Love bytes is delighted to welcome to their blog author Jude Munro.  Jude is here to talk about the release of Born for Leaving the first book of a brand new series “New England State of Mind”.

Jude shares about her fantasy cast of this book , shares an exclusive excerpt and brought a fantastic giveaway for our readers!

Fantasy Cast of Born for Leaving by Jude Munro

 

HI EVERYBODY AT LOVEBYTES! Thanks a million for hosting me today.

 

I have an active imagination. (A monumental understatement). Hyper-creativity makes complete sense for a romance writer, doesn’t it? I’m always thinking up stories… and I have been since I was a teenager. And it’s always been romance.

 

Sometimes I come up with an idea for a story and I wonder—how will I ever put all of these feelings and details into writing? The sheer enormity of the project before me seems overwhelming. Will I succeed in hitting all of the major plot points? How do I make the dialogue believable? And can I describe the rawness of emotion in words?

 

But before I worry about all that in too much detail, I need to get my characters straight. And a large part of this task is visual. I must see my characters. Laughing. Smiling. Brooding. I need to be able to envision the characters experiencing a full range of emotions. Their feelings and personalities—their very beings—have to be as real to me as people in my daily life. In order to know them this thoroughly, I need be able to see their faces. And for certain scenes, their bodies. 😉

 

So, once I have a story concept, I cast it. Like they do in the movies, but without actual auditions. Although auditions could be lots of fun…. I just search the internet for the players in my story. Actors, musicians, models. Athletes and politicians. If you’re online, you are fair game for my casting call. (I once cast one of my daughter’s male ballet teachers in a book, so you actually don’t have to be famous to play a role in my romance novels.)

 

And here you have it, the cast of Born for Leaving:

 

For the main character, and narrator, Oliver Tunstead, I cast a long-haired Cole Sprouse. Oliver is a 25-year-old loner. He shies away from building relationships, mainly because he’s been badly burned by so many people, his parents and ex-boyfriends included.

 

 

 

Twenty-eight-year-old Bodie (Nick Bowden) is played by a young Sam Heughan. Bodie is also a loner, but not because of an innate distrust for people. His mother chose her lover over her son after a devastating ordeal, which set Bodie on the path of a lifelong wanderer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the main villain. Jack Wheeler is Oliver’s very jealous ex who also has a major thing for Bodie. Jack is very handsome, so he isn’t accustomed to rejection. And he doesn’t like it one bit. Did I mention that he is also both Oliver and Bodie’s boss at Surf’s Up Bar? The perfect actor is Ian Somerhalder.

 

 

 

Secondary Characters:

Oliver’s mother plays a major role in Born for Leaving. Mandy Tunstead is one of the reasons Oliver finds it hard to trust in other people. She is very beautiful, but very devious. Played by Rosanna Arquette.

 

 

Some of the workers in the bar are important too. These people become true friends of Oliver and Bodie. They help them through the hard times. Emma Stone as Mika.

 

 

Boy from Emo Boy song on YouTube as Nico.

 

Sam Travis Benjamin of 49ers as Sam.

 

Don’t miss my new release, Adult Gay Romance, BORN FOR LEAVING!!

 

Here is the blurb for Born for Leaving:

When they say be careful what you wish for, do you pay attention?

Neither did Oliver Tunstead.

 

Oliver wishes for nothing more than to get his mind off his crappy bartending job, pile of debt big enough to swallow him whole, and playboy ex-boyfriend/boss who refuses to back off. Too bad distractions, like the hot little convertible he has his eye on, cost megabucks. And Oliver is flat broke. Renting the spare bedroom in his rundown beachfront cottage is his only option to pick up the cash he needs—a risky proposition, as Oliver is the polar opposite of a people-person. When he responds to a bizarre ad in the Waterfront Gazette seeking summer housing, he gets more than he bargained for. But Oliver can cope… After all, how much harm can a single quirky tenant do to his tightly guarded life in three short months?

