September 11, 2013
Guest Blogger: Sofia Harper
Today, while I'm celebrating a family member's birthday, author Sofia Harper is taking over my blog. Sofia's eBook,
Hot Knights in Paradise (love that play on words), was released this past Monday from Entangled Publishing's Indulgence imprint.
Stranded in paradise with no way to get home, Leah Smith needs a
miracle, and fast. Instead, she gets Marshall Jackson, surely the
sexiest man alive. Too bad he's got an emotional wall around
himself--and her only hope of getting off the island...
Marshall
has a strict no-damsels-in-distress policy, but there's something about
Leah that makes him want to break his own rules. He agrees to let her
work in his bar until she earns enough to get home. But the more time
they spend together, the harder it is to deny the scorching attraction
between them. Soon hot island nights provide balm to their wounded
souls, but will these two flawed exiles make peace with the past in time
to claim the future they deserve together--or will paradise be lost?
Sofia is here to talk about her inspiration for writing this particular book, and she brought along an excerpt for your reading pleasure. Take it away, Sofia...and readers, be sure to share your travel horror stories in the comments!
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How A Premise Is Born
I can tell you about how the theme and heart of Hot Knight in Paradise came to be. Not down to the day. I'm not that good. The premise is
somewhat more fuzzy. It was a thought, a realization after I lost my
cell phone—I didn't know anyone's number. My mother tells me this is a shame
because my grandmother's number has been the same for forty years. I am a child
of this new technology age and I have no clue what anyone's number is.
If I were to get stranded in another country without ID,
money (debit cards included) or passport...Let's just say I could send out
emails for help. (Well, on one account, because I can't remember the passwords to
any of the others.) Isn't that frightening thought? Well, it was for me. So I
researched this very conundrum.
The results were scarier. In California, at least, it can
take up to two months to get a new ID. Three weeks for a new birth certificate
to get so you can get a new passport. And that's hoping that you can get your
bank to send you a new bank card from an address in a new and foreign country.
If you have an address you can send it to, mind you.
Now, I was troubled by this beyond reason because I know my
luck. I am that person who loses their luggage whenever they travel. If X isn't
likely to happen, then X happens to me within five minutes. And that's when the
writer in me sat up because this idea became a breeding ground of plot bunny
potential. And then I started to make my happy laugh, which sounds like mwahahahahaha.
Poor Leah. She never had chance once that idea got hold
of me. She was bound to be the walking epitome of Murphy's Law. Since my laugh
is only evil when it's happy, I rectified her luck. On top of that she had
Marshall, which I can say is pretty darn...everything good about a man once you
get past his initial grumpiness. He is a man who is sweet and is slightly
dirty.
Anyway, that's how this premise was born. And if you plan to
travel, remember someone's phone number.
Tell me about some of your travel horror stories, and be sure to check out the excerpt from Hot Knight in Paradise below!
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Sofia Harper started writing contemporary romance a long, long
time ago. When Sofia's not spending time with imaginary people in her head,
she's corrupting two little trouble makers. Currently she lives in California,
where the wine is good. She also going full-throttle on the ride called
publishing. These two thoughts are not related.
You can check out her out here:
Excerpt, Hot Knight in Paradise:
She sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got nothing else to do until the others make it.” The
unmistakable scent of smoke thickened the air in the bar. That probably
explained why his voice came out raspy.
To add insult to injury, his brown eyes filled with
amusement. In this light, his skin was a bit lighter, but definitely very
sun-kissed and beautifully, deeply bronzed. He kept his hair short, cut into a
fade. His well-worn shorts, loose-fitting shirt, and relaxed temperament fit
this strange place. Nothing adorned the old-school wood paneling, but there
were tables, chairs, and liquor.
The place was a dive trying and failing to be a bar. And
Marshall was trying and failing to be charming. She wasn’t going to tell the man her life story, not after he’d let a
mugger ride off into the sunset with her purse. She’d had the situation under
control until he showed up.
More or less.
She kept a tight, polite smile on her face and lifted the
twenty to show him she planned to be a paying customer. “That’s for the drink.”
He shook his head. “I’m not taking your money.” She started
to speak, and he talked over her. “Until you tell me how you ended up here.”
She sized him up again. Despite the seedy atmosphere and his
current appearance, he had a preppy air to him. Strange thought, but she dealt
with banking bigwigs with MBAs in her job as a home loan modifier, and it gave
her a sixth sense for preppy. The twenty itched in her hand. Maybe she’d rubbed
up against an exotic form of poison ivy when she’d done her stop, drop, and
roll.
She shook her head—once, twice—and then slapped the twenty
onto the counter. It surprised her when the wood didn’t buckle. The deceptively
sturdy counter took up most of the space along the left wall. “I’m not here to
spill my guts. Take the money.”
A smile spread across his face, and the power of the sudden
mischievous quality made her blink.
“Okay.” He straightened, leaving behind a
musky, masculine scent. “If you won’t talk about yourself, put in on the poker
game.”
That kind of smile could talk a woman into just about
anything. Her blood sang with attraction, and it made her head swim. Down, girl.
“No.”
Marshall shook his head. “I’m not letting you off that easy.
I risked my life to save yours. You owe me.”
“Didn’t ask you to,” she said.
His jaw clenched. “Some things you shouldn’t have to ask
for.”
A bitter laugh spilled from her lips. “Just like there are
some things you don’t. Like bossy men with a hero complex who work in dives.”
His eyes narrowed, and she bit her lip. His gaze dropped to
her mouth. She held her breath.
“True,” he said. “Now fess up. How did you end up on the
side of the road getting robbed? ”
What would it hurt? He wasn’t likely to tell anyone—not when
he seemed to be hiding here himself. What man would opt to live in a place that
looked like this? Someone running, that’s who. And what the hell? If she wasn't going to gamble or finish the entire contents of the glass in front of her, she might as well live a little and do something daring, like open up.
She put an elbow on the counter, placing her chin in her
palm. “Where should I start? I’ve never confessed to a bartender before.”
“Start where you think your story starts.”
Her life really started the day she’d made a blood pact with
her cousin Janet to never settle for mediocre and to never lose her sense of
adventure. Also, whoever lost their virginity first had to retell the story in
painstaking detail.
Leah settled on, “I was born in a one-room shack.”
He scoffed at the lie. “Fast-forward just a little bit. I’m
more curious how someone like you ended up in my bar.”
“Dive,” she corrected. “It’s a dive.”
“I would be insulted if I didn’t agree.” He tilted his chin
up, gesturing to the other side of the room, where a cluster of tables sat
together. “I have regulars, and I have people who end up lost." He mused for a moment. "Or troublemakers."
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Hot Knight in Paradise is available at
Amazon and
Barnes & Noble. Download your copy today!
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