Spotlight: Big Wild Adventure by Julianna Keyes
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GENRE: Romantic Comedy
After being ditched at the altar, Emmy Shaw’s heart, like her dented food truck, is definitely not open for business. Deeply in debt to her parents and evicted from her apartment, she takes a friend’s drunken dare and fills out an application for a new dating-adventure reality show. She never expects to be chosen—or to get a chance at the show’s huge cash prize, which could put her life back on track.
But when she’s abandoned in the middle of the jungle two months later wearing only a bathing suit and a backpack, she questions if being on the show might be even worse than the #emmytrashtruck hate brigade she left back home. Then she meets her fellow cast members—including sexy, inscrutable Wes—and starts to reconsider, wondering if maybe money’s not all she stands to gain from this experience.
After a year of abysmal failures, this summer of cave treks, jungle hikes, impromptu talent shows, and a sexy flirtmance turns out to be just the thing to help Emmy rebuild her shattered confidence. She signed up for the show to hide from the mess her life had become, but this escape from reality might be just what she needs to find herself.
Excerpt
The group has other ideas. “Girl talk!” squeals a stunning blonde with sparkling blue eyes and a tiara that matches the rhinestones on her bikini.
The other girls totter on their high heels as they tiptoe out to the pool, excited for the gossip. Their hair is glossy, their tans on point, skin sparkling with gold-tinted oils. My hair, on the other hand, is greasy and trapped under a baseball hat; my “tan” is dirt; and my “sparkle” is sweat. I shoot a longing look at my suitcase but follow the women outside, thankful they choose the end of the pool that’s shaded by three huge leafy plants. Two hidden fans blow air on my back as I sit at the edge and dip my feet in the cool water, sighing in relief.
“This. Is. Incredible,” says the blonde. “I can’t believe how gorgeous it is here!”
“The men or the jungle?” another girl cracks.
They all laugh.
“So, who are you vibing with, Emmy?”
I blink in surprise. A pretty, freckled brunette waits expectantly.
“She just got here, Madison!” the blonde exclaims, swatting her arm. “How could she know already?”
“She just spent hours in the jungle with three sexy men, Madysen! How could she not know?”
“I really have no idea,” I say, when everyone seems to agree that I should know with whom I’ve been “vibing.” “I was really just focused on survival.”
I’m not joking, but they all laugh anyway.
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Meet the Author
Julianna Keyes is a Canadian writer who has lived on both coasts and several places in between. She’s been skydiving, bungee jumping and white water rafting, but nothing thrills—or terrifies—her as much as the blank page. She loves Chinese food, foreign languages, baseball and television, though not necessarily in that order, and writes sizzling stories with strong characters, plenty of conflict, and lots of making up.
When not helping characters fall in love, she sometimes kills them in thrillers and suspense stories written as Elaine Murphy: www.elaine-murphy.com
Connect:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/JuliannaKeyes
Facebook: www.facebook.com/juliannakeyesauthor
Website: www.juliannakeyes.com
