Today I’m part of the book release tour of Kitsy Clare’s new adult novella, Model Position, with a fun review! PLUS enter the cool giveaway below to win a Kindle with built in Wi-Fi, $50 Amazon gift card, books, and other goodies!
Kitsy also writes young adult fiction under the name, Catherine Stine. She is an award-winning author and you can catch my review of her acclaimed YA futuristic thriller Fireseed One novel here.
But today we’re talking about love and art! Don’t you adore this sweet cover? —>>>>
“Kitsy Clare paints a provocative picture with words – a sexy montage of art, beauty, lust and love as colorful as any artist’s canvas.” -Share my Destiny, romance book blogger
ABOUT MODEL POSITION:
For Sienna, love and art are perilous games. Is she ready to take that gamble?
Sienna is a beautiful, talented artist poised on the precipice of soaring into the glamorous, yet cutthroat Manhattan art scene.
Dave Hightower is a hooked-up, handsome heir to the hippest gallery in NYC, Gallery Hightower.
Erik is the live drawing model with his sizzling green eyes fixed only on Sienna.
Three’s a crowd, so Sienna must make a choice: date Dave and ride the fast track to landing a show at Gallery Hightower and hobnobbing with the art glitterati, or follow her heart and take a chance with Erik, the stunning male model who’s stealing her heart. But Erik has some worrisome secrets, and who in their right mind would make live modeling their career?
Dare Sienna throw away her chances of hitting it big to follow her heart?
MY REVIEW:
In Model Position, Kitsy Clare delivers a sweet, sexy tale with an ending for those who pine for happily ever after. Sienna, our main gal (with a great color for a name), is an artist torn between following her passions and following practicality to get ahead. Which will she choose – the promise of success or the promise of love? I won’t spoil it, but it sure is a fun, breezy ride to find out.
Clare’s background as an artist shines through as she paints scenes with splashes of color that infuse us, not just with brilliance, but scent and touch as well. People are described by Sienna with a true artist’s eye: splot, buttery, pine sap, spicy lime, gold-dusted.
In Model Position we roll in a world of color where art is both visual and hands on. And Clare does a wonderful job of showing us art through multiple senses. Painting is like making love, a dash, a blend, a stroke – and making love is like making art with strokes of each brush dancing skin on skin in a masterpiece all its own.
Sienna tends to place people in boxes and this is her Achilles Heel as she sees rich Dave as one who can offer the world and sexy Erik as one who can only offer love. While Erik seemed a bit too perfect and Dave seemed a bit too egotistical in the beginning, we come to understand that this is Sienna’s perception of them. They are neither all that they seem.
And in order to be true to herself, Sienna must learn to see the world as gray, not black and white. It’s up to her to break away from her stereotypical thinking to find all she desires. Can she do it? For a fun, romantic read in an afternoon – find out for yourself!
EXCERPT:
Dave Hightower catches me admiring him and grins. “Ready for our date later?”
I just met him two weeks ago, and he asked me out during our last class. I’m looking forward to it and to getting to know him—and his family’s gallery—better.
“Sure, where are we going?”
“I’ll take you over to Studio Hightower, my aunt’s gallery,” Dave suggests offhandedly, as if I am not already completely aware and awed. It’s been all Merry, Harper, and I have viagra talked about since we found out Dave was in this class. My two best friends here share charcoal sticks, drawing paper, and essential buzz. “There’s a show at Hightower you’ll like,” adds Dave, “of wildly painted neon environ-scapes.”
I nod. Sounds off-putting. I prefer the order of photorealism and crisp digital art, but I keep my mouth shut. After all, it’s Dave Hightower.
Anyone who has talent and ambition would kill for a solo show in Studio Hightower. It’s on WestTwenty-Second Street in the heart of Chelsea, the hottest gallery district in Manhattan.
“Hey, always up for new art,” I say. “I like wild art done by a loose hand.”
“Manually manipulated is the way to go,” Dave says suggestively as he waggles his eyebrows and puts his fingers into plastic gloves.
Plastic gloves for painting? Germaphobe. I’m a clean freak, and even I don’t do that. I quickly ease my judgmental cringe into a fetching grin as I search for a funny comeback. “I wonder who our next model will be. Do you think Mr. Court Jester will make a repeat appearance?”
“I’m betting on Nightgown Lady.” Dave squeezes out his last color with an oozy splot.
The teacher, a soft-spoken man in faded corduroys and wire glasses, announces that the model will be out momentarily. From across the room, I exchange anticipatory glances with my friends, Harper and Merry, and pantomime a fake drum roll. They snicker and do drum rolls back. The class turns its attention to the small stage in front of our easels. It’s been set up with risers and a red velvet curtain, as if it’s a Broadway production.
Then the model emerges, and I almost spill my cappuccino on Dave’s shoes.
The sexiest male muse I’ve ever laid eyes on pads out, all oiled coordination and sleek muscles. He’s at least six-four, and every chest muscle ripples and cuts in the right place. His hair’s sandy and shaggy, and his jaw is square and resolute with a gold-dusted five-o’clock shadow. But it’s his eyes that strike me most; they’re emerald green with a slight upward slant toward each cheekbone, as if he hiked all the way here from a northern land of sun and wind.
He arranges himself on a leopard-skin rug, wearing only a suede thong, and glances around at us artists. As I adjust my canvas and flip my hair back, his smoking green eyes settle on me. I could swear they’re looking right into me and seeing my fascination. I’m melting and hyperventilating all at once.
In the corner of my vision, I see Dave Hightower lean toward me for my reaction, but I can’t look away from the model—I don’t want to. I’m imagining myself on that leopard-skin rug, doing some private poses with him, and the fantasy has me blushing as permanent rose as the paint on my palette.
BUY MODEL POSITION:
Amazon
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Inkspell Publishing
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
When Kitsy Clare isn’t creating stories on her favorite Mac Air, she teaches speculative fiction and creative writing workshops. She also loves to draw, travel, read spicy romance, sci-fi and all kinds of thrillers. She divides her time between New York City and her studio in the Catskills, where she enjoys the sounds of birds, bullfrogs and the random coyote.
Kitsy Clare is the pen name for her new adult romance. She also writes young adult fiction using her real name, Catherine Stine. Her YA futuristic thriller, Fireseed One won finalist spots in both YA and Science Fiction in the 2013 USA Book News International Book Awards. It was also granted an Indie Reader Approved notable stamp. Her YA Refugees, earned a New York Public Library Best Book. Ruby’s Fire, the new companion novel to Fireseed One, is receiving high praise from reviewers. She’s a member of SFWA, SCBWI and CBIG. She can be found on www.catherinestine.com, www.catherinestine.blogspot.com, and https://twitter.com/crossoverwriter
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Giveaway & Review: Model Position by Kitsy Clare