Morning everybody! I am very excited to have Marianne Rice on the hot seat today! Her new book, Sweet On You (The Wilde Sisters - #1) was just released in January. So let's get this show on the road!
- Tell us all about yourself and what makes you tick and what do you like doing when you aren’t writing!
I’m a high school teacher, a mother to three crazy
school-aged kids, a wife, a baker, a writer, a housekeeper, a chauffeur, a
maid…you get it. Busy, but who isn’t. If I won that insanely huge Powerball a
few weeks ago, I’d keep the mother and writer gig, but the rest would go. Well,
I do enjoy cooking and baking, but I’d have help. My vices: shoes—the bigger
the heel the better—dark chocolate, flavored vodka, wine, romance novels, and
hot tub time with my girlfriends
.(You sound like my kinda girl, Marianne! - LOL)
2.
Tell us about your family – married?
Kids? Where you live!
Glad you asked. I neglected to mention the hubby in the
first question. Goes back to the Powerball issue. Win that and have more time
with him. We met in college—he played football—can you say six-pack abs, solid
thighs, arms meant to protect and love, and cute tush?—and live in southern
Maine with our three children. Usually we pass each other at the court or on
the field as we’re bringing our kids to their games and practices. Our Teenage
Princess is an avid cheerleader and is almost 15—eek, driver’s permit around
the corner!!; Sports Girl is 12 and is always on the go-go-go with field hockey,
basketball and lacrosse; the Little Guy is a charmer at 9 and plays baseball,
soccer and basketball. I’m glad our kids are busy, but geesh. It’s exhausting.
(Maine - sigh - is on my bucket list!)
- If you could travel anywhere in or out of this world, where would it be?
I love visiting my sister in San Diego (no offense to the
sister in Jersey—not my favorite state but I love seeing her) but would really
like to vacation in Hawaii. I’m supposed to say with my family, right? A solo
trip would be heavenly. A trip with my husband would be romantic. A trip with
the family would be fun. Right now, February in Maine, I’ll settle for any
place sunny, warm and quiet.
(San Diego is one of my favorite places in the world to vaca - Pacific Beach)
- What is your favorite all time movie?
Sorry. I’m a girl who can make the “real” decisions, but
can’t do favorites. I like variety. I love a good romantic comedy, but I love a
good tear-jerker as well.
- What about weekly TV show? Why?
I don’t watch TV. I know. Crazy. Who has time?
(WHAT? Seriously - WHAT?)
- Have you ever met anybody famous?
I grew up in Los Angeles and went to school with Alison
Hannigan (from How I Met Your Mother). I used to babysit for Chip Mayer. He played
Vance Duke on the Dukes of Hazard and was on the soap opera Santa Barbara (I’m
dating myself). Sadly, he passed away a while back. He used to date a lot of
well-known singers and actresses of the time. I was fifteen and actually didn’t
care too much about it. Now I wish I paid attention to their names. One image
I’ll never forget was when I was watching his daughter Ashley and he crossed
the hall from the bathroom to his bedroom wrapped in a tiny towel. Holy
hotness! Needless to say, I didn’t tell my mother about that one. Nothing
inappropriate happened but I wanted to keep that delectable sight to myself.
- Now, Tell us about your book? (Blurb)
An extravagant cake
design brings small town baker Trent Kipson to fame…
After gaining social media exposure of his culinary art,
Trent’s cake design goes viral. Soon he’s contacted by the Cooking Network to
host a new show in California. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for the owner
of a modest shop in Portland, Maine, and the financial freedom the network
offers could be the answer to all of his monetary problems.
Fitness instructor
Rayne Wilde wants the life every small-town girl dreams of…
Rayne wishes for a future full of romance and the pitter-patter
of little feet. She wants it all, including a white picket fence and a dog
named Spot—which is exactly why she refuses to sleep with Trent, the sexy man
who attends her Zumba classes. After a series of dead-end relationships, this
time she really is in love. Trent is
special, and the fear of letting him slip through her fingers keeps her
advances at bay.