 

Where Oliver is a loner by design, urban cowboy Bodie is a loner by necessity. A family dispute long ago dropkicked him onto the path of a lifelong wanderer. This changes when Bodie moves into the tiny beachfront cottage and starts working the door at Oliver’s bar.

 

Despite Oliver and Bodie’s nearly paralyzing instinct to avoid commitment, they fall into a wary romance. And to their surprise, life as a couple is sweetly satisfying; that is, until their jealous boss devises a cruel plan to destroy the tentative bond they’ve built. True to form, Bodie hits the road, leaving Oliver to lick his wounds alone.

 

Can these wounded souls defy their urge to flee and fight for love?

BUY LINK: AMAZON

Like Jude Munro, her fictional characters in her adult gay romance novels are drawn to the beach. They’ve sunbathed on the sands of many alluring East Coast beaches, along with the fantastical beaches in Jude’s books. They’ll answer questions like “Who do you think you are, the sun god?” (which they often resemble) if they can hear you over “Boys of Summer” cranking on their headphones. To most of Jude’s men, no shoes and no shirt is really not a problem. But even on the sunniest of beach days, the guys in Jude’s books do have problems… as in, serious relationship issues. Many of which seem insurmountable. And each character must earn his day at the beach. (Yes, there is always a HEA).

With her YA pen name, Mia Kerick, Jude’s books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine. They won a 2019 IPPY GOLD award, a 2018 YA GOLD MOONBEAM, a YA Readers’ Favorite Award, several first place Rainbow Awards, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, a YA Indie Fab Award, a First Place Royal Dragonfly Award, a First Place Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award, and a YA category finalist for the Eric Hoffer award, and more.

Not that I’m looking for trouble, but I owe it to Bodie to lend him a hand. So I head over to the door, sincerely hoping there’s safety in numbers. Although together we’re still outnumbered.

“You just can’t stay away from me,” my nemesis growls as I approach. “Fair warning, pretty boy—leave while you still can. I’ll meet you at the bar when I’m done with this.” He jabs Bodie’s jaw with his middle finger.

“I’ll give you a taste of fair warning—if I take off, the first thing I’m gonna do is dial 911.”

Stocky drunk guy curses beneath his breath.

Bodie’s not thrilled either. “Get the hell outta here, Ollie. Go back to the bar.”

“Not until these douchebags leave.”

And just like that, I’m the focus of stocky drunk guy and the larger of his meatheads. This time, though, when the wasted asshole grabs me, I’m ready. I stiffen my spine and dig my heels into the floor, refusing to make it easy for him to pull me out the door, which seems to be his goal. One of the hulks does his best to keep Bodie pinned to the wall, and the other guys drag my ass onto the street.

I resist the urge to curl up into a ball on the sidewalk, the way little kids do in nightmares when a monster is chasing them. “I’m not in the mood to fight you.” I try to shake them off, but it’s as if the men are superglued to my sides.

“We know you aren’t up for a fight—the odds aren’t in your favor. But you’re still gonna take a beating!” The guy who came to the bar tonight as backup seems to be aching for a brawl.

“Chuckie, go help Mark take care of that bouncer. I don’t want him disturbing us.” The burly man who has been harassing me for the past few nights seems to have another idea. He leans closer. “We can forget all about this here little misunderstanding if you come hang out in my car for a while.”

He leers at me, actually licking his lips in anticipation of whatever he has in mind. And soon his slimy lips are pressed against my ear.

Through hot breath, I hear, “I came back here tonight, even though that dickhead cowboy warned me to stay the fuck away. See, I’m so into you I wanna get into you.” He laughs aloud at his own wordplay. “It won’t take long to get me off. You’ll be back behind the bar in five minutes.”

I’d rather avoid getting my ass kicked if at all possible, but I still can’t swallow my sarcasm. “As much fun as that sounds, I’m gonna have to decline.”

“You got a smart mouth, know that?”

