Lee Matthew Goldberg Interview - The Great Gimmelmans

Photo Credit: Muller

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of twelve novels including The Ancestor and The Mentor along with his five-book Desire Card series. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the Prix du Polar. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in CrimeReads, Pipeline Artists, LitHub, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Mystery Tribune, The Big Idea, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, Hypertext, If My Book, Past Ten, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, (Screen)Play Press, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Maudlin House and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.

        

  

Greatest thing you learned at school.
I took a novel writing class my senior year in high school and when the school year ended my teacher said to continue writing this book over the summer and to send him chapters. I realized he only asked me out of the whole class, and that was when I realized I had it in me to be a writer professionally.

When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?
That novel writing class did it, but when I was a kid, a different teacher allowed me to write a fictional story every day in my journal instead of having the assignment be like a diary. By the end of the year, I had over 100 pages and was addicted to telling stories.

Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre?
Probably Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. When I first read it, all my writing became super gothic and tried to mimic its brilliance. I like the strange and unusual and that book oozes strange and unusual.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?
Get ready to deal with so much rejection. It will hurt you. It will make you want to give up. But it will also make you better. You have to be a hustler and believe in yourself, even when it seems like no one else does.

Can you tell us when you started THE GREAT GIMMELMANS, how that came about?
Originally, I wanted to write about a family in the 1930s that robs banks after losing all their money in the Depression. But then Covid happened, and I just didn’t want to write a depressing book, so I moved the era to the 1980s and it just opened up the story and became that much more fun. It became my escape in 2020 from the real world.

What were your feelings when your first novel was accepted/when you first saw the cover of the finished product?
I love the cover! I was shown three covers, but I knew immediately that this cover would be the one. My publisher listened to notes I had before and created what’s probably one of my favorite covers of all my books.

Your Journey to Publication
It’s been a long journey. While I’ve always wanted to be a writer, my first book came out in 2015. I’d had some short stories published and went to the New School for my MFA. I had an agent but we weren’t able to sell my first novel about a guy who can eat the hottest Chile peppers in existence because it was too “out there.” I pulled out another novel I had written because my agent liked the pitch and we tried with that, only to be rejected by dozens of editors. Finally, we tried this small crime publisher New Pulp Press (the book Slow Down has been reissued since), and the editor there liked it for every reason that bigger editors passed. A month after it came out, I got a deal for my second book The Mentor with St. Martin’s Press. Twelve books later I still haven’t sold the child pepper eating book, but maybe now is the time?

What is the first job you have had?
Camp Counselor.

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
Breakfast

What is your most memorable travel experience?
A trip to the Amazon where I lived with shaman on a tour for two weeks.

What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
If I’m working on a book, it’s usually that.

What was your favorite subject when you were in school?
Writing, English.

What is one unique thing are you afraid of?
Sting-Rays. Hate ‘em.

What is the weirdest thing you have seen in someone else’s home?
I saw someone’s hair catch on fire once, that was pretty weird.

When the Gimmelmans lose all their money in the 1987 Stock Market Crash, Barry Gimmelman takes his family in their vacation RV for a wild ride through America that leads to them becoming the most notorious bank robbers of the era.

Middle child Aaron watches as his family goes from a mild-mannered reform Jewish clan to having over a million dollars of stolen money stuffed in their RV’s cabinets while being pursued by the FBI and loan sharks. But it wasn’t always like that. His father Barry made a killing as a stockbroker, his mother Judith loved her collection of expensive hats, his older sister Steph was obsessed with pop stars, and little sister Jenny loved her stuffed possum, Seymour.

At first, the family steals from convenience and liquor stores, but when they hit a bank, they realize the talent they possess. The money starts rolling in and brings the family closer together where back at home no one had any time for bonding due to their busy schedules. But Barry’s desire for more, more, more will take its toll on the Gimmelmans, and Aaron is forced into an impossible choice: turn against his father, or let his family fall apart.

