Today I’m excited to participate in the Blog Tour of ‘Perfect
Escape’ by Gillian Felix. ‘Perfect Escape’ is the fourth book in the Family
Portrait Series. A couple of months ago I read the first book in this series
called ‘Changes’. I really enjoyed the first book so I’m really excited to participate
in the Blog Tour. 

Changes (Book 1)

Ready, Set, Drama

Adriana Banovic’s 15th birthday sucked! She got
fired after eight years of playing Shayanne Montgomery on the #1 soap in the
country, found out that her family was on the verge of bankruptcy and worst of
all, forced to return to Westwood Academy. Her only saving grace was a chance
glance at dreamy mystery boy Haze Lyndon. Armed with only his picture and a
determination to find him—even if it means turning Los Angeles over on its ass.

In this new adult novel you’ll meet Robin Banovic,
Adriana’s father; financially challenged, dealing with the death of a family
member and his brother’s disappearance. You’ll meet Savannah DaCosta aka Savi,
mother/manager; Savi enjoys the life her rock star daughter Leighann has
provided. When Leighann makes a choice to end her career, Savi sees it as a
personal attack.

You’ll meet college boy Haze Lyndon; New to Los Angeles,
Haze soon realizes how quickly money changes hands in the City of Angels. Will
he return to questionable ways to survive or go back to the safety of his
family in Wisconsin?

‘Changes’ is available at Amazon.

Banovic Siblings (Book 2)

Blackmail is a gift that keeps on giving.

College boy Kevin Banovic’s casual affair with Savi
DaCosta suited him perfectly. Things change when he finds out that Savi is his
mom’s high school bestie. When Kevin tries to end their affair, Savi blackmails
him. After Kevin rescues Savi’s stepdaughter, L’Wren, from her abusive
boyfriend, he can’t stop thinking about her. He must find a way to handle Savi,
protect L’Wren, and keep his sanity.

Bad girl Adriana Banovic is pleased with herself for
getting her nemesis expelled from Westwood Academy. As feelings between her and
her latest victim Haze Lyndon escalate, an unexpected rival discovers her
secret and threatens to expose her. With emotions on the line, will her new
rival beat her at her own game or end up another casualty of Adriana’s wrath?

Zax Banovic has it all. Tall and handsome, he’s an
academic genius, with a killer smile and a heart of gold. When his best friend
gets into trouble, he feels responsible and covers for him. But his best friend
is not as honorable and has other plans for Zax.

‘Banovic Siblings’ is available at Amazon. 

Bastard’s Brew (Book 3)

Everything we touch we destroy

When L’Wren’s ex-boyfriend Jeff suddenly disappears, she
turns to Kevin to help her find him. With one phone call, Kevin makes sure that
Jeff stays hidden and that L’Wren’s heart is broken, leaving the door open for
Kevin to pursue her. But Kevin is not as free as L’Wren thinks; she is in the
dark about his affair with her stepmother, Savi. Savi constantly reminds Kevin
of his devious ways and uses their secret to keep him as her toyfriend.

“You don’t deserve to be loved, and you don’t deserve to
be happy. You and I are the same … we’re broken inside. Everything we touch, we
destroy. We don’t get happily ever after … we don’t get to ride off into the
sunset. You know who gets that? L’Wren … she gets it, she gets the guy, and she
deserves a decent guy.”- Savi

Kevin desires to be the man that L’Wren deserves, but
before he can assume the role of white knight, he brews one last plan to get
rid of Savi for good. Will L’Wren, the innocent victim in their twisted game,
become a casualty?

Kevin may have sold his body to the devil in stilettos,
but he’d be damned if he let her have his heart. 

‘Bastard’s Brew’ is available at Amazon. 

Perfect Escape (Book 4)

One person’s perfect escape is another’s perfect hell.

In this coming-of-age story, teen singing sensation
Leighann DaCosta tries to find out who she is without her music career. A
career that has been part of her life since before the age of ten. When
Leighann’s estranged father enters her life, she is caught up in a tug-of-war
between both parents. Does she trust the man who abandoned her as a baby, or a
mother who is losing her mind?

When heartthrob Zax Banovic is assigned to tutor
Leighann, he provides her with the perfect escape from the madness in her life.
Enter Kristin Newman, Zax’s super-hot, sickeningly perfect, tennis-pro
girlfriend, who dampens any chance Leighann has with him.

After the unthinkable happens, Leighann’s world is
shattered, causing her to shut everyone out. Unable to cope, Leighann accepts
help from her frenemy, but will the help she accept come with a hefty price?

‘Perfect Escape’ is available at Amazon.

You can also visit Barnes & Noble for a copy of the Family Portrait Series.

A couple of months ago I read ‘Changes’ Book one in the
Family Portrait series by Gillian Felix. So when Gillian asked me if I wanted
to read Book four ‘Perfect Escape’ for her new blog tour I immediately agreed.
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and since you can read this one
as a standalone I was really excited.

In ‘Perfect Escape’ we read about teen singing sensation,
Leighann DaCosta. From the moment I started reading about Leighann I really
liked her character. Leighann is fifteen years old and has been a singer since
she was really young. Leighann loves singing but mainly she sings because her
mom, Savi loves the attention of having a famous daughter. So when Leighann
decides to stop singing and finish high school, Savi is furious. I loved how
Leighann chose for herself. She never wanted to be a singer and just wanted to
finish high school and be a ‘normal’ person. I thought it was a very admirable
thing to do.

I seriously hated reading about Savi. She was just a
terrible mother and person, if you ask me. Savi made Leighann feel like her
life was a disaster because because Leighann was so selfish to choose for
school. Reading about Savi just made me really angry. What a terrible person.

Although this book isn’t a very high quality written
novel, I did enjoy the story. Sometimes the time goes by very fast and
sometimes the story jumps to another point of view very fast (a little too fast
in my opinion). But the characters where interesting and I really wanted to
know what would happen next in Leighann life.

The way Gillian Felix described Savi, Leighann’s mother,
was definitely very impressive. Savi was a terrible selfish mother and reading
about her really made me hate her. So Gillian really wrote in a way I could
totally imagine Savi being a real person. And boy would I have loved to slap
her in the face.

This book is definitely an interesting one. I can’t wait
to see what more stories Gillian has in store for us.

Seventeen-year-old Zax Banovic was tall, gorgeous and
smelled like citrus with a hint of musk. His sandy blond hair, mesmerizing blue
eyes, and kissable lips complemented his athletic body perfectly. Leighann
DaCosta, like many other girls at Westwood Academy, got an eyeful when he ran
out of the boys’ locker room in his underwear chasing some girl down the halls
of Westwood Academy. Leighann blushed when she saw his ripped abs, tight ass
and generous package filling out his heather gray CK briefs. Since then, he
frequented her dreams a million times, but instead of chasing after another
girl, he ran to her, pinned her up against the lockers and ravaged her.

In reality, Zax represented the other half of Westwood
Academy’s super couple…

Kristin (The Bod) Newman was the lust object of every boy
at Westwood Academy. She was the school’s tennis champ and well on her way to
going pro. Girls hated her, not because of her killer legs or the way she
rocked her tennis outfits, but because she was dating Zax Banovic. They were
the Brad Pit and Jennifer Aniston (pre-Angelina) of Westwood Academy. Together
they were known as ZaxTin. Together, Zax and Kristin were sickeningly perfect.
They walked the halls of Westwood Academy cooing at each other, totally wrapped
up in their own universe.

Zax was the first boy who had taken Leighann out on a
date. She was so giddy with excitement that she didn’t realize that he’d only
ask her out to make Kristin jealous. Their second date (pre-Kristin) was
cleverly orchestrated by Zax’s bratty sister, Adriana, who used Leighann’s
crush on him as a bargaining chip.

Leighann opened her locker and glanced at the locker next
to hers. The locker, which now stood vacant, once belonged to Adriana Banovic.
Despite her prickly personality, Leighann missed her, and the school wasn’t the
same since she’d gotten expelled, or ‘transferred’ as they were calling it.
Adriana was interesting to watch, she had a way of twisting things to make it
work in her favor no matter how wrong it was. Leighann admired her confidence
and fearlessness as much as she admired her style risks. Adriana wore what she
wanted, when she wanted, and however she wanted. Her style was copied by several
imitators that had popped up since her expulsion ‘transfer’. The students of
Westwood Academy seemed to have a weird love-hate obsession with her. Even
though they missed her, no one ever dared come out and admit it.

 

When the bell to Math class rang, Leighann’s stomach
churned. She hated math and failed every test that she’d been given. She
desperately needed help, but was too ashamed to ask. When Mr. Wells, the Math
teacher, returned her test results, once again he asked to see her after class.
Leighann was used to their talks, and while Mr. Wells did his best to help her
with extra lessons, it took too much of his time. This time he presented her
with a possible solution; the Give Back Program. He explained that the
graduating seniors of Westwood Academy who excelled in a particular subject
would volunteer to tutor juniors who were struggling in their area of
expertise. The program had a 100 percent success rate, and he believed that the
success was because students learned better from their peers.

“The list of juniors waiting to get in the program
is very long, and we have more juniors waiting to get in than seniors willing
to tutor.”

“What are my chances of getting in?” Leighann
asked hopefully.

“You’re in,” Mr. Wells replied happily. He had
already enrolled her, knowing that she wouldn’t object. He suspected that she
wanted to do well.

Leighann was thrilled. She thanked him profusely and
received instructions to meet her tutor at the east campus library after
school.

Leighann waited outside of the library, where the other
juniors were gathered. One by one they paired off with their respective tutors
and disappeared. She prayed that her tutor would be patient and wouldn’t make
fun of her because she was a slow learner. Leighann often wondered if she had a
learning disability. All her life she’d had to fit her academic schedule around
her music career, and this was her first foray into institutionalized
education.

At the age of ten, Leighann won her first Grammy, and
since then, she’d had a career that most fifteen-year-old girls would kill for.
But she wasn’t happy and longed for a life outside of stardom. With the support
of her sister/confidante, she resigned from the music business at the height of
her career and faced scathing backlash from the press, the record label,
disappointed fans and especially her mother/manager.

