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.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

The Cinderella Series by Petie McCarty - Book Tour - Guest Post - Book Review - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


The Cinderella Romances Series
Books 1 - 3
by Petie McCarty

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

GENRE:  Contemporary Romance


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

BOOK SERIES BLURB:


The Cinderella Romances...Fall in love with the fairy tale all over again.

Modern-day Cinderella stories that provide unlimited opportunities to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.

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

BOOK BLURB - CINDERELLA BUSTED - BOOK ONE:



Once upon a time, in Jupiter Island, Florida . . .

Billionaire developer, Rhett Buchanan, is forced to inspect a shipment of priceless trees and meets the girl of his dreams instead. A bit jaded where women are concerned—since most are gold diggers—Rhett falls head over heels for the Jupiter Island socialite who only wants him, not his money. Except she isn't the glamorous socialite she appears to be.

She's the gardener . . .

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

BOOK BLURB - BETTING ON CINDERELLA - BOOK TWO:



Once upon a time in Biloxi, Mississippi . . .

Garrett Tucker inherits his grandfather's casino empire and steps into the reclusive billionaire's shoes as the new "Prince of Vegas." Discovering embezzlement in his newly purchased casino in Biloxi, Garrett goes in undercover. His prime suspect? The new finance supervisor . . . a feisty brunette who stole his heart at first sight.
 
Andi Ryan moves to Biloxi to care for her godmother. Taking a job as finance supervisor for the renovated Bayou Princess casino, she discovers someone is skimming from the till. Andi starts her own investigation, worried she will be blamed for the theft when the handsome new owner discovers her godmother likes to gamble.

Industrial espionage is afoot at the Bayou Princess, and Garrett and Andi are soon forced to work as a team to prove her innocence and save the casino before it’s too late.

This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other stories in the Cinderella Romances series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.

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

BOOK BLURB - PAR FOR CINDERELLA - BOOK THREE:



Once upon a time in Cedar Key, Florida . . .

Golf resort developer Aidan Cross is at loose ends. Something feels missing from his life, but that something isn't women. He has too many women chasing him now. To confuse things even more, his yacht breaks down off-shore of his next project site in Florida, and Aidan falls for his only competition in the small town—a woman who wants nothing to do with him or his rakish charm.

Casey Stuart is stuck living in Cypress Key, unwilling to abandon her uncle or the golf course they manage together. She doesn't quite trust the stranger Aidan who shows up in town looking for work, and she vows to steer clear of him and the danger their intense chemistry provokes. Aidan’s stay is temporary, and falling for him promises only heartbreak.

But Casey needs Aidan’s help when she discovers Cypress Key’s mayor is making underhanded business deals, and she ends up on the wrong side of the powerful crook. Aidan steps in to rescue her, but secrets from his past threaten to bogey their new-found affair.

This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other Cinderella stories in the series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.

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

EXCERPT ONE:



From Cinderella Busted - Book One:


“Do you buy a lot of plants here?” Buchanan suddenly asked.

Her head snapped up from examining a bent gray frond. She swallowed. “Buy?”

“You must be one of the nursery’s best customers as well as you know the stock and know your way around here.” He gave her that slow, sexy smile again. “Are you buying landscaping for business or pleasure?”

Oh good grief! He thinks I’m a customer.

But why wouldn’t he? Today, she was dressed like one. Surely, he could tell from their conversation she worked here at the nursery.

Or not.

He waited for a response. So that was why he had asked her to help him! She grinned. She couldn’t help it. She felt like Cinderella masquerading as a princess at the ball. Maybe she could just avoid answering his question altogether.

She guided him to the end of the aisle, made the turn to the fifth row of trees, and aimed their steps toward a cluster of Monterrey pines.

Buchanan put a hand out to stop her. “I hope you’ll let me take you to dinner to thank you for helping me, Lily.”

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

GUEST POST:


Making a Hero


Sounds easy but not so much. The most important lesson I can suggest is to always be true to your hero, in the creation and maintenance of his/her character. Treat them with great care. Create them and remember every human strength and frailty you’ve given them, both physically and emotionally. Your reader won’t take kindly to your hero changing halfway through the story.

Index cards are how I stay true. I keep index cards for all my characters, both main and secondary, listing all their physical characteristics and important events in their lives, family members, and so on. This way their eyes don’t suddenly change color in Chapter 19 or the heroine grew two inches in Chapter 10. The cards remain at my elbow throughout the writing, all the way to the final galley.

So what kind of hero do you want for your story? For me, I always take time to think back to my favorite heroes in books I’ve read—remind myself why they were my favorites. Did I hate them and then love them? Did they change through the book into a better man or woman? Did they have an inner empathy for others that they hid well from the world? I then use the emotions that those heroes instilled by their characteristics or vulnerabilities to create my own unique hero.

So, back to what kind of hero you want. I let the story decide. Whether I need a physically strong one, a brainy one, a nerd, or a softy. The plot will determine the hero I need. Now all I have to do is make him lovable. And for me, there’s nothing more endearing than a troubled past or emotional hurts as a child that the hero had to fight through to become his own man. A battered childhood or broken home or abandonment or neglect or a broken heart when young or as a young adult. If the trouble can bring a tear to your eye, it will for your reader as well. Any of these troubles strengthen the steel in your hero’s spine and the size of his heart, his ability to love. If he was hurt badly, he’ll make doubly sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else the same way. If he was ignored or bullied as a child, he’ll make sure the children he engages don’t suffer the same fate from him or anyone else. Experiences give the hero vulnerabilities and strengths and endurance. Experiences can also make him/her distrustful, and wary, yet appreciative of what he/she does get or accomplish.

