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Release date: December 28, 2017

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Blurb:

With newsfeeds full of perfect pouts, hot-dog legs and the self-proclaimed hashtag-blessed, it’s hard not to feel inadequate. How has everyone figured out how to live their best life except you?

That’s what Kylie wants to know. She thought she would spend her twenty-fifth birthday having a mini-break not a mini-breakdown. After an evening of finger-food and snide remarks, Kylie decides that things must change. Naturally, Alexa disagrees. She doesn’t think anything needs to change and is quite happy plodding on with her best friend by her side. So, when everything changes for the better for Alexa, while it’s going from bad to worse for Kylie; will it tear them apart?

Hey guys, I hope the New Year is treating everyone right so far! I have a fabulous guest post from the author to share today.

Guest Post:

Girl-Meets-Girl

The Wrong Side of Twenty-Five is a love story. It might not be obvious looking at the title, front cover or blurb, but it is. It’s a love story, but not a romance. It’s not a romance and it’s not a boy-meets-girl. In fact, it’s a girl-meets-girl. It’s a girl-meets-girl-and-they-become-lifelong-friends kind of non-romantic love story. Wait, did I just create a new genre?

When I started writing this story, I knew I didn’t want it to be a romance. There’s nothing wrong with romance or stories about romance, but I just knew instinctively that this story wasn’t destined to be one. Maybe it’s because I’m not particularly romantic myself. I don’t care much for flowers and outlandish displays of affection. But love is different. Love isn’t only demonstrated by valentine’s day cards and romantic getaways. I don’t believe that the love you might have with a friend or family member is any less valid than one with a romantic partner.

In The Wrong Side of Twenty-Five, Kylie and Alexa are best friends. They have a kind of friendship where they know each other inside out. It’s a kind of friendship I’ve never experienced, which is possibly why I chose to write about it. I imagined a kind of best-friendship between Kylie and Alexa that was all-consuming and comforting. I imagined them talking all day, and knowing what the other is thinking and doing at any given time. It’s an intimate relationship without a sexual aspect.

As both Kylie and Alexa are single, they turn to each other as their primary source of love and reassurance and happiness. They like to consult one another on life choices and seek approval of the other in everything they do. This is normal, but not always healthy. When Alexa gets a promotion at work, she can’t wait to tell Kylie her news. That is, until Kylie finds herself fired. Alexa doesn’t see how she can tell Kylie given her new circumstances. The same happens soon after when Alexa starts seeing Shaun, just as Kylie is dumped. Although uncomfortable and awkward, Alexa should find a tactful way to break her news to Kylie. But instead, she feels so responsible for Kylie’s happiness that she instead decides to lead a double life: One where she is devoted entirely to Kylie and one where she is Kylie’s friend but also has an independent life. What could go wrong?

When Kylie inevitably finds out, she’s hurt, which is understandable. But she isn’t an appropriate amount of hurt, she’s lay-in-bed-eating-emergency-nutella devastated. She feels cheated and betrayed. A woman scorned, she confronts Alexa and like an atom splitting in to two, they blow up. After a huge fight, they separate, and their worlds change forever. So, actually, it’s a love story and a break-up story. It’s a girl-meets-girl-and-they-become-lifelong-friends-and-then-fall-out kind of non-romance love story. Catchy!

About the Author:

uthor: Kate Armitage

Author Bio: Kate Armitage is a writer from England who has three cats, two children and one husband. She lives an alarmingly conventional life which surprises everyone who speaks to her for more than five minutes. She spends her days knee-deep in play-doh and spends her nights elbow deep in manuscripts. Sometimes she lets the children also use the play-doh but only if they promise not to mix the colours.

You can find Kate on social media under @itskatearmitage or through her website www.katearmitageauthor.com.