Rescued By a Stranger by Lizbeth Selvig Virtual Tour

Rescued By a Stranger

By: Lizbeth Selvig

Avon Romance

Releasing Oct 1^st, 2013

Blurb

She’s a woman full of dreams

When a stranger arrives in town on a vintage motorcycle, Jill Carpenter has no idea her life is about to change forever. She never expected her own personal knight in shining armor would be an incredibly charming and handsome southern man-but one with a deep secret. 

He’s a man hoping to outrun a tragedy

When Chase Preston jumped on his motorcycle to escape his wounded life, he didn’t expect the perfect woman to fall into his arms... literally! But though he can’t deny his feelings for the sweet and beautiful Jill, he doesn’t see any way he and his mistake-filled past will fit into her bright future. 

Falling in love may require more than either can give 

The longer Chase stays in Kennison Falls, the more deeply Jill and the people of her home town pull him in. The more Jill discovers heroic qualities in Chase, the more she wants to find a home in his arms-if only he would trust her with the truth. But will truth tear them apart when Jill’s dreams start coming true and Chase’s past finally returns to haunt him? Or, can they get beyond dreams to find the love that will rescue their two hearts?

Buy Links:

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Teaser:

“Heck, what good is having a big, strong, Southern biker around if he can’t protect you from boogie men?” Her eyes began to focus in the dim light. “Where’s the dog?”

“She was right here.”

“Angel?” Jill called. “C’mon, girl. Let’s go get you something to eat.” She’d responded to her new name all evening. Jill frowned.

Chase gave a soft, staccato, dog-calling whistle. Angel stuck her head out from a stall a third of the way down the aisle. “There she is. C’mon, girl.”

Angel disappeared into the stall.

“Weird,” Jill said, and headed down the aisle.

At the door to a freshly bedded, empty stall they found Angel curled beside a mound of sweet, fragrant hay, staring up as if expecting them.

“Silly girl,” Jill said. “You don’t have to stay here. We’re taking you home. Come.”

Angel didn’t budge. She rested her head between her paws and gazed through raised doggy brows. Chase led the way into the stall. “Everything all right, pup?” He stroked her head.

Jill reached for the dog, too, and her hand landed on Chase’s. They both froze. Slowly he rotated his palm and wove his fingers through hers. The few minor fireworks she’d felt in the car earlier were nothing compared to the explosion now detonating up her arm and down her back.

“I’ve been trying to avoid this since I got off that dang horse.” His voice cracked into a low whisper.

“Why?”

He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Because I am not a guy someone as young and good as you are should let do this.”

“You’ve saved my life and rescued a dog. Are you trying to tell me I should be worried about you?"

She touched his face, bold enough in the dark to do what light had made her too shy to try.

"Maybe."

The hard, smooth fingertips of his free hand slid inexorably up her forearm and covered the hand on his cheek. Drawing it down to his side, he pulled her whole body close, and the little twister of excitement in her stomach burst into a thousand quicksilver thrills. Her eyelids slipped closed, and his next question touched them in warm puffs of breath.

"If I were to kiss you right now, would it be too soon?"

Her eyes flew open, and she searched his shadowy gaze, incredulous. “You’re asking permission? Who does that?”

“Seemed like the right thing.”

“Well permission granted, now hush.”

She freed her hands, placed them on his cheeks, roughened with beard stubble, and rose on tip-toe to meet his mouth while he gripped the back of her head.

The soft kiss nearly knocked her breathless with unleashed power. Chase dropped more hot kisses on each corner of her mouth and down her chin, feathered her nose and her cheeks, and finally returned wondrously to her mouth. Again and again he plied her bottom lip with his teeth, stunning her with his insistent exploration.  The pressure of his lips and the clean, masculine scent of his skin, took away her equilibrium. She could only follow the motions of his head and revel in the heat stoking the fire in her belly.

What does Lizbeth Selvig want us to know about her?

As a writer, what drives you?

There are a lot of things that drive me as a writer now that I’m published. Of course there’s the sheer joy of writing, which I’d do whether I was published or not. I love when characters come begging for me to write their stories! But I’ve added to that love the desire to write more quickly because people have actually started asking when the next book is coming! I also have a wonderful, supportive family and I do write for them, too. They’ve allowed me so much time to build this dream career that I want to keep making them proud.  And traveling drives me to write. I’m a sucker for gorgeous settings—I can always come up with a story for a unique place!

Can you tell us about Rescued by a Stranger?

My heroine Jill Carpenter is a woman with big Olympic dreams and an even bigger heart. When Chase Preston, the book’s sexy “stranger,” who has a tragedy in his past and a secret too painful to share, rides to her rescue on a vintage motorcycle after she swerves down a ditch to miss hitting a stray dog, Jill's vision of her future changes quicker than she ever imagined it could.

Chase wants nothing more than to forget the sad event that sent him running from his home in Memphis and keep his identity to himself. He has no business getting in the way of Jill's dreams, even if he can't help but fall in love with her.

But that very unusual stray dog, two teenage sisters with attitude problems, and a crotchety old farmer, conspire to push Chase and Jill deeper and deeper into a love like they've never experienced before—a love that could lead to understanding, absolution, and a perfect happily-ever-after—if they can learn to trust each other.

Happy Ever After or Happy For Now? Why?

