Guest post by Victoria James + Giveaway

Filed in featured , Giveaways , Guest Post , The Latin Lover , Victoria James Posted on April 1, 2013 @ 7:00 am 10 comments

We are very happy to welcome back to Book Lovers Inc. Victoria James, whose debut novel The Billionaire’s Christmas Baby became a favourite read of 2012. Victoria is on a blog tour celebrating the release of her latest novel A Risk Worth Taking, the first book in her new Red River series, and let me tell you it was just as delightful as her first book! (Take a look at my review to see.) Victoria stops by to tell us a bit more about the story and the inspiration behind it. Join us and enter the giveaway for a chance to win some great prizes! 😉

ariskworthtakingbanner (2)

Thank you so much for having me today!

In my current release, A RISK WORTH TAKING, my heroine Holly has to return to her childhood home and renovate it. The home is vacant, except for the stirring memories from her youth. Her world has just been turned upside down, but she doesn’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for herself. She has to take action-and part of that is facing the man that she could never forget: Quinn Manning. He is a guy who’s been burned before, and is not looking for love…but Holly is different, she’s always had a piece of his heart whether or not he ever admitted it.

These two are very stubborn, headstrong individuals, neither of whom are the type to back down from a challenge. Anyone who has lived through an entire home renovation knows how crazy things can get. Throw in an emotional/sentimental connection, a baby, and childhood crush and you’ve got a recipe for lots of turmoil. Having completed a full home renovation almost two years ago, I know how crazy things can get. Our son was four at the time, and our daughter a few months old. Everyone told us we were crazy for doing a full renovation, but we fell in love with this house and knew we had to do it. So, we packed everything up, sold our home, moved in with my parents for a few months (more craziness!) and completed our renovation.

There were many delays along the way-unexpected plumbing and structural issues. Like my heroine, Holly, I have a total fear of mice; an irrational, embarrassing phobia-that many of the guys working on the house thought was pretty funny. We gutted the home from top to bottom, and despite the fact that I’m an interior designer, I couldn’t really just take over, because my husband had his own opinions and preferences. We did butt heads on quite a few issues-and we each let each other have a few victories. There were certain areas of the home I claimed as ‘mine’-the kitchen being one of them (though he somehow ended up having a big say in this as well). And choosing paint colours (this happened after my husband kept picking horrible shades-and then told me he is colour blind!). It was a total exercise in patience and compromise.

One of my favourite scenes in A RISK WORTH TAKING is when one of Holly’s design decisions backfires horribly and she has to (kind of) admit defeat. Quinn, being the good-guy that he is, saves the day even though he’s been pushed to the limit. Of course, the house does turn out to be a spectacular tribute to Holly’s grandparents, and is once again filled with love and laughter. I guess if you can survive a house renovation together, you can get through a heck of a lot.

So tell me, if you had to go through a renovation (or have)with your partner, what kind of things would you compromise on? What would you feel strongly about? Or would you compromise at all? 😉

Victoria James 2Victoria James is a romance writer living near Toronto, Canada. Victoria is a mother to two young children, and one very disorderly feline.

Victoria attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and graduated with a degree in English Literature, where she met and then later married, her own hero. After Queen’s, Victoria earned a degree in Interior Design. After the birth of her first child she began pursuing her life-long passion of writing.

Her dream of being a published romance author was realized this February, 2012, when Entangled Publishing bought her manuscript The Billionaire’s Christmas Baby. Victoria has three upcoming books that will be released by Entangled Publishing’s Indulgence line. Victoria is living her dream-staying home with her children and conjuring up happy endings for her characters.

Visit Victoria
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

The Billionaire's Christmas Baby500

A Risk Worth Taking by Victoria James

Book #1 in the Red River series

Interior designer Holly Carrington worked hard for her success. Then tragedy struck, leaving Holly the sole guardian of her infant niece. Now she’s swapped her designer purse for a diaper bag, and is going ahead with plans to renovate—and sell—her childhood home in Red River. But facing her past also means coming face-to-face with Quinn Manning all over again…

Quinn was the object of her girlhood crush—and heartbreak— and is more gorgeous than ever. He’s also the only person qualified to oversee the renovation. Now they’re butting heads every step of the way… and their attraction is more electrifying than ever! But once the house is sold, Holly needs to return to her real life. And falling for Quinn all over again is one risk she can’t take…

Read an excerpt 

Read my review

Buy at Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~*Giveaway*~*~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Stella


Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

Share This Post

Subscribe and stay up-to-date

Via E-Mail:

Follow us via RSS, twitter and facebook:

10 Comments

Join the Discussion
  • Diane April 1, 2013 at 8:51 am

    NO compromise, live in a hotel or with friends and remember, the reno will have to stay for a long time so again no compromise.

  • Angie April 1, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    I pretty much let my husband do what he wants on a remodel. He makes sure that whatever he is remodeling has what he thinks I want. He does a good job. On our bathroom I got a bigger tub that had jets and the kitchen I got an island with extra storage that I didn’t think to ask for. I put up with the mess, because in the end it’s worth it.

  • Mary Jo Burke April 1, 2013 at 2:03 pm

    Had the floors redone, whole house painted, and an addition put on the house. Never again. Next time, we move.

  • Julie April 1, 2013 at 4:54 pm

    Did a lot of painting

  • Kelly Powell April 1, 2013 at 8:02 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway!!!

  • Lori Meehan April 1, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    My husband decided one day while I was at work that it was time to redo our kitchen. So he threw away my table and my sink. I was with out a sink and table for six weeks until it was done. My compromise was not to kill him before week one was over. He was very close to death the loser it got to the end of the six weeks. He will never do that again. He didn’t like washing dishes in the bathroom sink. Lol

  • Maria D. April 1, 2013 at 8:21 pm

    I’ve gone through a renovation but it was when I was a teenager living at home with the parents. They are tough and you do have to learn to make compromises or you go nuts! I do think that the “cook” of the family should get to choose the kitchen and that both the husband and wife (or boyfriend/girlfriend) have to be willing to compromise on the bedrooms, bathrooms and family room….Thanks for the giveaway!

  • Lily B April 2, 2013 at 6:59 pm

    I am not sure I would want to compromise, he had years to fix up the house and he did not ;P and quiet frankly, his ideas make me irk 😀 I want a pretty house not a bachelor pad.

  • Kim Pinch April 7, 2013 at 9:20 am

    Another book to add to my TBR list, thank you for the review. I going crazy planning a kitchen remodel right now, demo hasn’t even started!

  • Kellie Rose Wilson April 11, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    Can’t wait to read this book!

Previous Post
«
Next Post
»
Luvo designed by Internet Marketing In conjunction with Template Wordpress , R4 DS , Best SUV.