Guest Post: GUILTY PLEASURES by Ivy Sinclair

  <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 0 16778247 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We all have our guilty pleasures. One of mine, that proves useful at the most random times, is my love of entertainment and celebrity news. Some people check their daily horoscopes or fantasy football stats- I check up on what’s going on in Hollywood. One of the most utilized apps on my phone (aside from Facebook, of course) is my EOnline app. Several times a day I troll the latest entertainment headlines and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">oh</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ah</i> over photos from recent celebrity sightings across the globe.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If you’d ask me why I’m so intrigued with the happenings in movie and TV land and the people who inhabit them, I wouldn’t have a good answer. In a way it’s like asking an avid reader why they like to read so much. You just do, and it feels at times like it’s programmed into your DNA. It’s a hobby of sorts for me, but one I take very seriously.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I enjoy my role of being the first one in my social circle to know the latest break-ups and hook-ups in Hollywood, what movies have recently gotten green-lighted, and who has been cast in the next big blockbuster movie. It makes for good happy hour conversation if nothing else. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s easy to point to the reason for celebrity watching as a kind of envious observation from afar. These beautiful people make a living playing out fiction for our entertainment. They can choose to be anyone they want to be, there’s the appearance that they make a lot of money, and since we always see the same faces in front of the camera, we assume their life is glamorous and fascinating in a way that we ordinary humans will never experience.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But once you start peeling back the layers, you realize that choosing to live your life in the spotlight brings just as many negative aspects as it does positive ones. Watching an emotional Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner testify in court in an effort to protect their children from harassment by the paparazzi shines a much different light on the whole topic.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s the level that I wanted to explore in one of the major subplots in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grounded By You.</i></b> The hero of the story, Carter “Sam” Groveson, is plucked from obscurity to star in the film adaptation of a well-known and loved literary novel. His life is changing forever and he has to learn to maneuver living life in front of the cameras. How that impacts his relationship with woman he cares about, and wants to build a future with, is one of the main obstacles that he needs to overcome.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ironically, a real story came out around the casting issues for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades of Grey</i> film adaptation that showed a parallel to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grounded By You</i></b>. The original actor cast as Christian Grey decided to drop out partly due to the pressures of being thrust into the limelight. While this isn’t exactly what happens with Sam in the book, it was a relevant example of an actual situation where life happened to be imitating my art. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While I enjoy the glitz and glamour stories of Hollywood today, it’s the stories that show the human “in real life” side of the business that truly interests me. Probably because it’s nice to know that despite their jobs, at the end of the day, the people involved in creating those fairy tale, fictional worlds are more like us than we give them credit for.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Book & Author Details:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Grounded By You by Ivy Sinclair</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Publication date: November 20th 2013</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Genres: Contemporary, New Adult</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0f61c8; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Synopsis:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Lights, camera, and passions flare as a small town boy gets the break of his career. As the lines of life and art blur together, can he also find a way to win the love of the girl who got away?</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Carter Samuel Groveson.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">His name is on the lips of every woman in the country who has a pulse. An actor pulled from obscurity to star in the most anticipated movie of the century, he’s an enigma to all. Everyone wants a piece of him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Except her.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Amelia St. John isn’t about to follow the life plan that her father set out for her. She refuses to be tied down or commit to anyone. A year ago, she ran as far and as fast from Sam Groveson as she could. But when he reappears in her life and asks her to be the friend he needs to keep him tethered to reality in the midst of the chaos, she can’t say no.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Unfortunately for Sam, his big break comes with expectations that threaten his career if he doesn’t toe the line. In this high stakes game of love, everyone is watching.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0f61c8; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Goodreads: </span></b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Purchase:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">—Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Grounded-By-You... class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">—B&N: <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/groun... class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yc2gOjRkapA..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yc2gOjRkapA..." /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">AUTHOR BIO:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Ivy Sinclair cut her romance teeth on classics like Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, An Affair to Remember, and Sabrina. She is a firm believer in true love, a happily ever after ending, and the medicinal use of chocolate to cure any ailment of the heart. Ivy's guilty pleasures include sushi, endless Starbucks lattes, and wine. Readers of Ivy's stories can expect smoldering sweet stories of romance that tug at the heartstrings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Author links:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.ivysinclair.com/">... style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">http://www.ivysinclair.com/</span&... class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Author_Ivy"&... style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">https://twitter.com/Author_Ivy</sp... class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/authorivy&qu... style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">https://www.facebook.com/authorivy&lt... class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vuU2Bv7R6os..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vuU2Bv7R6os..." width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div>Blitz-wide giveaway 25$ Amazon Gift Card - Open internationally <br /><br /><a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/disp..." id="rc-d04251280" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NLTwK4hybzs..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="81" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NLTwK4hybzs..." width="320" /></a></div>  <script src="http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com//... src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TwoEnd..." height="1" width="1"/>