I wish everyone a happily ever after—whatever that means to her or him. And in a book, that’s what I have to write. I need to know the characters I’ve fallen in love with have fallen in love, too. Forever! But, in real life, I think we know a perfect ending is not ever certain, and we all look for our happy whenever we can find it. This is the great thing about the romance genre—it can teach us about every aspect of looking for happy!

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in your books?

I think there is more of me in my characters than I would originally admit! I think when I’m looking for character insecurities or flaws, I pick on my own because I know them so well. But, even more than that, my characters have the traits I really wish I had.  For example, most of my heroines cry at one time or another, but it has to be over something fairly dire. They all hate to cry. I cry at commercials, and at the slightest hint of emotion. Sometimes it’s fine—but I wish I had a little more stoicism sometimes!

Describe yourself in five words…

Goofy, friendly, empathetic, verbose, Mom

When were you first published? How were you discovered?

I was extremely fortunate to win RWA’s Golden Heart contest for unpublished authors in 2010 with a story titled “Songbird.” After my win I was contacted by the amazing Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein of MacIntosh and Otis Literary Agency. She pitched her agency to me after seeing my Website and that I’d won the contest. I signed with her shortly afterward, we went through a series of revisions on “Songbird,” and she sold it to Tessa Woodward at Avon in 2011. That became my first published book retitled “The Rancher and the Rock Star.” It was released in February, 2012.

Time for over and under… (In your humble opinion) famous overrated/underrated book?

Overrated: “Fifty Shades of Gray.”  We romance writers have known about the erotica sub-genre for years, yet the book was treated as if someone had discovered something amazing.

Underrated: This is hard because in my limited reading time I love picking up the newest hit books. But I recently read “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” and loved it. It wasn’t unpopular, they’re even making a movie of it, but I think it should have been a huge splash. We need wonderful gentle stories like this!

Overrated/underrated movie?

Overrated: “Gone With the Wind.” I know there are some fans who will stop reading this interview right now because I’m a heretic, but don’t throw tomatoes! It’s just me.  I’ve never had much time for Scarlett O’Hara. She wasn’t heroic to me; her selfishness overrode anything philanthropic she did.

Underrated: “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” This is not by any means my favorite movie but I’ve debated it with quite a few people who just didn’t get it—and I thought it was absolutely hilarious. But, I have kind of an off-kilter sense of humor, so it was right up my alley.

Time for favourite: song, color, book, TV series, movie, food, drink…

Song: “Maybe I’m Amazed” – Paul McCartney

Color: Blue

Book: “Water for Elephants”

TV Series: Dr. Who

Movie: Love Actually

Food: Graham Crackers and milk

Drink: Hot chocolate

How (or when) do you decide that you are finished writing a story?

Oddly enough, I love writing the endings to my books, but not just because I’m finally finished!  I’m super picky about endings in books I read—they totally affect the feelings I’m left with once I close the cover. So, once I know generally how my story should end, it’s a lot of fun for me to come up with the perfect last paragraph. On the other hand, don’t ask me when I know if I have a good beginning!!

People are always asking me this so I’m paying it forward. Where does your inspiration come from?

I think the same place any writer gets inspiration—out of thin air!  That’s not exactly true, of course, but sometimes ideas or solutions to plot problems just pop into my head, and it’s kind of freaky-cool when it happens. I have no idea what conjures them. Otherwise I think traveling to new places is my biggest source of inspiration. There’s a book coming sometime in the future set on a research boat I learned about in Alaska. One simple idea leads to characters, leads to story.

What are you working on right now?

I’m midway through the next book in the Kennison Falls series. If you read “Rescued by a Stranger” you’ll meet David Pitts-Matherson, the owner of the stable where Jill rides and teaches. David is a proper, dignified British ex-pat who’s found a satisfying, orderly life in the U.S. Then Rio Montoya, an inner city girl with tattoos, big responsibilities, and her brother’s gang trouble following her, drops into his life and sets it on a very undignified course!

If you could have a power or ability what would it be?

I would be able to teleport myself like Samantha on “Bewitched.” I could use that ability for so much good will. My husband would never have to go back for my forgotten purse, phone, tickets, jacket, earrings . . . again!

The old adage “Write about what you know”

Is only partially true, in my opinion. There would be a lot of dull stories if everyone followed this to the letter. BUT it’s imperative to do scrupulous research and to visit places in your story as best you can. And if you’re lucky enough to travel, then spend time with the ambience and local flavor of the place, not just iconic sites.

  

Author Info

LIZBETH SELVIG lives in Minnesota with her best friend (aka her husband) and a hyperactive border collie. After working as a newspaper journalist and magazine editor, and raising an equine veterinarian daughter and a talented musician son, Lizbeth entered Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® contest in 2010 and won the Single Title Contemporary category. That book, The Rancher and the Rock Star, became her debut novel with Avon Impulse. In her spare time, she loves to hike, quilt, read, horseback ride, and play with her four-legged grandchildren, of which there are nearly twenty, including a wallaby, an alpaca, a donkey, a pig, two sugar gliders, and many dogs, cats and horses. She loves connecting with readers! Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and at www.lizbethselvig.com.

Author Links

http://www.lizbethselvig.com/Home.html

https://www.facebook.com/LizbethSelvigAuthor

https://twitter.com/lizbethselvig

http://www.lizbethselvig.blogspot.com/

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