million American adults are dyslexic and make up a
large portion of illiterate Americans. I wanted to give voice to those who struggle with illiteracy, and I’ve
partnered with ProLiteracy for the release of Gypsy Hope to help them stamp out this global crisis.
ProLiteracy is an organization that works to educate and provide resources to help teach adults to read.
For every copy of Gypsy Hope sold, I will donate $1 to
ProLiteracy.
If you love to read hot, sexy romance, or know someone who does, consider ordering a copy of Gypsy
Hope and know that you’ve done something to help. Share the cover and the story on social media to
help us get the word out. We can all do something to help. Working together, we can make a difference
in the lives of so many. By simply purchasing a book, we can help ProLiteracy help those who need it
most.
~ Jillian
Gypsy Hope by Jillian Neal
Date of Publication: September 22, 2015
Blurb
From the time a car accident took her parents lives when she was a child, Hope Hendrix has lived
in perpetual fear of most everything. Tired of always chickening out, she decides to grab onto life and
really live it. For Hope, that means finally telling her best friend, Brock Camden, that she's been in love
with him since high school.
Misplaced cowboy and the town's famed football star, Brock Camden, has lived a life of lies for so
long all he knows is regret. It was never the life he wanted, but the past can't be undone. Now, Hope,
the one girl he's always longed for, admits she wants him, too. Can he escape the web of deceit thrust
upon him when he arrived at the shores of Gypsy Beach and have a real life with Hope, or will all the lies
and uncertainty ultimately be their undoing?
Available From
Excerpt
Hope Hendrix needed to have sex. Not the epically disastrous sex she’d already had, either, but the mind-blowing sex her every-other-Thursday night book club friends were presently raving about. The kind the romance novels she loved to devour proclaimed possible. The kind that sizzled on the pages of the erotic novel the book club was reading. Somewhere between attempting to style her hair exactly like Tiffani Thiessen’s—from the 90210, not Saved by the Bell years—killing herself to get outstanding grades, trying to take care of her sister, Skye, minding her aunt’s archaic ideas about proper decorum for girls, getting through college in three years, and opening her own bookstore, she’d somehow forgotten to have good sex.
Now, she was 26, and quite possibly the least experienced person she knew. She’d finally come to accept that her stringy blonde, baby-fine hair was never going to do that sexy, shoulder-length, edgy thing, but never having an orgasm, or any fulfilling bedroom experience at all—she just couldn’t accept that.
“Okay, you all know that I love Arley Copeland’s books as much as you do. All I’m saying is that her heroine got to have more orgasms in this book than I’ve had all freaking summer. I’m jealous. It’s getting to me,” Sophie DePriest huffed before downing another gulp of Sauvignon Blanc.
Hope joined her friends’ laughter, but didn’t comment. Sophie may not have had many orgasms in the last few months, but at least she’d had some. Her dry spells would be some kind of bountiful harvest for Hope.
With a sigh, Hope stood and headed to the storeroom of her beloved little beachside bookstore, Bandana Books. She returned with another bottle of wine, Pinot this time, and settled into the worn tweed sofa she’d picked up off of Craig’s List so patrons to her store would have a place to get lost deep between the covers of a book. That had been the idea, at least. Unfortunately, most of them used the sofa to flip through a book or magazine without ever making a purchase.
Discreetly, Hope slid to her left to cover the slight tear in the fabric with her thigh while she refilled a few of the empty glasses. She couldn’t afford to recover the sofa. She couldn’t really even afford the wine and snacks for her book club, but she hated to complain. She loved books and authors of all kinds. Her own bookstore was where she belonged ... she hoped.
“Okay, but what did you think of the silk robe belt as a tie-up scene?” Hope felt her pale cheeks begin to heat from the wine and the discussion. “I’ve met Arley. I always wonder if she and her fiancée do that, or if she just comes up with it off the top of her head when she writes.
“That scene is responsible for me attacking Kevin in bed four times in the last three days, so I’d say he’s a big fan.” Julie Morgan laughed hysterically, letting everyone know she wasn’t exaggerating.
Hope grinned. Kevin and Julie always made her wistful. They’d been married for five years, had adorable twin boys, and were still hot for each other. They had most everything she longed for. As always, whenever Hope considered marriage, she reminded herself that maintaining a decent dating relationship would be an excellent first step, and that always meant her next thought was going to be ... Brock Camden. She’d just had breakfast with him that morning at Mac and Molly’s Surf, Turf, and Coffee shop, but she already missed him. Lately, he’d been busy helping Ryan McNamara with the new hotel that was going in on the other side of Gypsy Beach, the tiny, bohemian, North Carolina, beach town that had raised Hope. The hotel was a big job, and Brock was Ryan’s go-to roofer and framer.
She’d been swooning over him since ninth grade when he’d actually asked her to be his lab partner in biology. Hope always took advanced courses. She was one of the only freshmen in the class. Brock was a year older.
She could still recall the dumbfounded awe that had worked through her puberty-
laden body when the star receiver for the Wellsley High football team asked if she’d like to sit with him at that lab table. The cool black laminate top that she’d clung to as she’d taken the seat had likely been what kept her from spontaneously combusting when he’d winked at her. No one like Brock had ever noticed her before that moment. And yet now, all these years later, they were still great friends. If Hope were being honest, as much as she adored the women seated around her in her book club, Brock was her best friend.
“Well, you brought it up, Hope, so what did you think of it?” Sophie demanded, effectively ripping her out of the past and thrusting her firmly into the present.
