• Falling for the Hokcey Player
    Blog

    Q&A with Jayne Kingsley to launch Falling for the Hockey Player

    Hopeless Romantics banner

    I’m doing Q&A’s with all the Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge Authors and this week it’s Jayne Kingsley’s turn.

    Jayne is a fellow Australian author who I have been lucky enough to meet in person! We’re looking forward to getting together to celebrate the launch of this series.

    1. What made you decide to write about this particular hero? 

    I love ice hockey and have always wanted to write a sweet ice hockey romance
    2. If you could spend an hour in Willow Ridge where would you go? 
    The book store of course! Followed by a trip to Latte Da to grab a coffee and then I’d meander to the Village Green and find a spot near the gazebo to read. Bliss!
    3. What did you enjoy most about writing this story? 
    I loved writing the meet cute between Georgia and Blake- they have a past where she left him so it was nice to turn the tables a little (hehe).
    4. What’s your favorite thing about writing small town romance? 
    The community and secondary characters. I love to include a few quirky characters and cute pets
    5. Are you or have you ever been in a bookclub yourself?
    No I haven’t! I’d love to join one though.

    Falling for the Hokcey Player

    Falling for the Deputy: A Small-Town Southern Romance (Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge Book 4)

    Can a group of hopeless romantics finally find love? Or are they destined always to be a bridesmaid and never the bride?

    After losing at love twice, Barbara Wilton needs a change, some place far from her home in Boston, so she takes a position as manager of a small branch bank in Willow Ridge, Georgia. She’s done with relationships and ready to concentrate on her career. The experience in Willow Ridge will help her move forward in the banking industry, but she doesn’t plan to stay there permanently. Nevertheless, an invitation to join the Hopeless Romantics book club, a position on a planning committee, helping a little league team that needs coaching, and being adopted by a stray dog begin to wind her into the community.

    Chris Harper was a police officer in Charlotte until his marriage fell apart. With his mother and elderly aunt in deteriorating health, Chris returns home to Willow Ridge to help them and takes a job as chief deputy to the local sheriff. The wound left by his failed marriage is still raw and, despite his mother’s nagging, he’s not interested in pursuing any relationship, even with the attractive new bank manager.

    Fate, helped by a few local residents, conspires to push Barbara and Chris together. They meet during a false alarm at the bank and then he assists her with a car problem. But when his aunt receives a foreclosure notice on her house, Chris is angry with Barbara for not warning him that his aunt was behind on her payments.

    She agrees to help him work out the problem with the bank, but the deeper issues between them keep flaring. Can two wary, wounded people learn to trust again and find happiness together? Find out in this sweet, second chance, enemies to lovers romance.

    The Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge series are sweet, small-town contemporary romances. Each book is a standalone and can be read individually or as part of the series.

    Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge series
    Book 1: Falling for the Boss
    Book 2: Falling for the Fireman
    Book 3: Falling for the Doctor
    Book 4: Falling for the Deputy
    Book 5: Falling for the Hockey Player
    Book 6: Falling for the Single Dad
    Book 7: Falling for the Farmer
    Book 8: Falling for the Scotsman

    Get it here

    And if you’d like to see the previous week’s Q&A click here.

  • Karen McCulloch release week banner
    Blog

    Q&A with Karen McCulloch to launch Falling for the Deputy

    I’m doing Q&A’s with all the Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge Authors and this week it’s Karen McCullough’s turn.

    Happy release week for Falling for the Deputy by Karen McCullough

    3. What made you decide to write about this particular hero?

    As a long-time mystery writer as well doing romance and fantasy, I’ve spent a fair amount of time around police and other law enforcement officers. U like and admire them. Most of them are good people, trying their best to help others and keep peace. I was intrigued by the idea of a man moving from the fast-paced life of a police officer in a large city (Charlotte) to a small town to become the Chief Deputy.  Why would he do that and how would it affect him?

    2. If you could spend an hour in Willow Ridge where would you go?

     Latte Da!  Love coffee and it seems like a warm and friendly place. Plus Georgia’s pastries…

    3. What did you enjoy most about writing this story?

    Pretty much everything. The heroine of the book is partly modeled after my sister, who is a banker, but not in a small Southern town. I knew that both my hero and heroine were coming off heart-breaking losses and that recovering from those and being open to a new relationship wouldn’t be easy. And of course I threw a few other obstacles in their way as well. But I also brought in the stray dog Mookie, and he tried to steal the show, along with my heroine’s heart.  Once I had the basic idea of what would happen, the book almost wrote itself.

    4. What’s your favorite thing about writing small town romance?

    As best I can remember, this is actually my first small-town romance and it’s required a considerable change of mindset. I grew up in a suburb of New York City and have lived in cities (or their suburbs) all my life. My books generally have urban settings. However, my husband is from a very small town in South Carolina, and we’ve spent enough time there and in other small towns in the southeast that I’ve been able at times to immerse myself in that culture and get the feel for it. There are a lot of things to like about writing in a small town setting – a warmth and friendliness to the people that you often don’t find in larger cities; the fact that everyone knows everyone else and their history;  and a simpler, more down-to-earth culture.

    5. Are you or have you ever been in a bookclub yourself?

    No, but I know people who are. I’ve been tempted to join because, of course, I love to read and do it a lot, but I think an author has very different perspectives on books and I’m not sure it would be helpful to other readers.

    Falling for the Deputy

    Falling for the Deputy: A Small-Town Southern Romance (Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge Book 4) 

    Can a group of hopeless romantics finally find love? Or are they destined always to be a bridesmaid and never the bride?

