Offsetting Penalties by Ally Mathews
Publication Date: November 6, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Teen Crush
Isabelle Oster has dreamed of being a prima ballerina her entire life, so when the only male dancer backs out of the fall production, she’s devastated. Without a partner, she has no hope of earning a spot with the prestigious Ballet Americana company. Until hot jock Garret practicing stretches in one of the studios gives Izzy an idea, and she whips out her phone. But does she really want this badly enough to resort to blackmail?
All-state tight end Garret Mitchell will do anything to get a college football scholarship. Even taking ballet, which surprisingly isn’t so bad, because it means he gets to be up close and personal with the gorgeous Goth girl Izzy while learning moves to increase his flexibility. But Izzy needs him to perform with her for the Ballet Americana spot, and he draws the line at getting on stage. Especially wearing tights.
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains a bit of blackmail, a lot of sarcasm, and an ending guaranteed to melt your heart.
Link to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36407782-offsetting-penalties
Purchase Links:
Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | iBooks | Kobo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ally lives in Texas with three kids, four dogs, two cats, a rabbit, assorted reptiles, and her husband. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, binge watching Psych, Scream, Younger, and superhero movies, and letting dogs in and out of the house. She loves to cook but hates to clean up afterwards, and strongly believes that Disney World is truly magical. You can find Ally on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, though she makes no claims of using any of them properly.
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Pinterest • Goodreads
Playlist for Offsetting Penalties
Before I get into my playlist, I have to tell you how much I love the name and theme of your blog. I have three rescue dogs who “help” me write.
I make my playlist for a book as I’m writing. Sometimes I just listen to classical music or a random radio station in the background, but when I want to set the tone of the scene I’m working on, I try to choose songs that fit the mood of that scene. Many of the songs are angsty because, well, those scenes are where I really need musical inspiration.
I’ve loosely organized the songs in the chronological order I listened to them while writing the book. The first two songs are Wherever this Goes by the Fray, and Runaway by All Time Low. I chose these songs because both the hero and heroine, Garret and Izzy, are looking to get of out what they consider their dead-end town.
The middle and largest section of songs are the ones I used for the angsty scenes. I included two of The Cure’s songs not just because they’re a favorite of mine, but also because Izzy likes to listen to them because they were her mother’s favorite band. Her mother passed away when she was a baby, so it’s one of the few connections she has with her. The songs are Just Like Heaven and Pictures of You.
My other angsty songs are from Linkin Park, which is another of my favorite bands. In truth, I listened to most of their songs while I was writing this book, but I narrowed it down to two for the playlist. I don’t want to inadvertently give away any spoilers, so I’ll just say that Leave Out All the Rest and Battle Symphony are the two that I think were the best fit for this story.
The last of the angsty songs is Life of the Party by Shawn Mendes. It just felt really appropriate for Garret and Izzy.
The last two songs were chosen because they’re romantic. They are Love Story by Barcelona, and Forever by Corey Gray & Max Schneider. These are covers of Taylor Swift’s and Chris Brown’s songs, but I like them better than the originals.
I hope you enjoyed the playlist! I’m always looking to discover new music, so if you have any suggestions for songs to use for my next book, please leave them in the comments.
Links to listen to the songs on YouTube:
Leave Out All the Rest – Linkin Park
Life of the Party – Shawn Mendes
Forever – Corey Gray & Max Schneider