Grinning, Hope set her wine glass down on the table and considered. “Honestly, that’s the thing I love most about Arley’s writing. She’s able to put so much emotion into her work that you’re onboard with whatever the couple is doing. He was tying her up, and honestly, I thought the whole thing was very intimate and loving. If an author can’t effectively capture the emotions of both of the people involved, it comes off as cold and abusive, but hers never read that way. She’s my favorite erotic writer. In fact, I’m not reading any more BDSM books unless the relationship is healthy. It can be healthy and seductive, and should be for all parties involved not just the creepy, control-freak, sadistic guys.”
“Hear, hear!” Jana Evans, the fourth member of the Guilty Pleasures book club, lifted her wine glass. Julie and Sophie nodded their agreement as a wicked glint lit Sophie’s sky-blue eyes. “I’m taking a group poll. Who here has either tied up a guy and had their way with him, or has let some guy tie you down and banged your brains out? Obviously, our little Hope-y hasn’t, but how about you two?”
Hope tried not to let the comment get to her. She often exaggerated her experiences when talking to her friends, but they all knew she read about sex a lot more than she actually had it. That problem didn’t just cover sex. It pretty much applied to her entire life. She read about everything, but never did anything.
Rolling her eyes, Julie laughed. “How the heck do you think I got Kev to sleep with me again after we birthed twins? We were terrified to touch each other. Two is enough. He has Superman sperm or something. At that point, we were certain we’d never sleep again, so I finally had to tie him down, show him the paperwork I made Doc Thompson sign swearing that he’d tied my tubes, and rode him cowgirl-style until we both temporarily forgot how freaking exhausted we were.”
The group cracked up, but Hope doubted Julie had to work quite that hard to get Kevin in bed. He always seemed to be drooling over her. Kevin was a baseball coach at Wellsley High, the high school they’d all attended. Julie had been the cheerleading coach right up until the moment they’d gotten pregnant with twins and she could no longer see her feet.
Before anymore confessions could be made, thunder rumbled out over the Barrier Islands that buffeted Gypsy Beach from the stronger tides. A streak of lightning fractured the “Oh, no.” Hope groaned as she frantically raced to the large plate-glass windows and tried to determine how long it would take the storm to reach them.
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Teasers
In the Series
Gypsy Beach
Book #1
Single father Ryan McNamara returns to the only place he'd ever been happy, Gypsy Beach. This time he's divorced, broken, but determined to make something of his life. Sienna Cooper is determined to forget Ryan, the last decade, and all of the hurt he'd left her with. She's got enough spunk and gypsy fire in her soul to make this work. She's going to run her grandmother's inn and make it a success. But when a chance encounter throws them back together, the passions ignite and the past doesn't feel so far out of reach. Can they rekindle the love they'd once had? Can he convince her that he never intends to walk away again? Will a potent dose of unending lust, a lifetime of love, and enough hot-blooded Gypsy spirit be enough to save them both?
Gypsy Love
Book #2
Arley Copeland vows never to trust anyone, much less a man, ever again. After her fledgling career as a romance writer grinds to a halt and her ex blabs to the press about her preferences in bed, she heads to Gypsy Beach, desperate to regain some anonymity and maybe figure out what to do next.
Divorce attorney John Rowan has been in on the explosive end of more marriages than he can count. Love never lasts. Of that he's certain. Sick of barely existing inside the concrete jungle of Atlanta with the endless traffic and endless noise he heads towards a two-week reprieve in Gypsy Beach, North Carolina.
From the moment he lays eyes on Arley Copeland, John is determined to prove that not every guy on the planet is out to hurt her, and maybe teach her a thing or two about herself in his bed and out. With every sinfully sweet caress, they're falling more and more in love. Their pasts may be fading away, but will John ever be prepared to risk it all on a lifetime love when he doesn't believe such a thing could ever exist?
Gypsy Heat
Book #3
Nadya Montgomery was Gypsy Beach’s own personal wild child. There was nothing she wouldn’t do, especially when it came to Grady Havens. Until disaster struck and tore them apart. Desperate to protect Grady, she ran away from everything and everyone she’d ever known.
Fourteen years later, Nadya returns to the beach to try to rebuild some semblance of her life out of her ex-husband’s shadow, but that means returning to her past and seeing Grady Havens again.
Now a charter boat captain constantly trying to put his past behind him, Grady doesn’t know what to make of Nadya’s return. All he knows is she was always meant to be his, and he intends to make his claim. He wants her back in his life and most certainly back in his bed. When his entire family is threatened, he’s caught between rekindling his relationship with Nadya and protecting what belongs to him.
Together they try to rebuild what always should have been, but their pasts are determined to keep them ensnared. As passions ignite between them, they realize that even Grady may not be able to keep her safe this time.
Meet the Author
Jillian Neal
Jillian somehow manages to blend her brainy sass, her cunning wit, and her loving heart in every
novel she writes. She'll keep your mind engaged while making you believe in the all-consuming power of
love. Her characters, their stories, and their passion will keep you constantly coming back for more.
Jillian's novels will make you laugh, cry, and will most definitely leave you panting for breath. She always
fills her pages with the breathings of her heart. It's not something anyone should miss.
Jillian lives with
her own Romantic hero, her husband, and her two boys just outside of Atlanta and spends her days
crafting wicked prose, sexy characters, and stories that will revive your belief in love.
Find Jillian Neal Online
