Swanky Saturday – Summer Fling

WELCOME to our August Spectacularly Swanky Saturday! 

This month, we’re talking about our book boyfriends! *insert fangirl faints and squeals here*. We are doing just about everything from GIFs, pictures, lists, castings, fangirling, to even writing short stories! If you want to join in the fun, quick run to your blog and start typing! Remember to grab our button, tag Live, Love, Read in your blog post, and use the #SwankySat hashtag on twitter to share! We’re so excited for you to join us today!

If you’d like more information about today’s summer fling posts or would like more information about Spectacularly Swanky Saturdays, click here to visit our page with all of the #SwankySat information! =)

Alright, so, first you’ll find Kelly’s short story about how she met her book boyfriend (can you guess who it is?!). Next, you will find Lauren’s lists, pictures, and fangirling about her book boyfriends! She picked three, the cheater! =P But then again… so did Emily and Chelsea on Emily’s blog too…

LET THE FAN GIRLING BEGIN!

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Kelly:

I’m always running; running from people, running from emotions, running from myself. For once, I just wanted to run away and have everything not follow me wherever I went. I wanted an empty mind and a free heart. What I got instead only allowed me to succeed further in ripping my heart to shreds. I never expected that running away from my problems that day would lead me right into his arms and my biggest problem yet.

I was dealing with enough at home; I didn’t need more. I needed to run away. You know that itch you get when you’re just uncomfortable standing still? The itch that climbs up your spine when you have to leave, go, run, get away from all of this. It was overwhelming me, body and soul. It took over my mind when I finally decided to go upstairs and strap on my running shoes. I stepped out the door and took off into the woods behind my house. Fate had it’s hands on me that day because I needed that escape. I needed him.

Dodging left and right, through the trees, under the branches, down the path, I found my pattern. My slow, steady gait that kept the tears at bay and my mind at a peaceful calm. I left it all behind; or at least I tried to. My mom, my sister, my family, my ex… it all stayed there in the back of my mind, as if blocked off from my conscious thoughts by only a thin curtain. Why was the curtain never strong enough? The memories invaded like a pack of hungry wolves, dissolving my composure like ice cracking under pressure.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep going.

My mantra. It would have suited me well that day if I hadn’t been so focused on my breathing and staring at the path in front of me that I had seen him coming from the opposite direction.

Our bodies slammed into each other and I rebounded, ending up laying on the ground with what had felt like a lump the size of a golf ball on my head. A very unlady-like grunt escaped from my mouth.

Where did he come from?!

“Watch where you’re going.”

Strong, deep, cocky, and slightly obnoxious. Lovely. Just the type of person I wanted to deal with today.

Go ahead life, just throw all the assholes at me that you can! It’s fine! I don’t need to ever be happy or anything. Not that it matters to you.

All that came out of my mouth was another groan, though, as I forced myself to open my eyes and look at the standing figure casting his shadow over me.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re going asshole. Obviously I’m the one who ended up the worse for wear here. You could kill someone running like that.”

“Like this is all my fault. The golf ball sized bruise on your forehead could have been avoided if you had been paying attention and not staring at the ground balling your eyes out.”

“I was not balling my eyes out! Good lord, what is this?! Asshole day?! The least you could do is help me up!”

Huffing, he turned on his heel and walked away, mumbling something incoherent that I’m sure was about me. If glares could kill, I’m sure he would have collapsed on the ground by then.

With a sigh, I heaved myself up to a sitting position and stayed there until the stars in my vision receded. I eventually pushed myself to standing only to find myself practically falling face first into a tree. I embraced it as my vision swam, giving a new definition to the term “tree-hugger”.

This can’t be good… Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep going…

I gave one last shove from the tree and staggered towards my house, trying to put one foot in front of the other. Within a few feet I could feel my body falling again, teetering over like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The squeak of fear slipped from me before I felt his arms circle my waist.

“What are you doing?! Get off me!”

“Fine. You can face plant into the dirt for all I care.”

“I was doing just fine until you came along! I don’t need your help.”

His arms stayed there as I could see him assess me through the blurriness in my vision. My head was starting to swim again and I could feel the blackness pulling me under.

“Okay, maybe not so fine…”

My body failed as my knees buckled and the blackness tried to take me again. He quickly saw my struggle and swept his other arm under my legs, scooping me up like some damsel in distress. I despised him for it, but I couldn’t help but be thankful that at least I wasn’t alone after being concussed… but then again the concussion was his fault. Men…

“Which way is your house?”

I tried to look up to his face, “You don’t have to take me there. Set me down. Seriously, I’m fine.”

“Obviously you’re not or I wouldn’t be carrying you. Again, which way is your house?”

Looking around, I felt like a rag doll as my head lolled to one side and then the other, unable to keep my vision perfectly straight. I pointed towards the direction I thought was my house and gave him the most defiant stare I could manage.

Quirking an eyebrow at me, he set off in the general direction I pointed. This was going to be a long walk back. I might as well make it entertaining.

“Tell me something about you. Where are you from? What’s your name? Why were you running like the hounds of hell were after you?” I must be getting loopy.

“Why does it matter?”

“Listen, if I don’t stay awake through this concussion and pass out and end up with a huge brain injury because of it, you’re going to feel really guilty about running into me like that. You need to keep me awake.”

A burst of sound escaped from his chest resembling something like a laugh. “I need to keep you awake? As if I’m your savior and knight in shining armor come to help and serve only you, the damsel in distress? I don’t think you’re in any state to be demanding things of me.”

Feeling my lips pull into a scowl I did my best to glare at him, but that was decently hard when I could barely lift my head from his chest. I was stuck. I let my head slide back to look at him.

