BBT Book Tour & #Giveaway with Author Carlene Love Flores - Sidewalk Flower

Welcome to Immortality and Beyond. May I offer you a drink?

• Vampires Wind
• Witches Brew
• Zombie Blast

CLF: Why thank you! I’m usually a Shirley Temple kind of girl but that Witches Brew sounds delightful  I’ll take two, please ;)

BK: We may be in for a treat if you drink two, LOL. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

CLF: When I was a little kid, I used to visit my cousin in California every summer and we’d stay up all night in her room whispering about “fake life” while everyone else was asleep. But I didn’t start writing those imaginary romances down until about 20 years later in 2008.

BK: Please tell us a little bit about your current release...

CLF: Sure thing! Sidewalk Flower is a contemporary romance about a jaded musician's assistant determined to exchange the grit of Rock Star, Los Angeles for the down-home love of her southern boyfriend but must endure one last cruel night in her old world first.

BK: What inspired this particular novel/book?

CLF: I sort of dipped into a few different inspirational jars for this one but one really amazing experience I had of hanging out with the security manager for my favorite band and seeing all the behind the scenes work that musicians and their crews do really impacted me.

BK: How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

CLF: The things characters say to each other are usually the most memorable part of a book for me and so I spend lots of time listening intently to the hero and heroine’s conversations. Sometimes they crack me up and sometimes they make me sad.

BK: What was the hardest thing about writing this story?

CLF: Realizing that I needed to move the gut-wrenching opening scene into its chronological spot in the story. I was worried that once I did that, the book might lose its opening punch, but what it did was bring the rest of the story to brilliant life.

BK: Which character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?

CLF: The heroine, Trista. She had been with me for years but I could never find her a strong and humble enough hero. She was very patient with me over the years as we searched for just the right guy. I even wrote her poems so she’d know I hadn’t forgotten about her which is where the title comes from.

BK: Tell us about the one scene you had the most fun writing…

CLF: Trista and Lucky are on a road trip back to her life in California and she’s got a serious case of hot and cold going on. She’s just about driving Lucky insane. At one point, he has to exit the freeway just to try and catch his breath. I had fun seeing just how far she could push him and how deeper and deeper he fell for her every single second of that crazy trip.

BK: Will this become a series? If so, what inspired it to be a series? OR If it is a series, what inspired it to become a series?

CLF: Sidewalk Flower features the fictional rock band, Sin Pointe. I’ve already got about a third of the band leader’s story written and can definitely see more stories stemming from the guys in the band. They’ve also got a ridiculously adorable web master who I think needs a story too. I’ll submit to my publisher and see what they think ;)

BK: Now for a little fun, and into your everyday life, What is a day in your life like?

CLF: Haha, my everyday life is a little wow-less. Unless you consider tending to an ark of pets including guinea pigs, hamsters, cats and dogs exciting, then I’m your rock star. I take care of my family, my home, my animals and my imaginary friends on a daily basis and I’m a pretty happy girl. Throw concerts in there every now and then and I’m floating.

BK: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

CLF: Definitely attending any type of live event where I can just enjoy people. Favorite places are concerts-especially smaller local venues where I can chat with the musicians afterward and thank them for the inspiration.

BK: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

CLF: Hmm, that’s hard! Well, here goes. Because of a crush on a very cute boy in a Puerto Rican boy band, I taught myself Spanish when I was ten years old so I could understand what he was singing about. The things a girl will do for a cute boy!

BK: What do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?

CLF: I love to read paranormal romance and my favorite writer is the author goddess, Sherrilyn Kenyon. My first Dark Hunter was Valerius Magnus in Seize the Night. I love his Tabby, too.

BK: What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?

CLF: Just remember to keep writing the stories you love. If you’re in the submitting stage, take this to heart: All the wrong people have to say no so that the right one can eventually say yes 

BK: What are you currently working on?

CLF: Currently, I’m spending time with Jaxon James, the leader of Sin Pointe. He’s the best friend of Trista, Sidewalk Flower’s heroine. It seems someone may be having a hard time keeping his eyes off of Trista’s younger sister, Lily. I’m calling it Sin’s Flower.

BK: Where can readers connect with you?

CLF: So glad you asked this. I’m pretty easy to find at these haunts and would love to hear from my readers:

My website: http://carlenelove.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/carlene.l.flores

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cloveflores

BIO: Carlene Love Flores is a big fan of the stars (especially Orion), honest music (especially Depeche Mode), and her travelling family (no favorites there-she loves them all). These things have always inspired her to think up edgy, intimate love stories and continue to do so. If she could touch someone’s heart with her writing the way others have done for her, she’d say truly there never lived a luckier girl.

