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A MATCH MADE IN HERITAGE VIEW
Heritage View #1
Annie Stiles
Released May 4th, 2016
Soul Mate Publishing
Despite having been raised by a man-eating, social-climbing mother, Genevieve Garnier is a hopeless romantic. She has successfully parlayed her sentimental nature into a prestigious Manhattan wedding planning business, but cannot make it down the aisle herself.
As another hectic wedding season winds down, Gen finds herself burned out and at a crossroads in life. She retreats to the charming Hudson Valley town of Heritage View to reinvent herself as girl-next-door “Jane”, complete with a charming cottage and apple pies baking in the oven. Gen is determined to simplify her life in Heritage View and keep her wedding business humming, without letting the two worlds collide. Michael Carlisle waltzes in and turns her plans upside down.
Michael is smart and successful, with enough guarded-heart intensity and magnetism to curl any woman’s toes. He stays out of the social fray in Manhattan, so he doesn’t recognize Jane as socialite wedding planner Genevieve. It’s a good thing, because he hates pampered socialites and avoids them nearly as much as he avoids girl-next-door types. That leaves our heroine 0-for-2. To make matters worse, it turns out that Michael is dear friends with the Hunter family, “Jane’s” new best friends. He has relationship baggage of his own to battle, but Michael can’t seem to stay away from Jane.
Will they repeat the mistakes of the past?
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“The way you’re wielding that wooden spoon, I can see that I’ve startled you.” He held his hands up in mock surrender, the twinkle in his eyes making way for a smile that completely spoiled his attempt at appearing contrite. “I mean no harm. You have no cause to spoon me to death.” He was teasing her openly now, and Jane stifled the unwelcome romantic image that he’d just unwittingly conjured.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” With a nervous chuckle, she lowered the spoon she was still unconsciously grasping. “Force of habit, I’m afraid. I’m from the city.” Why had she told him that? Wasn’t incognito her goal? Clearly, the FBI wouldn’t be soliciting her for undercover work anytime soon. She smoothed her disheveled apron moaning internally at the cheesy move in light of his obvious sophistication. Buck up, camper, you are acting like a freshman in high school.
“Ah, yes. I should have recognized the paranoia and aggression. Comes with the territory, huh? Whereabouts?”
At her blank expression, he prompted, “Where are you from?”
“Where? Err, New York.” So much for witty repartee. Good grief. Really, Gen?
His smile was openly curious and more than a hint amused, the effect so potent as to be more than a bit butterfly inducing. Her brain sounded an alarm of recognition. Her heart began to sink. Not particularly original, but clichéd or not, butterflies in her stomach were her own early-warning system. Butterflies in the stomach were not technologically advanced and rather akin to plucking petals from a daisy in sophistication but nevertheless, flawlessly accurate at predicting trouble of the masculine variety. Did women still swoon nowadays? Swooning was like fainting, right? She’d have to remember to look it up. Gen had read about swooning women a million times, but this was the first time in her life she had understood the impulse.
“Yeah, the city.” He winked at her. “I think we’ve established that.”
“I—”
“Let’s start over.” He moved forward a step and held out his hand to her. “Hi, Jane. I’m Michael.”
Q & A with Annie Stiles
Annie, congrats on your debut sweet, contemporary romance, A MATCH MADE IN HERITAGE VIEW. You’ve said that Heritage View is a fictitious town, loosely based on the area where you grew up. Can you tell us a little bit about how that came to be?
I grew up in the picturesque Hudson Valley of New York State. It’s an area that is near and dear to my heart. The region is rich with history and boasts lots of interesting, quirky towns that have great heritage and character. The tone can be quite varied, I think due to the influence of New York City blending with the flavors of New England and Upstate New York. They all come together in a really special way. That eclectic quality made it perfect for the creation of a fictitious town that I’ve begun to populate with wonderful characters. The setting has become one of the characters and I’m looking forward to sharing and exploring more of Heritage View as the series progresses.
Did you always want to write romance?
