Title: Waiting
For Romeo
Author: Diane
Mannino
Series: Romeo #2
Release date: November
15th, 2013
Genre: Young
Adult
Tour: Irresistible
Reads Book Tours
Goodreads Rating: 4.64
My Rating: 5.0
Book Description:
Heartbroken by the one guy she simply couldn't resist, Emilia King is determined to move on. But Logan Prescott is
also determined… determined to win her back. He lost the only person who truly
mattered to him and now he’ll do whatever it takes to convince Emilia to give
him a second chance.
While
their attraction to each other is undeniable, the obstacles they’re forced to
confront may be too much. And just when it seems their love for each other is a
bond that knows no bounds, Emilia faces her worst nightmare.
With
her newfound inner strength, Emilia realizes fighting to be with Logan is her
only hope…and waiting for him may ultimately determine not only their
future together, but her own destiny.
My Review:
Book 1 ends on a heart wrenching cliff hanger. I don't want to go into too much detail for those of you discovering this series for the 1st time. But let's just say it broke my heart so much, that I repeatedly emailed Diane to beg her for book 2. As soon as I received my ARC for Waiting for Romeo, I dove right in to find out what happens. The first part of the book addressed the cliff hanger and we got to see the emotional roller coaster that the Emilia and Logan go on to attempt to repair the problems from book 1 that shattered their new found love. Immediately I was once again swept up by all the romantic ways Logan attempts to win Emilia. In this book, Emilia is finally able to open up to Logan regarding the horrors of her past. Reading about these stories, moved me to tears and seeing Logan's steadfast devotion to her and his attempt to right all her wrongs, gave him so much more brownie points in my book.
What made this story even more intense than the first was the action packed, suspenseful mystery that was added in. There is someone out there with a vengeance against Emilia and they won't stop for anything to get to her. I thought I had figured out who this villain was but I was completely wrong and shocked to discover who this person actually was. (I LOVE BEING SURPRISED). Emilia finds herself in real danger and Logan and her friends will try everything possible to keep her safe, but will it be enough?
There are many amazing aspects about this story: humor, friendship, literature, music, and perseverance. But my favorite component of this series is the abundance of love that is written into the pages. And I am not just speaking about the love between our heroine and hero. But love can be found from so many corners. We have love between a father and daughter who must pull together to recover from Emilia's mother's death and the horrors of Emilia's past. We find it between the store owners who have become a surrogate mother and father for Emilia. Then there is the love between Emilia and her best friend/room mate Bryn. This is the kind of friendship any girl would love to have. All in all this whole ensemble of characters is one that I have grown to cherish and will always love to read about.
I was honored to have been able to ask Diane some interview questions and absolutely loved reading her responses.
FUN FACTS
What author/story inspired you to write?
I always wanted to write a book. I was an
English major (no surprise there) and I fell in love with the classics. There’s
not one specific book or author that inspired me to write, but more of a
collection of books over the years.
Obviously, I love Shakespeare and I took quite
a few courses on Shakespeare in college. I also love Jane Austen, Charlotte
Bronte, and Emily Bronte.
Besides classics, I grew-up loving Judy Blume,
S.E. Hinton and V.C. Andrews. I’m sure I’m forgetting many others, but these
pop into my mind.
I’m a huge fan of the “Harry Potter” and
“Hunger Games” series, but I also love romances. I enjoyed E.L. James “50
Shades of Grey” and Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series as well as many “New
Adult” books. Today, some of my favorite books are by Tammara Webber, Rachel
Van Dyken, Jessica Sorensen and Colleen Hoover (just to name a few).
When I finally decided to write a
book I knew I wanted to write a YA/NA romance and I wanted Classic Literature
to play a part in the story. I have two teenage daughters and I want them to
enjoy and love the classics as much as I did. I hope by putting a modern twist
to Shakespeare and other classics that it’ll make them, as well as others, want
to explore Classic Literature.
Favorite TV
show/Movie?
“The Voice” which is probably not
surprising since you know how much I love music J I love the
premise of the show and the turning chairs. I also adore Adam Levine and Blake
Shelton.
I’m also a big fan of “Survivor” and
I love “Modern Family.”
As for movie...that’s a tough one to
narrow down. My most recent favorite movies would be “Silver Linings Playbook”
and “The Help.” They’re both fabulous books that they made into fabulous movies
(doesn’t happen often). I loved “Argo” too.
I grew-up in the 80’s so I love
“Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Ferris Bueller,” and “Mystic Pizza.”
Let’s see…I’ll narrow it down this
way…Favorite Scary Movie: The Shining. Favorite Comedy: Wedding
Crashers/Legally Blonde, Favorite Romance: Pretty Woman/The Notebook, and I
can’t narrow down dramas…too many that I love.
Do you have a
specific room in your house or a coffee shop which you like to write in?
My favorite room to type in is our
guest bedroom. It gets lovely light and there’s a nice window. I can look into
the yard and the sky. My favorite place to write on a notebook when I’m coming
up with ideas and chapter outlines would be our master bedroom. We have big
comfy chair I like to sit in and I love to plug in my headphones for some
musical inspiration J
If you had
the choice of going back in time or going to the future, which would you choose
and why?
I would definitely choose the past.
