Not You It's Me by Julie Johnson

Book Title: Not You It's Me 

Author: Julie Johnson 

Genre: New Adult Contemporary 

Release Date: July 7, 2015

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

Gemma Summers is unlucky in love.

She’s known it since third grade, when her first crush blew a spitball into her hair, and a decade-long string of bad dates, boring sex, and abysmal morning-afters has done nothing to improve her prospects.

But when a random radio call-in contest lands her courtside tickets to the hottest playoff game of the season, Gemma’s luck may finally be on the upswing — even if it doesn’t exactly seem like it when the dreaded jumbotron kiss-cam lands on her and her date, who’s too busy ignoring her to notice…

Chase Croft doesn’t date.

Despite ample opportunity as Boston’s most eligible bachelor, the reformed bad-boy would rather put his energy into taking over the family business than weed through a world of gold-diggers to find an honest woman.

But when the beautiful girl in the seat next to him becomes a courtside spectacle at the hands of her loser boyfriend, he can’t help but step in and save the day.

One kiss. Two strangers. No strings attached.

The only problem is, Chase is used to getting whatever he wants. And after kissing Gemma once, he knows one thing…

He wants more.

The camera’s locked on me, and it’s not moving. I catch a glimpse of myself on the huge, pixilated screen — a pale, dark-haired girl in a fancy black dress and ratty black sneakers. Too many curves, too many curls, and no one to kiss. I know there’s panic flashing in my eyes — hell, I can see it, blown up to jumbo proportions on every screen in the arena. And so can everyone else.

I’m a freaking ant beneath a microscope.

The crowd starts to titter — oh, honey, look at that poor girl, her boyfriend hasn’t even noticed — and I’m getting a little desperate, so I swallow hard, throw back my shoulders, and sneak a glance at Ralph. He’s still on his phone, the bastard, totally unaware that we’ve become the central act at the kiss-cam circus. Forcing a smile to cover my deep mortification, I elbow him sharply in the side, but he just bats me away with a hand and a glare before returning to his phone call.

I groan.

The crowd explodes with laughter.

I try to smile too, like I’m in on the joke, but it’s wobbly — I can feel it trembling on my lips — and I begin to wonder if the man behind the camera is some kind of sociopath, because frankly, the fact that he’s still filming right now — while surely entertaining for everyone who, you know, isn’t me — is pure evil.

I look up at the camera and shrug my shoulders, hoping the yes-my-boyfriend-is-in-fact-a-total-asshole expression translates to the crowd. I think I succeed, since the laughter gets even louder, but suddenly I’m distracted by the wall of man blocking my view of the jumbotron.

Green Eyes is out of his seat.

His eyes are on mine, and he’s reaching for my hand.

The crowd is going wild and my brain is short-circuiting, but apparently my hand doesn’t need executive functions to tell it what to do, because it’s lifting from my lap and slipping into his.

Before I can form a single thought, he’s pulling me out of my chair.

Sliding one arm around my waist.

Slipping one hand behind my neck.

His eyes never leave mine as he leans in, bending me backward over his arm in a full-on, movie-star dip, and the only thought in my head is ohmigod, there’s no way he’s going to kiss me right now, but then even that disappears when his lips move closer and my mind blanks entirely.

Because he’s kissing me.

And it’s good.

No, actually, it’s great.

It’s not the soft, sympathetic, pity-kiss you’d expect in a situation like this.

It’s a full on, invade-your-senses, shatter-your-world, boil-your-blood kiss. With tongue.

For a moment, I’m so stunned, I just hang there limply… but then my brain catches up to my body and I realize that the hottest freaking man I’ve ever seen is kissing me like I’ve never, ever been kissed before, and that I might never be kissed like this again for the rest of my whole pathetic life, so I damn well better enjoy it while it lasts.

Without another thought, my arms twine around his neck, my mouth opens under his, and I’m returning his kiss without hesitation, with abandon. He feels my response and a low growl vibrates from his throat — for as second, I think he’s angry, but I quickly realize it’s a good growl, when he pulls me tighter to him, so I’m fully plastered against the hard plane of his body. Thoughts long-chased from my mind, I don’t even try to think of reasons this is a bad idea. I melt into him like my limbs are made of water.

It’s easily the best kiss of my life, which doesn’t make any sense at all, because I don’t even know the man whose lips are devouring mine — hard, hot, with just the right amount of teeth and tongue to make things interesting.