You can purchase The Great Gimmelmans at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you LEE MATTHEW GOLDBERG for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of The Great Gimmelmans by Lee Matthew Goldberg.

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Susan Azim Boyer Interview - The Search for Us

Photo Content from Susan Azim Boyer

Susan Azim Boyer (she/her), author of Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win, writes young adult fiction featuring Iranian American heroines she *never* encountered growing up, who make messy, complicated choices that rapidly snowball into avalanches. She hails from Nebraska but grew up in Los Angeles before spending several years in San Francisco and the next twenty in Sonoma County. She now lives in the Coachella Valley with her husband, Wayne, and her Pug mix, Teddy. Their son, Alec, lives in New York.

        

   

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
It’s been incredibly humbling for people who are not my actual friends and family to read and connect to my books. I love hearing from readers who have been moved by Henry and Samira’s story and am especially touched by those who have also yearned for missing and absent parents or dealt with a family member struggling with alcohol addiction.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?
Start writing and don’t stop! Trust that your time will come for getting an agent, being published, etc. It’s a marathon – I didn’t break through the ticker tape till Mile 46. Open yourself to criticism. Have faith that it will make the work better. Become part of an engaged community of readers and writers.

What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?
The chapter in which Henry’s two moms (his bio-mom and her sister, who is raising him) get into a knock-down drag-out fight at a restaurant on his birthday! The scene is incredibly tense, and I felt such anxiety for Henry, who is always trying to negotiate peace between them.

Can you tell us when you started THE SEARCH FOR US, how that came about?
My husband, Wayne, was raised as an only child by his aunt and uncle. His bio-mom remained in the picture, but he never knew his biological father, who seemed to have disappeared. Several years ago for Christmas, I got him a DNA test to see if he had inherited any health risks from him.

To our utter shock, he was connected with a younger half-sister he had never known! Together, they began to search for their biological father (unfortunately, he passed away before they could find him). Immediately, I started thinking about what their lives would have been like if they had met as teenagers in the present day.

I drew inspiration from Wayne’s real-life story but grounded the book in my own experience including a yearning for absent parents (“who are still very much present in our lives,” as Samira says); struggling with co-dependence (TW for that and alcohol addiction); and internalized shame around my identity (Henry and Samira are being raised by their white families with no connection to their Iranian heritage).

What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?
Samira assumes responsibility for Kamron’s recovery from alcohol addiction as I did for my mother. I presumed to know everything about alcohol addiction and co-dependency. When my editor suggested an authenticity read from someone in recovery, I was offended. This was my lived experience. I knew what I was talking about.

Boy, was I humbled when the reader’s notes on the early draft came in. First and foremost, the extremely judgmental attitude Samira had toward her brother. I re-read the first several chapters and was stunned – and, frankly, embarrassed – by Samira’s lack of compassion for Kamron, which mirrored my own lack of compassion for my mother.

Secondly, Samira views her brother's alcohol addiction entirely through the prism of how it makes her feel with little regard for his suffering. She also mistakenly views Kamron’s recovery as a fixed, finite state rather than a fluid process that may ebb and flow over his life. The feedback not only greatly influenced the final draft of the book but also made me reconsider my relationship with my mother.

What were your inspirations for the character development?
My husband, Wayne, definitely inspired Henry: both play hockey; both have two mothers (a bio-mom and her sister) who battle for his affection; both are kind, patient, and understanding. Henry’s two mothers are inspired by Wayne’s real-life mothers. His bio-mom was something of a free spirit while her much older sister, who raised Wayne, was stricter and more controlling. But they both loved him in their own ways, and I hope that comes through in the book!

TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR US

• Henry plays hockey like my husband Wayne, who was invited to try out for the U.S. Olympic team and has been a hockey stunt double in movies.
• Like me, Samira has an auto-immune disorder. We both break out in hives when we’re super stressed!
• I’ve lived in the book’s two locations: in Westlake Village (Southern California) for almost ten years and nearly twenty in Santa Rosa (Northern California).
• The “funky, little café” mentioned in Chapter Seven is Dierk’s Café in Santa Rosa, which has, hands down, the best breakfast ever!
• The Persian restaurant in Westlake Village that Henry mentions in Chapter Twenty-Four is Maral Cuisine – it is excellent! Order the Tahdigh starter with both kinds of stew!
• The fancy restaurant at which Henry attempts to celebrate his birthday is the Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas – home of the Kardashians.
• A childhood friend of my son’s who was very open about her adoption experience inspired the character of Henry’s girlfriend, Linh.
• I learned a lot about searching for a missing family member by helping my husband and his sister search for their father; there are some sad parallels between their bio-dad and Henry and Samira’s.
• Tara was the most fun character to write! She is so wonderfully ridiculous! I adore her.
• I drew on the experience of my brother-in-law, who is a retired Ventura County Sheriff, to research the book’s scenes that involve the police and law enforcement.

What is the first job you have had?
Working at a men’s clothing store in the mall (to meet cute boys, of course!)

What is your happiest childhood memory?
Night swimming in our pool! To this day, I love to swim at night when the moon is out, and the pool lights come on.

What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?
The humanities: English and history. I love words and stories! I was good at both subjects.
Worse subject: Math. Ugh.

Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
Eating Hostess products with reckless abandon – especially Suzy Qs!

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
This Mary Oliver quote: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?” My answer: Make the most of it!

Which incident in your life totally changed the way you think today?
Joining my mother for the last week of her recovery counseling, where I learned that I had to surrender all the responsibility – and, therefore, control – I had tried to take on for her sobriety.

What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
Always, always, always my WIP – I often get a lightning bolt of inspiration when I’m drifting off and have to grab my phone to make a note of it.

If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?
I would reassure my mother how much I loved her even as I drew a firm boundary around her drinking.

First Love?
My first true love is my husband, Wayne! We got married right out of college.

When was the last time you told someone you loved them?
All day, every day, I tell my husband, my dog Jasper, and my son Alec that I love them!!

What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh?
Watching Ryan Gosling sing “Push” in the Barbie movie! I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

Samira Murphy’s family is falling apart, and she’s willing to do anything to hold it together, including caring for her grandmother and getting her brother into treatment for alcohol addiction. As if these weren’t enough, she’s desperate to get into her dream school. So, she takes a DNA test on the off chance that she will be able to get support from the father she hasn’t seen since infancy.

Henry Owen is caught between his unreliable biological mother and the overly strict aunt and uncle who stepped in to raise him. Longing to be seen for who he is, he takes a DNA test to try to find his biological father and the emotional care he needs.

Instead of finding their father, however, Samira and Henry find each other. As they work together to search for their father, they slowly begin to untangle their shared past and to bond as siblings. THE SEARCH FOR US is an emotional and heartfelt examination of family and belonging.

You can purchase  Search for Us at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you SUSAN AZIM BOYER for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of The Search for Us by Susan Azim Boyer.

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Zelly Ruskin Interview - Not Yours to Keep

Photo Content from Zelly Ruskin

Zelly Ruskin is a social worker who worked in adoption and foster care. She loves traveling, hiking with her (now adult) children, and, as a survivor, is passionate about and volunteers for Brain Aneurysm Awareness. Zelly and her ridiculous doodle, Strudel, currently live in New York City.

        

  

When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?
I think I was always creative. As a child, we depended on the imagination for entertainment. Books served as a window into other worlds and inspired the willingness to embrace the make-believe and fantasy. And drawing was a wonderful outlet for expression. But, for the realization that I had artistic talent and a desire to pursue it, I credit my high school art teacher, who gave me rein to create outside the bounds of an assignment. Through the encouragement and freedom in that classroom, I found confidence and a sense of purpose. I aspired to be an art therapist and studied psychology and studio art in college. Though, ultimately, my career took a different direction, the artistic side of me has always played an important role in my life. Decades later, I’ve set aside the pencils, paintbrushes, and canvases, and now find joy painting with words.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?
Writing is a solitary experience. The path to publishing is difficult and your book’s success depends on the subjective opinions of others. Build a community of other writers. Whether it be through workshops or Facebook groups, the support, feedback and shoulders to lean on are invaluable.

