Amy Sparling's Blog

Chapter 1 – Keanna

I stab my fork into a golden, perfectly seasoned French fry that’s covered in melty cheddar and drizzled with ranch. Not the store bought ranch, but the good stuff that only restaurants have. The Main Street Diner has outdone themselves tonight. Why our small town eatery isn’t famously featured on every food TV show is a mystery I’ll never understand. 

I shove the gooey delicious bite in my mouth and close my eyes. “Cheesy fries are the greatest food in the entire world.”

“Agreed,” Jett says, reaching across the table and stabbing one of my fries with his fork. 

I swat his hand away. “Get your own, Mister-I-ordered-regular-fries!”

He laughs and quickly shoves the fry in his mouth so I can’t steal it back. “I’ll buy you more.”

”Don’t,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ve already gained five pounds this year…I can’t gain more.”

”You look sexy as hell,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows at me before taking a bite of his burger.

I roll my eyes. He always says stuff like that. He’s my husband, so he can’t help it. 

Our four-year-old runs up to our booth, her little hands grabbing the edge of the table. Her hair is dirty blonde with little wavy curls, just like her dad. She lifts one hand, palm up. “Can I have more quarters, Daddy?”

”I think you’ve had enough quarters,” I say, eyeing her arms which are covered in all the stickers she got from the quarter machines. Those little machines with their colorful lights and cartoon graphics all over them have a magical pull over children. This diner must make a ton of money from kids like mine.

”If my little girl wants more quarters, she can have more quarters,” Jett says, winking at her. He retrieves his wallet, takes out a few dollar bills, and flags our waitress to ask for change. Janet is our usual waitress, a mid-fifties widow with one of those amazing southern accents and a love of all things crochet, but today her younger daughter Chelsea is serving us. She brings back a handful of quarters in a paper cup.

”Well aren’t you just getting so big,” she says. “Last time I saw you, you were this little!” She puts a hand out that’s half as tall as our four-year-old. 

“I’m a big girl now,” she says, standing a little straighter before taking the cup of quarters and dashing back across the diner to her beloved sticker machines. It’s a small diner, and we can keep an eye on her the entire time, otherwise there’s no way I’d let her leave our table without us.

”She is just the cutest thing,” Chelsea says.

Jett watches her load the machine with a quarter and smiles. 

“Our little Renesme.”

Chelsea’s eyebrow quirks. It’s the same stunned, awkward look everyone gets when Jett tells someone that our daughter’s name is Renesme.

Luckily, he’s only joking.

“That is not her name,” I say, rolling my eyes.

”Oh, that’s good,” Chelsea says.

“You think you’re so funny,” I tell Jett.

He laughs. “I am funny!”

Chelsea’s brows pull together and then she snaps her fingers. ”Isn’t that the name from Twilight?”

“Yep. You let your husband watch one movie series with you and he never lets it go.”

”That movie was crazy,” he says. “She named her kid Renesme!” He smacks his palm on his leg as he bursts out laughing. “Renesme!”

“The rest of the story was good,” I argue, waving bye to Chelsea as she moves to take care of the new customers who just walked in. ”I mean, yeah I’m glad we didn’t name our daughter after our mothers, but the story was still good.”

”Becca and Bayleigh,” Jett says, pressing his lips together in thought. “Beckleigh… Bayca…”

”Beckleigh isn’t terrible actually…” I say. “It’s kind of cute but a little weird to say.”

He blows a raspberry. “Yes it is terrible.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter because that’s not her name.”

He nods. “Unlike Bella Cullen, we actually know how to name a child.”

I nod. “Now we just need to work on not spoiling her by giving her everything she wants all the time.”

He pretends to be offended. “I like giving her everything she wants all the time.”

I put my hands on my hips but I’m sitting in the diner booth so it doesn’t have the same effect as if I were standing. “I do, too, but we want to raise a good, well-adjusted kid, not a spoiled brat.”

”I give you everything you want,” he says, stealing another one of my cheese fries. “And you’re not a spoiled brat.”

”Maybe I am,” I say with a grin. His lips quirk up at the sides.

”Well, you’re my spoiled brat.”

Forever With You releases on November 28th! Pre-order it here:

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The Brazos High Romance Series has all new covers! These are Sweet and Clean YA Romances that are available in Kindle Unlimited. The next book, The Theory of the Boy Next Door, releases in November. 
You can pre-order it at the link below:

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Pre-order your copy here: https://books2read.com/SUEpilogues1

After getting dumped in the worst way—she found out over social media—Jules has decided she is absolutely Never. Dating. Ever. Again. Her junior year of high school will be focused solely on her studies, and she won’t so much as look at a boy. Everything is going really well – until the first day of school when she’s paired up with the hottest guy she’s ever seen.

