Author Interview & #Giveaway – Constance Bretes ( @conniebretes ) – Love Songs, a #Contemporary #Romance
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I’m delighted to welcome contemporary romance author Constance Bretes here today. She’s got a soft spot for second chance love stories, and her new release, Love Songs, features an imperiled singer who is reunited with her hometown beau. Let’s find out more about it!
Giveaway
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1. Hi Connie, and welcome! How did the idea for this story first come to you? Why did you choose to make your main characters musicians?
Thanks Tara, for having me here today. There are several women who are great pop singers that I admire and enjoy listening to, one in particular is Stevie Nicks. Occasionally you hear about celebrity stalkers, and I started putting the two ideas together and came up with this story. I wanted to portray musicians as also down to earth humans without all the hype and gossip.
2. It seems Jennifer and Jake have always loved each other. What factors contributed to their relationship not working out the first time?
Jennifer got a recording contract that did not include Jake and his band. He let her go so she could spread her wings and become famous. Jake also came from a broken family background, and he did not think he could be a husband and a father, and Jennifer wanted that in their relationship.
3. What brings Jennifer back to her hometown? Once there, how does she end up spending time with Jake again?
The stalker business sent Jennifer out of the country for a couple of years. She came back to Jarillo because she was not sure what she was going to do. Her parents had left their estates to her, and she had to deal with that, and she didn’t know if the stalker had lost interest in her or not. Anna, who is Jake’s sister, and an old friend of Jennifer, had been singing in Jake’s band, but she was pregnant and due in 3 weeks, she got Jennifer to fill in for her.
4. Now I’m really curious about the chemistry between these two. Would you mind giving us a sneak peek from when sparks first fly?
Sure! Here it is.
Excerpt
Once Jennifer Summers finished unpacking in her room at the Black Bear Inn she decided she needed a cup of coffee, so she left the inn and drove down to the Jarillo Café on the other side of town. She entered the café and looked around, noticing that not much had changed in the five years she’d been gone. It was still furnished with old wooden tables and chairs, with a barstool-countertop area, and antique kitchen items covered the back wall.
Jennifer sat down at a table by herself. As she put her sunglasses in her purse, a voice from behind called out, startling her.
“Hello, Jenn.”
She knew that voice. Jennifer turned around and watched Jake Ackerson approached
Her table. She forced a smile. “Oh, Jake. Um, hi.”
“What brings you back to Jarillo?” he asked.
Jennifer’s heart was doing flip-flops and she could hear it go thump, thumpity, thump as she stared up at him. He’s still as handsome as ever. His hair was as long as hers and you could make out his Apache ancestry. “I’m in town for a little while to decide what to do with my parents’ ranch. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t think you’d come back here to deal with things like that. You could just hire a realtor or something. It’s not like you don’t have any money,” Jake said in a subdued tone.
“I still have to go through the stuff in the house and decide what to do with it all.” And I wanted to find out about you.
“Well, good luck with the house. Nice to see you again.” Jake turned and walked away.
That was abrupt. She knew she would run into Jake at some point, but she hadn’t expected it to happen as soon as she arrived.
She glanced around to see where Jake was sitting in the restaurant. She spotted him in a corner with a redheaded woman. The sight of the two of them together, the woman clinging to Jake’s arm, left Jennifer feeling unsettled. She had assumed he would be involved with someone else, but she didn’t anticipate it bothering her so much.
5. Before I let you go—what projects are you working on right now? Is it another second chance romance?
I got several things I’m working on. I have a spin off story from Love Songs called Jarillo Sunset, which involves a romance between the bass player of Jake’s band and a real estate agent. This book will be release in March, 2015
I have another book I’m working on called Book of Love, about a librarian who comes to a small town to start over, and meets up with the town’s mechanic, who’s trying to keep her car running for her. This book will be release in December, 2014.
And, I’m working on a romance story right now called Blue as Sapphires. It is about a woman who returns to her hometown. She is destitute and alone. She meets up with the Sheriff, who is none other than the man she had a crushed on when she was a teenager in junior and high school.
Since book release month is crazy busy for any writer, I’ll let Connie run off. For more information about the book and author, just scroll down. As always, comments are much appreciated.
Love Songs
by Constance Bretes
Separated by fame, reunited through music.
When Jennifer Summers returns to the U.S. after spending two years in Africa, she has some decisions to make. Should she resume her singing career or continue to live a secluded life out of the spotlight in the hopes that her stalker won’t be able to locate her?
Years ago Jake Ackerson let Jennifer go so she could pursue her dreams. When she suddenly returns to their hometown he’s determined to rekindle his relationship with the woman he never stopped loving.
Jake’s band is temporarily without a singer, and Jennifer agrees to take the position, but in doing so she is once again pushed into the limelight, and she knows it’s only a matter of time before danger strikes.
Will Jake be able to protect her, and can he convince her to put past hurts aside and give their relationship another shot?
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About Constance Bretes
Constance Bretes is an author of contemporary romance and suspense. Her romance books are often set in different parts of the country, but her favorite site is Montana. She's married to her best friend and resides in Michigan with him and a houseful of cats. When she's not at her regular 8-to-5 job, she can be found writing, researching, and spending time with her husband.
