When Friends Become Lovers: SAVING IT by Monica Murphy, Interview + GIVEAWAY!

Saving It by Monica Murphy

Publication Date: November 6, 2017

Publisher: Entangled Teen Crush

Eden: Josh Evans and I have been best friends forever. He knows all my secrets, and I know all of his. So when he randomly asks me to help him lose his virginity, I sort of flip out. That’s a question that sends your mind to places you’ve seriously never considered before. Like, you know. Having sex. With your best friend. Except Josh doesn’t want to have sex with me—he wants me to help him find a girl. A nice girl who’s funny and smart and cute. Except he already knows a girl just like that…

Josh: Eden Sumner is my best friend. So of course she’d be the person to help me find my perfect match, so I can drop my V card before I head off to college. Except the more we search, the more I realize that maybe the right girl has been by my side all along. I don’t need Eden’s help in finding me a girl to love. I’m pretty sure I’m already in love with Eden. But now she thinks I’m only after one thing…with anyone but her.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book is what happens when American Pie meets Friends with Benefits. It contains two best friends, plenty of angst, and lots and lots of sex talk. Reading this might have you looking at your best friend in a different light!

Purchase Links:

Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Interviews Monica Murphy

1. Saving It Has been described as American Pie meets Friends With Benefits? What inspired you to write this BFF turned lovers romance?

My Entangled editor put out a submission call a few years ago for a story like the movie American Pie. I told her, “I would love to write this,” and never did, because I was so super swamped with deadlines coming out of my ears.

Last year, she put the call out again, saying, “I really, really want this.” And I had the first chapter of Josh and Eden so I sent it to her and she was like, “I’ll take it.” And that’s how SAVING IT was born.

2. Typically this sort of scenario happens with the female trying to lose her virginity. What made you decide on the male lead instead?

I don’t know, from the moment I considered the idea for this book, I knew the guy was the one who wanted to lose his virginity. In Josh and Eden’s case, she’s willing to wait until it feels right for her to have sex. Where Josh thinks he needs to get rid of it like it’s a burden or something.

3. I liked how Eden and Josh took their time in figuring out their feelings for one another and I also admired how realistic the portrayal of their first time was. Since you are a romance author of adult titles what makes sex scene between young adults engaging?

I like writing adult romance, it’s how I started out my career and I especially like writing new adult romance still because I love all of those firsts, and the uneasiness and challenges of becoming an adult.

But I need to change it up or I get bored, so I love to write YA romances too! I wasn’t so focused on the actual sex scene between Josh and Eden, though I needed that to come out just right considering it was their first time together, but more the build up to the realization that hey, these two are perfect for each other. That’s what I focused on more than anything.

Writing realistic sex between teens doing it for the first time should include fumbling, awkwardness and a genuine awe of the entire moment because let’s be real—it’s a pretty big moment. And it’s not always perfect either. That’s what I was striving for.

4. Saving It is a cute romance novel with lots of frustration but an oh so perfect ending. Sweet and addictive with the right amount of humor. You seem to know the genre quite well. Are you considering on writing more of these delightful books?

I definitely want to write more YA books! I am surrounded by my own young adults right now (my two children are teens and all of their friends) and they give me constant inspiration. You wouldn’t believe the things they tell me.

5. And on that note, what are you working on now? And what can you tell us about it?

I have a new book coming out in January. It’s a YA thriller called PRETTY DEAD GIRLS and it’s about a clique of snobby girls, a weird yet hot boy and a serial killer on the loose at a private high school. Can’t wait for people to read it!

6. I’m sure you have loads of fans, what is the best way for them to find out more about you and your books?

I have a website: http://monicamurphyauthor.com

And I’m all over social media:

http://facebook.com/MonicaMurphyAuthor

http://instagram.com/MonicaMurphyAuthor

http://twitter.com/msmonicamurphy

http://goodreads.com/monicamurphyauthor

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is a traditionally published author with Bantam/Random House and Harper Collins/Avon, as well as an independently published author. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance. She is also USA Today bestselling romance author Karen Erickson. She is a wife and a mother of three who lives with her family in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere, along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through many angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • Pinterest • Snapchat • Goodreads