What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?
My recovery from surgery for an unruptured brain aneurysm.

Can you tell us when you started NOT YOURS TO KEEP, how that came about?
After years of working on and trashing my first manuscript, I began writing Not Yours to Keep in 2018. It was a story that I’d wanted to write for a long time. I had the plot idea from a photograph I found in someone’s pocket, and they lied about it. The concept tied together with my experience of working in adoption. The challenge was how to make it interesting? What if the photo was of a baby? Why would that baby be significant to the person who lied about it? Then, I added one more element from my real-life experiences. After I left my job in adoption, I experienced fertility issues and I drew on that as the biggest what if for this story: What if I had known I had fertility issues when I was working in adoption? How would that impact my morals and ethics? Would I have crossed the line?

What were your feelings when your first novel was accepted/when you first saw the cover of the finished product?
Take my breath away-is this really happening? Since the moment my publisher accepted my manuscript, it’s felt like a perpetual state of joyful surreal.

What were your inspirations for the character development?
In my first career, I was an adoption consultant. I never forgot my clients—not the couples, not the adoptees, and especially not the birth parents. I’ve carried their stories with me ever since. They served as the inspiration for the characters in Not Yours Keep. I created the cast by blending composites of adoption and foster care clients with tidbits of personal experiences. Then they grew and changed based on their relationships with other characters and the situations they faced. I also molded them based on many unexpected encounters I had. One of my favorite anecdotes is the day a chatty cab driver, unaware of my background, talked about being adopted. He expressed raw, visceral emotions about the pain of rejection he’d experienced. I harnessed both his feelings and the way he made me feel and used that to make certain characters in my story more dimensional, with a perspective I otherwise couldn’t have.

MEET THE CHARACTERS

BILLIE is a 32-year-old adoption specialist. A consummate professional in both attire and ethics. She has long, shiny chestnut hair and a zip in her gait. Her mantra is “Strength, courage, heart.” Think Emma Watson or Blake Lively playing the girl next door with secrets; a sympathetic woman faced with questionable moral decisions who could choose either the dark or high road.
Tyler is a good-looking 34-year-old successful lawyer vying to make partner at his firm. Though driven by his career, he is a compassionate man. But there are things about his past he’s never shared, not even with his wife, Billie, and now a stranger is sending him upsetting texts. Think Glen Powell or Ryan Reynolds effortlessly portraying a guy who can be romantic, serious, playful, or tense.
Anne, a woman haunted by childhood abuse, looks more than her 34 years. She relies on alcohol to cope. All she wants is to be with the two people she most regrets losing: the baby she gave up for adoption, and the man of her dreams. Picture Mandy Moore, or the imaginary sister of Laura Linney & Sarah Paulsen, playing the role of a messy, ordinary, relatable woman on the edge.

What is the first job you have had?
Aside from babysitting, my first “corporate” paycheck was for letting someone sniff my shoes. You can’t make that up- well, I am an author, so I can, but it’s true. Odor Eaters paid my high school cheer squad to test their new products. We wore their inserts in our saddle shoes (yes, I said it-saddle shoes) during games. We’d go to the offices where the testers sniffed and rated the effectiveness. Their job was worse than mine—I got a good story out of it.

What is your happiest childhood memory?
The one that stands out to me right now is being in the back seat of a car with my two best friends, singing on our way to preschool.

What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?
In elementary school, reading was my favorite subject. I couldn’t get enough of it. I was a fast reader and absorbed everything, so the reading comprehension tests were fun for me too.

Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
The innocence.

Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?
It’s better to have known love.

When you looked in the mirror first thing this morning, what was the first thing you thought?
Who is that?

