Blog tour for Champagne Toast by Melissa Brown

Champagne Toast by Melissa Brown

Summary

Kate Armour and Evan Maxwell fell hard and fast for each other while attending college. Their once passionate and loving relationship ended when old scars eventually tore them apart. Two years after their breakup, they're each struggling to piece together what went wrong in an attempt to move forward.

Kate, a no-nonsense bartender, must face her past while attempting to focus on her future.

Evan is stifled by his bitter heart, which threatens each and every relationship he attempts after walking away from Kate.

Will life offer them a second chance at love or are old patterns simply too hard to break?

 

Our 4 star review

"From the moment you walked into my life, I belonged to you, Ev.  Only you." 

Melissa Brown's Champagne Toast is a wonderful, heart warming love story about second chances. I fell in love with Evan in Brown's first novel, Bouquet Toss. He was such a strong secondary character that I had hoped Brown would follow up with a story for Evan.

Kate has some insecurity issues, that stems from her mother always putting her down.  Those insecurities create self doubt within her.   While she has dreamed of becoming a photographer, her mother belittles that dream and refers to it as a "hobby".  This further compounds Kate's lack of confidence to pursue photography. Kate never thinks she is good enough, and therefore has sabotaged any relationship that she has ever had,  by betraying her lover.  Once she meets Evan, she knows that she wants to change that pattern.

"You've always been so artsy, it's hard to keep up with your hobbies, Kate.  One year it's painting, the next photography.  I've figured you'd moved on to something else by now."  - Kate's mom

Evan is driven and confident and knows what he wants in life.  From the first time he met her, while interviewing at the bar she worked at, he was instantly attracted. There is something between them that neither can deny  Evan believes in her, he loves her for who she is, and makes her feel happy and wanted in a way that no one has ever done before.  He pushes her to want more, to go after her dreams.  Evan is sweet, genuine, romantic and sexy.  He wants nothing but the best for Kate and wants to make her happy.  But the more he pushes the more her insecurities begin to surface.  The love that they have for each other is far beyond anything they have ever felt before.  But what happens when insecurities, distance and trust issues get in the way of love and happiness?

 "You don't love me and you never did.  And you sure as hell don't trust me, not at all.  So, take it and go to hell, Evan Maxwell."

In the two years Evan and Kate were apart, they never stopped thinking about each other nor did their love fade. It is as strong as the day the first fell in love. This is a story about second chances, about two people that have been apart for such a long time and meet again. Can they move on from their past issues that divided them in the first place and find love and happiness again?

"I want us to have a fresh start; I want us to try again.  You are the only woman I've ever loved.  The only one.  Ever."


The book starts 2 years after their break up, when Evan goes on a double date to the same place he met Kate.  Evan really isn't really sure why he is there.  All he can think about while on his date and for the last two years is Kate.  The author then takes us back in time to when Evan and Kate first met.  We experience the ups and down of their relationship with them.  We see the events that lead to their break up and the moment when they first meet again.  Their story is told in alternating POV;  giving readers both sides of their story.

Champagne Toast is a must read. It is a sweet love story filled with laughter and drama and tears, and lots of
smiles in between. What a beautiful ending! Evan shows his love for Kate in a way that will melt hearts and make more than a few readers wish for an Evan of their own. Looking forward to more great reads from Melissa Brown.


I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Excerpt:
“Evan, can you help me?”  Kate asks. She’s standing on her tiptoes, her t-shirt rising up her back, exposing her midsection.  I do my best not to stare as I walk towards her.  She glances back at me over her shoulder before continuing her request, “Vince put the spare key to his office on the highest shelf of the bar and I can’t reach it.”  Her hair smells like strawberries.

“No problem,” I say, easily reaching the key.  Just for fun, I dangle it above Kate’s head.  She smirks at me, narrowing her eyes as if to say, ‘okay, let’s play.’

Grinning from ear to ear, I ask, “Oh, I’m sorry, can you still not reach them?”  Whenever I’m near this woman, all I want to do is tease her, tease her so badly she can hardly contain herself.  But, the result is that I can hardly contain myself.  Tiny beads of sweat are building along my hairline as I twist the keychain back and forth between my fingers.  Kate swats at the key and gives me a fake dirty look.  I know her well enough to know she’s not upset at all.

“Ev, c’mon.”  Yeah, that’s another thing.  She started calling me Ev.  It drives me crazy.  I can’t take it!  Every time she says it, I want to throw her up against the bar and kiss her hard, really hard.  I want her all to myself, to make her mine, and yet when the fantasy is over I realize I can’t have her.  Not yet.

“All right.” I hand her the keychain and give her a crafty wink.  She gives a satisfied smile.  “What do you need it for anyway?”  I ask.

“I don’t.”  She raises an eyebrow at me before walking away to take orders from a large table of college students.  My jaw hits the floor as she saunters away, looking back with her signature tease of a grin.  This girl is going to be the end of me.


About the author:

Melissa Brown is a hopeless romantic living in the Chicagoland area with her husband and their two children.  Aside from writing, she enjoys reading and baking. She also has a slight obsession with actor Henry Cavill and the TV show New Girl.  This is her second novel.

Email: AuthorMelissaBrown@yahoo.com
Twitter: @LissaLou77
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