I am so thrilled to have NYT author Susan Mallery here today to chat about their new book, Meant to be Yours, Happily Inc Series book with the Reading Nook. I love this author's work and with their trademark writing style the reader gets an amazing story, characters to love and a romance to swoon over.
Q&A With Susan
Mallery
What was your favorite part about writing Meant
to be Yours?
Ohhh, that’s a hard question! I love everything
about writing romance. The first kiss is still magical to me. The passion, the
emotional intensity. It’s a moment that changes the course of a person’s life.
When you fall in love, your life is bisected into before and after. Love is
transformative, and the greatest pleasure of my life is to write about it.
Jasper and Renee in particular were a lot of fun
to write because Renee is just such a mama bear when it comes to protecting her
brides. She’s a wedding planner at Weddings Out of the Box, a theme wedding
venue in the town of Happily Inc. Jasper is a bestselling thriller writer who
wants to set his next book at a wedding. Renee’s response made me laugh so loud
that I’m pretty sure I scared my pets.
Jasper continued.
“I thought I could follow you around for a few weeks, learn about the business
and—”
“No,” she said
firmly, as all thoughts of them having another close encounter faded from her
mind. “You’re not getting your serial killer cooties on my weddings. I’m a big
believer in keeping the energy positive and flowing forward. Do you know what a
serial killer would do at a wedding?”
He stared at her,
his gaze intense. “That’s what I was thinking. I want the serial killer to be a
wedding crasher.”
“No,” she said
firmly. “Just no.”
When Jasper goes behind her back to get intimately
involved with one of her weddings, Renee vows to keep him from bringing darkness
to her bride’s special day.
I also adored the animals in this book. In the
beginning, Jasper doesn’t trust himself to let a woman into his heart. His
simple but profound act of kindness to a dog who needs a home leads to him
finally being ready to fall in love. The dog, Koda, is based on a reader’s real-life
dog. I gave Koda the same adorable quirks and characteristics that make him
special—and I gave Renee the reader’s last name in her honor.
Did you find out any funny or interesting facts about
wedding planning when writing this book?
I have learned that brides and wedding planners
are some of the most creative people in the universe. I can’t tell you how much
time I spent on Pinterest, looking at pictures from theme weddings. There are
some really beautiful themes, and some that are charming and humorous. Every
theme uniquely reflects the bride and the groom in the most beautiful way. In Meant
to Be Yours, Renee designs several lovely theme weddings with beautiful
touches I think readers will enjoy. Here’s a snippet from one:
Jim and Monica Martinez were a sweet couple with a fun firefighter
theme for their big day. There was a long tradition of firefighters on both
sides of the family and plenty of cute touches in the wedding and reception.
Monica’s dress laced up the back and instead of white ribbon to
cinch her gown, she’d used bright red. The centerpieces were ceramic boot vases
painted to look like firefighter boots, filled with red, orange and yellow
flowers. There was even a walk-through fountain at one end of the reception area,
created with fire hoses, a pump and a lot of engineering.
Pay attention to that last sentence because I
also discovered that a lot can go wrong when you invite a few hundred people to
a party. Imagine a room filled with people who aren’t used to dressing up, plus
a fountain made with fire hoses, and a wedding planner who will do anything to
protect her bride.
Did Renee or Jasper surprise you while you
drafted this novel?
They did! When I started this book, I thought
Jasper was the more wounded of the two. But as I wrote, I discovered that Renee’s
scars went deeper than I thought. She’s been keeping a secret from her friends
in Happily Inc, a secret about her mother that has cost her jobs, friendships
and romantic relationships. Just when she starts to feel safe and accepted in
her new home, her mother comes for a visit. . .
Can you share about what you're working on right
now?
I’m working on revisions on the next Happily Inc
book, a Christmas book that will be out next year. No title yet. It has all of
the humor and heartfelt emotion readers love in my books—plus Christmas! I
invited members of the Susan Mallery All Access group on Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/susanmalleryallaccess) to suggest random items for me to incorporate into the story.
When the book comes out next year, I’ll share a scavenger hunt list with my
readers so they can find the objects as they read. It’s just a fun way for me
to stay connected to my readers as I write.
Who is an author you draw inspiration from?
