Here is Lelaina’s latest update from the sequel!  (Previous updates are below this posting.)

****SPOILER ALERT****

If you haven’t read Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me first, then you don’t want to read the updates – they’ll give away things you don’t want to know yet!

I return to my seat and slide in beside Josh.  “We’re eating at Clay.”

“Clay?  I’ve actually heard of it.  You can get us in?”

“I think I know a guy.”

“OK, Clay it is.”

The flight descends into LA and we touch down on schedule.  As we leave the terminal, I notice three women with strollers ambush Ben for an autograph.   He politely smiles, signing their scraps of paper, and then he puts on a ball cap and disappears into a passing mob.

Ben. His face seems familiar, but if he was an actor, I think I would recognize him.   Maybe he’s in a band?

Josh interrupts my thoughts.  “Do you want me to pick you up, or should we meet at the restaurant.”

“You don’t have to take a cab to my place.  Let’s meet there, but outside the door.  We should walk in together in case I can’t get us a table.”

“Alight.  I’ll see you there at 8:30?”

I grin.  “Sounds great.”

Here is Lelaina’s latest update from the sequel!  (Previous updates are below this posting.)

****SPOILER ALERT****

If you haven’t read Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me first, then you don’t want to read the updates – they’ll give away things you don’t want to know yet!

The moment I enter, I see exactly what I want: white collared shirt, violet tie and iPhone in hand.  I wait a second for the flight attendant to leave, just in case she boots me out for harassing business class passengers.  Then once she disappears around the corner, I zero in on my target.

“Hi.” I say.

He looks up and smiles.  “Hello.”

“I’m wondering if you can help me out.”

His smile vanishes.

“Nothing big.  I just need to know your favorite restaurant in LA.”

“My favorite restaurant?”  He raises an eyebrow.

“And I have to eat wherever you say, so please make it good.”

“OK,” he says, glancing around the cabin.  “I like LuRaLey.”

“Perfect.  Thanks!” I turn to walk away.

“Is that it?”

“That’s it.”

As I head back to economy, a hand reaches out from one of the business class seats and touches my wrist.

“Excuse me.”

My eyes shift to the guy touching my arm.   He looks oddly familiar, but I feel like this is a face I would remember meeting.  His artfully mussed hair and gleaming white teeth scream LA.   If I didn’t already have perfection waiting for me in economy, I could do some damage with this guy.

He leans over and whispers, “LuRaLey sucks.  Go to Clay.  It’s way better.”

I know Clay.  Everyone knows Clay.  And there’s no way Josh and I could get in, even with a reservation six months in advance.

I shake my head.  “I won’t be able to get into Clay.”

“You will.  Tell them you know Ben.  You’ll be fine.”

“Ben?”

He nods like we have some kind of understanding and then goes back to his magazine.

Here’s Lelaina’s latest update from the sequel!  Updates 1 and 2 are below this posting.

****SPOILER ALERT****

If you haven’t read Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me first, then you don’t want to read the updates – they’ll give away things you don’t want to know yet!

Oh God I’m in trouble.  That wink was deadly.

As the pilot makes an announcement about our altitude, Josh shifts in his seat, turning his body towards me.

“Since I don’t really know LA, you should pick the place.  Where’s the place to eat right now?” he asks.

I feel a rush as his knees brush against mine.  “I’ve been away for a month, so I’m sure that’s changed.  Besides, any it place in LA is going to be a six month wait and a small fortune.”

“If you can get us in, I don’t mind the small fortune.  I’m guessing as Hollywood’s hottest new screenwriter, you won’t be coming back to E-town in the near future.  We may as well make this a memorable meal.”

“My parents still live in E-town.  I’ll never be able to break from that place completely.”  But the thought of my narrow escape makes me grin.  “I really don’t know where we should eat though.”

“OK, let’s ask someone here what their favorite restaurant is, and no matter what they say, we have to eat there.”

“That’s a risky game, Dr. Wright.  LA has a lot of terrible places.”

He shrugs.  “I’m willing to gamble if you are.”

“Alright, I’m in, but I get to pick who we ask.”

“Deal.”  He extends his hand and we shake on it.

Undoing my seatbelt, I rise a little in my chair to scan the crowd.  I eliminate the first two rows of people as tourists.  I want someone who knows LA.  And so we don’t end up at an In-N-Out Burger, I have a very specific person in mind.

