Sparked
by Love
A
Holiday for Romance Series
By: Peggy Bird
Blurb:
Some fussy
artist is making Shannon Morgan’s job with the city of Vancouver, Washington
harder than it should be. She’s organizing the huge annual Independence Day
celebration and he’s being impossible. But then, he’s like a couple other men
she’s known—her mostly absent father and her disappearing ex-boyfriend, for
example.
All Leo
Wilson wants is an okay for his plans to install glass fireworks at Fort
Vancouver on the Fourth of July. With thousands of people there to see his
work, it could be his big career break. If the crabby bureaucrat will get him
the permits he needs.
When Leo
confronts the cause of his trouble in person he’s surprised to find a beautiful
young woman. Shannon is equally surprised at meeting a sweet, sexy man. Dinner,
a movie and a few torrid kisses take it from spark to flame.
But then
the father she’s always wanted as part of her life reappears, accompanied by
her ex-boyfriend. Shannon has to decide how far she’s willing to go to have her
father around. And find out why he’s with her ex.
If she
makes the right decisions, she and Leo will create fireworks that rival the
pyrotechnics that light up the sky on July Fourth. Privately.
Link to Follow Tour: http://tastybooktours.blogspot.com/2014/05/now-booking-tasty-virtual-tour-for_6.html
What is your writing environment?
I can write just about anyplace. I’ve written on vacations
in ski resorts and at the beach, on retreats with other writers, in coffee
shops and on airplanes. My office at home has a comfortable desk and chair, a
lot of good light and access to snacks and coffee. It also, unfortunately, has wife
access which means I can be distracted by Facebook and Pinterest entirely too
much.
Who is your perfect hero/heroine? Why?
I don’t know that I have a “perfect” hero or heroine. In
what I read and write, I’m drawn to characters who are true to life and no one
I’ve ever met is perfect. However, I admit that several of the heroes in the
books I’ve written have been so appealing to me that I dreamed about them long
after I’d finished their stories. Does that mean I thought they were perfect?
Maybe.
Which authors have caught your interest lately? Why?
One of the pleasures of being involved in the community of
romance authors is meeting some amazing writers. I am lucky enough to have as
Crimson Romance sisters such interesting authors as Becky Lower, whose
historical romances set in the United States make me want to write one, too.
And Jaye Shields and Becky Flade who write sexy stories that warm the winter
night. Deborah Cordes and her writing partner Cary Frates write fascinating
time-travel sci fi. Kristina Knight and K. M. Jackson write sassy contemporary
stories. Outside my Crimson sister circle there’s Candis Terry and Courtney
Milan who I’ve met at conferences. What they all have in common is the ability
to tell a good story with sympathetic characters and great writing.
What type of book have you always wanted to write?
I’ve always wanted to write mystery stories but somehow, when
I try they end up being more about the relationship between the hero and the
heroine than about the mystery—a romance, in short. I’ll keep at it, though.
Maybe one day the murder will win over the love scene.
Top 3 things on your bucket list:
All three would be books I want to write: a mystery, a
memoir and a children’s book.
How did you get the idea for this particular novel?
My hometown, Vancouver, Washington, has a huge Independence
Day celebration every year on the parade grounds of an historic army fort. When
I decided to write a series of holiday books, I knew one of them would take
place there. I also wanted to write more about glass artists—I create
kiln-formed or slumped glass pieces and have written about the art form in
several of the books in my first series. When I put the two ideas together, glass
fireworks for the Fourth of July at Fort Vancouver and a romance as hot as a
firecracker was the result.
What is your favorite scene in your newest release?
Probably the scene where the hero, Leo Wilson, and the
heroine, Shannon Morgan, meet. He’s trying to get approval for a glass art
installation. She’s in charge of issuing the permits. He’s convinced she’s a middle
aged, crusty, cranky bureaucrat. She thinks he’s a spoiled PITA artist with no grasp
of reality. He storms City Hall to confront her and they discover just how very
wrong they both are.
What is the last movie you watched and loved?
“The Grand Budapest Hotel.” I love Wes Anderson movies and I
love Ralph Fiennes. How could I not love it?
What would you consider a “perfect date”?
Let’s see—it would be a fall evening, the sun at that
interesting angle autumn produces when the fascinating man I met at the monthly
Art Walk in town picks me up and takes me to his favorite restaurant. Doesn’t
have to be expensive. Just good food. And really slow service so we have lots
of time to talk about art and writing and local politics and the state of the
world. We close the restaurant down; he drives me home and makes a date to do
it all over again the next night.
What are you currently working on?
I’m finishing up the fourth book in the Holiday For Romance
series—the heroine in “The Gifts of Love” opens the book with a particularly
unpleasant birthday celebration and closes the last chapter with a
happily-ever-after one the next year. In between she finds her passion, her
love and a new home—the best gifts to celebrate, don’t you think?
*************
Author Info:
Peggy Bird
lives in the Pacific Northwest where she sets most of her novels. To stay out
of trouble—and the rain—she writes stories about smart women and sexy men and
creates the occasional piece of glass art.
Find Peggy
at www.peggybirdwrites.net, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/peggybirdauthor, and on Twitter @peggybirdwrites.
Author Links:
https://www.facebook.com/peggybirdauthor
Rafflecopter Giveaway:
Grand Prize:
Print Set of Books 1-3 of Second Chance Series, a $15.00 Amazon Gift Card and
Custom Pendent.
Two Runner’s Up will
receive a Digital Backlist Romance from Peggy Bird and a $5.00 Amazon Gift Card
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for hosting today!
ReplyDeleteI think any holiday can be romantic depending on the couple. I would argue that Christmas is one of the most romantic especially if you are somewhere that it snows - fire places and cuddling makes for a romance inspiring time :)
ReplyDeleteI think Anniversaries are usually the most romantic holiday, because it is a personal celebration of the love they have for each other and their time they have spent loving each other. As for commercial or legal holidays, it all depends on how each couple celebrates.
ReplyDeleteI think the most romantic holiday is Christmas. The time of giving and sharing.
ReplyDeletei think christmas is the most romantic.sitting in front of a cozy fire and looking at the twinkling lights on the christmas tree
ReplyDelete