Interview with romance author J.L. Petersen

Today’s special guest is J.L. Petersen and we’re chatting about her new contemporary romance novel, The MacBrides – Logan and RJ.

During her virtual book tour, J.L. will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
J.L. Petersen lives in Denver with her husband. She finds inspiration in her adopted state of Colorado. She's enjoyed reading all types of romance for years and finally found the courage to start telling her own stories. Ms. Petersen believes love is the strongest, most powerful of emotions. It allows us to trust, believe, forgive and have hope. Her stories try to bring those emotions to her characters.

Please share a little bit about your current release.

The MacBride’s are one of the largest landowners in the Grand Mesa Valley of Colorado. These caretakers of their land have found ways to reap the produce this rich valley provides by surrounding their cattle ranch with vineyards and lavender production.

In The MacBride’s – Logan and RJ, Logan was thrilled when his brother, Clay, met the woman of his dreams. But when her sister, RJ, shows up he wonders if he, too, met his waterloo. But the sister’s past created scars and barriers against love and trust. RJ’s scars run the deepest testing Logan’s ability to push aside his needs and find the patience to win RJ’s trust and ultimately her unwavering love.

In this series as Logan, Clay, Hannah, Brand, Sarah and Jacob follow their dreams and search for love. And maybe, their widowed mother, Bea, still has a little romance in her soul.

What inspired you to write this book?
I love my Colorado Mountains and the area around Grand Junction/Palisades is beautiful. As I usually do, I started to weave stories about some of the farms/ranches I saw in the area and boom the MacBrides were born. I liked the idea of a close-knit group of siblings working the family land and, of course, finding love.

Excerpt from The MacBrides – Logan and RJ:

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” Logan asked.

She frowned down at her plate. It had a hamburger with no bun, a helping of potato salad and some baked beans. “Yes, is that a problem?”

“Nope, just never understood why women don’t put their hamburgers on buns.” He shrugged, causing their shoulders to brush together slightly, then started eating.

The man made her nervous. That kiss rocked her system and she was still trying to recover. Deciding to ignore him, she turned her attention to the rest of the discussions going on at the table while she picked at her food. 

She was truly enjoying the family meal. This was nothing like the family meals her family had. Which was a good thing. She was lulled into relaxing when a discussion about some ranch operations between Logan, Clay and Brand got heated.

As the argument got louder, RJ felt the old tension seep into her, washing away her good mood. Her stomach tightened into a knot. She put her fork down and clasped her hands under the table. Sandy caught her eye, smiled, mouthing, it’s okay. Nodding at her sister, she tried to relax. When Logan reached over under the table to lay his hand over her clenched ones, she almost jumped out of her seat.

“Are you okay?” he whispered in her ear.

Taking a deep breath, she found she could only nod at him. He didn’t say anything else but pushed his hand between her two firmly gripped ones sliding his fingers between hers and fully clasping her hand. He gave it a squeeze and then just held tight.

“Alright boys, you can decide the best option later. We have wedding plans to discuss. There’s only seven weeks and lots to do,” Bea instructed.

“Ha!” Sarah snorted. “You jackasses can hardly make it through any meal without butting heads.”

“Hey, who are you calling a jackass, oh sister of mine who has an opinion on everything?” Clay tossed back at her.

RJ started tensing up again and without realizing it squeezed Logan’s hand. She went into complete shock when Sandy jumped into the fray. Sandy always shrank away from these types of conflicts.

“Now, Clay, you’re giving my sister a bad opinion of you.”  At that, everyone cast their eyes towards RJ, but Clay seemed to have understanding in his expression. With a sly smile, he apologized. “Sorry, RJ. I know you’re not used to us yet. But hopefully, you’ll realize we love and support each other even though my siblings are a bunch of thickheaded, stubborn mules.” 

RJ’s eyes widened at his words and then almost popped out of her head as a half a dozen flying objects, namely napkins and hamburger buns, all hit Clay about the same time. There was a moment of silence at the table before she realized she gurgled. That surprised her, but when a full laugh erupted from her, everyone joined in. Clay sat there laughing with a piece of potato salad stuck to his head.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I am currently working on the second of five books in The MacBrides series. It will be Hannah and Ash’s story. Also, I have a desire to go back and give Bette, from Chasing Her Heart, her own story. For fun, I’ve recently taken on a challenge to write a Christmas novella. Hopefully, I can have that ready for this Christmas. The story was a compilation of story concepts a group of my friends gave me one night during a dinner party. I’m trying to incorporate aspects from each person’s thoughts and weave it into a holiday love story. Wish me luck on that one.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Funny, not until my second book published. My first book was a challenge to myself to overcome my fears but when the second book came out and seemed to be well received I realized I had stories that people actually enjoyed.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I am not an eight hour a day, five day a week writer. I have a lot going on in my life. Wonderful things that I enjoy. So I alternate between writing for 3-4 hours a day to not even having time to open my laptop. It might be a little undisciplined but I am SO okay with that at this point in my life.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I like to sit at my kitchen island to write but only if the house is quiet. I feel a little silly getting up and walking around the house thinking through a scene. I never know if someone is going to walk in on me and find me making facial expressions or talking to myself.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A singer! Don’t we all want to excel at something we have absolutely no talent in?! I remember putting on my favorite music and performing in my bedroom as a child. But who knows, maybe I’ll create a character with that talent and live vicariously through them.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I want to thank the readers for taking time to learn about me and my stories. I hope they will pick up one of my books and get a few hours of entertainment from them.

Links:

Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Publisher

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway