Welcome to the book tour for Lion Dancing for Love by Laura Boon! She took some time out of her busy schedule to let us get to know her a little bit better. Find out more about her book and writing process. And find out whom she would most like to meet, living and dead! Leave her even more questions in the comments. Enjoy an excerpt before you download your own copy. And of course, there’s a great giveaway for you to enter as you follow the tour.
Describe your book in one sentence or fewer than 25 words.
In Lion Dancing for Love, sassy city accountant Caitlin and heart-broken small town entrepreneur Corey dance around past heartaches in search of love.
Which character was your favorite to write?
I have a really soft spot for my hero Corey. He walked into my life (and Caitlin’s) as a stoic, carrying the pain of losing his first wife to cancer and living day-to-day as best he can. The spark between him and Caitlin gradually burns down his walls to reveal a man assertive enough to be protective (and only occasionally annoying) with a wonderful sense of humor and a generous heart.
Which of your book worlds would you like to visit?
Interesting question. Now that you ask, I realise my book worlds have a lot in common: the beautiful Alpine valley of Chamonix Le Tour in France and the spectacular countryside around Willow Springs, Vermont. Perhaps that’s why I was so keen to contribute to the Deerbourne Inn series with Lion Dancing for Love. I’d love to visit Vermont, soak up the beauty and visit Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory.
What do you hope people will get out of your book?
I hope readers enjoy the sass and sexiness of Caitlin and Corey’s romance and have a heart full of hope and feel-good emotions when they turn the last page. I want them to sigh with pleasure and feel a little more prepared to deal with the grind and complications of daily life.
How do you make yourself stand out in this genre?
Contemporary romance is a very competitive genre. There are so many wonderful writers, and I’m honoured to have my books line up on the shelves next to theirs. Since you have asked me to toot my own horn, I believe that I have a unique voice, a combination of sweet, sassy and sexy.
What does your upcoming release schedule look like?
I am hoping to have book 2 in my Romancing the Alps series out later this year. Book 1, The Millionaire Mountain Climber, came out late 2018.
What is your favorite part about writing?
I love developing complex female characters and men strong enough to love them. I find out a lot about my characters through dialogue – whenever they open their mouths they entertain me.
What is your least favorite part about writing
The third or fourth revision. Uggh. By the time we’re at that stage, I start to wish I’d never laid fingertips to keyboard.
If you could meet one person living or dead, who would it be and why?
I’m going to cheat and name two authors who inspired my love of romance and adventure. In the process of raiding my mother’s bookshelves, I came across the novels of Alexandre Dumas and the Baroness Orczy, both dead now. Dumas, a French aristocrat and a very naughty man, wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Carlo. Hungarian-British Emma Orczy wrote the bestseller The Scarlet Pimpernel in response to her family’s poor financial situation and did so well she was able to buy a house in Monte Carlo. I’d love to have dinner with the two of them. To even up the table, and to balance the entertaining but disreputable Dumas, Emma’s husband, illustrator Montagu Barstow, could join us. Unusually for the time, their marriage was a love match. She described the marriage as “for close on half a century, one of perfect happiness and understanding, of perfect friendship and communion of thought.” The wine would be excellent, and I could pick their brains about the secrets to writing popular bestsellers that are still in print over one hundred years later. And there would undoubtedly be gossip. Who knows? Maybe they’d let slip a previously unknown secret I could use to write that bestseller.
Lion Dancing for Love
Licking her wounds after a bad relationship, San Diego accountant Caitlyn Summers travels to Willow Springs to help her friend gear up for the annual Maple Sugar Ball. She isn’t planning on staying long, but one encounter with the delicious Corey Duncan has her re-evaluating her plans.
Corey swore off love when his wife Annie died from breast cancer. Caitlyn is too young, too citified, and vibrates with a passion and energy that will upend the safe, comfortable rhythm of his life. Corey has to choose between playing it safe and taking a risk on love. Caitlyn needs to find the patience to let Corey lead. If not, the Maple Sugar Ball might end in a sticky mess, instead of a slow dance with the man who has captured her heart.
Will their fire burn hot enough to erase doubts and past hurts?
Read an excerpt:
Caitlin took a fortifying sip of her coffee and welcomed the kick of the whisky. She had no interest in him. Her brain was in charge, and it knew what was good for her; she would go husband-hunting among the business men of San Diego. One of them must have a great body too. The devil on her shoulder snickered. You keep telling yourself that. Her ovaries agreed with the devil. Her angel, a by-the-book accountant and her internal guardian of rational thought, told them to keep quiet.
The older guy nodded at Annette. “Be there in a minute,” he mouthed.
Mr. Built looked over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed, and the intensity of his stare set sparks zinging in all of Caitlin’s unmentionable places. One corner of his mouth tilted up, and his eyes crinkled as if he knew exactly what he was doing to her. Rational thought sputtered to a halt and died.
“Who’s that?” Nope, her brain was not in charge, and her mouth clearly had a will and desires of its own.
“The guy behind the bar? Stan, the owner.”
Lynn chuckled. “Not him, Annette. The sparks are flying between your Cat and our Corey.”
“Really?” Annette’s eyes widened in enquiry.
Caitlin groaned. “No matchmaking. He’s just, you know…” She waved a hand in his direction and risked another look. One hundred percent man with a great ass. Her mouth watered. “Built.”
Amazon US * Amazon UK * Amazon AUS * The Wild Rose Press (publisher) * iTunes * Kobo * Google Play
About Laura Boon
Laura Boon stole her first romance from her father’s bookshelves as a teenager, The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss, and was immediately captivated. After holding a variety of positions in publishing, from bookseller to sales rep and publicist, she eventually found the courage to write her own stories. She was born in Zambia, grew up in South Africa, and went to university in America. She now lives in Australia with her husband and their adorable dogs Beau and Arro. When she is not reading or writing, she enjoys sleuthing for artisan chocolate and beautiful stationery, watching tennis, and walking alongside Sydney’s beautiful harbor.
You can find Laura online at:
Web: https://lauraboon.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraBoonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LollyRussell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraboonrussell66/
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18376534.Laura_Boon
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/laura-boon
Laura Boon will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
What was your inspiration for the story? Congratulations on the release.
Bernie, this story was inspired by a number of strands that all melded together, including the beautiful setting of Willow Springs, Vermont, a fish out of water trope for my heroine and a desire to explore whether opposites really attract.
Great post and I appreciate getting to find out about another great book. Thanks for all you do and for the hard work you put into this. Greatly appreciated!
Thank you for hosting me. It was fun answering your questions.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sounds like a great read.
Your book looks great! I hope you have many sales.
Great excerpt. I’m wishing you much luck in all your books.
Great interview! Best on your book, it looks interesting!
Fun interview and excerpt!
Thank you for hosting.