Title: The Heartbreakers
Author: Ali Novak
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Publishers: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Synopsis

Stella will do anything for her sick sister, Cara—even stand in line for an autographed Heartbreakers CD…for four hours. She’s totally winning best birthday gift this year. At least she met a cute boy with soft brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes while getting her caffeine fix. Too bad she’ll never see him again.

Except, Stella’s life has suddenly turned into a cheesy love song. Because Starbucks Boy is Oliver Perry – lead singer for the Heartbreakers. And even after she calls his music crap, Oliver still gives Stella his phone number. And whispers quotes from her favorite Disney movie in her ear. OMG, what is her life?

But how can Stella even think about being with Oliver – dating and laughing and pulling pranks with the band – when her sister could be dying of cancer?

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * iBooks

Exclusive Excerpt

“Come on,” Oliver said, completely unaware of how flustered he’d made me. “If we don’t hurry, he’s going to find us.”

Oliver pushed open the door to the stairwell, and we started taking steps two at a time. I kept looking over my shoulder, afraid that his bodyguard was going to burst into the stairwell and attack me. Maybe he’d even accuse me of kidnapping Oliver. I could see the headlines in my head: Teenage Girl Abducts The Heartbreakers Lead Vocalist! As absurd as it sounded, I was starting to get nervous.

“Are you sure we won’t get in trouble?” I asked Oliver.

Before he could answer, two girls opened the door to the fourth floor landing just above us. They glanced down as Oliver tried to pull his hoodie up over his head, and suddenly I understood why he insisted on wearing a sweatshirt in such hot weather, but it was too late—the girls did a double take when they realized who he was.

Oliver looked up at them and I noticed his hesitation, but then he grinned at me and grabbed my hand. “Come on.”

We flew down the steps before the girls had a chance to shout out his name. By the time we reached the first floor, I was breathless. Not because I was out of shape, but because something about being with Oliver as he was chased was surprisingly exhilarating. I could hear feet pounding down the stairs and a chant of, “Oliver! Wait up!” but we didn’t stop.

Pushing open the door, Oliver poked his head out into the hallways to make sure the coast was clear before tugging me after him. We raced down the empty hall, and I realized we were going in the wrong direction. The pool was on the other side of the hotel.

“Hey, where are we going?” I asked. “I thought we were meeting the guys at the pool?”

“We’re making a pit stop,” he whispered to me as we crept down the hall. His eyes were scoping out possible fangirls, his body pressed up against the wall as if that might hide him. Oliver squeezed my hand as we continued to tiptoe down the hall and it was then that I realized our fingers were still intertwined.

I slowly looked down at our hands, not sure of what to do. A nagging thought ran through my head. Don’t get too close! After tonight, you’re never going to see him again. But it was hard to pull away. The tingles that were shooting up my arm felt too good to let go of, and Oliver didn’t seem to mind.

“Bond, James Bond,” he muttered to himself. With his free hand he was pretending to hold a gun as he peered around the corner. Screw it, I thought and smiled. I was going to enjoy tonight and worry about my heart later. “All clear,” he muttered again.

We cautiously continued down the hallway like any good spy would until we reached a set of metal doors with circular windows that revealed the kitchen beyond.

“What are we doing here?”

“Dinner time,” he said and rubbed his stomach. “I’ve got a surprise for you.” Oliver shoved the doors and they swung open with ease. We were blasted in the face by thick, hot air that smelled of fried food.

It was well past dinnertime, but the kitchen was bursting with activity. I watched as a woman in a hair net chopped up carrots, her knife a flashing blur. Meat sizzled on a nearby grill as a cook flipped it over. A boy with a mop and bucket zoomed right by us, water droplets spraying everywhere. He was hurrying to clean up a carton of milk that had spilled across on the floor.

“Are we allowed to be in here?” I asked. I wanted to leave before someone noticed us and we got kicked out.

“Of course,” Oliver said, like it was perfectly normal to stroll into a hotel kitchen. “Xander has some really dangerous food allergies. We always stay in the same hotels, and the kitchen staff learns exactly what he’s allergic to. I’ve gotten to know everybody who works here.”

As if on cue, one of the cooks shouted at Oliver. “Perry, my man! How’s it going?”

Oliver grinned at me, before turning back to the cook. “It’s going great, Tommy,” he answered. “How about you?”

I smiled and bit my lip as I listened. It was nice to see him interacting with regular people, like he wasn’t someone famous.

“Same old, same old. The rest of the guys coming down to see me?”

Oliver shook his head and rolled up his sleeves. “Not tonight, but I’m sure they’ll be down for breakfast,” he said, and I watched in confusion as he washed his hands in a nearby sink. What the heck was he doing?

“They better,” Tommy joked as he turned back to stir something that was simmering over the stove.

When he finished scrubbing his hands, Oliver turned back to me. “I kind of have this thing for cooking,” he explained. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?”

“Um no…” I said slowly, completely confused.

“Great,” he said, cutting me off. “You just wait here. I’m going to go whip us up my favorite.”

I stared after him in as he made his way over to a huge refrigerator and began pulling out ingredients. Is the lead singer of America’s most popular boy band about to cook me dinner?

He was.

About the Author

Ali Novak writes contemporary young adult romance and is a recent graduate of the University of Madison Wisconsin’s creative writing program. She wrote her first full length novel, My Life with the Walter Boys, at the age of fifteen. Since posting the story online, it has received more than 33 million reads and is now published by Sourcebooks Fire.

Facebook * Twitter * WattPad * Tumblr

Giveaway

$100 iTunes GC

a Rafflecopter giveaway