Years ago, the fabulous Debbie Macomber
suggested to me that I stop writing series about families, and start writing
series about people who live in the same town. That advice was the inspiration
for my Fool’s Gold series, which led to my Happily Inc series, as well. I’ll
always be grateful to Debbie for that.
What is your favorite place to read a
book?
At home with my feet up on the sofa and a cat
curled in my lap.
Who is a book character you’d be best friends
with?
Each of my heroines is someone I’d be friends
with—after all, I spend months with them, so I want them to be people I enjoy
hanging out with. As for best friends, I’ll go with Ellen Fox, heroine of The
Friendship List, which will come out next year. Ellen had me laughing
all the way through the book. She’s blunt and smart and would drop everything
to help someone she loves.
She’s a single mom who got pregnant in high
school. She had sex one time, got pregnant, and then... nothing. She’s
basically a virgin with a kid. But when she discovers what she’s been missing,
she has no inhibitions. Her lack of filter was a source of constant amusement
for me. Every day, I was excited to get back to work so I could spend time with
her again. Such a fun book to write!
Pen & Paper or Computer?
Computer. I couldn’t keep up with my thoughts
with paper and pen. I type about 120 words per minute, so that’s easier for me.
Hard on my wrists and hands, but easier on my brain.
Favorite decade in fashion history?
The 1980’s.
KIDDING!!!!!
I am enjoying the fashion of today. I like that
there really aren’t any rules anymore, it’s all about self-expression.
What is your signature drink?
A Starbucks latte. This time of year, pumpkin
spice. Even though the baristas cannot, for the life of them, spell Susan.
What do you hope readers will experience or
gain when reading Meant to Be Yours?
I hope Meant to Be Yours will be
a happy escape for them, an entertaining break from the stresses of their daily
lives. This is a book for readers who like to feel the sharp pings of
emotion—and the release of laughter with a guaranteed happy ending.
How did you get into writing?
I was in college studying to be an accountant.
It wasn’t exciting, but it was practical. I honestly didn’t know that regular
people could be professional writers. It seemed so exotic, somehow. I thought
writers had to live in France and wear turtlenecks. I think I must have choked
to death in a previous life because I can’t stand wearing turtlenecks.
One day, I got a flyer in the mail from an
adult education center called The Learning Tree, with evening classes people
could take. These classes were not for credit and therefore were very impractical
for a young woman carrying a full course load of university classes, and a
newlywed trying to learn how to cook. But one of the classes caught my eye: How
to Write a Romance Novel. Still, I thought, no time. I threw away the flyer.
Eight weeks later, it came again. I threw it away again. Eight weeks later,
there it was again, and I realized the woman wasn’t going to teach the class
forever.
So I signed up for the class, and I
immediately fell in love. By week six, I knew this was what I was meant to do
with my life. I made a deal with my then-husband. I gave myself two years to
sell a book. If I didn’t, then I would have to get a job. That was in May, and
I sold my first book in August of that year. Best decision ever.
What inspired you to write Meant to Be
Yours?
I loved the humor inherent in the idea of a
thriller writer wanting to research weddings, and a wedding planner who wants
to keep his darkness away from her bride’s special day. Jasper is the kind of
writer who does his research in tangible ways. Before he writes a fight scene,
he blocks it out with his buddies—weapons and all. He wants to get the details
right.
So when he decides to set his next book
against the backdrop of a wedding, he’s determined to get those details right,
too. And the only way to do that is to be involved with a wedding from start to
finish. But Renee is determined to keep any hint of darkness away from her
bride’s special day. It’s not an intellectual exercise to her—it’s someone’s wedding
day, and that means something.
It’s just a humorous conflict that I thought
would be a ton of fun to write. And it was!
Oh, and by the way, Jasper also decides that
his detective character needs a love interest...so he needs someone to block
out the kissing scenes with him, too. (Full confession: I do occasionally ask
my husband for help with my research. 😉 )
What drew you into writing romance?
I’ve been a romance reader since I was in
middle school, and they’re still the books I enjoy the most. I love everything
about them. I still get that intake-of-breath feeling when the characters first
kiss. And when they finally overcome their obstacles and admit that they’re
meant to be together—there’s just nothing happier or more life-affirming.
If you could sit down with any character in
your book, what would you ask them and why?
