Welcome to my stop on the Ivy Entwined by Laura Simcox Blog Tour!
I’ve got a fabulous guest post from Laura and the giveaway she has put together is just as amazing! (enter in the rafflecopter below).
Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!
Book links:
Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Goodreads
Synopsis:
When Ivy Callahan returns to her hometown as mayor, she doesn’t expect much to have changed. But now her ex-fiancé is the town planner, the biggest business is closed, and the only store interested in Celebration, NY is a Megamart. On top of it all, the liaison for the big, bad, box store is Marcus Weaver, her childhood crush. And he’s still as dangerously delectable as ever.
Marcus unwillingly spent his teens in Celebration with his vindictive, drunken uncle. As far as Marcus is concerned, the town’s only use is to cement his rise up the corporate ladder. He needs that Megamart opened, and Ivy is his ticket. But the sexy, stubborn mayor could also be his downfall.
As the unemployed townspeople put on the pressure, Ivy needs to do something. With a fresh downtown-renewal project in the works, Ivy could stop Marcus and his Megamart before they kill the town’s spirit. But with sparks flying between Ivy and Marcus, they each need to decide what’s more important: their careers or their hearts.
Excerpt:
He blinked at her. “Who are you?”
“I’m Ivy Callahan. Who are you?”
He froze. Callahan. The mayor’s daughter? The last time he’d seen Ivy, she was a freckly kid in braces, sitting with her friends in the corner of the drugstore and giggling behind her hand. But now? Gorgeous. And probably pissed at him, despite the fact that he’d just saved her from falling on her face. He stopped, glancing behind him. Where was Alberta Fields? He needed a buffer.
Like a beacon, she walked over to them. “That was a close call, but you didn’t fall, so all’s well that ends well. Ivy, this is Marcus Weaver. Can you believe it?”
Ivy’s mouth dropped open. She turned to Alberta and whispered something in her ear. Alberta nodded.
Ivy cocked her head to the side and looked at Marcus. “Oh. Well, I’d like to speak with you. Walk into city hall with me.”
He raised an eyebrow at Alberta, who shrugged and turned to the crowd. “Inside, everybody,” she snapped out in her practiced schoolteacher voice.
Marcus followed Ivy up the steps, letting his gaze bounce over her killer legs and snug suit. Ivy Callahan. Wow. She sure had grown up.
Ivy turned, a flash of annoyance crossing her face. “You are the investor Herman’s been talking about, right?”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with…” Marcus gave her an automatic smile. “Never mind. What was with the welcome wagon back there? Are you…” He searched for an appropriate word, but he couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound ridiculous. “Famous?”
Ivy raised an eyebrow. “Depends on who you ask.”
“I see.” Marcus crossed his arms. “In any case, where’s your dad? I’d like to speak with him before the meeting starts.”
“You would? How come?”
“Because I wanted to say hello.”
She flicked a piece of imaginary lint from her spotless red suit. “Great. I’ll let him know. Anything else you need?”
Okay, so she was pissed. But she didn’t have to interrogate him. He had saved her from falling on her ass, after all. Marcus leaned forward, not even trying to keep the hint of condescension from his voice. “Look. It’s been fun chatting with you, but I’d really like to talk to the mayor. Okay, sweetheart?”
She went still for a brief second and then a slow grin spread over her face. “Sure, honey. Go ahead and talk to the mayor. You’re looking right at her.”
Guest Post
From the Stage to the Page
I’ve never had a normal job, and there have been times that I’ve dreamed of working in a cubicle, pulling in a predictable paycheck, going to a break room for birthday cake, and trotting out after work for happy hour with friends. It’s something I’ve never experienced, although I did work as a temp in a lot of offices in Chicago. Lots of people do temp work at one time or another, but theater people? I’ve never met one who hasn’t temped. But temping doesn’t count when temping is your life. Theater work is the ultimate temp work and although I didn’t realize it during my twenty year adventure as a costume designer, theater prepared me to be a romance writer.
There’s nothing like throwing together 300 costumes in three weeks to prepare a girl for deadlines. The only way I stayed organized was to obsessively re-write my three page to-do list (which was separated into five categories) every night before I left the costume shop. I did this on and off for years, because I mostly designed costumes for musicals.
Now, I’m not saying writing deadlines are a piece of cake for me, because they’re not. But being creative under pressure? Yeah, I’ve done that. There was that one time at band camp…err, I mean, during a production of Camelot when I was informed that a character had to fly. And light up. And wear a body microphone. And could I get that ready super-quick-thanks? If I’d had the time, she would have been professionally fitted into a theatrical flying harness, but time wasn’t on my side. Like, at all.
So my solution involved a diaphanous (but not see through!) dress, some strings of fiber optic lights, a roll of electrical tape, a roll of surgical tape, a well-digger’s harness in extra small (chorus girls are teeny) and a big box of maxi pads strategically placed for actor comfort while she was suspended over the audience pretending to be a fairy. And singing notes high enough to shatter glass, with a smile on her face. She was a trouper, and I admired her.
I love to write about women like her- not necessarily actors, but women with a sense of adventure and an appreciation of the weird. I love heroines who fly by the seat of their pants. (Ha, ha.) And I love creating worlds for them to inhabit. Of course, true heroines deserve nothing less than meltingly amazing heroes, so I write about them, too.
My background in theater has given me tons of stories like the flying fairy and inspiration to draw on for years. It’s also taught me to be creative under deadline and make lists like a champ. I just hope that I never get over my love affair with the kookier side of life. When I wrote Ivy Entwined, I kept kooky at the forefront of my mind, and my heroine, Ivy sure does thank me for it. Or I thank her. Yeah, that’s it. I’m proud of her and I would love for you to get to know her!
Giveaway:
Grand Prize – ‘Celebration in a Basket’. (In keeping with the series theme – ‘Something to Celebrate’) Includes: fun party supplies for a girlfriends-type party (champagne glasses, napkins and plates, party food recipe cards written by the author), Mardis Gras style beads, candles, chocolate, hard candy, and a deck of ‘Ivy Entwined’ playing cards.
Three runner-up swag bags – Includes: Ivy Entwined bookmarks, magnets, pens and a purse charm-style keychain. Each bag will contain two sets…one for the winner and one for a friend who loves to read romance, too!
About the author:
After spending twenty years in professional theater as a costume designer, with a few of those years also spent as a college instructor, Laura abandoned the nomadic lifestyle to sit in a comfy pleather office chair at a beat up ginormous second hand oak desk and write. The result? Romance novels! Her favorite thing ever since she was, oh, about twelve. She writes contemporary, light novels and enjoys creating quirky characters and funny dialogue. Still, the love story is the focus and Laura has a huge soft spot for a sappy, happy ending. She lives in North Carolina with her husband (true love is real!) and her adorable, high energy four year old son who is currently obsessed with pirates. When not playing mamma pirate, she loves hearing from readers and you can find your favorite way to say hi via the social media buttons on her website: www.laurasimcox.com
Having a bad day? Read a romance novel.
LOVE the look of your blog. Thanks so much for having me as a guest today!! 🙂
Aww! Thank you, Laura! So sweet if you to say! And hanks for stopping by 🙂 Great having you! ~Jillian
Great story! Now, I know where all that kookiness comes from…keep up the good work. Loved Ivy Entwined!!!