If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?
I would have stayed on the runaway horse instead of jumping off.

At a movie theater which arm rest is yours?
Both, I’m ambidextrous.

What is the weirdest thing you have seen in someone else’s home?
A cabinet permanently caulked on top of a bathtub.

When was the last time you told someone you loved them?
Today.

Which incident in your life that totally changed the way you think today?
From the moment I learned about my brain aneurysm, my perspective on life completely shifted. Here’s how I summed it up after successful surgery:
“Appreciate the sunrise. Embrace the day’s twists and turns. Be grateful for the sunset. Never take for granted the ability to take life for granted.”

What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh?
Writing this. It’s a had-to-be-there thing, but I’m remembering a time, many years ago, when I was leaving a Target with one of my kids. We were back a bit but could see someone passing by our car in the lot. I hit the key FOB to pop the trunk as a prank. It sounds terrible now, but the person’s reaction still has me laughing. In today’s world, it would have made an exceptional viral TikTok.

Called a “sensational debut” by Rea Frey, this psychological thriller delves into themes of reproductive rights and healthcare, confronting the complexities that define family—or the risks that lose it all.

Billie Campbell, a Massachusetts adoption specialist grappling with fertility issues, dreams of adopting a baby, but not just any baby—her pregnant client’s baby. While her longing threatens to send her down a dark path, her husband, Tyler, is keeping he’s full of doubts about becoming a father, and he’s also trying to figure out who is sending him upsetting anonymous texts and photos. On the other side of town, Anne, a woman scarred by childhood abuse, obsesses with a second chance at becoming a family with the two people she regrets ever having let go the baby she gave up for adoption twenty years ago and the man of her dreams.

Their lives become entangled when the client’s newborn is abducted, and Billie becomes a prime suspect.

Amid the chaos unleashed by the abduction, Tyler uncovers a link between the person tormenting him and the abduction—but now Billie has disappeared too. The race to find both her and the baby is on; but will they find them before it’s too late?

You can purchase Not Yours to Keep at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you ZELLY RUSKIN for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of Not Yours to Keep by Zelly Ruskin.class). 

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Zoe Allison Interview - The Wedding Engagement

Photo Content from Zoe Allison

Zoe Allison lives in Scotland with her husband and two children, having been brought up in a mixed race family in Yorkshire.

Growing up, Zoe enjoyed stories about falling in love. But rather than being rescued by a knight in shining armour she imagined herself fighting dragons alongside him, battling supervillains as heroic allies, or teaming up to dive into perilous waters and save the day.

As an adult, Zoe became a doctor. But as time passed she craved a creative outlet to counter the soul sapping burnout that her career inflicted upon her, and also to achieve the happy endings that were so often lacking in the real world. She wanted to create heroines who represented her and her values, as well as heroes who truly love women—men who find their true love inspiring, want to connect with her as a soulmate, and fully open themselves to her on an emotional level. And so, Zoe began to write romance.

        

  

Greatest thing you learned at school. 

 Being a book nerd is awesome, no matter what anyone says!

When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill? 

 I never thought of myself as a creative during my childhood and early adulthood because I went down the science route and chose to go to medical school. Then when my children were small and I hadn’t read fiction in years I won a Sarah Morgan eBook, and reading it reignited my love of romance books. I read more of her works and it inspired me to write my own romances. It was only then that I remembered my love of creative writing coursework at high school and how I’d gotten an A grade for my English Language qualification. I realised that the creative writing bug had been there all along!

Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre? 

I think my favorite romance book (though it’s very hard to choose!) might be The Dating Game by Sally Thorne. It has the perfect enemies to lovers tension (one of my favorite tropes) plus is set in a very vividly portrayed literary world. It also has a nice sprinkling of spice which I prefer in the romances that I read (though I do also read closed door).
My favourite book outside my genre is probably One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre. It’s about a school reunion on an oil rig going wrong when terrorists take over and there’s a brilliant dichotomy between that dark situation and the comedy of old schoolmates meeting up as adults! I also love the Scottish humor in the book (the author is Scottish).