Life is waiting—all
it takes is a leap of faith...
As their friendship grows and skeletons creep out of their
closets, their relationship is put to the test. Stakes get higher, and the
spark between them burns hotter than ever before.
Can they handle the
heat when life-changing secrets are exposed, or will the fear of being burned
send them on two different paths?
- Where did you come up with the idea for your story?
The story idea came to me a few years ago while I was taking
a Zumba class. It’s a fun activity and so I knew I had to make my heroine have
a spunky personality.
- What is your biggest pet peeve about writing?
Not having enough time. I know it’s not really a pet peeve,
but it annoys me.
- Where can people find you? (give all your links)
http://www.mariannerice.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mariannericeauthor/
http://www.facebook.com/MarianneRiceaut
https://twitter.com/mariannericeaut
https://www.goodreads.com/MarianneRice
https//www.pinterest.com/mariannericeaut
- Most important – where can we buy your story?
amazon.com/author/mariannerice
excerpt:
“I’m hungry, so I bet you’re
starved.”
Unfortunately, Rayne pulled a black
dress thing over her turquoise bikini and reached down for the cooler.
“I’ve got it. Why don’t you grab
the bag?”
“Chauvinist,” she muttered with a
smile.
“No, a gentleman.” He winked and
hefted the cooler out of the canoe. “Damn, woman. What did you pack in here?”
“I know you have quite the appetite,
so I packed a little of everything.”
And by everything, she meant everything. Meat-filled subs, pasta
salad, potato salad, fruit salad, granola bars, cheese and crackers, humus,
some other sort of healthy-looking stuff…the woman knew the way to a man’s
heart. Except she didn’t pack any dessert.
And Trent had one hell of a sweet
tooth. Staring at her glistening pink lips, he thought of a very suitable
replacement for dessert. They sat on a blanket under a tree, ate, and talked
about other items on their bucket list. For him, skydiving, parasailing, bungee
jumping. She had more tame events: climbing the Eifel Tower, walking through
the Aztec ruins, hiking the Appalachian Trail. And of course, starting a
family.
Yeah, he could totally see himself
doing those things with her. Except the family part. They argued over their
lists and laughed at each other’s jokes. It was too damn bad he couldn’t give
Rayne what she desired.
“No cookies?”
“I didn’t think you’d have room
after all this.”
“Hell, I thought you knew me better
than that. I always have room for dessert.”
“You just wait. One of these days
all those snacks are going to catch up to you and you’re going to be mistaken
for Santa Claus,” she teased.
“And to think I shaved this morning
for you,” he said as he rubbed his cheeks.
“I like the scruff.”
Trent raised an eyebrow and studied
her. She had no idea how sexy she was. Or that everything she said and did
turned him on. “Really? Why is that?” He leaned back on his elbows and looked
up at her. Tanned skin, hair that was meant to be splayed across his pillow,
nervous chocolate-syrupy eyes. He itched to reach out and tuck the stray curl
behind her ear, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop there.
Rayne pulled her knees up to her
chest, wrapping her arms around her legs, and stared out over the river.
“You’re a nice guy, Trent.”
“Uh, oh. I’ve heard that one before.”
He chuckled, trying to lighten the moment.
She turned to face him and gave him
a sad smile. “I really like you and am glad we’re still friends after…after my
um, misunderstanding.”
His heart softened. No, it turned
into a melting puddle of ganache. If he was reading the signs right, she was
interested. Very interested. That could either spell trouble or hello sweet heaven. But if he turned her
down, that could ruin their friendship as well. Better to evade than to
disappoint.
Good morning, Marianne. Thank you so much for being my guest today. I love your answers and your excerpt sound fabulous!
ReplyDeleteWonderful cover. I loved the interview ladies. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLeslie
Thank you for having me, Penny!
ReplyDelete