This is not the first time I’ve been told I’m a smartass. “Yeah, I know.” What I also know is that I’m in big trouble when he grabs my throat and squeezes it between his fingers and thumb, choking off much of my air. He succeeds in immobilizing me. And I’m not at all surprised when he dives in for a kiss—a grinding, groaning blasphemy of a kiss. I can’t even suck in enough air to cough, when what I want is to vomit.

“Get the fuck off him.”

The brute barely lifts his mouth from mine at Bodie’s stern warning. “Mind your own damned business, cowboy.”

“Ain’t gonna ask you again.” And suddenly, air whooshes into my lungs. The stocky guy is almost magically in Bodie’s grasp, about a foot behind me.

“Chuckie! Mark! Where the hell are you guys?” He cries out for his accomplices, but they seem to be indisposed. Flailing and twisting, he struggles to free himself.

“Already put them two outta their misery, you could say.” Bodie’s voice is hushed. “Now it’s your turn.”

When I look at Bodie, he’s not the same chill cowboy I’ve become acquainted with—the man who seems to take the world in stride. He’s a vision of darkness, putting Nico’s more youthful gloom to shame. Bodie’s furious eyes, the circles beneath them, the color staining his cheeks, and even the long scratch beside his nose are deep red.

And it suddenly hits me: the stocky guy is a goner.

“Listen up—I don’t have no problem with you. It’s him I want to have a little chat with,” the goner says to Bodie. “Let me and the pretty bartender go, and I promise I won’t come back ’til he invites me.”

This asshole is actually convinced that five minutes in the back seat of his car is going to make me swoon and beg him back for more of the same. The way I did with Jack. Ugh.

“Nope” is all Bodie says. Plain and simple. And with the word, a measure of his darkness fades. “This is what’s gonna happen: I’m gonna kick your ass, and you’re never gonna show your ugly mug here again.”

I need to reason with him. “Look, Bodie, I’m none the worse for wear.” I rub my bruised lips. “Don’t waste your energy kicking his ass—just send him on his way.”

“Can’t do that, Ollie.” His lips turn down in the corners. “So, ah, you might wanna go back to the bar.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“You really don’t need to see this,” he adds.

More head shaking on my part. I can’t leave Bodie. If the two brutes return, he’ll be outnumbered again.

Bodie shrugs and goes to work. It takes less than the amount of time the stocky drunk guy wanted to spend with me in the backseat of his car to get the job done. It’s a fierce, ruthless beating. Thorough and balanced—to the face, the gut, and a literal kicking of his ass.

“Get yourself gone, buddy. And don’t come back.” Bodie’s parting words.

Clutching his jaw, the guy slurs, “Last I checked, it was a free country.”

“Nope, you got that wrong. You ain’t welcome at Surf’s Up no more.” Bodie gestures at me with his elbow. “Gotta keep you far from him.”

“Dream on.” A mere mumble. Apparently, the man has no interest in fighting for the freedom to drink at Surf’s Up.

“And you’ll find your buddies out behind the bar. On the ground by the Dumpster.” Bodie is once again the cool cowboy who’s got everything under control, including himself. “I’ll thank you to pass on my message to them.” Bodie smiles.

The guy shakes his head and staggers down the street away from the bar, unconcerned with the welfare of his friends.

Bodie turns toward me. He lifts his bloody hands as if in an impulse to touch my arm or maybe my face, but he changes his mind and pulls back. “You okay, Ollie?”

“Y-yeah. I’m fine.”
“You gotta let me handle shit like this. It’s my job.”
“You were facing three guys. I didn’t like your odds.”
His gaze finds mine. It’s so warm and bright that I gasp.

Every last drop of darkness has drained from his eyes. “My job is to look out for you. So you gotta swear you’ll steer clear of shit like…like what just went down.”

I shake my head. “I can’t promise that. Not if I think you’re in danger.”

Bodie stares at me. His eyes narrow, and the stare pierces me, a touch of darkness returning. But he shakes his head, and it again disappears. “Let’s get back inside the bar before they miss us.”

“I doubt that Jack’s sent a search party.”

Bodie snorts. “I suspect you’re right about that, though I just met the man.”

In silence, we head back to Surf’s Up.

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