Jake has an embarrassing secret: he’s never had a girlfriend. He couldn’t tell anyone his secret even if he wanted to, because no one would believe him. He’s cute…too cute. Girls are intimidated by him or they think he must be a player. Whatever the case, he’s tired of being voted Hottest Guy at Brazos High and not having a girlfriend to prove it.

When Jules and Jake are paired up as math partners for the year, Jake can’t shake the feeling that he should ask her out. But how can he get the courage when Jules is constantly giving off signals that she’s not into him?

The Brazos High Romance Series is a collection of flirty, sweet young adult novellas that each feature a different couple. They can be read in any order. Download your copy now and dive into the heartwarming romance!
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The three books below are FREE on all ebook retailers! Click the images to download your free books from the retailer of your choice.

These handsome dirt bike racers each meet the girl of their dreams. The Team Loco trilogy is a series of flirty, upper Young Adult contemporary romances. No cliffhangers, and all have a happily ever after. 


The full series is available now! 

Click here to get your copy on eBook, Paperback or free with Kindle Unlimited!


BOOK ONE

She never meant to fall for someone she can’t have. He never meant to let her. 

Bree Grayson may have graduated high school in her small Tennessee hometown, but she never got to leave it. She works as a maid with her mom and flags at the local motocross track on the weekends. It’s good money but it won’t get her out of Hopewell. She’s determined to make something of herself, but she’d settle for something—anything to get her out of this rut.

Zach Pena’s notorious motocross fame crashed and burned as quickly as he had risen to the top. He let the fame get to his head and the partying and girls took over his life. Now he’s off the race team. Determined to get back into the sport he loves, he moves back home to spend the summer focusing solely on motocross. Girls are off the menu. 

And then he runs into Bree. 

She’s gorgeous and sweet and everything he shouldn’t have this summer. He doesn’t recognize her as the girl from his childhood, but Bree knows exactly who Zach is. She’s only had a crush on him forever. She knows he’s a womanizer and too hot for his own good, but he’s fun. 

Bree doesn’t expect to fall for someone she can’t have. And Zach doesn’t expect to be pulled back into his world of fame before the summer is over. Will Bree finally be the girl to tame his wild ways? Or will their romance crash and burn?


BOOK TWO

"It’s just six weeks. Or forever. You choose.” 

Aiden is supposed to be traveling the country with his professional motocross racing team. He isn’t supposed to break his wrist over summer and be benched for the whole fall season. He definitely isn’t supposed to find himself falling for a hometown girl who loves dirt bikes as much as he does. 

And when her boyfriend cheats on her, he probably shouldn’t agree to be her fake boyfriend just to piss him off. 
But Aiden has never been good at doing the right thing.

Jenn’s relationship just fell apart. She thought she’d had it all: a hunky motocross racer boyfriend, an awesome job at her dad’s shop, and a promising career as a physical therapist on the horizon. Then it all falls apart, leaving her broken and hopeless. 
A fake relationship might get back at her ex, but there’s something in the way Aiden looks at her that doesn’t feel very fake at all. 

BOOK THREE

Clay Summers has a reputation for being a jerk. He was one of the youngest teenagers to be signed to Team Loco, a professional motocross racing team, and he knows it’s because of his dedication to the sport. Clay doesn’t have time for friends, family, or girlfriends. Autographs and publicity stunts annoy him to no end. All he wants to do is ride his dirt bike. 

Avery Dunn just graduated high school and she has no idea what to do next. Tired of living in her small town, she dreams of traveling the world and getting paid to do it. So when the perfect internship with Team Loco comes around, she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her spot on the team so she can travel the country as they go to races each week. 

Team Loco is determined to have a family friendly image, and Avery’s number one job is to make Clay become a team player with their fans. If she doesn’t get him to sign autographs, takes pictures, and smile more, she’ll be out of a job. She’s spent enough time with Clay to know there’s a little softness underneath his intimidating exterior, and before she knows it, she’s starting to fall for him. 

Little does Avery know, Clay might be falling for her, too.

If suntans, saltwater, and a stubbornly cute guy can’t save Hadley’s summer, nothing will.

Hadley Parrish is having the worst luck ever. Her boyfriend dumped her for social media fame, her stepsister got into Harvard the day Hadley failed chemistry, and now she’s been blamed for a crime she didn’t do. As punishment, she’s sent to Sterling Beach for the summer to learn some “work ethic” and “manners” from her grumpy grandfather who she barely knows.