After eyeing everyone in economy, I realize I’m not going to find what I’m looking for here.  Giving Josh a playful smile, I slip out of my seat and head towards Business Class.

Due to an extended holiday and then some medical issues, the Oct and Nov updates didn’t make it up, but they will be monthly from now on.  And all the best to everyone in the new year!!

****SPOILER ALERT****

If you haven’t read Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me first, then you don’t want to read the updates – they’ll give away things you don’t want to know yet!

Lelaina Update #2 (update #1 is further down the blog)

“Are you nervous about your meeting tomorrow?”  Josh asks, as the flight attendant passes us pretzels.

“A little.  Cash Ford is kind of crazy.  According to rumors anyway.  I’ve never actually met him.”

He nods in agreement.  Everyone has heard at least one Cash Ford horror story.

“But Chason will be there with me and I find him pretty unstable as well, so I’m hoping they balance each other out.”

Grinning, he rips open the pretzel bag.  “Wow, lunch with you and two notoriously unstable men.  I wish I could watch from a distance.”

I know he’s only joking, but I’m experiencing waves of extreme anxiety over this lunch.  Everything I’ve ever wanted could possibly come true by the time we’re done eating if all goes well.  Or I could permanently destroy all chances of ever working in Hollywood if I screw it up.  Cash Ford knows everyone.  EVERYONE.

I shove a pretzel in my mouth.  “Okay, let’s talk about something else.  This is making me more nervous.”

“Fair enough, but I’ll say one more thing.  Ford wouldn’t be flying you out to meet him if he wasn’t serious about your script.  Unless you burn the restaurant down, you’ll be fine.”

“You and I met during my three trips to the emergency room.  I can do a lot of damage over a lunch hour.”

Without missing a beat, he winks.  “That’s why I can’t wait for our dinner.”

Hello CTR Readers! Enter to win a signed copy of my book and a tote bag by sending me an email through my contact page and mention the CTR contest.  Good luck!!

CTR contest page

Each month I’ll post a little bit from where Lelaina is now.  This first post is small, but it’s starts right where she left off at the end of the first book!

****SPOILER ALERT****

If you haven’t read Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me first, then you don’t want to read the updates – they’ll give away things you don’t want to know yet!

Lelaina update #1

I’m afraid if I breathe the wrong way, this current perfection in the universe will be thrown off course and I’ll have to go back to waiting tables and dating adulterous morons.  But maybe this is a new start. I deserve a new start. I’ve paid my dues.  I’ve paid my dues over and over.  Something good had to happen eventually. Still, it just seems way too good to be true.  But here I am.  Here he is.  And we’re both sitting on the same plane, heading to LA.  So how about, just for now, I let myself enjoy this moment.

I look over at him as he adjusts his seatbelt.  His eyelashes are impossibly long.  If we have children, our daughter could get away without ever having to use mascara.  And I could tell her all about how mommy and daddy met in the emergency room because of mommy’s vagine swllow and daddy’s ability to look as good in scrubs as Superman does in tights.

“Lelaina?” says Josh.
I leave our imaginary daughter and revisit reality.  “Yeah?”
“Are we on?”
“On what?”
“On for tonight?  You’ll let me take you out?”
I breathe in, enjoying the moment and pushing back the things-are-going-too-well panic.  “Yes, we’re on.”

He smiles, flashing those beautiful teeth.  Our daughter wouldn’t need braces either…

Now that the tour is over, I thought I’d share a few of the reviews.  Thank you to everyone – I had a great time!! And be sure to check back here on September 16th for Lelaina’s first update following the book!

Acting Balanced: “This is another great book to add to your beach reading collection – and if, like me, your summer is coming to an end… Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me would make for a great curl up and read under the covers on a crisp, fall afteroon kind of book too!”

Reading at the Beach: “If you want a book that will make you laugh out loud all the way through, you need to rush out asap and get this book.”

Hott Books: “It was hilarious! I don’t know when I’ve ever laughed that hard from a book.”

Colloquium: “I certainly hope that Maya Jax is already hard at work drafting the sequel, because I am not going to be satisfied until I find out what happens to Lelaina next.”

I made it onto Kobo’s Hilarious Reads list!

Starting in September, I’ll be posting updates from Lelaina while she’s in LA. They’ll be posted on the blog and I’ll send out notices on Facebook and Twitter each time a new post is up.  So everyone will know what she’s up to in between books!

Night Owl Reviews is giving away one of my tote bags.  Contest ends August 13, so enter soon!  Contest details are here.