**Promo & Guest Post ~ Stupid By Choice ~ Leighton Summers**

About a year ago, I read and reviewed Leighton Summers' Stupid By Choice. Being from Texas, I enjoyed the story and characters quite a bit. So it's my pleasure to let y'all know that Stupid By Choice is now available in paperback. And, from July 1-5, the ebook is **FREE**.

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Stupid By Choice 

by Leighton Summers 

Genre: Women's Fiction, Drama, Romance

Looking for an intriguing tale about learning to “love smarter”? You’ve found it with this engaging debut novel about the adventures and regrets of a Texas Oil Princess’s quest for finding love...

Go inside Melanie St. John’s world as she attempts to find lasting love amongst the handsome, wealthy, jet-set, spoiled, sought-after playboy bachelors in the elite worldwide social circles of Texas, Monte Carlo, Manhattan, Newport, Aspen, and Palm Beach. Experience all the rewards, expectations, passions, and struggles that constantly have her having to decide between being smart or stupid with her choices in love and life in order to be truly fulfilled and happy...

Though the story is fiction, it’s written by a sixth generation Texan (Leighton Summers) who was born into this unique, privileged world, giving you—the reader—an up-close, insider’s view of both it and the way love and relationships are found. Does Melanie ever find the true love she’s seeking, or will this world of wealth and excess always get in the way? Read Stupid By Choice to find out! It’s the perfect summer “weekend at the beach” read! 

Now available in both paperback and as an ebook on Amazon!

Get the ebook for FREE on Amazon July 1 – July 5, 2014

Attention Book Club Members: 
Have a themed “T.O.P. Champagne Party” (that’s short for "Texas Oil Princess Champagne Party") for your next gathering! Menu suggestions and free recipes are available on the website, www.StupidByChoice.net.

What inspired you to write Stupid By Choice?

First of all thank you so much for having me as a guest on your blog. I truly appreciate it! Your question of wanting to know what inspired me to write Stupid By Choice is a great one, for though overall it is meant to be a fun “escape” read into the lives of the “privileged wealthy,” I was also first inspired to write it because I wanted to explore some serious themes that I hoped people could learn from. 

Two of those themes are from the saying, “Don't be fooled by the fiery wild stallion of love and the silver saddle of vast wealth,” which I heard often growing up, for I was fortunate to be born into (and continue to stay living in) this upscale world the book is set in, and I see the effects money can have on people constantly. But people with means can trick you and hurt you just as much as those without it—not always, but often. So I felt it was important to show in a story how no one should be completely influenced by money, both in life and in regards to relationships. Always remember that appearances are just that, only “appearances,” and you never really know what is underneath them. It can be very enticing and alluring to belong to exclusive country clubs and attend private galas with a handsome, charming, sexy man—but keep in mind that it could all be a total façade. (Even if his family is hosting the party!) 

The main character of Melanie St. John is totally caught up in this “glamour” of both the men and the worlds in which they live when she first meets each one throughout the book; the fabulous parities, exclusive after parties, romantic get-a-ways, etc. But after one week of marriage to one of them—on her honeymoon, actually—she realizes she made a huge mistake.

Creating this kind of huge mistake in the main character’s relationship journey was done for a big reason too—I was highly inspired to write this book for my daughter so I could try and show
her how to not make the same stupid, foolish choices with men that I saw way too often growing up in my particular social circles. This book is fiction, but I’ve witnessed some pretty sad (and funny) things about dating and marriage in this elite world while also raising my daughter in it. I thought writing about it could help her (as well as all women) think very carefully before saying “I do.” I think it’s hard for anyone to find healthy, lasting love in any environment, but hopefully with some help through some examples of what not to do through Melanie’s relationships I truly hoped people would learn how to choose more wisely and “love smarter” overall.

Lastly, I was also inspired and encouraged by many good friends to write about this particular world and character I created, for we all knew there were lots of situations (both comedic and dramatic) that we had all seen too many times that could easily be recreated in a fictional story set in this environment. It was not easy, for I am not a trained writer and this book took four long years to complete, but now it is finished I am very proud I stuck with it. I hope anyone who reads Stupid By Choice enjoys it (and hopefully learns something from it)!

Leighton Summers is a sixth generation Texan who has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe her whole life. During her travels she was always surrounded by interesting, successful (and often eccentric) people who encouraged her to find her passion and live life to the fullest. Writing novels always intrigued her, and so one day while in New York City she took out her laptop in a café and decided to jot down some notes about how a female character
created from her own world could “love smarter.” Over the next four years the notes turned into both funny and sad adventures of a woman’s quest for finding friendship, love, self, and family and she weaved them all together into this, her debut novel. 

Visit the website StupidByChoice.net for more information about the book. 

To contact Leighton, please e-mail author@StupidByChoice.net. 


Happy Reading!