Welcome to FAB Lovelies!

A Lifestyle blog that focuses on all things from fashion to beauty; fitness to weight loss; recipes to coupons; books to movies; travels to entertainment; and everything in between.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Love. Local. Latebreaking. by H. Laurence Lareau - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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).)

Of course, sparks fly between hero and heroine. Often narrated from Jake’s perspective, that passion offers a uniquely masculine take on the connection that love-making can bring. Again, romantic stereotypes fall to a multi-layered, authentic quest for genuine love and attachment. Sure, Jake has impulses and desires like most romantic heroes. His internal life, his feelings, his need—they all combine to intensify the depth and significance of their love and their need to overcome true-to-life obstacles to come together. Being true to Jake’s inner life brings a special level of intensity to the love scenes: my favorite review ever from a Newsroom Romance series reader said that “This book should come with a warning that batteries are not included!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONNECT WITH H. LAURENCE:

Website:

Blog:

Email:
hllareau@icloud.com

Facebook:

Goodreads Author Page:

Goodreads Book Page:

Amazon Author Page:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AMAZON BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle:

Amazon Paperback:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

6 comments:

  1. I enjoyed getting to know your book and thanks for the chance to win :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa, thanks for the kind words. I hope you enjoy the Newsroom Romance series!

      Delete
  2. Congrats on the book tour. I wish you success on your release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com

    ReplyDelete