Please welcome fellow TWRP author, Donna Simonetta, to my blog, talking about her latest book.
I love reading small-town
contemporary romance! Give me a new Fool’s Gold book by Susan Mallery, a comfy
chair, and a cup of coffee, and I’m set for the day. When I first started
writing romance, I wrote paranormal stories, and I love those too. But I wanted
to try my hand at a small-town romance––to be clear, a small town with no
witches, shifters, or Fae.
I’m a born and bred New Englander,
and my husband is a native Virginian, so I thought I’d make the female
protagonist from Connecticut and the male protagonist from Virginia. I decided
to set it in Virginia, and the quirky, little town of Rivers Bend was created!
Once I imagined the town and its inhabitants, I knew one book wasn’t going to
be enough to tell its story. Rivers Bend deserved a trilogy.
A Sweeter Spot is the first book in the trilogy, and
tells the story of Magda Horvath relocating to Rivers Bend for a brief stay to
help her best friend. Of course, she fell in love with the town, and once she
got to know Jefferson Braden and his big, loving family, she didn’t want to
leave. Too bad her oily ex-fiancé and wealthy grandmother won’t stop at
anything to get her back to Manhattan and the life she left behind.
Love is Lovelier is the second book in the trilogy, and it
focuses on Jeff’s sister Heather, and her first love, who broke her heart back
in the day. Now he’s moved to the Bend, and is wreaking havoc in her life
again. I’m working with my publisher on the final stages of that book, and I
hope it will be released in early 2018. I’m currently writing book 3, wherein
the wildest Braden, youngest son Jason, finally meets the woman who might be
immune to his charms.
I’m
going to be sad when I’m done writing the Rivers Bend trilogy. I’ve spent the
last few years living there in mind, and it seems like a real place to me, and
I’ll be sorry to say good-bye to its residents. Maybe, like Magda, I won’t be
able to resist the easy pace, and warm comfort of Rivers Bend, and the next
generation of Bradens will decide to tell me their stories too!
Blurb:
Magda knows a 28-year-old shouldn’t run away from home, but
Rivers Bend is the ideal escape. Helping out her best friend will get her away
from her uber-wealthy, controlling grandmother and duplicitous ex. She doesn’t
expect the quirky little town to feel so much like home. Add in
hotter-than-the-sun Jeff and his daughter, and leaving seems as unthinkable as
it is inevitable.
Raising Sam alone, Jeff knew he wanted her to grow up in his
supportive hometown. The arrival of a feisty new tenant sends Jeff's world
spinning. Magda fills a void in his life that he’d like to make permanent.
Will love triumph over the most powerful woman in the country,
and can they figure out how to make this happy-for-now in Rivers Bend into
their happy-ever-after?
Excerpt:
“Being cheated on is no fun. It happened
to me once. Up here,” he tapped his forehead. “You know it’s not your fault.
But here,” he tapped his chest over his heart. “You feel like it has to be your
fault – like you could’ve done something to prevent it. But you couldn’t have.
It’s all on him, Maggie. Not you.”
She picked a dandelion, whose flower had
turned into a puffball, and blew on it, scattering the fluff to the wind.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But thanks for the support.”
She pushed to her feet and took a couple
of steps toward the river. Jeff rose and followed.
How could he be so angry at a man he
didn’t even know? How could this Pierce jerk have slept around on a woman like
Maggie? And the prick had even made her doubt herself in the process. It was
written all over her anguished face.
He stood behind her and gently kneaded
her shoulders. He turned her to face him and cupped her face in his big hands.
“This Pierce guy is the biggest fool on
earth to go to someone else when he had you at home, Maggie.”
She blinked away tears, and he felt his
heart constrict. Before he could think it through and decide it was a really
bad idea, Jeff dipped his head and captured Magda’s lips in a gentle kiss.
My career has
been a winding road. I worked in the business world for years, got my MLS and
worked in a school library, and am now living my dream as an author. I love to
read and write contemporary and fantasy romance. I
live in Maryland, with my husband, who is my real-life romance hero. We both
enjoy traveling to visit our far-flung family and friends, and spending time on
the beach with an umbrella drink and a good book.
Amazon:
TWRP:
Barnes & Noble:
Amazon UK:
Kobo:
Jennifer, thank you so much for letting me blab about Rivers Bend today on your blog! I hope a new reader will take advantage of the 99 cent price of Book 1, and visit for themselves!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays to you!
So happy to have you here today, Donna! Can't wait to read your books!
DeleteLovely post, Donna! And love the excerpt too! Best of luck with this series!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Katie! This means a lot coming from you...you write the kind of fun, warm, humorous, contemporary romance that I try to write!
DeleteThanks for visiting, Katie!
DeleteGreat post, Donna! Wishing you much success with the whole series! Jennifer, thanks for hosting Donna. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Judith! I know you're going through some stuff right now, and I appreciate your efforts to support my sale more than I could say!
Delete: )
Thanks for stopping by, Judith! Happy to host authors!
DeleteQuite a turn from shape shifters to small town life! I love them both. Rivers Bend sounds like an enchanting place to visit.
ReplyDeleteI love the way it sounds, too, Sandra. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteLove these excerpts! Good luck Donna! (Claire Marti)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Claire! I know every book is like our little baby, but I have to admit that I really love A Sweeter Spot!
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Claire!
Delete