Yes and no. I’d say it was more of a daydream because I had a whimsical, fantasy idea of what that meant. I somehow saw it as separate from real life and college, jobs, getting married, and buying a house. It was a charming wish or a secret that I carried around in a little pocket in my heart labeled “maybe someday”. I joined RWA several years ago, not really understanding what it was all about. I started a book that was a version of what this one would later become. I got about ten minutes into it and then we started our family and that was that...or so I thought. I can’t explain it, but I wasn’t ready. After our youngest child started school, something changed and I suddenly felt ready. I sat down and wrote the book fairly quickly from scratch. It felt like a switch had been flipped and my heart was ready. I took the dream out of my pocket, dusted it off, and I’m on my way. It’s been a pleasure, and I’m very fortunate that my first novel has been published.
When you are not writing, and you have a free moment to read, what do you like to pick up?
Hmm. I am pretty devoted to the romance genre, though I also enjoy more book-club type fiction and historical fiction, as long as it isn’t too angsty. I don’t do scary movies or scary books. At this stage of life with young kids and hectic days, I tend to read right before bed. I’m usually half-asleep and I want to relax and be entertained. I love historical romance. Right now, Eloisa James and Lisa Kleypas are auto-buys for me. They are deliciously escapist and entertaining reads, but the writing is really sharp, intelligent, and crisp. I have a huge TBR pile, but don’t we all? I’m the only person I know who hasn’t read any J.D. Robb books and I’m looking forward to starting them soon. For comforting, atmospheric books, Rosamund Pilcher and Marcia Willett are fantastic. I go through phases and I’m prone to glomming. I’m trying to organize my “read/to-read” list on Goodreads now. So much better than little scraps of paper all over the house.
What type of audience is best for A MATCH MADE IN HERITAGE VIEW?
Can I say mushy people? No? How about sentimental people? The optimistic dreamers, looking for a bit of a cozy, relaxing way to spend an afternoon. It isn’t real life per se, it’s life the way you might wish it could be. The houses are bit quainter, the characters are a bit more charming, the problems are a bit easier to solve than in real life. It is your favorite squishy chair, or a chat with that old friend who knows you so well. It is an ideal story for the beach or lazing by the pool this summer.
What are you working on next?
I’ve finished Book 2 in the series and I’m polishing it now to submit to my editor. I’ll start Book 3 this summer.
Thank you for sitting down with us!
5 Stars
Love stories, there is never enough of them, but ones with a great plot and a great story line, not so many. Jane (Gen) and Michael, what a pair they made. Both did not have much luck with their parents, or more like their Mothers, both had a long journey to go through and things to overcome. Am not going to mention more in here to save from letting others know of the plot, The story as gentle and fun was riveting to read, page by page getting to know the characters and not just Jane and Michael but all the others who added more to the book and the story line. Loved and will recommend to my friends to read. Thank you to Tasty Book Tours for the opportunity to read & review A Match Made in Hertiage View!
Love stories, there is never enough of them, but ones with a great plot and a great story line, not so many. Jane (Gen) and Michael, what a pair they made. Both did not have much luck with their parents, or more like their Mothers, both had a long journey to go through and things to overcome. Am not going to mention more in here to save from letting others know of the plot, The story as gentle and fun was riveting to read, page by page getting to know the characters and not just Jane and Michael but all the others who added more to the book and the story line. Loved and will recommend to my friends to read. Thank you to Tasty Book Tours for the opportunity to read & review A Match Made in Hertiage View!
Annie Stiles was practically born with a book in her hand, but the
writing came later. A daydreamer by nature, Annie always secretly wanted to be
a romance novelist. It wasn’t until her youngest child started kindergarten
that she buckled down and turned that dream into reality. She is fascinated by
characters on the page and in real life, and talks with her hands so much that
people have been known to duck.
When not
on her laptop, she likes to putter in her garden. Annie lives in the beautiful
Capital-Saratoga region of New York State with her college sweetheart husband
and their two children. They are all owned by two cats.
Annie writes satisfying, character-driven contemporary romance.
Annie writes satisfying, character-driven contemporary romance.
Rose-colored
glasses are standard issue.
Thank you for hosting A MATCH MADE IN HERITAGE today!
ReplyDeleteCrystal, Tasty Book Tours