The beautiful beach is no match for Hadley’s epically bad mood, and she’s determined to spend every second of the summer locked in her room brooding. Her grandfather’s only rule is that she has to come out once a week, for Friday night poker. Hadley wants to protest, but then she meets her grandfather’s favorite poker player, Jeremy, the unbelievably cute guy who lives next door. Jeremy sees things differently after being granted a miraculous second chance at life. He’s not about to let Hadley’s bad mood ruin the best years of her life. In fact, he’s going to make it his mission to save her this summer. Even if it’s the hardest thing he’ll ever do.

Saving Hadley is a Boys of Summer Novella. If you like enemies-to-lovers, flirty banter, and page-turning sweet romance, this story is for you. It is a novella in the Boys of Summer series, a collaboration between several YA authors. They are all standalone stories that take place in the same fictional town. Escape to Sterling Beach today!
 

Saving Hadley releases on June 4th! Pre-order it for just 99c and then claim your pre-order goodies below.

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For the second time ever, I'm doing a pre-order campaign! How does it work? Simply pre-order Saving Hadley in eBook or Paperback, and then fill out the form below with proof of purchase and I'll send you 2 gifts!
A friendship bracelet (or anklet as I like to wear them!)A glitter vinyl hibiscus flower decal from NovaBookishThe colors will be randomly selected but if you have a strong preference, just let me know and I'll send you the color you want. :) 


Click here to claim your pre-order gifts!

Book 2 in my Love on the Track series releases on February 22nd! But you can read a sneak peek of the first chapter here. 
Missed book 1? Find it here on eBook, Paperback and in Kindle Unlimited.