Synopsis:

In Sidewalk Flower, a jaded young woman sets out on an intense road trip home to deal with her past when she is asked to allow a relative stranger to tag along.

But, she’s seen too many good guys succumb to the harsh realities of her supposed privileged life in the music business and intends on keeping her distance.

When she picks up Lucky, the southern gentleman cousin of her selfish best friend, she has absolutely no idea of how to accept a perfectly good person with good intentions. Home has never looked so good, or felt so far away.

Excerpt:

Her two insistent hands pressed against the back of his neck like she was forcing him to do this. It was cute. Yeah, she was dead wrong. He’d wanted to kiss her since he’d first seen her, hopping down out of that girly silver Jeep. But he knew better. Earning something you wanted took more than a few hours. And if he’d gathered anything from her hot and cold responses so far, it was that Jaxon’s vague but deliberate warning that he take good care of her hadn’t been just puffed up, ego talk.

This girl was in trouble.

He should have stepped away for both their sakes. He knew he didn’t deserve this kind of kiss, not yet. But California was glued to him on full speed and didn’t appear to have a pause, let alone a rewind button. On second thought, he’d let her get this out of her system and then they’d start over.

Her hand had to be killing her, so he managed to pull it down and keep it tucked at her side. But the other one was petting those hairs at the back of his neck, leaving him seconds away from coming undone. If he clenched his jaw any tighter, those painful yet ticklish sensations shooting throughout his upper body would without a doubt get him into trouble down below. Heck, if he squeezed her in his arms like he wanted to, she’d feel how aroused he’d let himself get. He worked his jaw to ease away from the pain, wishing he could let go entirely and enjoy her touch. Yep, their fresh start was gonna have to wait until she was done proving her point. Cute girl though.

* * *

His lips were soft and salty like he’d worked up a sweat at some point during the day. Crap, again she cursed his damn tempting bloodline. This would only complicate their pending trip even more. So naturally, when he smartly pulled her one hand away, she found a sweet spot of baby hairs with the other and went for more. Her rules—that was the only way to play with the boys and stay safe.

Lucky’s hands eventually cupped the sides of her face, which was fine because she had made her point.

“Are we okay?” he asked.

Well, hell if she knew. “Yes,” she said. They could figure the truth out later. There would be an endless amount of open road ahead of them come Sunday to think. Tonight was desperate Friday. “We’re good.” But she hesitated because he looked for a moment like he may have regretted things. When he coughed and cleared his throat, she was sure of it.

“Come on, Miss ‘We’re Good’,” he said, as he urged her the rest of the way to the back door. “I’d like to keep that promise I made Jaxon. You could go a little easier on me from here on out.”

The inside of her mouth remained warm from their kiss as she swallowed a cool breath of air. The contrasting temperatures left her with a chill and a memory—the taste of the last kiss she’d had. Cigarettes and beer. No hand holding. No talking. No first, second or third date. As badly as her sour heart warned her to throw Lucky in with that lot, she just couldn’t do it. He’d already taken more care of her than any other guy she’d known.

“You shouldn’t take things so personally.” At his wince, she splintered and added, “I know you didn’t sign up for this; I’ll try to be…better.” No promises though.

“Okay.” He hesitated, and shifted on the steps. “Ready to go inside?”

“No, you should go in though. I need to be alone.” A tingle traveled around her wounded hand and she made the mistake of squeezing it into a fist.

Lucky dipped his head then and ran his hand up along the back of his neck, rubbing it in his obvious confusion. “Trista. I’m kind of at a loss here. You’re obviously in pain. Just come inside and let me help you.”

She tried to warn him, hoping he’d listen. “Lucky, you’re a nice guy. Okay, I get it. You want to help, but I didn’t ask for that and you have no idea what you’d be signing up for anyway. Assholes can barely handle my world; a good guy like you doesn’t stand a chance. Jaxon had no right doing this.”

“Hmmm.” He scratched at his sideburn. “You don’t know what I can and can’t handle.” He looked down but she had caught his every word.

Giveaway: CLF: I’m excited to be giving away a free e-copy of Sidewalk Flower to one commenter to today’s post. Thank you so much for having me!

Thank you so much for stopping in and offering readers a chance to win a copy of Sidewalk Flower. That's so nice of you. Okay guys, just leave a comment for Carlene with your email address, and tomorrow we'll draw a winner!

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