Hello, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Caren
Crane, Jeanne Adams, and Nancy Northcott and their new book, “Who’s Your
Daddy”! For other stops on their
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 copy of the following THREE books “Kick
Start,” by Caren Crane, “Dead Run,” by Jeanne Adams, AND “Danger’s
Edge,” by Nancy Northcott!!! Also,
come back daily to interact with Caren, Jeanne, and Nancy and to increase your
chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Who’s Your Daddy
by Caren Crane,
Jeanne Adams,
& Nancy Northcott
Jeanne Adams,
& Nancy Northcott
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Presenting three tales of secrets revealed and histories
uncovered by DNA testing.
Brown-Eyed Boy by Caren Crane
A
carpenter discovers his father isn't actually his father. Coming to terms with
the truth reaffirms his place in his family, but it also leads him to love with
an old friend's sister and helps him find a path for his life.
Lost in Time by Jeanne Adams
A
lawyer learns his grandmother had a secret marriage before his father was born.
With the help of a talented genealogist, he tracks down his ancestry. Will he
find the truth about his grandmother's secret before whoever's trying to kill
him succeeds?
Worth the Wait by Nancy Northcott
A
burned-out spy goes home for a holiday and re-encounters the woman he never
dated but never forgot. As he and she grow closer, he learns her niece, his
ex-girlfriend's child, bears an uncanny resemblance to him. When the truth
comes out, it will alter three lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT THREE:
From Worth the Wait by Nancy Northcott
Arachne
opened the file on his desk. “You’ve led takedowns on four major drug rings and
six sets of human traffickers in the last twenty-one months. In all that time,
you’ve taken five days off. You need a break.”
“It
was a long day, with a couple of badly messed-up kids in it,” Dix replied.
“That guy pushed a button that wouldn’t have mattered on a better day.”
Maybe.
He hoped.
“You
don’t look like you’re sleeping well, per the medical staff, and your
colleagues have noticed you’re on edge a lot.”
“They’re
mistaken,” Dix snapped.
Arachne
raised one eyebrow.
Shit.
Of course he wasn’t sleeping well, not with dead and mutilated and traumatized
kids walking in his dreams. Who would sleep with that going on?
Arachne
continued, “There’s a reason we provide paid vacation. You have almost three
years’ worth accrued.”
“I
don’t need a break, sir.” Only the press of work kept the dreams at bay. But he
had to offer a compromise or find himself benched—for a long time, judging by
the boss’s expression. “Yeah, what those kids went through bothers me. It
bothers us all. Goes with the job. A couple of days off, a chance to do some
reading, maybe go to a museum, and I’ll be fine.”
“We’re
past that, and medical concurs. I’m benching you, Agent Dixon. For a month.”
A
month? Panic clawed at his throat. An entire month with nothing to fend off the
images that haunted him day and night?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Falling in Love with the Main Characters
Hi, Ally! Thanks for hosting me and featuring Who’s Your Daddy?!
today. My topic is Falling in Love with the Main Characters.
Part
of the fun of reading a romance is falling for the main characters, becoming
invested in their efforts to overcome the burdens of their past and forge a
lasting relationship. Before I can hope readers will fall in love with my
characters, I have to. If I do, I figure there’s a good chance readers also
will.
It
helps if the lead characters have rooting interests. Those are just what they
sound like, goals or traits that give readers a reason to root for them. Those
can be related to external goals of the larger plot, obtaining justice,
righting a wrong, or helping those in need, to name a few examples. These would
be the external conflicts, and the ways the characters face them reveal who
they are inside.
A
romance also needs inner conflict, a reason the leads can’t be together in
chapter one. The way they deal with that conflict can either alienate us
(whining, lying, cheating, back-stabbing, etc.) or win our affection and
sympathy (considering others’ feelings and trying to do the right thing). We
like characters who demonstrate courage, kindness, determination, honor, humor,
and other admirable traits, and we root for them. The more we see them face
their obstacles in a way that earns our sympathy, the more we care for them and
want them to succeed.
With
that in mind, let’s turn to the hero and heroine of Worth the Wait, my
novella in the Who’s Your Daddy?! anthology. The hero, Jim “Dix” Dixon
is an operative for a multinational covert agency. He specializes in rescuing
kids from child traffickers. After years of this without a break, he’s burning
out though he doesn’t realize it. His boss, however, does see what’s happening
and benches him for a month.
With
nothing else to do and completely unaccustomed to having idle time, Dix returns
to his small hometown in North Carolina. His parents are away, so he makes
needed repairs on their house. His dad’s age is beginning to catch up to him,
and he really shouldn’t climb the extension ladder anymore. Dix also connects
with his best friend from high school, whose kids see him as an honorary uncle.