Chapter OneBella
It’s just after midnight. I can hear my brother Brent’s phone playing music in the room next to mine. When he lived here full time, he’d always listen to music to fall asleep, and whatever tunes he was obsessed with at the time would soon become my favorite music, too. Now that he’s home from college, I guess not everything has changed. He’s taller, more muscular, and acts like he’s all grown up. But he still needs music to fall asleep. I finish drying my hair and then I sit on my bed, exhausted from the night, but somehow still unable to sleep. My body feels like every single nerve is awake and ready to party. I’m too excited. Too giddy, too surprised. Too… floaty. I’m so much of so many feelings right now. The greatest though, is pride. I look over at my nightstand, which is now the temporary home of my shiny new trophy. I’ll have to find the perfect place to display it tomorrow, but for now, it’s right here next to my bed. My smile widens. My new trophy is at least two feet tall, with a white marble stand two sparkly bluecolumns. At the top, there’s a little golden dirt bike with a guy on it. On the bottom, engraved in a small golden plate are the words:Women’s Class2ndPlaceNot bad at all for my first ever race. I may have had a dirt bike since I was six years old, but up until a few weeks ago, I only rode it for fun. I never tried to be particularly fast or talented, because it all seemed too impossible for me to achieve. I just rode around on the dirt bike track, jumping over small jumps, and having fun. It was my hobby, not my career or anything. I didn’t need to be fast or spend money on races that I had no chance of winning. But that all changed when I met Liam Mosely. He’s eighteen like me, but unlike me, he didn’t go to high school and waste all his days stuck in a stuffy building with demanding teachers and dramatic classmates. Instead, he’s been homeschooled while he focused solely on dirt bike racing, or motocross as it’s called professionally. He finally got good enough to race with a professional team last season, but then he was kicked off when he got into not one, but two fist fights with fellow racers. Fighting is unsportsmanlike and against the rules. He was kicked off Team FRZ Frame in a heartbeat, and they didn’t care that he had a good reason for doing what he did.Liam’s dad decided to exile him to spend the summer with his mom here in Roca Springs, Texas It's a teensy little country town that no one has ever heard of. And it’s where we met. He never did tell me why exactly he got into those fights that derailed his professional career, just that he had a good reason for it. My smile slips a little bit. I don’t want to be stupidly crushing on a guy with an anger problem. But the Liam I know doesn’t have one. I believe him when he says he’s not normally a fighter. Tonight I watched him back down from a bet with my brother. He could have gone out there and raced him and totally won because Liam is much faster than Brent. But he didn’t. He didn’t want to fight, didn’t want to cause any more bad blood. So whatever reason made Liam punch those other guys, I’m sure it was justified. Because I hate the idea of crushing on a guy who talks with his fists. Not that it matters, by the way. I totally can’t crush on Liam Mosely.Even though I just kissed him.I swear my heart is still beating twice as fast as it should be, even though the night is over. The races are over, and that kiss is over. I came home and ate dinner and showered and now I’m still feeling that dizzying rush of adrenaline and excitement. I guess nights like this will take a while to get over. I participated in my first ever motocross race and kissed the hottest guy I’ve ever kissed, all in one night. And now I have a shiny trophy and the memories of Liam’s soft lips to remember it by. This was a good night. But it can never happen again. I definitely want to race again, maybe even race several more times. But that kissing Liam thing? Never again. Sure, he’s crazy hot and talented and always seems to listen when I’m talking to him, but he’s not boyfriend material. Boyfriends don’t move back home at the end of summer, and that’s exactly what Liam will be doing. He’ll try to get picked back up on another professional race team and I’m sure it’ll happen for him. He’s too good of a racer to be left out in the cold. He’ll get picked up, and he’ll race professionally again, and he’ll become even more famous and even bigger of a deal than he is now. He’ll meet some charming supermodel or maybe even an actress—whoever she is, she’ll be gorgeous and perfect—and they’ll fall in love and get married and he’ll forget all about little ol’ me, Bella Castro, the random girl from a small town who kissed him one night after a race. I take a deep breath and pull down the sheets on my freshly made bed. It’s time to go to sleep. Otherwise I’ll just sit here and stare at my trophy and think about him all night. I may not be a psychologist, but I know that’s not healthy. I crawl under the covers and lay down, listening to the gentle beat of Brent’s music from his bedroom. One full song plays. Then another. Then five more. Ugh, I can’t sleep. I roll over in bed and grab my phone off the nightstand. My mom hates cell phones because they take away too much of our time. I was one of the last people in school to get my own phone because she hated them so much, but finally when I turned sixteen and started driving, my dad convinced her that I needed one for safety reasons. Mom says you can’t enjoy real life when you’re looking at a phone all day. I get it, kind of. But my real life happens to be on my phone. I check Snapchat and then Instagram, where I scroll through beautiful photos and weird photos and memes until my eyes hurt. It’s just after one in the morning. I’m still not tired. My phone lights up. Liam: You awake?Oh crap. He’s texting me! In the middle of the freaking night. I should put my phone away. I should turn it off and go to sleep. But…Me: YupMy phone rings. It’s not just a phone call – Liam Mosely is Facetiming me at one in the morning. Oh crap. Oh crap, oh crap.I’m wearing Mickey Mouse pajamas and my hair is in a bun and I have no makeup on! This is not okay! But maybe that’s for the best. If Liam sees me looking like all gross, maybe he’ll realize that it’s pointless to keep up this flirting thing with me. Maybe he’ll stop calling, stop hanging out with me at the track, stop being my friend. Then maybe I can finally get over him and move on with my life. I sit up in bed and I answer the call. “You’re up pretty late,” I say in a voice just above a whisper. Brent is in the next room over, after all and he will flip if he knows I’m talking to Liam.Liam is wearing a black shirt, and he looks just as heart-crushingly hot as ever. He smirks. “You’re one to talk.”I roll my eyes. “I was about to go to sleep.”