Return of the Rebel ~ ~ Jennifer Faye

Jennifer is here to talk about her brand new release - the fourth one!

Hi. I’m so happy to be here. :-)

It’s hard to believe that a year ago my debut was just hitting store shelves and now my fourth release is out. It’s terribly exciting to see a lifelong dream come true. It just goes to prove that no one should give up on their dreams. They do come true.

Now a little about THE RETURN OF THE REBEL…

Jax Monroe is a reformed bad boy with a good heart. Cleo is a good girl with a guilty conscience.

Reunited beneath the bright lights of Las Vegas, can this childhood crush turn into something more? Or will secrets and danger destroy their chance at real love?

TOP PICK! RT Book Reviews 4.5 Stars ~

"Faye's romance tugs at the heartstrings and the surprising element of suspense is the perfect addition to make this one fly off the shelves.

Here's a quick excerpt of Return of the Rebel ~

“You’ve got to trust me.”

Cleo arched a disbelieving brow. “Says who?”

Little Cleo had certainly gained some spunk. Well, good for her. It was also a relief to know she wasn’t still carrying that crazy torch for him. The last thing he needed at this critical juncture of his life was more complications.

Her finger poked his chest. “You’re up to something and I want to know what it is.”

Her tone brooked no room for debate. He wouldn’t be wiggling out of this confrontation with some flimsy story.

“You can start by explaining your need for an alias.”

“Just leave it be.”

She shook her head. “I can’t look the other way. We aren’t kids anymore. This is where I work and I can’t let you jeopardize my job.”

Cleo’s voice rose with every word. “But if you turn around and leave now, we can forget we ever saw each other.”

He doubted he’d ever be able to wipe her sexy image from his memory. Her polished persona stole his breath away. She may have been a cute kid, but she’d grown up to be a real knockout. And as for leaving here now, he wasn’t about to do it. He had as much right to be here as any- one else.

Cleo leveled her shoulders and tapped her foot. He hated to tell her but if she was angling for an intimidating pose, she’d missed her mark. She was more alluring than scary.

Get your copy today! Thanks for being here today, Jennifer!

Amazon | Amazon - UK | Barnes & Noble | Harlequin | Kobo | iTunes

Come See Me at Hearts & Scribbles

Today I'm visiting the wonderful Jennifer Faye, Harlequin author, at Hearts & Scribbles.

I have a character interview: Ryan and Vera from Harte's Peak. It should be fun.

Blog Tour and Give-away

For the next three days I'm on a blog tour promoting Harte's Peak. Come on by and enter my giveaway for a $25 STARBUCKS gift card. Here's where I'll be:

JUNE 23RD

Ali’s Books (a review)

JUNE 24TH

Queen of All She Reads

Deal Sharing Aunt

3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!

Inspire to Read

JUNE 25TH

Pink Fluffy Hearts

Jersey Girl Book Reviews

The World As I See It

The Phantom Paragrapher

My Devotional Thoughts

Welcome to Harte's Peak ...

So Harte's Peak, the first in the Redemption Peak series with The White Rose/Pelican Book Group is live now on all major retailers:

Amazon

B&N

Kobo

PBG

Harte's Peak is a small town in the Sierra California "gold country". It's actually based on the real town of Twain Harte, a cozy little town of about 2,000 people at a 3,000 mile elevation.

It is a short 15 miles to Dodge Ridge Ski Resort in Pinecrest, California (elevation 5,000).

I'm partial to Twain Harte - the town is rich in history, actually named after Mark Twain and Brett Harte. My family started our annual February snow trip to Twain Harte in 1999, and it became a yearly event. Anyone from the Bay Area is familiar with the fact that our public schools often gave the week of President's Day off as what official became known as "February break". It couldn't be "winter" break (a better name, in my opinion) because that became December break. It obviously couldn't be "spring" break, thus it wound up with its boring and unoriginal title. However, in our family as well as in many other Bay Area families February break became known as "snow week".

Although it doesn't snow in the Bay Area, a three and a half hour drive into the mountains and voila! Snow for all snow-deprived Californians.

Thus began my love affair with Twain Harte, and a mere 13 years later it became the setting for my first novel. At this time, there will be two books in the Redemption Peak series. The second is under contract and we should have a cover reveal soon.

Blog Hop!

My Golden Gate ACFW chapter mate Sydney Avey asked me to participate this time. Sydney has a great blog here.