Leighann’s quest for a normal life began when she moved
to California to live with her sister, L’Wren. She enrolled in Westwood Academy
of Higher Learning, the Rolls Royce of high schools in California and possibly
the country. Her father was an alumni, and recently she’d found out that her
mother was as well­—even though her mother never graduated. Leighann was
determined to graduate and possibly go on to college like L’Wren. The thought
of that excited her, but she doubted herself. What if she couldn’t cut it? What
if all she could do was sing and play instruments? Could she go back to the
industry that she’d shut the door on? The thought of that sent shivers down her
spine.

Almost twenty minutes had passed, and all the tutors and
tutees were paired up. Leighann began to wonder if she had been stood up by her
tutor. What if her tutor had found out that they were assigned to her and opted
for someone else? Leighann’s heart sank. She wanted to prove to her mother that
she was good at something other than singing and performing. Her mother had
beaten it into her brain that she would never amount to anything other than a
singer, and Leighann began to wonder if she was right. Maybe she should drop
out of school and beg the record label for another chance. Her songs were still
on the charts, and maybe it wasn’t too late. Leighann left the library
disappointed.

“LD!” she heard a familiar voice call out, and
footsteps running behind her. She froze; only one person on the planet called
her LD.

Oh God, please don’t let it be … she prayed, then turned
around.

“Sorry I’m late. Basketball practice went a little
long,” Zax apologized.

His eyes … those eyes … mesmerizing, seducing, enticing …
pulled her in.

When I sat down to write ‘Perfect Escape’ my mind was in
a different place. I had it all outlined and took out parts of the scripts to
include in the book (The Family Portrait series was originally written as a
television series. For more on that check out the fun facts page http://familyportrait.plaintalkbm.com/fun-facts-about-the-series/

While writing the characters interaction with each other,
the story took on a life of its own. I’ve known these characters for years but
putting them together in the book was much different than in the television
series.

‘Perfect Escape’ revolves around the life of singing
sensation Leighann DaCosta and the aftermath she faces from walking out on a
successful singing career in favor of high school. Leighann experiences her
first crush, has her first encounter with mean girls, and gets a glimpse of the
politics behind the prestigious Westwood Academy of Higher Learning… I’m glad
I’m no longer in high school!

Paring Leighann, Joel and Zax came much later in the
television series but I bumped it up to book 4. To do that, I had to make sure
that storyline wouldn’t unravel the other stories later on. So I got creative
and focused on their relationship. I let them tell me what they wanted to do in
this new situation. It took me a longer than usual to write Perfect Escape
because the dynamics were different. I also had Leighann interact more with her
estranged father. In the past, readers had only heard about him from her
mother’s skewed point of view. In Perfect Escape the audience gets to know him the
same time Leighann does.

On a personal note this book also helped strengthen my
relationship with my own father. When I started the book he was alive and well
and by the time the book was ready to be published, he died suddenly. So in
more ways than one my world has changed from the beginning to the end of this
book. I hope you will give this book a chance and see the bigger picture behind
the drama.

Gillian Felix was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. She
grew up watching night time soap operas by Aaron Spelling with her mother.
That’s where her obsession with rich, powerful and devious characters
were born. After repeatedly seeing Mr. Spelling’s name on the screen night
after night, Gillian knew she wanted to be an Aaron Spelling, before she knew
that Aaron Spelling was actually a person.

Gillian pursued drama in high school although it was not
taught as a “serious subject”. When asked what career she wanted to pursue
after graduation, she told her guidance counselor that she wanted to be an
actress, and was told that acting is not a “real job”.  

When Gillian moved to the US in 1998, she landed an
internship with Spotlight On Theater in New York City, where she learned stage
managing, casting and the technical aspect of running a
production. Later she branched out into film, and fell in love with the
behind the scenes action of film and theatre production. She
traded acting and her “real job” for a career in film and theater
production. Gillian continued writing novels and scripts but kept them to
herself.

When not writing, Gillian can be found volunteering at
the New Mexico Children’s Grief Center or hiking the many mountains that
surround New Mexico. Gillian can easily get lost in a parking lot and considers
herself directionally challenged. She is always grateful for the people she
hikes with, because without them she’d be left roaming the mountains like a
lost mountain goat.

For more information about Gillian Felix and The Family
Portrait series please visit her website, the Family Portrait Media Page, Twitter,
Goodreads or sign up for her newsletter.

“I see a huge
following for this new series! I know I’m going to watch for more!”

Di Bylo – Amazon
Top Reviewer

“Gillian Felix is
truly wonderful in the way she writes and captivates her readers. She has a
true gift and I guess anyone who reads her books will be waiting for the next
book as eagerly as I am.”

Namrata Ganti – Red
Pillows

“There are love,
lies, secrets, and desires that rival any soap opera out there.”

Karen-Anne
Stewart, Author

“This series is
like the Sopranos meets Nashville. It was gritty and realistic whilst
entertaining and dark.” Rachel P