Deeper by Robin York's ~ Character Interview & Tour Stop

DEEPER Synopsis:

In this New Adult debut by Robin York, a college student is attacked online and must restore her name—and stay clear of a guy who’s wrong for her, but feels so right.

When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.

They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

Advance praise for DEEPER:

“The perfect new adult story . . . West will make you swoon!”—New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy

“Beautifully written and full of swoony tender moments, toe-curling chemistry, and delicious, twisty angst . . . Stop whatever you’re doing and read this book.”—Christina Lauren, author of the Beautiful Bastard series

Character Interview with Caroline

Hey Caroline, thanks for agreeing to talk to me.

Thanks for having me! Happy to be here.  

Your story appeals to me because I’m a teacher.  I teach a unit on sexting. 

One of the assignments I give is to write a letter to your future self who is about to send that sexy picture to the boy/girl friend.  If I gave you that assignment, what would tell yourself?

You know, this is such a good question. There was a time when I might have said, flat out, DON'T. Don't do it, because you'll regret it. Don't do it, because you can never know at the time the pictures are taken if you'll regret it later. You never know who you can trust really, and you'll never understand how it can change you — how your whole life can feel ruined, your sense of self transformed completely when your intimate pictures show up on the Internet.

And it's not that I feel, now, that all of that is bad advice — it's not. But I think we need to be aware of what we're saying when we tell people DON'T, because, for one thing, a lot of people are going to hear that and just DO anyway. And for another thing, I think it strips people of their agency when we tell them what they should and shouldn't do or inform them, from some vantage point of age or experience, that we know better than they do.

So what I would say now, after everything that's happened to me, is just this: "Before you let him take those pictures, listen to yourself. Ask yourself why you're letting this happen. What do you want? Is this really an act of intimacy, or trust? What does your gut say? How do you feel?" I would tell myself, "How you feel about this matters. It's important. Don't push it aside, because this is your sexuality, your choice, your life tied up in your decision. Make sure it's what you really want."

What have you learned about picking up pieces and moving on?

I've learned that the only person who's allowed to define how I feel about my sexuality is me. And that's a liberating place to be at, because if you let society define whether you're a good girl or a bad girl, an angel or a slut, then you're going to find yourself at the mercy of a system that's hypocritical and cruel, and you're going to learn that your happiness is irrelevant to that system.

I've learned, too, that the people worth loving aren't the ones who make us feel like we might never be good enough, but the people who help us become the best versions of ourselves. For me, that's West. It's always going to be West.

The first time you met West, what did you think?

I'm not sure I was capable of speech. I was too busy fainting.

Can you describe West in 5 words for me.

Smart, tireless, curious, loyal, persistent.

Tell me something about West that we don’t learn in the book.

He's an artist.

What about you, something we don’t learn about you in the book.

I'm going to be president someday — wait and see.

If you could spend the perfect day with West, what would you do, where would you go?

We've never gotten to be together in the summer. I think if I could, I'd take him to the Iowa State Fair. We'd eat fried food and go on the rides, and we'd wander in and out of the livestock barns and pet the rabbits, and he could win me some ridiculous stuffed animal and hold my hand on the Ferris wheel. That would be a good way to spend a day. Although to be honest, any time I get to spend with West feels pretty close to perfect.

If you could have one wish, no questions asked, what would it be?

To keep him.

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?

I'm not sure I believe in changing the past. I think we have to live through things that are hard in order to learn and become the people we are. I'd rather be who I am now, because of the bad stuff that's happened to me, than go back and erase the bad stuff.

Anything else you'd like to tell my readers?

I hope they'll give our story a try. I can't promise they'll love it, but I can promise it won't be quite what they expect. And I'll say, too, that this is a story for girls and women. It's about who we are, finding our strength, what makes us powerful.

Randomness:

M&M or skittles? M&Ms

Burger or steak? Burger

Mountains or ocean? Ocean

Day or night? Night

Brown or Blue eyes? Blue

Blond or brown hair? Brown

iPod or streaming? Streaming

DVD or movie theater? DVD

Thanks for talking to me Caroline.  Can’t wait to read your story.

Thanks for having me! Hope it's everything you're looking for.

Robin York Bio:

Robin York grew up at a college, went to college, signed on for some more college, and then married a university professor. She still isn’t sure why it didn’t occur to her to write New Adult sooner. Writing as Ruthie Knox, she is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary romance, including RITA-finalists About Last Night and Room at the Inn. She moonlights as a mother, makes killer salted caramels, and sorts out thorny plot problems while running, hiking, or riding her bike.

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Deeper Blog Tour

January 24

Romance Addict-Excerpt & Review
Stories & Swag-Review
Fictitious Delicious-Review

January 25

Dream Within A Dream-Playlist
Behind Closed Covers-Review
The Procrastinator’s Corner-Review

January 26
Three Girls & A Book Obsession-Review
The Book Lovers Codex-Review
Kats Read-Review

January 27

Shelf Pleasure-Author Interview
Stay Bookish-Review
Hooked On Books-Review

January 28

Anna’s Book Blog-Review
Steamy Guys After Dark-Character Interview (West) & Review
Sticky Reads-Review

January 29

Ramblings From This Chick-Excerpt & Review
A Novel Idea-Review
Forever Me Romance-Review

January 30

All Romance Reviews-Review
Bookish Treasures-Guest Post & Review
The Reading Date-Review

January 31

XPresso Reads-Dream Cast & Review
The Indie Express-Review

February 1

Books To Light Your Fire-Review
Electively Paige-Guest Post

February 2

BiblioBelles-Review
Reading Between the Wines-Excerpt

Confessions of a BookWhore-Review

February 3

Starbucks N Books Obsession-Excerpt & Review
FicTalk-Review
Not Everyone’s Mama-Review

February 4

Books Over Boys-Author Interview
I Dare You To Read-Review
Reading A Little Bit Of Everything-Review

February 5

Fiction Fare-Guest Post
Dirty Girl Romance-Review
Red Hot + Blue Reads-Review

February 6

Stuck in Books-Character Interview (Caroline)
Keep Calm & Read Romance-Review
Lustful Literature-Review
Falling in Fall Book Blog-Review

February 7

Books, Books, Books-Review
FicCentral-Review
Rumpled Sheets Blog-Review

February 8

Crazy Book Chicks-Review
A Life Bound By Books-Guest Post & Review

February 9

The Book Lovers-Review
Love Words N Books-Guest Post & Review
My Favorite Things-Review

February 10

Cocktails & Books-Excerpt & Review
Gone With The Words-Review
Nerd Alert Book Love-Review