Eyes Unveiled (Unveiled Series, #1)
Author: Crystal Walton
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Synopsis: Twenty-one-year-old Emma Matthews lost the song in her heart the same night she lost her dad. With an unfulfilled promise and an ultimatum shadowing her junior year of college, maybe it’s better that way. You can’t hurt if you can’t feel.
But when the reflection she sees in musician Riley Preston’s eyes borders dangerously close to the one she’s spent the last five years searching for, Emma discovers her walls can’t guard her heart from its fiercest desire. Terrified of what she’s experiencing, and even more afraid of what she might lose, Emma grapples for the courage to hold on to one dream without abandoning the promise of another.
Contemporary New Adult Romance novel Eyes Unveiled lets you relive those heartfelt moments when you don’t know how you’d survive a day without your best friend, when you’re trying to figure out who you are and what you’re supposed to do with your life, and when falling in love changes everything.
Music. Friendship. Self-discovery. Hope. Purpose. Identity. Within this inspirational love story, you'll find you have a song of your own to share.
SNEAK PEEK!
If I kept
moving, maybe the uneasiness spiraling in my stomach would dissipate.
Wouldn’t
be that lucky. An awkward silence lingered the moment Trevor’s Outlander gunned
away from the curb.
“Do you
go to Nuts and Jolts often?” A. J. asked.
The tread
on my sneakers skidded against the sidewalk about as smoothly as my thoughts
skidded into each other. “Not really. I’m not a big coffee drinker, but the
shop’s atmosphere is cool, especially on Friday nights.”
“Nothing
beats live music.” He kept his face forward, but the shadow of a furtive grin
fell on me. “My car is that Acura ZDX over there.”
Was I
supposed to be impressed?
In the
car, he angled toward me right as he turned the key in the ignition, about to
say something. Bass pulsated through the speakers. He reached for the controls,
accidentally turned up the volume before turning it off altogether, and
laughed. “How’s that for smooth? Sorry. I don’t usually have other people in
the car with me.”
His brief
flicker of embarrassment disappeared in seconds, along with the college
entrance behind us. “So, you like live music. Do you play any instruments?”
I ran my
fingers over my seatbelt. “I play the guitar a little, but I’m not very good.”
“I bet
you’re better than you’re admitting.”
“What
makes you so sure?” The question ended more in a snort than a question mark.
“I’ve
seen you around campus. Off by yourself, playing where no one can hear you.”
My jaw
dropped halfway open. Had people on campus actually been watching me?
“The way
you glow when you play, you have to be enjoying it. So, it can’t be that
bad.”
Heat
swept up my neck. “Wait a sec. You just asked me if I played, but you already
knew.” Start talking, buddy.
“Trevor
warned me you were a little shy about it. I wanted to see how open you’d be
with me.” He stole another glimpse across the car. “You blush easily. I’ll have
to remember that.”
The charm
trailing his words fueled my growing debate over which type of guy he was. Ladies’ Man, up one point.
“With all
your time spent trying to make girls blush, do you ever actually study for
classes, or is the whole academic scene kind of overrated for you?”
He
laughed. “Just because I’ve noticed one girl on campus doesn’t mean I’ve
noticed any others.”
Right.
And Ladies’ Man takes the lead.
About the Author
Amidst
multiple moves up and down the east coast, Crystal received her bachelor of
arts from Messiah College in PA, married her exact opposite in upstate NY, and
earned her master of arts from Regent University in VA, where she currently
resides with her husband. Crystal writes contemporary new adult fiction fueled
by venti green teas from Starbucks.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
What
inspired you to write Eyes Unveiled?
When I
first contemplated writing fiction, three musts came to mind. (1) It had to
include romance because that’s my favorite part of any story. (2) I wanted
whatever I wrote to be relatable. (3) I didn’t want to write simply for the
sake of entertainment.
As soon
as I opened myself up to daydream, a scene fluttered into focus. A guy and
girl, college age, sitting in the middle of a secluded field. The guy was
playing an acoustic guitar, as much in love with music as he obviously was with
the girl across from him. Every chord stoked her love for him the same way it
fanned the craving in her heart to find where she belonged. Both fighting what
they felt. Both wanting to make the other see what they saw. Physical and
emotional tension flared in a palpable tug-of-war between hope and doubt,
caution and desire, passion and responsibilities. And right then, I knew these
characters had a story to tell—one I wanted to read as much as write. From
there, I couldn’t stop the scenes from coming.
What
made you choose New Adult?
I
didn’t intentionally set out to write NA fiction. But the truth is, college was
the best season of my life. I’d relive it in a second. There's something
special about it. Sharing an extended sleepover with your best friends,
stepping out on your own for the first time, discovering things
like who you are & what friendship really looks like. It's when
we fell in love like never before, and when we fell apart like never before. It
shaped our lives. One of my favorite parts about Eyes Unveiled is
that you get to relive those moments all over again. The
laugh-until-you-snort moments. The heart-flutters-taking-flight moments. The
on-the-floor-crying-your-heart-out moments. All of it. Doubt. Faith.
Friendship. Love. NA is a dynamic genre to read and write.
What
made you decide to go indie?
I started off on the
traditional route, but the more I studied publishing, the more passionate I
became about going indie. Along with the benefit of keeping the rights to my
book, it’s a joy to partner with some amazingly talented contractors. I love
getting to offer my books at a low price and still receive a fair royalty, so
readers and I both win. And since traditional and self-published authors have
to do the same amount of marketing on their own anyway, you might as well be
compensated fairly for the investment. Overall, it simply made the most sense.
Why do
you write what you do?
In a word? Passion. As
an artist, I leave my heart on the page. Exposed. Vulnerable. Nothing withheld.
It’s risky to bear your soul to the world, but that’s the cost of art. There
might always be a part of me tempted to guard my
heart. But there’s a much more compelling part that’ll never allow me to.
Regardless of the outcome, I write what I do because my heart is spoken for.
What do you want readers
to take away from your books?
GIVEAWAY!
The
author is also doing a promotion on her site. If you order in February, email
the receipt to promo@crystal-walton.com and you’ll be entered
in a drawing for Amazon gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, signed books, and art
pieces.
Brought to you by YA Bound Book Tours
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Thanks so much for sharing! :)
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