I would love to sit down with Verity, Renee’s
mother. But I can’t tell you what I would ask her or why without spoilers, so
I’ll just leave you with this: Verity has a very special talent that gives her
an insight few people can claim. I would love to have this talent. Since I
don’t, I’d love to ask Verity to tell me what she knows.
What social media site has been the most
helpful in developing your readership?
I’m active on Facebook, Instagram and
Twitter—but mostly on Facebook. I share book news on my main page, www.facebook.com/susanmallery. In the Susan Mallery All Access group, www.facebook.com/groups/susanmalleryallaccess, I share personal anecdotes and pictures, hold contests and
play games. It’s a lot of fun, and everyone is welcome to join! (Unless you’re
some weird spammer guy who wants me to marry you. Ew.)
What advice would you give to aspiring or just
starting authors out there?
Stick with it. The writers who succeed are the
ones who don’t give up. Write every day. Experiment with different methods and
techniques to find what works for you. Analyze successful books and try to
figure out why they work, and then incorporate those lessons into your own
writing. I found that screenwriting classes helped a lot with developing story
structure.
What does the future hold in store for you?
Any new books/projects on the horizon?
Always something new on the horizon! In 2020, I’ll release
four brand new books: Sisters by Choice (a Blackberry Island
novel), The Friendship List (a standalone), A Fool’s Gold
Wedding (a Fool’s Gold romance), and the yet-to-be-titled Happily Inc
Christmas romance.
MEANT TO BE YOURS
Author: Susan Mallery
ISBN: 9781335041494
Publication Date: 10/22/19
Publisher: HQN Books
Buy Links:
Books-A-Million
Book Summary:
In
Happily Inc, love means never having to say “I do”…
Wedding
coordinator Renee Grothen isn’t meant for marriage. Those who can, do. Those
who can’t, plan. But she never could have planned on gorgeous, talented
thriller writer Jasper Dembenski proposing—a fling, that is. Fun without a
future. And the attraction between them is too strong for Renee to resist. Now
she can have her no-wedding cake…and eat it, too.
After
years in the military, Jasper is convinced he’s too damaged for relationships.
So a flirtation—and more—with fiery, determined Renee is way too good to pass
up…until his flame becomes his muse.
Renee
is an expert at averting every crisis. But is she finally ready to leap into
the one thing that can never be controlled: love?
Sneak Peek into Meant to be Yours:
“It might just be
okay,” wedding coordinator Renee Grothen murmured softly to herself as she
surveyed the wedding reception. She wouldn’t risk admitting everything had
turned out as planned until the last guest had left, but four and a half hours
in, things were going really well.
Jim and Monica Martinez were a sweet couple
with a fun firefighter theme for their big day. There was a long tradition of
firefighters on both sides of the family and plenty of cute touches in the
wedding and reception.
Monica’s dress laced
up the back and instead of white ribbon to cinch her gown, she’d used bright
red. The centerpieces were ceramic boot vases painted to look like firefighter
boots, filled with red, orange and yellow flowers. There was even a
walk-through fountain at one end of the reception area, created with fire
hoses, a pump and a lot of engineering.
Renee walked around
the perimeter of the indoor reception space, looking for problems. So far, so
good, she thought with cautious optimism. The cake had been cut, the bar
service was about to end and the tone of the party had faded from raucous to
comfortably tired—exactly as it should. With a little luck, things would wrap
up on time and without a crisis. This was Monica and Jim’s day—Renee wanted it
to be as perfect as possible. While she always took care of her clients, she
tended to unleash her mother bear instincts for her special couples and Monica
and Jim certainly qualified.
She spotted Pallas
Mitchell, her boss, walking toward her. It was nearly ten on a Saturday night
and Pallas, a pretty brunette only recently returned from maternity leave,
yawned widely. When she spotted Renee she held up her hands, palms up.
“What can I say? I’ve
been home with an infant. These wild late-night hours are going to take some getting used to.”
“No one’s judging,”
Renee told her. “As I said at seven, at eight and again at nine, go home. I can handle this. You’re
barely back and you need to give yourself time to adjust to the schedule.”
“You’ve been running
things for nearly six months. You need a break.”
In truth, Renee was a little ragged around the edges,
but she’d loved handling Weddings Out of the Box while Pallas had been gone.