He
also reconnects with the heroine, Deputy Sheriff Tess Barnhardt. There was
always an attraction between him and Tess, but they ignored it because he had
dated her sister. Now her sister has been dead for several years and Tess is
raising her daughter, Molly. As it happens, Molly is besties with the daughter
of Dix’s old friend. Tess and Molly are thus included in many of the outings
Dix shares with his friend’s family. The old attraction between Dix and Tess is
still there, and they no longer are honor-bound to ignore it.
As
Dix spends increasing amounts of time with Tess and Molly, though, Tess begins
to wonder about a secret her sister took to her grave, the identity of Molly’s
father. With every encounter, Tess notes more and more resemblances between Dix
and Molly. Eventually she must decide to do. Should she seek the truth? Or
should she bury her head in the sand and hold onto the child she adores, even
if that costs the child a chance at knowing her father and robs a strong,
decent man Tess cares for of the chance to know his daughter. She frames her
decision first with what is best for Molly, who desperately wants a dad, and
what is right and honorable where both Molly and Dix, if he is her father, are
concerned.
Who’s
Your Daddy?!
is subtitled A DNA Anthology, so each of the three novellas features a
DNA test. The need for the test unsettles Dix and distresses Tess, who doesn’t
want to lose Molly. They also have to decide what a positive test will mean for
the romantic relationship they’ve been building. I tried to have them face this
problem with integrity and consideration, to treat each other the way I, as a
reader, would want to be treated in a similar situation.
I
never love the hero and heroine on page 1. I build them with traits I think can
lead me (and readers, I hope!) to love them, but actually feeling that
investment in them happens as they take shape on the page. It happens the same
way, one page at a time, when I’m reading someone else’s work. By the end of Worth
the Wait, I loved Tess, Dix, and Molly. I hope you will too!
I
have no photos of anything related to this topic, so I’ve included a picture of
our dog (known as The Boss). She’s not down with this whole writing thing, but
she tolerates it in exchange for regular patrols of the neighborhood.
Ally, thanks again for having me! My companion authors, Caren
Crane and Jeanne Adams, and I all appreciate it. If anyone wants to chat about
characters or books or writing, I’ll be around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO – JEANNE
ADAMS:
Jeanne Adams writes
award-winning romantic suspense, fantasy/paranormal, Urban Fantasy and space
adventure that’s been compared to Jack McDevitt and Robert Heinlein. She also
knows all about getting rid of the bodies. Both traditionally and indie
published, Jeanne has been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine. She teaches
highly sought after classes on Body Disposal for Writers and Plotting for
Pantzers, as well as How to Write a Fight Scene with her pal Nancy Northcott.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH JEANNE:
Website:
Email:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
Instagram:
BookBub Author Page:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO –
CAREN CRANE:
Caren Crane began
writing warm, witty contemporary romance and women's fiction to save herself
from the drudgery of life in the office. An electrical engineer by training,
she longed to create worlds where things were any color except cube-wall gray.
She still works in a cubicle, but gets to hang out with witty, fabulous people
whenever she's writing, which greatly encourages butt-in-chair time.
Caren
lives in North Carolina with her wonderful husband and semi-feral rescue cat.
She has three fiercely intelligent, gorgeous grown children, having neatly
side-stepped her mother’s threat that she would have children Just Like Her.
You can find info and excerpts at www.carencrane.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH CAREN:
Website:
Email:
carencrane@gmail.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
BookBub Author Page:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO –
NANCY NORTHCOTT:
Nancy Northcott’s childhood
ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too
late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, history, and
genre fiction. A sucker for fast action and wrenching emotion, Nancy combines
the romance and high stakes (and sometimes the magic) she loves in the books
she writes.
She’s
the author of the Light Mage Wars/Protectors paranormal romances, the Lethal
Webs and Arachnid Files romantic suspense series, and the historical fantasy
trilogy The Boar King’s Honor. With author Jeanne Adams, she co-writes the
Outcast Station space opera series.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH NANCY:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
nancy@nancynorthcott.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
BookBub Author Page:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Kobo eBook:
Apple iBook eBook:
Google Play eBook:
Books2Read eBooks/Paperbacks:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Caren, Jeanne, and Nancy will be awarding one
copy each of following three books: “Kick Start,” by Caren Crane, “Dead
Run,” by Jeanne Adams, and “Danger's Edge,” by Nancy Northcott to a
randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is 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.**
Caren, Jeanne, & Nancy ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you all here! Congrats on your new book box set and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for having us, Ally! This anthology is lots of fun, as is FAB!
ReplyDeleteThanks for featuring us today, Ally! I love the way you put the post together.
ReplyDeleteHey Ally! Sorry to be late to the party! This is a great interview, Nancy. Ally, I really enjoyed perusing all your posts. You've got a great blog here on FAB!
ReplyDelete