I am so thrilled to be able to spotlight Black Box by Cassia Leo. This is a highly emotional book. Darker, deeper and grittier than anything I’ve read by Cassia. To me, it highlights a part of life that is all-too common but not often discussed, the part that is not pretty but very real and very raw. There’s romance in this book as well, but it’s the kind of romance that is visceral and vulnerable. Fragile. This is a story of two people thrust together by fate and connected by circumstance. I am honored to be able to interview Cassia Leo and offer you an exclusive excerpt of the book, which will be out March 10th (pre-order here).
A stand-alone novel about a girl, a boy, and fate.
โฅ๏ธ Three fateful encountersโฆ.
โฅ๏ธ Two heart-breaking tragediesโฆ.
โฅ๏ธ One last chance to get it right.
From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.
Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on two separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikkiโs life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.
Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided sheโs tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.
Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but heโs never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song heโs never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesnโt even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and heโs never felt like his life had any purposeโฆ until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.
When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.
โWhy do you look confused?โ Crush asks as he slides the handle of my carry-on bag over the telescoping handle of his suitcase.
How do you tell someone that going to a coffee shop feels weird because it feels too normal? Iโm not used to normal.
โI donโt get out much.โ
My phone vibrates in my coat pocket and I curse myself for forgetting to turn off the vibrating ringtone. Crush looks confused by my response as I pull my phone out of my pocket and stare at it. The snow immediately melts on the screen and blurs the letters flashing in front of me.
โI should probably check it inside.โ
He nods and I follow him up the eight concrete steps to the entrance of Render, amazed at how he makes hauling two pieces of luggage and a guitar case up a flight of stairs, and also holding the door open for me, look so fucking easy. He could probably carry the weight of the world on those shoulders. He flashes me a charming half-smile, as if he knows what Iโm thinking. I brush past him, close enough to get a whiff of the warm scent wafting off his gray twill coat. He smells like a summer breeze in the middle of winter, and the scent stops me cold.
I blink furiously against the memory; the tangy, metallic scent of blood โฆ I canโt see through the blood, but I can feel. Iโm broken in every sense of the word. I squeeze my eyes tightly and take another deep breath. I smell coffee now. I open my eyes and grit my teeth as I blink a few more times, to completely clear the memory.
โGot some snow in my eyes,โ I mutter when I notice the concerned look on his face.
The cafรฉ is almost empty; just a couple of girls in hipster glasses hanging out at the bar counter overlooking the sidewalk, watching the snowfall. Looks like no one wanted to brave the storm for a cup of the best coffee in Boston. At least we have plenty of room to sit down with our luggage.
The glass pastry case is filled with untouched croissants, muffins, scones, and quiches. I donโt eat this stuff unless Rina brings me something shitty from the local donut shop. People think itโs weird that Iโm nineteen and I donโt drive. I donโt understand whatโs so weird about that. I donโt trust myself with a car.
Crush clears his throat and I tear my gaze away from the pastries. โYou hungry?โ
โAre you buying?โ
He purses his lips and shrugs adorably, and I finally notice his eyes. They looked dark in the terminal, but theyโre actually as green as mine. Iโve never seen anyone with eyes as green as mine, except for Meaghan.
โI did ask you to come here, so I guess Iโm buying,โ he replies.
I turn back to the pastry case and point my gloved finger at a huge muffin with some kind of crumble topping. โIโll take that and an iced mocha with extra caramel sauce,โ I say to the guy behind the counter.
โSomehow, I am not at all surprised by that order,โ Crush says, shaking his head as he peers over my shoulder into the pastry case. โIโll take a breakfast bagel and a non-fat cappuccino.โ
โWow. Youโre way more boring than I thought you would be.โ
He laughs as he pulls his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. โJust wait until we sit down and I entertain you with the topic of my senior thesis.โ
โThat sounds like a threat.โ
He shakes his head as he hands the barista his credit card. โI guess that depends on how much you enjoy discussing the cross-cultural significance and dimensionality of emotion in music.โ
He doesnโt look at me as he waits for the guy to give him back his card. I get a strange feeling like heโs waiting for me to judge him. โIโm just a sophomore, so I havenโt chosen my senior thesis.โ And I never will. โBut I think the study of emotion in music is probably one of the coolest thesis topics I could ever imagine.โ
He takes his credit card back from the barista then uses his finger to sign the white computer screen. โMaybe Iโm as interesting as you thought Iโd be.โ
Suddenly, my stomach feels jittery and my mouth goes dry. I want to reach into my purse and take a pill from my emergency stash, but something tells me this guy would know theyโre not medication. Then it hits me.
What if my parents sent this guy to keep an eye on me?
No, thatโs crazy. Thatโs the kind of thoughts that will get me locked up again. But why else would he be this nice to me? Heโs way out of my league. Heโs 50 percent rock star and 50 percent Harvard.
โAre you okay?โ he asks and I nod as I grab the handle of my suitcase and pull it toward the tables in the back of the cafรฉ.
If I thought I had any chance of keeping up this charade for another two or three days, or however long it will take for this storm to pass, then Iโd go home. But Iโve put too much work into this. Iโve been speaking with academic counselors and psychologists for weeks, building this elaborate lie of transferring from Massasoit to Santa Monica College. The purpose of this trip is for a job interview at a local youth center. It would have been easier to do the Federal Work Study program, but I thought theyโd think I was more serious about putting the night of the party behind me if I told them I wanted to work with at-risk youth.
I take a seat at a table and itโs a bit dreary in here with the glass ceiling of the patio enclosure covered in snow. Crush sets his guitar against the wall and moves both of our suitcases next to the case so theyโre out of our way. He takes a seat across from me and I quickly pull off my gloves and tuck them inside my purse. He removes his gray twill coat, but he keeps his green hoodie on.
He hangs his coat on the back of the chair and sits across from me. He stares at my hands for a few seconds before he looks up. โDo we know each other?โ
Both Crush and Mikki have had pasts that have deeply affected their present. How would you describe each of them?
Mikki isn’t the most open of people, but when she meets Crush, she finds herself comfortable with him, opening up to him before too long. What it is about Crush that Mikki finds so disarming?
Crush has strong emotions for Mikki almost immediately. Why do you think that is?
You tend to use music quite a bit in your books. Why is that and why is it important in Black Box?
This book is quite different from what you’ve written in the past, can you talk a little about how it’s different and some of the themes you explore.
What incited you to write a book dealing with mental illness?
ย Thank you so much, Cassia!
New York Timesย andย USA Todayย bestselling author Cassia Leo grew up in California and has lived in three different countries. She loves to travel and her dream is to one day score a record deal based on her awesome shower singing skills. She is the author of the Shattered Hearts series (Relentless, Pieces of You, Bring Me Home) and the Luke and Chase series.
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