She’d enjoyed the challenges each unique wedding presented and watching all the
details fall into place on the big day.
“I had lots of help,”
Renee pointed out. “Hiring college students on summer break was a good idea.”
And what they’d lacked in experience, they’d made up for in energy and
enthusiasm.
“Now that I’m back,
things can return to normal,” Pallas said, covering another yawn.
“Go home,” Renee
urged. “Please. I can handle things here. I promise.”
“Okay. I will. Thanks.
Don’t you dare come in tomorrow.” Pallas’s voice was firm. “For once, we don’t
have a Sunday wedding. Enjoy the break.”
“I will.” Renee would
probably pop in to do a little paperwork, but she wouldn’t stay long. “Are you
coming to The Boardroom on Monday night?”
In a wedding
destination town, the rhythms of the residents were determined by weekend
weddings. Happily Inc’s workweek started on Wednesdays as the businesses geared
up for the dozens of nuptials that occurred in multiple venues. Which meant the
town’s Friday night was actually on Monday.
The Boardroom, a local
bar, hosted game nights on Mondays. Board games ruled and tournaments were
heated and fun as friends crushed each other at everything from Candy Land to
Risk.
Pallas shook her head. “I’ll admit to being a
bit of a worrier. When we went a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t stop thinking
about Ryan. He’s only five months old. It’s too soon to leave him at night.”
Renee held in a smile.
“Sure. I get that.”
“I know you don’t, but
thank you for pretending. Have fun for me, too. Oh, Jasper’s back, so tell him
hi, if you think of it.”
Jasper was back? Renee
hadn’t heard. She liked knowing he’d returned from his big book tour. Not for
any reason in particular, she amended hastily. Sure, he was nice, but there
were a lot of nice guys in the world. There was just something about Jasper.
Maybe it was because in addition to being good-looking and just a little
dangerous, he wasn’t a forever kind of guy.
“I saw that!” Pallas
grinned. “I totally saw that. You did the predatory smile thing I was never
good at. You want to use him for sex! Did I know this?” She stomped her foot.
“Did this happen while I was on maternity leave? What else went on while I was
off having a baby?”
Renee laughed. “You’re
reading way too much into my smile. I’m happy he’s home from his book tour.
That’s all.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Jasper and I are not
involved. I doubt we’ve had more than a three-sentence conversation.”
Not that it took many sentences to ask Your place or mine? And while the
description of predatory was nice, it gave her too much credit. Would she stalk
him and pounce? Not even on her best day. Would she say yes if the man asked?
She smiled again. Oh, yeah, she would. Definitely. Okay, probably. If she was feeling brave. Because while
she worked her butt off to give her couples their perfect happily-ever-after
day, she knew it was never going to happen for her. Those who could—did. Those
who couldn’t became wedding planners.
Avoiding relationships
might be the smart choice, but it was also a lonely one. She knew Jasper was
into the long-term, monogamous, not-serious kind of thing and she was pretty
sure she could handle that. Assuming she was his type and he was interested.
They could have some laughs, lots of sex and walk away completely unscathed in
the heart department. Where was the bad?
“There’s something
going on and you can’t convince me otherwise,” Pallas said. “You have depths.
I’m very impressed. Okay, use Jasper and then tell me the details because hey,
he’s got to be great.” She yawned again. “I’m such a lightweight. I’m leaving
now.”
“Good night. Hug Ryan
for me.”
“You know I will.”
Pallas walked out of
the reception hall. Renee continued to circle the space, looking for any forgotten
handbags or phones, and noting how long it would take the cleaning service to
return the huge room to order. Doing her job and not thinking about the fact
that Jasper was back—that was her.
A loud whoop got her
attention. She turned and saw three teenaged guys running through the fountain
at the far end of the big, open room. Each of them jumped, trying to touch the
arc of water dancing overhead.
The younger brother,
she thought as she made her way toward them. And his friends. No doubt they
were bored after so many hours with not very much to do. Regardless, she was
not going to have them disrupt the reception when it was so close to being
over.
As she approached the running, jumping teens,
she saw both sets of parents, along with the bride and groom, still dancing.
They swayed in time with the music, oblivious to the fountain and the idiots
messing with it. Then several things happened at once.
The younger brother
started an extra long run toward the fountain. Jim let go of Monica and spun
her out the length of their arms. Monica bumped her mom, who stumbled a little.
