Blog Tour & Excerpt: By My Side by Essie Sylvan

Title: By My Side

Author: Essie Sylvan

Genre: New Adult Romance

Release Date: February 22, 2022

Cover Designer: RMGraphX

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Amazon: US | UK | AU | CA

College parties are for drinking and dancing, not destiny.

Bethany wanted to have a little fun, hang with her friends, and maybe digest a little eye candy. She hadn’t meant to literally bump into it. When he ended up being besties with her roommate’s crush, the opportunity presented itself, and she was not passing this one up.

Bryce went to the party to find his friend a distraction, maybe meet a hookup—nothing more. The hot brunette was a bonus. He tossed her a sign, and she gave it back with her phone number penned in silver. He hadn’t meant for them to get beyond a few nights, or past the semester. He certainly hadn’t known what she was hiding about herself.

But time together had him changing his goals. Bryce was determined to stay by her side, no matter the personal cost. Bethany wanted to navigate the world as she had always done, keeping it from crumbling around her. Then reality struck, and she was forced to make hard choices, the kind that required her to let people in. And learn that she held the key to her own happiness.

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09T3RW9QZ

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09T3RW9QZ

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09T3RW9QZ

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09T3RW9QZ

I instantly loved this sport. I had never watched hockey, not even on television. It was incredibly exciting to be in the stands. Fans were screaming and chanting, and this was just the warm-ups! If any of my soccer games had ever been like this, I would’ve felt like a goddess. I bit my lip and frowned. I was not at all cut out to be with someone like him. Shit, what was I even doing here? There was no way, no way at all, his look had meant anything. I was wrong; I had to be. He was probably toying with me. The lowly freshman with a crush.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was tall anyway, but on skates, he was imposing. I sighed and watched as he skated behind the goal, right in front of where we were sitting. And then, he looked up. It was as if he was looking for someone, and then he found me. I sat, too stunned to cheer, locked in his gaze. Then he scooped a puck up and over the glass right in our direction.

“Hey, Brilliant!” he called as the puck flung toward me, not with a lot of force.

A crazy student behind me caught it, and Bryce shook his head, a cocky smile on his face before he skated away. I looked behind me to where the puck was. I wanted to ask for it so badly. I would even sleep with it tonight. I had every right to ask for that puck. I knew it had been for me. Maybe I shouldn’t have caught his eye. Maybe I didn’t deserve his attention, but if he was interested in me even a bit, I was going to enjoy every loving minute of it.

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Essie was once given a tee shirt warning people they might end up in her books. As a wife, over-volunteer, mom of three, caretaker of pets, and someone with a vibrant career in education, Essie is more than a casual observer of life. Her superpowers are her empathy and love of learning, and they wonderfully weave real bits of humanity into fictional stories that she hopes readers stay up too late reading. When she is not writing, she is searching for the next book, allowing her to walk in someone else’s shoes for a bit.