If you could have written one book in history, what book would that be? 

Probably a very recent one—The Love of my Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood. When I heard the premise, I knew I would love the book and wasn’t disappointed when I read it. It made me wish I’d thought of the idea!

What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book? 

Social media! It’s the bane of my life. It’s hard to get the balance between doing the right amount of posting on my author accounts and then getting caught aimlessly scrolling.

What chapter was the most memorable to write and why? 

Probably the chapters on the Isle of Skye. I went to Skye on a research trip and it was stunning. It was the perfect backdrop for my story and characters.

Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes? 

The Snow Crystal trilogy by Sarah Morgan. The first in the trilogy was the book I won an eBook version of and it sparked a renewed love for reading romance and that lead on to me becoming inspired to write romance. Without that first book I might not be a romance author today.

Why is storytelling so important for all of us? 

I think storytelling is a form of therapy. For me writing romance is like a balm for the soul and it soothes the burnout of my career in Medicine. I escape into my stories and can sculpt the happy endings that often elude us in real life. I think of it as sending out positivity and it feels good to be creating little sparks of joy in the world.

Can you tell us when you started THE WEDDING ENGAGEMENT, how that came about? 

I wanted to write a story about Liv and Arran who first featured in my book The Ex-Mas Holidays as side characters. I liked the idea of a brother’s best friend romance where the male main character was one of these “sworn off relationships” types of guys but then that trope is turned on its head when it becomes apparent that the female MC has an even bigger relationship phobia and so he has to re-evaluate his own issues and go all out to win her!

What were your feelings when your first novel was accepted/when you first saw the cover of the finished product? 

I was absolutely ecstatic to be accepted and when I first saw the cover I was blown away because it was so gorgeous and exactly what I had wanted.

MEET THE CHARACTERS

LIV HOLLAND — is a Scottish nursery school teacher who’s had a crush on her brother’s best friend, Arran Adebayo, for a number of years. Liv has dark wavy hair, green eyes, fair skin, wears glasses and is petite. She’s an empath who is also a kickass karate blackbelt and is always there for everyone else as the rock of her friendship group. They all joke about her being “the only one who has their shit together” but in fact, she’s secretly a mess when it comes to relationships, stemming from problematic family dynamics when she and her twin brother were growing up. Liv also makes the best cup of tea in the Highlands and loves scones and Jane Austen.

QUOTE
Arran gave Liv a nudge as the others began talking among themselves. “We should meet up soon and get the activities sorted.” He gave her another one of those sexy winks, causing a delicious shiver to lick up her spine.

“Yeah, let’s do it. I’ve got a few ideas already about the activities.”

“Same.” He nudged her arm. “We’ll compare notes. See who comes out on top.”

Her cheeks burned at the thought of either of them being atop the other, so she moved her gaze away from his sparkling honey eyes. Planning a wedding related activity with the guy I’ve been crushing on for years. What could go wrong?

ARRAN ADEBAYO — is a Scottish single dad who is half Nigerian (his dad was originally from Nigeria). He has brown coily hair, honey-coloured eyes and coppery brown skin. He’s tall, especially compared to Liv’s petite stature. Arran is an artist and has been trying to get a new business off the ground selling his paintings of Highland scenery and portraits. Liv has been very supportive in his endeavors and has helped him with childcare since his fiancée broke off their engagement a few weeks before the wedding. Arran is also the joker of the group and he and Liv vibe off each other’s’ silly sense of humour. Arran has a five-year-old son, Jayce, who is about to start in Liv’s nursery school class and is obsessed with knights in shining armor and dragons!

QUOTE
“This is a surprise,” she continued, giving him a lopsided smile.
He cleared his throat because it felt like his own tongue was attempting to choke him. “You can say that again.”

