A Peek into the Sausage Factory… with Alison DeLaine [Guest Post + Giveaway]

Happy Spring everyone! It feels a bit like fall but I am not complaining. Soon it'll be sweltering outside and guess where I'll be... Curled up under an air conditioner catching up on reads! I have so many life updates to share with ya'll, including being |  | this close to finishing undergrad, but more on that later. Today we have one of my fav new(er) authors on the blog celebrating the release of her second novel! She literally left me in tears from laughter after her last appearance so you guys can expect more of the same today. 

Without further adieu:

About Alison:

Alison DeLaine lives in rural Arizona, where she tries to keep her hillbilly side under control (but generally fails) and can often be found driving a dented old pickup truck out to her mining claim in the desert. When she’s not busy striking it rich, waiting on spoiled pets, or keeping her husband in line, she is happily putting characters through the wringer. Alison is a two-time Golden Heart® finalist and currently writes historical romance for Harlequin HQN.

Find Alison Online: Website | Facebook | Twitter

About the Book:

A WEDDING BY DAWN

Buy Links at Bottom of Post

A hellion on the run.

Lady India Sinclair will stop at nothing to live life on her own terms—even stealing a ship and fleeing to the Mediterranean. At last on her own, free to do as she pleases, she is determined to chart her own course. There's only one problem….

A gentleman determined to possess her.

Nicholas Warre has made a deal. To save his endangered estate, he will find Lady India, marry her and bring her back to England at the behest of her father. And with thousands at stake, he doesn't much care what the lady thinks of the idea. But as the two engage in a contest of wills, the heat between them becomes undeniable…and the wedding they each dread may lead to a love they can't live without.

The Guest Post:

A Peek into the Sausage Factory...

a Guest Post by Alison DeLaine

We've all heard that old adage about watching sausage get made. I'm convinced the principle holds true for watching books get written. If you actually did observe this entire process, you might never read again! It's that messy.

Review: PAWN by Aimee Carter

Take one unlikely, hopeless feeling heroine paired with attractive young males, added to a tyrannical government and you’ve got yourself a young adult dystopian novel.

It’s become a sort of formula or pattern with these books lately. Teenagers who feel their lives are constantly being controlled by the adults that rule society until one day, usually around their 16th or 17th birthdays, they are given a chance to change their lives forever.

Review: HOTELLES by Emma Mars

HOTELLES is an eloquent and enveloping exploration in sensual intrigue. It balances suspense, mystery, sexual awakening, and romance with a craftsmanship that will endear this writer to many fans of reading. Mars takes readers on a journey that'll not only strip the surface off characters who feel like neighbors, but gives readers the chance to reveal intimate details about themselves to themselves. Buckle up and prepare for an erotic roller-coaster ride of a lifetime.

Author Interview with Emma Mars

Hey everyone! Today is a fun day on the blog. Debut-to-states author Emma Mars and I did an interview you have to check out! Her novel, HOTELLES, just released today with Harper Perennial and I've got all the juicy details on this one. 

This steamy and romantic tale has it all! Without further adieu….

About the Book:

Paris, a hotel room, the middle of the afternoon . . .

So begins the story of Annabelle, a young escort in Paris who has accepted her final proposition before marrying the powerful and generous man of her dreams, media mogul David Barlet. But the mysterious handwritten notes she has been receiving—notes that detail personal fantasies no one could possibly know—don't prepare her for the fact that her new client is her fiancé's brother, Louie. Through visits to the Hotel des Charmes, where each chamber is dedicated to one of French history's great seductresses, Louie awakens Annabelle's body and her psyche, delivering her to heights of ecstasy and fits of passion.He pushes her beyond her limitations to tap into her deep seductive power—and she discovers that true freedom comes only when you fully surrender to desire.

Funny, sensual, candid, and revealing, Hotelles is a titillating novel of mysteries and surprises by a radiant new voice.

