Saturday 24 January 2015

Dreaming of Love by Melissa Foster



I am delighted to welcome Melissa Foster again, this time for her wonderful novel DREAMING OF LOVE, as part of her blog tour with Brook Cottage.


Series: Love in Bloom, #19 The Bradens, #11
Genre: 
Contemporary Romance

Emily Braden is a leader in architectural preservation, a pillar in her small hometown, and successful in everything she does—with the exception of finding true love. She’s watched several of her brothers fall in love, and she needs this trip to Tuscany to get away from it all and to stop focusing on what she doesn’t have.

Dae Bray doesn’t do flings, and he never stays in one place for very long. As a demolitionist, he goes where jobs take him, and the more often he travels, the better. His trip to Tuscany is all work—until he meets smart and sexy Emily, who makes him reconsider his fear of settling down, his no-fling rule—and just about everything else he’s ever believed about himself.

Passion sizzles as Dae and Emily explore the history and beauty of Tuscany. Their romance moves beyond tourist attractions to the bedroom, blossoming into a deep connection neither can deny. But their worlds collide when Emily wants to preserve the property that Dae is there to demolish. Can a woman who sees the beauty in preservation and a man whose life is spent tearing things down find a solid foundation for their love?
 

About the Author


Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women's fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today's book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she's not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.
 
Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family. Visit Melissa on The Women's NestFostering Success, or World Lit Cafe. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Authors Links:






GIVEAWAY INFO
 The giveaway on tour is 3 x ecopies of Flirting with Love (the previous novel in the series). Please see below for the rafflecopter code. Or, if you wish to use the Rafflecopter link instead. Thanks.

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Saturday 3 January 2015

Finding my way with music...

Although I much prefer peace and quiet to write, I always have one or two special songs or pieces of music that help me through the process of writing a novel. They are never the same ones and vary with every story. For some reason every time I fear I am losing my way and I have got out of touch with the characters or I am stuck in an impossible dead end, listening to them it helps me get back into the mood and the heart of the story.  

Here are some of the songs which have inspired me so far. I hope you enjoy them too!

When I was writing A SPELL IN PROVENCE, soon to be published by Accent Press, I kept listening to Zaz and her poignant 'Eblouie par la nuit'. I love this song, it makes me cry every single time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDcgOpUp2nc


I was also playing Françoise Hardy's song 'En résumé, en conclusion...', probably because it made me think about Jacques Dutronc - her long term partner, and I just love, love him!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_C21aXxuUk










ANGEL HEART
Laam is a French singer with a beautiful voice. There are many songs of hers I love. These two are my favourite:
'Que l'amour nous garde' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9yrkwHASEo
'De ton indifférence' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCb4uYi0JdY






THE LION'S EMBRACE
I completely fell in love with Tuareg music, in particular great guitarist Bombino and his song 'Tar Hani' (I love you). These words are actually spoken by my hero, Lucas Saintclair at the end of the novel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfb17JQYtg


I also listened a lot to 'Welcome to Imzad' (the Imzad is the traditional string instrument played by Tuareg women). I have no idea what the song is about but I found the melody and the sound of the imzad really poignant and haunting. In fact, I wrote whole scenes of the novel while listening to this song in a loop, and I always promised myself that if I was lucky enough for the book to be turned into a film I would insist of this music for the soundtrack! (well, it costs  nothing to dream...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5z7AcjE-YI


DANCING FOR THE DEVIL, a historical romance to be published by Accent Press in the New Year
I rediscovered Fleetwood Mac 'Go your own way' and 'The Chain'. Now, this is going to sound very, very silly but I named my hero's horse after 'The Chain'... Of course, the song did inspire me in other ways too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjLaj2GROjU

What about you? Is music important when you write, and what music inspires you? I would love to hear from you!