Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host H.
Laurence Lareau and his new book, “Love. Local. Latebreaking.”! For other stops on his Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of
this post to enter to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with H.
Laurence and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous
giveaway!
Love. Local. Latebreaking.
by H. Laurence Lareau
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
Professional
passion in the tradition of Julie James, Love. Local. Latebreaking. is a
page-turning romance shining a spotlight into television news.
"Heart-tugging
relational tension but with a sophistication that raises it above the romance
genre."
~ Jlaird, verified purchaser
"Mr.
Lareau manages humor beautifully--I was able to envision certain
scenes/situations/people so clearly that I was chortling into my coffee. I
highly recommend this novel as a light-hearted (and sexy) diversion."
~ Sarah K. Clark, verified purchaser
"The
heroine had a career that she worked hard for and that she didn't give that
career up simply because she'd found love"
~ A. Geek, verified purchaser
Local
TV news reporter Karli Lewis has one goal: escape Iowa's cornfields and podunk
local news scene to hit the bright lights of the Chicago's newsrooms. Karli’s
career is on the rise, thanks to her talented, dizzingly handsome, yet
enigmatic news photographer, Jake Gibson, a dedicated hometown boy who is
staying put. Will Karli listen to her heart, or will she choose a dateline over
her favorite date? Can she reconcile her unbridled ambition and her longing for
the man she could lose forever?
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EXCERPT TWO:
“Um,
Karli, I don’t think you need any more to drink,” Mary Rose said. “Or maybe you
need a lot more. Come to think of it, that always makes for a better story.
Let’s have more.” She clapped her hands together and rubbed them in
anticipation, then raised a hand to catch the bartender’s attention and gestured
for a new round.
Bailey’s
frustrated glare conveyed to Karli that her explanation had somehow fallen
short of expectations. “So I was pissed because he was sleeping with her after
he kissed me on the bridge. . .”
“What
bridge?” Bailey was interested but genuinely confused by now, and it showed in
her tone and face.
“Ooh,
I love stories with trolls,” cried Mary Rose.
“You
know, the covered bridge outside of Winterset,” Karli said. “Where the book is
set and where they did the movie.”
“WHAT?”
Bailey nearly shrieked. “He took you to a covered bridge in Madison County and
kissed you there? That is probably the most romantic thing ever!”
“Well,
he didn’t kiss me,” Karli said. “At least, not at first. I sort of started with
the kissing. Then he kissed me back. Really well.” Again, Karli’s memory
transported her to a moment of intense passion. Again, she felt the coiled
tension inside of her—the aching wetness between her legs, the tightened flesh
of her nipples—crying out for release. Again, she lost the thread of the
conversation.
“On
a covered bridge, no less.” Bailey sighed wistfully.
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GUEST POST:
Love. Local. Latebreaking. has
a uniquely masculine perspective on romance. Jake’s attraction, love, and
passion for Karli—as well as his backstory and his tortured masculine
identity—reflect the typically unspoken ardor that inspires men in their
relationships. His progress in coming to know, care for, and ultimately to find
a home in Karli follows reflects an internal, uniquely male, experience seldom
charted in contemporary romance. Even in these fraught times, a male author’s
perspective on romance brings something fresh and arousing to the genre.
The
television newsroom provides uniquely fertile ground for Karli and Jake’s
attraction to grow. Karli is a powerful, professional woman working in a
chaotic and very public profession. Television news reporters like her—and
their stalwart colleagues, the news photographers—work on several-a-day
deadline pressure. That pressure cooker requires collaborators to bring the
best each has to every story—and to one another. Both the newsroom and the
stories the journalists cover draw from my first career. (For a sample from that
long-ago time, check out this series report: https://youtu.be/D3NJ_txK0ps)
Being
truthful to masculine experience requires eschewing any number of romance-genre
stereotypes. There aren’t any swashbuckling pirates, kilted Scotsmen, or driven
billionaires in the Newsroom Romance series. Jake’s manhood is authentic—he is
driven by his career and the activities that connect him to others. He works in
the community, including in his dojo. (He has a black belt in karate, yes, but
he doesn’t drive a Maserati.)
Jake’s
active, rather than verbal, grieving over the loss of a friend expresses some
of the truth of the masculine identity. His silent karate performance (imagine
a silent version of this: https://youtu.be/1odepNdpl6g) expresses deep emotion
in a manner that is unusual to the genre yet faithful to his character.
(Unfortunately, this video of me is (1) my weakest-ever tournament performance,
and (2) from eight years ago (https://youtu.be/ci0gdca_GLo).)
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AUTHOR BIO:
H. Laurence Lareau fell in love with romances
the first time Pride and Prejudice came home from the library with him. Since
that high school summer, he has earned an English degree from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, worked as a television and print journalist,
built a career in law, and has remained a Jane Austen junkie through it all.
The
Newsroom Romance series draws from his careers, his voracious reading, and his
curiosity about the tensions between real life and real love.
Real
life now is dramatically different from the real life of Austen’s
times—privileged women no longer choose between eligible members of the landed
gentry, nor are they imperiled by the sexist mysteries of the entailed fee
simple estate in land.
Modern
women with the privileges of education rather than birth now embark upon
careers that can satisfy many personal and material dreams. Seemingly
inevitably, though, careers fall short of the promise that they’ll fulfill
women as people.
Strong,
modern women have defined Lareau’s professional and personal lives, and strong
women fully occupy center stage in their own newsroom romance stories. Their
high-profile journalism and legal careers matter deeply to them and to the
people they serve.
Then
love comes walking in. These book boyfriends don’t have kilts or billions or
pirate ships, though. Their career goals meet and often clash with their
romantic counterparts, requiring both the men and women to make hard choices
about what happily ever after should look like and how to achieve it.
When
he isn’t writing, practicing law, or raising children, he’s working on martial
arts and music.
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CONNECT WITH H. LAURENCE:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
hllareau@icloud.com
Facebook:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
H. Laurence will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N
GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed getting to know your book and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteLisa, thanks for the kind words. I hope you enjoy the Newsroom Romance series!
DeleteI liked the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the book tour. I wish you success on your release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book!
ReplyDelete