#GuestPost from Glynis Astie ~ My First Book Boyfriend ~ and her #NewRelease Girls’ Night Out @GlynisAstie #TuesdayBookBlog

I’m delighted to welcome Glynis Astie back to Between The Lines. Glynis has written several wonderful guest posts previously including Tea and Harry Potter and The Philosophy of Yoda. Here, Glynis tells us about her first book boyfriend…..

It’s true what they say—you never forget your first. I remember it like it was yesterday. I took in his warm hazel eyes, his dark, curly brown hair and his beautiful boyish smile and I was done for.

Before he even opened his mouth. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But I swear, if I close my eyes and imagine the first time I came into contact with him, I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach. Ah, to be young and in love.

Gilbert Blythe was the first boy to capture my heart. My first official book boyfriend! Lucy Maude Montgomery knew how to write one heck of a hero. He had it all, my friends—charm, intellect, the aforementioned good looks and a determined air to win the heart of the most, er, challenging girl in school. No matter what Anne threw at him, he never wavered. That kind of devotion made me want to swoon.  (Jonathan Crombie in the 1985 TV mini-series Anne of Green Gables.)

Okay, so I must confess one teeny tiny thing. I actually saw the TV mini-series first. *Gasp* I know, I know! If you can believe it, I wasn’t much of a reader in my younger days—well, until I saw this mini-series and was inspired to read Anne of Green Gables. It was then that my journey into the literary world truly began. I wandered through all eight novels in the series in complete fascination, loving every single step. (Admittedly, picturing Jonathan Crombie as my Gilbert…)

How is a girl to return to the real world of dating after having such a perfect book boyfriend? Sadly, the journey was not fun. Having met Gilbert at the ripe old age of twelve didn’t help me navigate the sea of hormonally-challenged teenage boys in my midst. Little did I know that my book boyfriends would always meet a much higher standard than my actual boyfriends. Was this because the men in my favorite books were created by women or simply because they weren’t real? I’m sure we could debate the reasoning for quite some time.

In the end, I think Gilbert gave me more insight into what I really wanted out of a relationship than my first actual, hold-your-hand-in-public, introduce-him-with-his-title, boyfriend did. (I made excellent choices when I was younger. Not!) Those literary boys sure know how to melt our hearts. If only they could walk into the sunset with us.

If only they could…..Thanks so much, Glynis.

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Glynis’ new release, Girls’ Night Out. 

Jayne, Amanda and Holly have been through everything together. From triumph and heartache to panic and pure bliss, these girls have lived, learned and always had each other’s backs. With the arrival of adulthood, their daily gossip gatherings have dwindled to monthly margarita mixers, making girls’ night out absolutely integral to their survival. Problems with work, men and anything else under the sun now have to be broken down in a few inebriated hours.

Jayne is determined to become a respected news anchor or die trying. After enduring grueling schedules, humiliating assignments like the Great Herring Shortage of 2018 and her snobby mother’s continued insistence that life as a socialite is a much better option for a woman of her “age and abilities,” she is this close to reaching her goal. If only she weren’t so distracted by her insufferable new boss’ smoldering eyes…

Amanda thinks she has it all. She earns the big bucks, has an amazing fiancé and an attitude that just won’t quit. But when an unexpected event throws her life off course, she feels shaken to the red soles of her designer stilettos. Will her battle to regain her former equilibrium be too much for the girls and Countess Cherry Bomb, Amanda’s drag queen bestie, to handle?

Holly is lost. She’s tried every career from animal taming to human resources, but nothing seems to fit. After her latest round of bad decisions, she returns to her small hometown in Connecticut to try to figure out what to do next. If she could just stop pining over the boy next door—and keep her pushy friends out of her love life—she would have a real chance of getting her act together.

With a new year ahead of them, these girls are determined to conquer the world. Will they rise to the occasion or crumble in defeat? One thing’s for sure, their girls’ nights are going to be full of surprises!