Can I choose a specific time and location? If so, I’d head to London between
1589 and 1613. You can probably guess why. I’d love to meet Shakespeare and
have a cup of tea with him!
What’s the
last book you’ve read that made you cry?
LOL…It doesn’t take much to make me
cry. I cry when I see someone crying, I cry in commercials, and even in
animated movies. But probably the last book would be Rachel Van Dyken’s “Ruin.”
STORY RELATED QUESTIONS
What was your
inspiration behind Emilia and Logan’s love story?
“Romeo and Juliet” is a big
inspiration. I love the passion they have for each other and I love Romeo’s
pursuit of Juliet. Doesn’t every girl wish a boy would say something as
beautiful and romantic to her as, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other word would smell as sweet.”
I love romances with characters that
you care about and root for. Also, I love playful banter between characters
whether it’s in a book or a movie. I really like the emails and text messages
in E.L. James’ “50 Shades of Grey” and Tammara Webber’s “Easy.” So I would say
all of these elements are the inspirations behind Emilia and Logan’s love story.
So you already know how I feel about the
cliffhanger in “Running from Romeo.” Were you intentionally trying to break
hearts? Just kidding! Did you feel that such a drastic cliffhanger was
necessary?
LOL! Yes, I wanted to break hearts
;) Well, isn’t that usually the case with most romances? Guy gets girl, guys
loses girl, guy wins her back. I really wanted to develop their romance slowly
because of Emilia’s issues. I didn’t want it to be a stand-alone book so I
thought something drastic needed to happen so people would be interested in a
sequel. I know most people would have preferred a happily-ever-after, but by
ending it the way I did I hoped that people cared enough about the characters
to want to read more. The sequel goes into more depth about Logan’s issues and
I think if you didn’t sympathize with him before you will now…I hope J
One of the
things I enjoyed most about both of your books was your use of lyrics and
quotes, especially the Shakespeare quotes. First of all, why Shakespeare? And
secondly, do you have a specific quote or song lyrics that you would say
describe your personal life?
I’m so glad you enjoyed the lyrics
and quotes! I love music and love the way it can set the tone in a scene. I
love Shakespeare and his writing is not only beautiful, but it’s still so
relatable.
Hmm. This is a tough one! We have
two daughters so I say the quotes that would describe our personal life right
now would be some of Shakespeare’s quotes on wisdom. My husband and I preach
this Shakespeare quote the most often: “It is not in the stars to hold our
destiny but in ourselves” from “Julius Caesar.” Another one: “Love all, trust a
few, do wrong to none” from “All’s Well That Ends Well.” I don’t mean we’re
actually saying these quotes word-for-word. We just preach the meaning of them.
Does that make sense?
Many authors
choose to write companion stories with some of their side characters. Do you
have plans to do so? I think not Bryn and Chloe have great possibilities for
stories.
I love Bryn and Chloe so I’m
thrilled you’d be interested in stories about them. I would definitely enjoy
exploring their characters and finding where life takes them. I haven’t really
thought too much about it, but maybe J
So when I was
about 100 pages in I told you I had my guesses on the villain of “Waiting for
Romeo,” but I was completely wrong. Did you always know that you would bring
this specific character in the storyline?
Yes. I definitely knew from the
beginning. I hope you won’t be mad when I say that I can’t tell you how happy
that makes me that you were completely wrong! YAY! When you’re writing, it’s in
your head. You know where you’re going and so to me I was so worried about it
being obvious. I want readers to suspect different people, but I also want
readers to get to that point in the story and go, “Whoa! What just happened?”
If you go back and reread it, knowing what you know, I bet it’ll be more
obvious ;)
Is this the
last we will see of Emilia and Logan? Or do you have more planned for them?
I think I’ve overused the word
“love” in my answers, but I’ll use it one last time. I LOVE these characters,
especially Emilia and Logan…so we’ll see. The story ends at Spring Break so
they still have to graduate, right? I didn’t end with a cliffhanger, but I
think I left enough things open where the story could continue. Besides, there
are quite a few psychopaths still on the loose! LOL!
Would you like another book? Let me
know…Anasheh, I’d love to hear what you think as well as others J
The answer is YES, I would love to have another book. There is still so much I would love
to read about. I would love to read more about Logan's family. And there is a certain
But these are just the selfish musing of a book fanatic ;)
About the Author:
DIANE MANNINO graduated from University of Maryland, College Park with a
degree in English Literature. She is a former writer for Museum and Arts
Washington and Star Magazine as well as several television shows, including,
Inside Edition, American Journal, and E! News Daily. She lives in Los Angeles
with her husband and two beautiful daughters. Running from Romeo is her first
novel and she is currently working on the sequel.
Tour Giveaway
Prize: 10USD
Amazon Gift Card
Posts
The cover is so wonderful. I mean, I can honestly feel the girl looking right through my soul, HAHA.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right Kayla! This cover is one of my favs of the year!
DeleteThe book sounds good. Thanks for the awesome giveaway! :D
ReplyDeleteAnytime :) make sure to add it to your TBR!
DeleteThanks for the giveaway! This looks great!
ReplyDelete;) You should definitely check it out! :)
DeleteThanks for the fun facts! :)
ReplyDelete