“Well, if I’m to be a proper damsel in distress, the least you could do is tell me my knight in shining armors name.” Batting my eyelashes, I gave him the best smile and innocent look I could manage. Two could play at this stupid game.

He turned his head to look at me. His eyes met mine as my vision stopped spinning for a moment. I studied them, watching the emotion switch back and forth in his eyes, as if undecided about how to feel. I watched his inner turmoil for a few seconds until he looked away, sighed, and looked back at me again, allowing me a glimpse at his eyes and the depth, pain, and small sense of hilarity that he seemed to be feeling before his face relaxed into calm neutrality.

“Rowan. My name is Rowan Fall.”

So he has depth… look at that, knight boy has some emotions other than asshole today.

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Lauren:

Ok, so for this Swanky Saturday we are supposed to tell all about our summer fling with our book boyfriend. Out of all the books I read, you would think it would be easy to come up with a guy to talk about. But there lies my problem! I read A LOT of books, all of which has guys I tend to like. So how do you narrow so many swoon worthy guys down to one? For me, it was pretty hard. So instead of doing just one boyfriend, I’m going to share the three guys that has my heart.

1. The adorable and sweet Neville Longbottom.

When I started reading Harry Potter for the first time, I probably had the same reaction to the clumsy, toad losing Neville as pretty much all Harry Potter readers. He was this really nerdy boy who had a pet toad, no way in the world would he be a fun character. At the very least, he was just going to be a guy to get picked on.

But then, the characters began to mature in each book. Every year all the Hogwarts students were older, and a little different. Neville was still a huge nerd, and not someone you wanted to hang with if you tried to be part of the cool crowd. But, that is what got my attention about him. While everyone else was swooning over Harry and Ron (and Draco for the bad boy lovers) I had my eye more on Neville. He was never one of the main characters of the stories, but he still had a big role to play in the books. As each new book came out, we would learn a bit more about him, and we also watched him become something more than just a bumbling nerd. I have always liked the nerdy characters, mainly because they are closer to myself than the confident and cool characters. By the end of book 7, that funny looking little guy that was looking for his lost toad on the train became a hero and someone I would love to have as a boyfriend.

2. Son of Poseidon and Sally, Percy Jackson.

If you ever talk to me, does this answer even surprise you? I love this series so much!  Percy Jackson is one of those popular guys everyone in school likes just as much as you do, no way would I ever have a shot with him, especially with Annabeth around. So with that being said, we will just call him my really big crush.

From the very first chapter of Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief, I knew Percy was going to be one of my favorite characters ever! He can be clueless to the point you just have to put the book down and shake your head at his stupidity. I had to do this several times while reading this series, but Percy’s overall sass and lovable adorableness made up for it! I know liking the main character of a book or series is very cliche, but I just can’t help it when it comes to this one! Percy is such a fun character to read, and honestly I wish I had him as a real friend to talk with.

Besides just being the wonderful little demigod he is, another reason I like him is for his loyalty. I know that sounds a bit like I’m talking about a dog, but honestly if you have read this story you know what I mean. When it comes to friends and family, he is extremely loyal. It even gets to the point that it could be used against him. His relationship with his friends and family is really nice to read, and refreshing for a Middle Grade/ Young Adult book to still involve a good relationship between the main child and the parents. Sally, Percy’s mom, is one of the coolest moms other than Molly Weasly when it comes to books! So, I hope Annabeth enjoys Percy. If she doesn’t, I sure wouldn’t mind taking him!

3. Emergency Dance Party Levi.

*Cue music*

Fangirl is one of those books I was able to connect with really easily. Not only is the writing fantastic, I really connected with the main character Cath. No surprise, I would end up falling for the same guy she did.

(Couldn’t find a good picture of Levi, but he is on the cover of the book!)

Levi is one of those book characters that seems like he could really be someone I could date. Coming from a contemporary novel instead of a fantasy one really didn’t help either. He is so caring and sweet. Reading about him made me so happy, and I always had a huge, goofy grin on my face. There is just something about his character that makes you want to just hug him!! And he also was one of those rare guys that actually listened to what another person had to say when they talked. And I don’t mean just mumble a, “yeah” every few minutes. He actually would listen and try to help during problems or carry on the conversation. Anyway, I guess it all comes down to the fact that I would like him! (Although, my real boyfriend has a lot of the same qualities, just need to get him to have an emergency dance party with me!)

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Well, there are Lauren’s top three bookish boyfriends and Kelly’s obsession driven dream boat! Do we have any in common? Do you agree with our choices? We would love to know, so please leave your answers in the comments below!

P.S. Take it easy on Kelly’s writing. I wrote it at 3:00am… >_< 

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Coming Soon:

LLR Girls Night!

Our new poll is up! We have our finalists for our LLR Girls Night in August! Vote for your favorites below!

Also, what would work better for you guys: Friday, August 21st or Saturday, August 22nd? Leave us a comment or tweet us and let us know! =)

Keep an eye out for more about this event and if you would like to keep updated, sign up for the e-mail notifications by clicking here!

Blog tags!

Melissa has a couple of blog tags coming up, so if you’re a blog friend of hers, BEWARE! She’s coming for you. 😉

Reviews and more reviews!

Tangled Webs by Lee Bross – Coming Soon!

Henrietta and the Dragon Stone by Beth Barany – Coming Soon!

The Short Life of Sparrows by Emm Cole – Coming Soon!

The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy – Coming Soon!

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson– Coming Soon! 

We hope you all have a wonderfully Swanky Saturday! Be safe and make good choices!

❤ Lauren, Kelly, and Melissa