    After losing at love twice, Barbara Wilton needs a change, some place far from her home in Boston, so she takes a position as manager of a small branch bank in Willow Ridge, Georgia. She’s done with relationships and ready to concentrate on her career. The experience in Willow Ridge will help her move forward in the banking industry, but she doesn’t plan to stay there permanently. Nevertheless, an invitation to join the Hopeless Romantics book club, a position on a planning committee, helping a little league team that needs coaching, and being adopted by a stray dog begin to wind her into the community.

    Chris Harper was a police officer in Charlotte until his marriage fell apart. With his mother and elderly aunt in deteriorating health, Chris returns home to Willow Ridge to help them and takes a job as chief deputy to the local sheriff. The wound left by his failed marriage is still raw and, despite his mother’s nagging, he’s not interested in pursuing any relationship, even with the attractive new bank manager.

    Fate, helped by a few local residents, conspires to push Barbara and Chris together. They meet during a false alarm at the bank and then he assists her with a car problem. But when his aunt receives a foreclosure notice on her house, Chris is angry with Barbara for not warning him that his aunt was behind on her payments.

    She agrees to help him work out the problem with the bank, but the deeper issues between them keep flaring. Can two wary, wounded people learn to trust again and find happiness together? Find out in this sweet, second chance, enemies to lovers romance.

    The Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge series are sweet, small-town contemporary romances. Each book is a standalone and can be read individually or as part of the series.

    Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge series
    Book 1: Falling for the Boss
    Book 2: Falling for the Fireman
    Book 3: Falling for the Doctor
    Book 4: Falling for the Deputy
    Book 5: Falling for the Hockey Player
    Book 6: Falling for the Single Dad
    Book 7: Falling for the Farmer
    Book 8: Falling for the Scotsman

    Grab it here now.

    See my previous Q&A with Cindy Ray Hale here.

  • Falling for the Deputy
    Blog

    Release Week for the first three books in the Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge Series

    Release day banner 2

    Finally, it’s release week for the first books in the Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge series!

    As of today, the first three books in the Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge Series are live.  Falling for the Boss, Falling for the Fireman and Falling fot the Doctor are all available to start reading today and they’re all in Kindle Unlimited. I’m so excited they’re live and can’t wait for the release of the rest of the series in the coming weeks.

    I asked Cindy Ray Hale, author of Falling for the Doctor a few questions about the inspiration for her book. (I’ll be asking the authors this through the release process in the coming weeks so come back to read their answers.)

    release banner for Falling for the Doctor1. What made you decide to write about this particular hero? 

    I know what it’s like to be a single mom, and my son just had tubes in his ears. Also, I was a home health aide to my grandpa who had dementia.   

     2. If you could spend an hour in Willow Ridge where would you go? 

    Anywhere near the water. Or Latte Da. It sounds like a fun coffee shop. I’d love to hear the gossip.   

     3. What did you enjoy most about writing this story? 

    I loved the part about going to Blackbeard Island and boating. It made me miss sunshine and summer.  

     4. What’s your favorite thing about writing small town romance? 

    I love the town gossips and how the entire town pulls together to help each other.  

     5. Are you or have you ever been in a bookclub yourself?

    Yes. I’ve been in many book clubs. I’m not in one currently, and it’s really too bad. It was great to connect with the other readers, eat good food.

    You can get Falling for the Doctor here.

    And you can check out the whole series here!

    See Karen McCulloch’s interview here.

     

     

  • Hopeless Romtics banner
    Blog

    Announcing the Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge

    Hopeless Romtics banner

    I’m so excited to be announcing the Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge. It’s a while since I’ve had a new series to share with you.

    This fun new sweet, small town romance series is launching in March 2022 and I’m a part of it. I think you’re going to love all the women of Willow Ridge and their fun bookclub.

    Here’s the blurb for my book Falling for the Fireman

    Can a group of hopeless romantics finally find love? Or are they destined always to be a bridesmaid and never the bride?

    Falling for the firemanBronte Fishburn loves her hometown of Willow Ridge and her job as an elementary school teacher, but she wishes she could find someone to spend her life with. Someone who loves this town and wants to settle here as much as she does. She used to dream that someone would be her neighbor Ben, but he left her behind years ago and it’s time she created a new dream. Except now Ben is back, sleeping in her spare room and a constant reminder of what she can’t have.

    Firefighter Benjamin Wakefield vowed never to return to Willow Ridge. But his grandfather needs his help to clean out his house and move to a retirement community, so after ten years away he’s back in a town that seems unchanged. Another thing that hasn’t changed are his feelings for Bronte, who is brighter and more beautiful than the day he left. But she’s still too good for him and he’s still not planning to stay. He needs to resist the urge to ignite that growing spark between them to be the good guy she thinks he is.

    Is the pull between Ben and Bronte enough to build a future on? Find out in this friends to lovers, boy next door small town romance.

    The Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge series are sweet, small-town contemporary romances. Each book is a standalone and can be read individually or as part of the series.

    Hopeless Romantics of Willow Ridge series

    Book 1: Falling for the Boss

    Book 2: Falling for the Fireman

    Book 3: Falling for the Doctor

    Book 4: Falling for the Deputy

    Book 5: Falling for the Hockey Player

    Book 6: Falling for the Single Dad

    Book 7: Falling for the Farmer

    Book 8: Falling for the Scotsman

    You can preorder the whole series here.