Dad grabbed Mom, moving all of them closer to the fountain and the younger brother
running, who had to swerve suddenly to avoid them. As he swerved, he lost his
balance and slipped, tumbling into the fountain mechanism. One of the hoses
broke free, wiggling and spraying water everywhere.
Renee saw it all
happening and knew there was no way she was going to allow her beautiful bride
to get soaked. She lunged for the hose, caught it and held it tightly against
her chest as the bride’s father rushed to turn off the water to the hose. It
took only seconds, but by then the entire fountain had spilled over and Renee
was drenched, shivering and had water up her nose even as she wondered if she
looked half as ridiculous as she felt.
The new Mrs. Martinez
hurried over. “Renee, are you all right?” She turned on her brother. “How could
you? This is a wedding, not a water park.”
Aware that
end-of-wedding exhaustion could easily lead to emotions spiraling out of
control, Renee quickly faked a smile.
“Monica, it’s fine. Don’t worry. Keeping you
and the rest of the wedding party dry was my only concern.” She glanced at the
water draining onto the floor and realized part of the fountain was still
pumping out water. That couldn’t be good. If she couldn’t get everything turned
off, she was going to have to call in one of those companies that took care of disasters
like flooding. “Really. It’s no problem.”
“You’re dripping and
the water’s rising. My dad went to find the main shutoff.”
Renee wrung out her
hair and hoped her makeup wasn’t too badly smudged. Then she realized the water
level in the reception hall was indeed climbing and hoped Monica’s father found
the shutoff soon.
She was just about to
go help him when he returned.
“All turned off.” He
glanced at the mini flood. “Sorry about this.”
“It’s fine,” Renee
lied, her tone soothing, because that was part of her job. To pretend all was
well even when they needed to be figuring out how to build an ark.
The rest of the guests
were heading out. Nothing like the threat of an unexpected flood to get people
moving, she thought, trying to find the humor in the situation.
“I’m so sorry,” Monica
told her as she held her dress out of the water and slipped out of her shoes.
“Don’t be. You had a
wonderful wedding and reception. Why don’t you and Jim start gathering your
things? I have a spare set of clothes in my office. I’ll get changed, then help
you make sure you have everything.”
As she spoke, she
noticed the water seemed to have settled at about the six- or seven-inch level.
Yup, she was going to have to call someone. No doubt she would be here all
night. Oh, joy.
“I’m really sorry,”
Jim said. “We thought we’d planned for every contingency.” He glared at his new
brother-in-law. “Except for stupid.” He turned back to her. “Let us know the
cost of cleanup. We’ll pay for it.”
“Thank you. I think the deposit should take
care of it but I’ll let you know if there’s a problem. Now if you’ll let me go
get changed, I’ll be back with you in ten minutes.”
Monica nodded.
Renee slipped out of
her shoes and walked through the ankle-deep water. When she reached her office
upstairs, she carefully closed the door behind her before undressing, then
slipped on jeans and a T-shirt. Not exactly professional, but she wasn’t going to
worry about that right now. Before she returned to her bride and groom, she
looked up the local disaster cleaning service. The number was in her files, but
wasn’t one she had had to use before.
They picked up on the
first ring.
“Happily Inc CleanUp.
This is Hilde. How can I help you?”
“Hi. I’m Renee Grothen
at Weddings Out of the Box. We had a firefighter wedding tonight with a big
fountain. There was an accident with one of the hoses and now our main
reception hall is flooded.”
There was a pause.
“Um, did you say firefighter wedding? Never mind. How much water?”
“About six inches.”
“That’s a lot.”
“It was a big
fountain.”
“Give us thirty
minutes and we’ll be there.”
“Thank you.”
Renee hung up, gave
herself a second to catch her breath, then headed back to deal with the bride,
the groom, the flood and anything else that might happen tonight. Because with
a wedding, it was always something.
Excerpted from Meant to be Yours by Susan Mallery,
Copyright ©
2019 by Susan Mallery, Inc.. Published by HQN Books.
Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle
with her husband. She's passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the
two ragdoll cats and adorable poodle who think of her as mom.
Social Links:
Twitter: @susanmallery
Facebook: @SusanMallery
Instagram: @susanmallery
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