She let out a laugh that was a little higher pitched than usual. His mind raced as he tried to come to terms with the last few mind-blowingly confusing seconds. His blind date was Liv, his best friend’s twin sister. The woman who helped him with childcare. The woman who would soon become his son’s nursery school teacher. The woman he’d known since they were about five years old and he hadn’t ever looked upon as anything other than a friend— until the last few months, when little snatches of heat began burning whenever she’d touched his hand, held his gaze, or took off her top layer to reveal tight- fitting clothing underneath.

Well, that heat was anything but a little snatch now. The sight of her this evening had been like pouring lighter fluid on a slowly burning barbecue. Boom.
Should he voice it?

What is the first job you have had? 

My first job was age 16-17 working in a sports store. I was on the section that sold trainers (sneakers) despite not knowing anything about trainers!

What is your happiest childhood memory? 

Watching Saturday night TV with my family. We would watch things like gameshows, The A Team, and The Golden Girls.

Name one thing you miss about being a kid. 

Not having to do any adulting! It was nice to not take responsibility for the grown-up stuff but just concentrate on what was fun.

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? 

How tired I am and how much I want to go back to bed! Also, coffee.

What is your most memorable travel experience? 

Flying over a volcano in a light aircraft in New Zealand with just my husband and the pilot.

What's your most missed memory? 

When my kids were tiny. I’ve loved every stage of them growing but as time goes on, I miss the baby cuddles.

Which incident in your life that totally changed the way you think today? 

Getting signed for my first book and realizing that I was a creative person after all, and perhaps an ok writer!

If you could go back in time to one point in your life, where would you go? 

It’s a toss-up between being a kid watching the Saturday night TV with my family (or Christmas morning!) and being on maternity leave with my second baby and my toddler.

If you could be born into history as any famous person who would it be and why? 

Nicola Coughlan who plays Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton (and Claire in Derry Girls). Because she is all round awesome.

At a movie theater which arm rest is yours? 

Right side

What is your greatest adventure? 

My husband and I went on a tour of the north and south islands of New Zealand when we were younger, and also on a separate trip we learned to scuba dive in Australia. Both were amazing adventures.

What event in your life would make a good movie? 

There are a number of events from when I was a junior doctor but I think it would make a pretty harrowing movie!

What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh? 

Rewatching Derry Girls. I want to be Sister Michael.

What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why? 

Science and English Language were my favorites. I loved doing experiments in Chemistry and I also loved reading and analyzing texts such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd.

What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a kid? 

I think I would stick with the 80s, the era in which I was actually a kid. I don’t think I would like to grow up with the pressures of social media and that didn’t exist in the 80s.

What is the weirdest thing you have seen in someone else’s home? 

I was in a care home and there was a framed picture of Poldark on top of the bookcase in the communal living area! Poldark was a British TV adaptation of a series of historical novels and the main character was played by a hot Irish actor called Aidan Turner, and they had a picture of him dressed as Poldark in this frame as if it were a real person. I assume the old folks in the home were big fans of his!

Planning a wedding is so romantic . . . except when it’s not yours, and you’re planning it with the guy you’re secretly crushing on. Scottish schoolteacher Liv Holland has a secret. She’s been carrying a torch for Arran Adebayo, her brother’s best friend, for years. A blind date gone wrong cements in Liv’s mind that Arran has no romantic interest in her whatsoever. But then, with her brother set to marry her own best friend, she and Arran are enlisted to help plan the festivities… After being left at the altar by his ex, single father Arran is having trouble managing his growing feelings towards the woman who is both his best friend’s sister and his son’s Liv. Then his mind is blown when fate thrusts them together for an unexpected blind date, but he messes up his chance to tell her how he feels. As the big day approaches and Liv and Arran’s connection intensifies, their chemistry chafes against their checkered romantic histories. Risking everything for love could mean losing each other forever . . . or being the next ones to find their happy ever after.

You can purchase The Wedding Engagement at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you ZOE ALLISON for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of The Wedding Engagement by Zoe Allison.

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