Nobody falls in love with a perfect hero so give them an imperfect one with cracks and chinks in his shining armor. A hide-in-plain-sight hero/heroine who pretends to be someone else gives you the vulnerability of discovery and their ability to be free of normal life constraints for a while. Free to be their self and to show their real self to others without risk. Free to be the person they always wanted to be but were too afraid to let show. Gives the reader something to root for—their ability to remain hidden—until they get a chance to find their true love. The hide-in-plain-sight worked for my heroine in Cinderella Busted and my heroes in Betting on Cinderella and Par For Cinderella and also my next heroine still being written in Cinderella on the Rocks.

Best of luck with your heroes. If you love them, your readers will too.


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

MY BOOK REVIEW:





This book, "Par for Cinderella," was such a fun, exciting, entertaining, enjoyable read!

This book was such a fantastic modern day take on the classic Cinderella fairytale story!

"Par for Cinderella," keeps you totally engaged from page one through the very last page!  I honestly had a hard time putting this book down!

I really liked the main characters, Casey and Aidan.  They were genuine, kind, and realistic.  Casey was fierce and sassy, but also sweet, and kind-hearted.  She was smart, beautiful, and caring.  She had big dreams about getting to the big city, but put her Uncle, the man who raised her, first, by returning to Cypress Key after college to help him run his failing business.  Aidan was handsome, rich, famous, and in need of a break from his regular crazy, busy – but glamourous lifestyle.  Aidan just wanted to be a regular guy for once.  He was charming, intelligent, charismatic, athletic, and accomplished.  Yep - totally book boyfriend material and I fell hard for him lol!!

I really liked Casey and Aidan together!  They were so adorable!  Their silly, witty banter was beyond entertaining and led to many real LOL’s!!  Plus, their chemistry was just off the charts!!!  You could feel the passion leap off the pages!!  It was obvious these two were meant to be together, whether they knew it or not lol!!

Unfortunately, Casey does not know about Aidan’s big financial status secret and the fact that he’s been lying to her everyday since they’ve met.  This is definitely going to lead to some drama when she finally finds out.  And can she forgive him??

I really enjoyed reading this book and totally had a smile on most of the time I was reading it!  Furthermore, this book will definitely have you laughing-out-loud so probably not a good idea to read it at a library or class or work lol!

I loved that this book was a sports romance book!  Two of my favorite things in a book!  I loved all the sports excerpts which were fun and entertaining.  Even if you’re not a golf fan, it’s not overwhelming or difficult to follow the sports references.

This book has a great storyline that flows, terrific writing style with detailed scenes, well-developed characters, is steady paced, and keeps you completely entertained through the last page.

There are a few exciting twists and turns and unexpected moments that will keep you guessing!  But this book shouldn’t really be considered as a suspense/thriller book.  However, it isn’t just a romance book either as this book deals with corruption, drug smuggling, vandalism, arson, suicide, murder, drug cartels, and so much more!  This book has a lot to offer its readers and will totally keep you engaged!

I like that this book touches on many topics such as love, romance, friendship, hard life lessons, second chances, change, dedication, perseverance, growth, humor, deceit, deception, corruption, compassion, empathy, integrity, unity, determination, devotion, faith, hope, forgiveness, moving on, starting over, new beginnings, overcoming obstacles, and so much more!

This book is the third book in the Cinderella Romances Book Series.  I had not read either of the books in this series before reading this book.  I did not get lost or confused, so this book can be read as a standalone.  However, there are many references to the previous book and the characters seem to overlap.  However, since I liked this book, I would suggest getting in from the beginning and starting with book one, so you don’t miss anything.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend this book to all contemporary romance readers!

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations**

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

AUTHOR BIO:



Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.

Visit Petie's web site online at http://www.petiemccarty.com or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty.

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

CONNECT WITH PETIE:


Website:

Facebook:

X:

Goodreads Author Page:

BookBub Author Page:

Amazon Author Page:

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

AMAZON BUY LINKS - CINDERELLA BUSTED - BOOK ONE:



Amazon US Kindle eBook:

Amazon US Paperback:

Amazon CA Kindle eBook:

Amazon CA Paperback:

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

AMAZON BUY LINKS - BETTING ON CINDERELLA - BOOK TWO:



Amazon US Kindle eBook:

Amazon US Paperback:

Amazon CA Kindle eBook:

Amazon CA Paperback:

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

AMAZON BUY LINKS - PAR FOR CINDERELLA - BOOK THREE:


Amazon US Kindle eBook:

Amazon US Paperback:

Amazon CA Kindle eBook:

Amazon CA Paperback:

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

GIVEAWAY:


Petie will be awarding a $10 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner's Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.



 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**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 fabulous community outreach projects and 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.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for hosting and featuring this series today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm looking forward to checking out this series. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would enjoy reading this one. Sounds like a good story.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I enjoyed reading about this book.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you so much for your kind words and taking valuable time to read and review my story! Also many thanks for sponsoring my Cinderella Romances series tour and for this wonderful opportunity!

    ReplyDelete