I can hear the crowd going crazy, twenty-thousand people screaming at the top of their lungs, but somehow the sound of my own heartbeat is drowning them out. The kiss goes on for way, way longer than it should, but I don’t worry about that, or anything else for that matter, because there’s no room in my head for worries about my dickwad soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend or the crowd or the cameras.

Not when every mental faculty is consumed by Green Eyes and his perfect freaking kiss.

You Should Know Where I’m Coming From – Banks
Treacherous – Taylor Swift
Beneath Your Beautiful – Labrinth
American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Stay With Me – Sam Smith
Gotta Have You – The Weepies
The Way I Am – Ingrid Michaelson
Lay Me Down – Sam Smith
Love Me Like You Do – Ellie Goulding
 If You Leave – Nada Surf
The Writer – Ellie Goulding
You Are In Love – Taylor Swift
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

Julie Johnson is a twenty-something Boston native suffering from an extreme case of Peter Pan Syndrome and an obsession with fictional characters. When she's not writing, Julie can most often be found daydreaming, drinking too much coffee, striving to conquer her Netflix queue, or stalking Goodreads for new books to add to her ever-growing TBR list. You can find Julie on Facebook, or contact her on her website www.juliejohnsonbooks.com. Sometimes, when she can figure out how Twitter works, she tweets from @AuthorJulie.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Alpha Book Club's Review

“I spin and see he’s followed me out and is standing on the sidewalk, getting totally drenched in the downpour.  His t-shirt is plastered to every contour of his muscular chest.  I think I see the outline of serious six-pack beneath the fabric, but it’s hard to tell from this distance.  And his eyes - they’re burning into mine again.  I feel that electricity charging the air around us once more, and he’s not even touching me this time. “

4 stars.  This book had so much humor and fun to it, that it was hard not to love.  Gemma is hilarious with her constant nervous dialogue you can’t help but laugh as you read.

Gemma Summers is unlucky in love.

She’s known it since third grade, when her first crush blew a spitball into her hair, and a decade-long string of bad dates, boring sex, and abysmal morning-afters has done nothing to improve her prospects.

But when a random radio call-in contest lands her courtside tickets to the hottest playoff game of the season, Gemma’s luck may finally be on the upswing — even if it doesn’t exactly seem like it when the dreaded jumbotron kiss-cam lands on her and her date, who’s too busy ignoring her to notice…

Chase Croft doesn’t date.

Despite ample opportunity as Boston’s most eligible bachelor, the reformed bad-boy would rather put his energy into taking over the family business than weed through a world of gold-diggers to find an honest woman.

But when the beautiful girl in the seat next to him becomes a courtside spectacle at the hands of her loser boyfriend, he can’t help but step in and save the day.

One kiss. Two strangers. No strings attached.

The only problem is, Chase is used to getting whatever he wants. And after kissing Gemma once, he knows one thing…

He wants more.

NOT YOU IT’S ME is a full-length, standalone contemporary romance about a girl who doesn’t believe in love… and the man who changes her mind. Due to sexy-times and strong language, it is intended for readers 17 and up.

Gemma is the only one amongst her friends that isn’t married or having a child and while that bothers her, she can’t seem to find a man worthy of her time.  She constantly finds something wrong with them and ditches them.  She’s currently trying to save her current relationship by trying to win tickets to the Boston Celtics game, courtside seats.  As luck would have it she wins and her boyfriend is super excited.  Sadly while at the game, she spends most of the night alone because her loser boyfriend is on the phone the whole time.  During a commercial break the arena starts the kiss cam and it lands on Gemma, and she’s completely humiliated that he ignores her.  The handsome man sitting next to her takes it upon himself to kiss her and save the embarrassment.  A fight then breaks out between her, her loser boyfriend and the handsome stranger.  Completely humiliated, Gemma takes off into the rainy weather only to be picked up by the handsome stranger and taken to her bff’s house for the night.  The next morning, Gemma wakes up and see her face all over the news, entertainment websites and the internet.  Turns out her handsome stranger is Chase Croft, the billionaire playboy.  She has another run in with him where he tells her he can’t be with anyone, he has too many responsibilities to deal with and he’s not a relationship guy.  But they both can’t deny the electricity that is between them.  This book is super fun and has so many hilarious moments!!  

**Received a copy in exchange for an honest review.  Read and reviewed by Melissa for Alpha Book Club**