“Want me to let you go?”I shake my head. “I can talk. What’s up?”“Why are you whispering?” he says, leaning closer to the phone when he says the last word. I feel a blush creep to my cheeks. “My brother is in the next room,” I say. “It’s better if he doesn’t wake up.”Liam’s expression goes from playful to somber. “I tried to talk to him. Before your race started, just him and me.”“What?” My eyes widen at my outburst and I remind myself to go back to a whisper. “You did? What did you say?” He shrugs one shoulder, then lays back in his bed. He’s holding the phone above him and I can almost imagine that I’m standing in his room looking down at him while he lays in bed. The thought does weird things to my stomach. “I told him I was sorry,” Liam says. “He didn’t seem to care.”“Wow.” Brent hadn’t told me about this. He was excited for my first race and he was happy for me on the whole drive home, but he never mentioned this.“He just needs time,” I say, and for all I know, that’s probably a lie. My brother hates Liam. I don’t think he’ll stop hating him any time soon, unfortunately.Liam’s lips twist into a smile. It’s a little forced, like maybe he’s trying not to think about my brother’s lack of goodwill toward him. “So what did you think of your first race?”“It was exhilarating. And amazing,” I say. I want to lay down, too, but that feels somehow too intimate. So I keep sitting up on my bed, looking at my phone for the video chat. “It was scary, too, but mostly fun. I owe it all to you.”“Nah, you did this. It was all you.”I shake my head. “You gave me the skills and the confidence to race. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to get out there and race.”His eyes soften. “I’m glad you had a good time. My first race was a disaster.”“Oh yeah?”He nods. “I was six years old and I thought I was a little badass.” He chuckles at the memory. I had drank a whole bottle of chocolate milk on the drive to the track, and it was the middle of the summer, so it was like a hundred degrees outside. I was so nervous, and it was so hot, and when I was at the starting line, my stomach started hurting. All I had all day was that chocolate milk. No food, no water. And then halfway through the race, it came back up.” He cringes at the memory. “I puked half curdled, hot, chocolate milk while I was riding. It got all over my helmet and my clothes. It was so gross.”“Eww!” I say with a laugh. “That’s awful.”“Yeah it was,” Liam says with a smile that makes my own stomach hurt. “I didn’t even finish the race. My very first race, and I got a DNF.”“I’m sorry,” I say. “Nah, it’s all good. I went back the next weekend, and my dad made sure I didn’t have any chocolate milk. I think I got tenth place. I sucked. But I didn’t care, I just wanted to keep racing until I won.”“And how long did that take?” I ask. His teeth bite down on his bottom lip. “Longer than I care to admit.”“Whaaaat?” I say sarcastically. “You mean the great Liam Mosely wasn’t always a winner?”“Not even close.” He turns on his side to talk to me. Now it looks like we’re laying next to each other… if, well, if I was his phone. I’d be right next to him.“I think I was around eight or nine before I won a race. It was hard. It took a lot of work, and my dad only brought me to the track. He’d sit on his phone or his laptop the whole time, doing work. He couldn’t teach me anything because he didn’t ride dirt bikes, and he didn’t care about the sport. I think he just kept taking me to the track because he felt bad about the divorce. But I kept riding, and I learned from watching others, and soon I got better.”I yawn. “When did your parents divorce?”“When I was six.”“Wow, me too,” I say. “I hated it. Brent didn’t really care much. Or at least he acted like he didn’t care. My parents are still friends, though.”“Yeah, mine are too.” He shrugs. “Kind of. My mom got remarried, and she’s pretty happy now. Phil is a good guy.”“Plus she lives in Roca Springs, so clearly your mom is awesome,” I say with a grin.He rolls his eyes. “I don’t know about that.  I prefer the big city life.”We keep talking, about our childhood memories, and dirt bikes, and television shows. I don’t know when it happens, but soon I’m lying down, too, watching Liam through the phone while he lays in his bed. We talk about a lot of things. And we don’t talk about that kiss we shared tonight. I find myself staring at his lips while he talks, imagining what it would be like to kiss him again. For real this time. Not as a silly bet. Not as a joke.Another yawn overtakes me. “I should let you get to sleep,” Liam says, his voice soft and soothing. He’s nothing like the arrogant version of himself that’s often portrayed on YouTube or articles from motocross magazines. He’s sweeter in real life. “I don’t want to go to sleep,” I say, just as my stupid mouth betrays me and breaks into a yawn again. He laughs. “It’s almost three in the morning.”“Really?” I say, glancing at the time. “Wow.”“Go to bed,” Liam says, peering softly into the phone. He looks so cute right now, his hair all messy on his pillow. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”I nod as I yawn again. “Okay. Goodnight.”I hang up and drop my phone on the nightstand. Then I sink into my pillow and close my eyes. My whole body feels warm, electrified. I’m really not supposed to have a crush on Liam Mosely. But right now, I don’t really care.

It's a new year and I have a new series! The Love on the Track series features two new characters and a small Texas motocross track! With cameos from Team Loco sprinkled throughout, you'll love Bella and Liam's adventure as they navigate their enemies-to-lovers relationship.

The first book releases on February 8, 2019. Check out the summary below:


Roca Springs might be a small, boring Texas town. But it’s my town. I’m about to graduate high school and I plan on spending every second of my summer break at the local motocross track. I need the lowkey vibes of a dirt bike track because my best friend is too stuck on her boyfriend to hang out anymore, and after royally humiliating myself in front of my crush, I have no desire to date any time soon. Dirt bikes are my passion. Not guys.
The last thing I need is for disgraced motocross star Liam Mosely to show up. He was kicked off his professional race team for being a stuck up, cocky, arrogant jerk, and after spending one day with him, I can’t say I disagree.
The guy is trouble.
But he’s also super hot.
Something tells me this summer won’t go according to plan.  
Bella and the New Guy is the first book in the Love on the Track Series, a clean, sweet young adult romance.