 Get Your Copy Today:

Amazon (ppb-trade) | Barnes and Noble (ppb)

Amazon (Kindle) | Barnes and Noble (ppb)

Interview:

RJ: Hey Emma! Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. Firstly, congratulations on the release of HOTELLES (Harper Perennial; Original Trade Paperback; on-sale TODAY: April 8, 2014). You’re a new author for me and this appears to be a debut novel – Mind telling me and my readers a bit more about you as an author and your journey to publication?

Review + Giveaway: Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins

WAITING ON YOU by Kristan Higgins is rife with emotion and not as cookie-cutter as you'd expect a small town contemporary romance to be; These quintessential Higgins characters learn lessons in love, forgiveness and acceptance that keeps a reader engaged until the final page.

Colleen O'Rourke is the beloved bar owner/matchmaker in the small town of Manningsport, New York. She has found contentment with her lot in life with the help of some awesome friends, loving and supportive (often times annoying) family, prosperous business with unique regulars, and a faithful dog named Rufus. That's not to say the betrayal of her first love marrying another woman or her father's infidelity and subsequent neglect doesn't make her feel blue or seek out the reassuring attention of the nice but mysteriously unappealing gentleman of Manningsport. Colleen's unattainability mixed with her nurturing disposition makes her pretty popular. Will the calm she worked so hard to develop be disrupted beyond repair when a blast from the past blows into town?

10 years, a miscarriage, failed marriage, and sick uncle later, Lucas Campbell finds his way back to the small town that never really felt like home. His only family included an aunt that went above and beyond to make him feel like an outsider, a dimwitted but lovable cousin, and the kind but preoccupied (and pussy-whipped) brother of his father. The only person that made Manningsport worth living in, back then and now, was Colleen O'Rourke- but she currently regards him as the asshole who refused to marry her because he wasn't ready one moment and then turns up engaged the next. Despite the awkward tension, Lucas has to insert himself back into the fold of the town- if only to honor a dying wish and see his cousin settled before Uncle Joe's passing. It wouldn't be nearly as frustrating if his ex-girlfriend wasn't butting in at every turn and trying to set the cousin up with someone who was obviously a waste of time (or was she?).

Characters both young and old learn from their mistakes and find contentment in exactly who they are. When misunderstandings from the past float to the surface, a second chance at first love just might persevere.

My Rating:

My Favorite Part of the Book: Was the complexity of the relationship between Colleen and her father. This dynamic resonated with me deeply and was written in a very convincing and poignant way. I love when I can see little pieces of myself and true life struggles in the books that I am reading and it's nice to be on the outside looking in on something that hits close to home.  I connected a lot more with the characters because of this.

Every time I read a book by this author I have some pop culture comparatives to mention; This book was like Cheers meets the soap opera Passions (anyone else remember Passions!?!). I tend to shy away from small town novels because they can read too cookie cutter (and honestly too staid) to me- and for a short time in the beginning of the novel I started to worry this one would follow suit. Sure enough, Higgins worked her magic and delivered characters and plot twists that kept me engrossed with the story all the way through. I appreciated the flaws of the characters (not just protagonists) and the very real way the author chose to address those insecurities and short comings. I also appreciated a female protagonist who actually knew she was pretty, not pulling the whole "I-am-a-simple-small-town-girl-with-no-idea-how-gorgeous-and-irresistible-I-am", but Colleen did start to irk me when her beauty and her promiscuity became a repetitive theme she liked to use as a defense mechanism. And as hilarious as #TeamMenopause was, some of their conduct (and specifically a scene at a single's painting class event) just read too dramatic for me. Still, this book is classic Higgins and delivers a story ripe with characters worth reading and plenty of inspirational messages to take home.

***GIVEAWAY***

Little Bird Publicity and Kristan Higgins would like to offer a copy of WAITING ON YOU to one (1) lucky commenter! Comment on this review AND fill out the rafflecopter form below to be entered. This giveaway is open to US only (no P.O. Boxes please) and will end April 17th. A winner will be chosen and emailed.


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