Stephanie Elliot puts her book to music...plus a giveaway!

Introduction by Melissa Amster

***Giveaway is now closed***

Stephanie Elliot is back and this time she has a full-length novel to share with us! It's her debut, as well. You may remember that she wrote a novella called The Cell Phone Lot last year. (Only 99 cents for Kindle...hint, hint.)

We're very proud of Stephanie because we know that becoming published is no easy feat in this day and age. As Stephanie's blog was one of the inspirations for this blog (especially in terms of giveaway bonus questions), maybe her novel will inspire me to write a novel! One can only dream...

If you haven't visited Stephanie's blog, Booking with Manic, you definitely should go over there right now and get to know her better. She features a lot of the latest and greatest in chick lit, as well as some other treats. That's why Chick Lit is Not Dead chose it for their current Blog of the Month! She currently has a HUGE giveaway going on until April 29th (US/Canada only), so don't forget to enter for a chance to win lots of books! In the meantime, she's sharing an e-book (Kindle only) of What She Left Us with one lucky reader anywhere in the world...RIGHT HERE!

You can also find Stephanie at her website, Facebook and Twitter.

As a fun preview of what we have in store for International Chick Lit Month (in a week or so from now), Stephanie is sharing the soundtrack of her novel!

WHAT SHE LEFT US
By Stephanie Elliot

When Melissa asked me to contribute a Five Bests to Chick Lit Central we talked about maybe the Five Songs of my life and then I thought that would be major boring snore fest.
There are a bunch of songs that surround the characters in What She Left Us so I thought it would be interesting to take you on a tour of what songs took place during some of the scenes in the book.

1. "Gravity" by John Mayer: When Courtney meets Mitch for the first time she hears him playing this song on his guitar. She is the RA and has to tell him to quit playing his guitar because it's after hours and other students are trying to sleep. But she can't seem to bring herself to knock on his door because she loves the song and he's playing so good. So she waits until the final riffs of the tune until she gently knocks on his door and when he opens the door she is greeted by… well, you'll have to read what happens next. Let's just say she does not leave his room until 3 a.m.!

2. Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over": When Jenna goes to Klippy's Bar for the first time and settles into the swiveling bar stool, this song is playing. She meets Clay and states that she wishes her 'Dog Days were over.' This is the start of a very unusual friendship.

3. "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer: In another scene at Klippy's, this time Jenna and Clay are having a fairly close-talking conversation that's not sexual in any way, yet Clay's hands are on Jenna's knees, and she can feel the heat rising through her body. Finally, the music changes to something "less take-me-to-bed." Jenna's not sure if she feels relieved or not.

4. "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison: I don't even know if any of the girls in the book have brown eyes because I like to leave a lot of the description up to the imagination of my readers. I DO know that Mitch, who is playing this song on his guitar at the lake for Courtney, has the MOST AMAZING eye lashes that she has ever seen on a guy EVER.

5. "Stay" by Rihanna: Well, I guess there are a lot of bar scenes because this song is being played at Klippy's and I just realized that the song that played before this one was Sugar Hill's Rap, which means this is a very eclectic bar, and one that I would TOTALLY want to hang out in — which is probably why I created it. Anyway, of course, this is another scene at Klippy's with Jenna and Clay. But listen up! THEY work there! They are friends! Because Jenna is engaged to Darren! Sort of. OK, not really, because Jenna broke off the engagement after her mother died. See, it's sort of screwed up really. You might just have to read the book to find out what it's all about.

Here's the synopsis of What She Left Us:
Jenna and Courtney are dealing with the unexpected death of their mother in different ways. Jenna broke off her engagement to the man she thought she'd love forever, while Courtney headed back to college to take charge of a dorm-floor full of college students as a resident assistant.

Six months later, Jenna is fueled by panic over the news that the sisters may have the same disease that caused their mother's death and she makes an irrational decision - she packs it up and heads to college to be with Courtney. The timing couldn't be worse for Courtney, who's discovering love for the first time with Mitch, a sexy guitar player who may just be off limits.

Emotionally unstable, Jenna wonders if she made the worst mistake of her life by breaking off her engagement with Darren, and when he shows up to make amends, she can't help but second-guess her decision. But then there's Clay, the compassionate bartender at Klippy's who seems to understand everything Jenna's going through. And those hazel eyes just seem to see right through to Jenna's soul…

As the girls maneuver through their unpredictable futures, trying to manage their new health risks as well as tumultuous love lives, Courtney finds a disturbing photograph that indicates there may be more to their family than she ever imagined.

This stunning revelation could shatter the sisters to the very core, making them question everything they thought they knew about their family, their faith, their past and, most of all, each other.

Thanks to Stephanie for sharing her novel's soundtrack with us and her book with our readers!

How to win What She Left Us:
Tell us about a decision that you have second-guessed after you made it.

One entry per person.

Please include your e-mail address or another way to reach you if you win. Entries without contact information will NOT be counted.

Giveaway ends April 28th at midnight EST.