She has a series on Writing California in which she interviews various authors who write with a California setting. Her latest book is The Sheep Walker's Daughter:

"Three generations, four women, a history of family secrets will be reveal when Dee finds a postcard that says "Lost sheep may be recovered. Lost time cannot."

And now for my writing process interview:

1. What are you working on right now?

At the moment I have turned in my content edits for the prequel book in the Harte’s Peak series (title TBD, but probably Beginnings in Harte’s Peak),and while I wait for the copy edits (we’re way ahead of schedule because thankfully this book didn’t need as many revisions) I’m working on something entirely new. This one is a contemporary romance set in wine country, and is the second in a series as well. A retired baseball pitcher buys a vineyard and tries to hire a woman from his past to run it. The problem is this woman had every intention of buying the vineyard herself, until the ball player plunked down cash for it. Now she has to decide if she wants to work for the man, or wait until he fails. Decisions, decisions.

2. How does your work differ from others of its genre?

As authors we are always cultivating our own "voice". It's a mixture of syntax, emotional depth and delivery. I think and hope that I now have my own voice which is a mixture of humor and emotion. But this is something I'll forever be perfecting.

3. Why do you write what you do?

(Below, Jack naps while I work. It's a rough life, he wants you to know.)

I love stories about real people – people who love are gloriously flawed but know how to love. Though I find mysteries and thrillers engaging I know I could never write them. I like to write from a happy place, even as I put my characters through the emotional ringer. Humor is important to me and I love to make myself laugh as I write. (As long as it isn’t the love scene.)

4. How does your writing process work?

I’m excited to announce I have a new process! I’m officially a plotser now because I begin with knowing what my inciting event will be, and the first turning point. I have a good feel for the hero and heroine, and their pasts (especially if they have some sort of shared past). The subplots I allow to reveal themselves to me as I write the first draft. I’ve got a firm grasp of the setting and the character Arc that each of them will have.

My new process is going to involve writing the first draft of Act I and then reviewing it to make sure all of the points are covered and I’m not missing anything. I hope this will reduce on revisions once I’m done. It’s also going to give me a good outline to follow. Anyway, I’m going to try it and see how it works.

Letting Go

A few days before Easter, our household received momentous news. Our youngest received his acceptance letter to Moody Bible Institute.

I'm happy for him. Really. Even if Chicago is a loooooong way from northern California. Even if he's my baby. There is such a comfort in knowing that though he will be far from home and family he is never far from God. As it so happens, we both believe and serve the same God who will continue to connect us, no matter the distance.

At the same time, I'm mindful to resist an urge to be too proud. This is my son's life, purpose and ministry and it's a matter between him and the Lord. I'm merely incredibly blessed to be along for the ride with a front row seat.

Before I get something in my eye, here's a photo of our beagle Riley. Like me, she has mixed feelings. She was asked by big sister to give a "high five" in celebration. See the first photo - she's not so sure about all this.

The second photo is her attempt at being a good sport, and my attempt at catching it in action. Sorta missed it, but there you go.

Excerpt from Harte's Peak...do you love the Gym?

June 20th is release day, and will be here before I know it. There's lots to do in preparation for a book release, and as the weather warms across the continent, I'm going to laugh about the fact that Harte's Peak is set during the snowfall at winter time. Maybe it will cool some readers off.

Meanwhile, there's a fitness craze going on where I work. It started a few weeks ago and coincided with the calendar indicating spring had sprung - co-workers are pairing up and going for walks at lunch time. Carb elimination is rampant - bread is the bad guy, and salad is our new best friend. Of course, the men have already lost weight. Don't get me started.

I thought about a scene in Harte's Peak that involves our hero, Ryan Colton, getting our heroine, Vera Carrington, ready for the slopes. Vera is a girl after my own heart - she'd be the one to say that if she's found dead on a jogging trail people should know she was killed elsewhere and the body moved there.

From Harte's Peak, releasing June 20th in all digital formats from The White Rose/Pelican Book Group:

From treadmill to stair stepper. Running nowhere to climbing nowhere. What joy.

The person who’d invented these machines had a wicked sense of humor. By the end of their session, the sweat dripped profusely from every pore she owned and surely some she didn't.

Ryan threw a towel at her, and she slid down the length of the wall in a heap. He was treating her like one of the guys. Why, then, did she hate it?

"Good work. Tomorrow we'll step it up a little. I didn't want to be too hard on you the first day."