Welcome the lovely Janet Gurtler!! I am so excited to have her on the blog today, I am a huge fan of hers so if you haven't checked out her books you are seriously missing out! Check out her books on Amazon here, or goodreads here.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Sure. Mostly I am a boring. Ha ha. I am Mom to a cool 12 year old son who swims competitively. That keeps me busy with volunteering and chauffeuring but I love it and him of course. I have a husband who is Mr. Fix It and always has a project he’s working on in our garage. I like him too. We have a cute, fat little Chihuahua who is very needy. I love reading and writing Young Adult fiction. I love people who are real and I often ask too many personal questions. Mostly I am kind of goofy and pretty much allergic to talking on the phone.

If you could describe your newest release How I Lost You in 3 words, what words would you use?

Realistic. Heartfelt. Intense.

How does How I Lost You differ from your other contemporary novels?

How I Lost You focuses on the relationship of friends and what happens when one friend is doing all the giving and the other friend is doing all the taking. I think this showed up in IF I TELL and I’M NOT HER (hmm) but it is the main story line in HOW I LOST YOU. I really wanted to explore the power of the relationship between friends. To me best friends outlast boyfriends in the teen years and are still a powerful force for women as we get older.

Did you have a friend or know someone that was like Kya, or Grace?

I think there’s a little bit of Grace and Kya in all of us. I know I have different relationships with all the friends I’ve had over the years. Sometimes I’m more of the giver and sometimes I’m more of the taker.

What's your favorite quote from How I Lost You?

“You don’t have to sleep with guys,” I whispered, “to make them like you.” Kya stared at me for a moment with heavy eyelids. “You don’t get it, do you, Gracie? I sleep with them so they won’t like me.” My heart broke for her a little more.

Is there a message in How I Lost You, if so what is it?

I think the main message is “Learn to love yourself, warts and all.” Ultimately we really are responsible for our own happiness and sometimes we have to make difficult decisions to maintain that happiness.

What are you currently working on, can you tell us a bit about it??

Well, I’ve recently finished 16 Things I Thought were True, coming in March 2014. That’s a road trip and self-discovery novel. Now I’m working on a book about a privileged teen girl forced to work in a soup kitchen for the summer. Her world is shaken when she loses a little boy she’s looking after. The little boy is the brother of a boy she’s worked hard to get to trust her. A boy whose family is one of the soup kitchen’s guests. A boy she’s been kissing.

Thank you so much Janet for joining us today and doing an interview! Janet was also kind enough to donate a paperback copy of her newest novel 'How I Lost You'! I LOVED this book, so make sure you enter for your chance to win a copy! (:



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There are a few things Grace Anderson knows for sure. One is that nothing will ever come between her and her best friend, Kya Kessler. They have a pact. Buds Before Studs. Sisters Before Misters. But in the summer before senior year, life throws out challenges they never expected. And suddenly the person who's always been there starts to need the favor returned. Grace and Kya are forced to question how much a best friend can forgive. And the answer is not what they expected.





Giveaway Details

• Up for grabs is 1 paperback copy of How I Lost You
• Giveaway is US only
• Giveaway will end August 30th
• Must be an adult of have parents permission to enter
• Must fill out form below to enter

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