What happens when a romance author agrees to test romance tropes in virtual reality?
Welcome to one of the many stops on the book blitz for Virtual Reality Bites by Ava Wixx with XPresso Book Tours. Look for others participating in this blitz across social media and on your favourite bookish blogs April 19-23, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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About the Book
Virtual Reality Bites
by Ava Wixx
Published 19 April 2022
Wicked Wixx Press
Genre: SciFi Romance
Page Count: 237
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What happens when a romance author agrees to test romance tropes in virtual reality?
Following divorce number two, Zoe Woods is jaded, bitter, and unable to write her latest novel. For an author whose brand is all about finding true love, that’s kind of a problem.
Desperate to revive her romantic optimism, Zoe accepts an offer from an unlikely place to beta test virtual reality romance tropes. Unfortunately, Zoe jumps in too fast, and instead of a fun romp in virtual Romancelandia to rekindle her creativity, she finds one debacle after another.
Regretting her choices, Zoe realizes nothing is ever what it seems when it comes to love and romance and fantasy vs real world. The only thing she does know for sure is that virtual reality definitely bites.
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Excerpt
“What the hell is going on?” I danced from foot to foot as if I could keep my private bits blurry by not remaining still. In theory, it could work, but I was pretty sure I’d have to do my little embarrassed jig a lot faster.
Xander cupped the back of his neck, his eyes darting everywhere but on me. “I was getting to this part. To simplify it for you, this is like the setup part of a video game where you get to pick your main outfit for your avatar, gear up, and—”
“I don’t play video games! I’m not you and Adam! Just tell me how to not be naked right now, Xander!” It might have been virtual reality, but I didn’t want to be standing around sans clothes regardless. It simply felt too real, which meant the accompanying mortification was as well.
“Picture yourself in clothes.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I imagined my favorite comfy jeans and a soft, navy-blue T-shirt.
“Are you doing it?”
“Yes.” I glanced down the length of my still very naked body. “Why isn’t it working, Xander? Are you … you’re punking me, aren’t you? This is like that time you walked in on me when I was getting out of the shower when I was seventeen.” Anger surged through my veins, heating my blood, scorching away all traces of embarrassment. Balling my fists at my sides, I marched toward Xander. “This is not funny. At all. Asshole. And I swear on all that is holy that if you don’t—”
“It’s not my fault!” Xander stumbled back a few steps. “You have full control of this!”
“Then why am I still naked? Huh?”
“I-I don’t … hold on a second.” He pixelized briefly before vanishing.
I spun in a circle. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I stood there naked and alone, not exactly sure if the alone part was an improvement. “I should have at least gotten a towel,” I grumbled. “Not even romance heroines drip dry straight out of the shower. There’s no way I did this to myself.” I wrung out my hair, the simple act miraculously evaporating all moisture from my tresses. Huh.
About the Author
Ava Wixx escaped into books at a young age and decided to stay there. It was only a matter of time before she was driven to create her own fantasy worlds from fear of running out of places to explore. Reader, writer, dreamer … Ava only toils in reality when absolutely necessary. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, and spoiled mini-poodle.
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