Megan Crane's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

We don't know what we love the most...the cover, the title or the plot of Megan Crane's latest novel, I Love the 80's. We think we'll just say all of the above! I Love the 80's is the story of Jenna Jenkins, an eighties lover whose fiance dumps her for a 22-year-old yoga instructor! And after a freak accident, she's transported back in time to her favorite decade. She finds herself smack in 1987 and face-to-face with the man she was madly in love with-pop legend Tommy Seer (who never knew she existed) and she must convince him that they are meant to be together...before he dies in a tragic car crash that only she knows is coming.

When we think about where we were in 1987, the year we met, we laugh at all the hilarious memories.  This book took us right back to the days of grown out perms, bushy brows, Lisa's red "Sally Jesse Raphael" glasses, cassette tapes and stirrup pants (oy vey)! And if you leave a comment today, you can win one of five copies of this entertaining and hilarious novel. We'll randomly select the winner after 6:00 PM, EST on Thursday, March 24th.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...MEGAN CRANE'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER:

5 Do's and 1 (Sort Of) Do-Over Should You Find Yourself Back in 1987

1. DO just go with the fashion nightmare that is 1987. You may be the only one who knows you're wearing those neon stirrup pants ironically, but that's okay.

2. DO prepare yourself for the tech revolution in advance. Apple, Microsoft, Silicon Valley's finest. A little research could yield huge rewards. Just think--you could come back to the present to find yourself a zillionaire!

3. DO try to enjoy yourself. It's tempting to loom about worried about how you'll make it home, but that defeats the purpose of having time-traveled at all, doesn't it? It's 1987 and only you know what happens next--and what doesn't. Try to immerse yourself in the local stonewashed culture, secure in your superior knowledge of what happens to all those synthesizer-heavy bands come the Grunge movement.

4. DO accept that your hair is going to be out of control. COMPLETELY out of control. Member of Heart back in the day out of control. You can't do anything about it this far away from your favorite products. Just tease and smile.

5. You shouldn't attempt to DO OVER your own life, even though, yes, it's 1987 and you could change it all if you could just talk to your middle-school self. And you COULD talk to yourself, because you're back in time and you know how it all works out. But when did you listen to anyone when you were in middle school? And do you really want to see how little all the monsters of your memory really are? Better by far to stay away and let you grow up to be you. Time travel can be fun and rewarding--but not if you're out to reinvent your own life. Because you saw all those movies--what happens if you go back to the future and you're someone else?

To find out more about one of our favorite authors, Megan Crane (and her other novels- she also writes romance novels under the name, Caitlin Crews), visit her website and follow her on Facebook. And don't forget to buy her book, I Love the 80's.

Thanks, Megan!

xoxo,

L&L

Lisa Steinke Aka Sally Jesse Raphael By Lisa

The year was 1987. Walk Like an Egyptian topped the charts; Ollie North defended his role in Iran-Contra; Platoon won the Academy Award for best picture and Lisa Steinke knowingly and willingly got big, f***ing, honking, red glasses that made her look like Sally Jesse Raphael.

Why the f**k would she do that?

Well, like any good, respectable daughter, I'm going to throw my dad under the bus on this one.

Good ol' Bob Steinke who simply did NOT give a rat's ass about my teenage angst and awkward phases. Bob Steinke, who didn't seem to care that I was struggling with major drama like pads vs. tampons; Sun-In vs. bleach and Corey Haim vs. Corey Feldman.

My dad's only focus was figuring out how to keep his teenage daughter with raging hormones as far away from boys as possible. Hmm...now that I think about it, he definitely didn't encourage anything that would make me LOOK better. Some of his "rules"...

Couldn't date 'til I was 17!

Couldn't get my drivers license 'til I was 18!

Couldn't shave my legs 'til I was 16! (Don't worry--although I clearly wouldn't have known what tweezers were if they'd stabbed me in the freakin' eye, I DID get my mits on a Bic Razor and secretly shaved my hairy ass legs a long time before that.)

So, there I was...15 years old...a freshman in high school and feeling awkward as all hell. My boobs were growing so fast rumors swirled that I got implants; I had questionable fashion sense (even though I still really, really want to believe that my L.A. Gear high tops and matching L.A. Gear jean jacket were in style?!) My hairstyle was, well, a perm. And apparently I had a strange desire to place a barrett on the very top of my head.

Late at night as I'd listen to my Tiffany tape (Could've Been was a personal fav) and cry about my terribly hard life, I'd think, "At least I FINALLY got my braces off!"....

And then I went to the eye doctor and received the news that apparently I was blind as a bat. But there was NO WAY I was going to wear glasses! I was going to get contact lenses instead!

Not.

Not if Bob Steinke had anything to do with it. I was wayyyy too young, irresponsible and immature for those, he said with a satisfied smile on his face.

In front of the optometrist, I screamed that I didn't want to go from "brace face" to "four eyes!" I'd walk into doors and walls before I'd be caught dead in glasses! I didn't need to see the letters E, C, D, F or Z! He was ruining my life!

But dear ol' dad didn't flinch. His answer was an unequivocal NO. And when Bob Steinke said, "NO"-- let's just say he meant it.

So being the fifteen year old "rebel" that I was, I said f**k it, If I'm going to wear glasses, I'm going to wear glasses. I'm going to make a statement!

But it wasn't until I stepped foot on campus the next day, that I put two and two together.

"Hey Sally!"

"I want to be on your talk show!"

"Look--Sally Jesse Raphael goes to Vista High now!"

I ran into the bathroom and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

F**k. I did look like Sally Jesse f***ing Raphael.

And then I remembered what my dad said to me as I stubbornly tried on glasses. "Yes, you should DEFINITELY get the red ones."

I couldn't deny it. The game had a clear winner.

Bob Steinke- 1.

Lisa Steinke- ZERO.