Spotlight & Giveaway: A Latte Like Love by Michelle C. Harris

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Michelle C. Harris to HJ!

Hi Michelle and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Latte Like Love!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

A LATTE LIKE LOVE is about a Brooklyn barista, Audrey, who’s struggling to finish her college degree long after all the rest of her friends have graduated. One day, an artist who had recently been in a life-changing accident, Theo, walks into her café. Theo is extremely shy but extremely sweet, hides his face behind a KN95 mask he never removes (not even to drink the coffee he orders), and the more he comes into the café, the more Audrey tries to strike up a friendship with him—until an altercation with the café’s resident Karen reveals his face to the world. Theo flees in shame, dropping his precious sketchbook filled with beautiful art on the way out. Theo’s accident left him with horrific facial scars, a limp, and a hand tremor, and when he doesn’t come back after the incident, Audrey sets out to find him, return what he lost, and finally get to know the man behind the mask.

Once she does find Theo, she discovers there’s so much more depth to him than she could have ever imagined. Their brief friendship quickly blossoms into a relationship, but despite how much closer they grow every day, Theo still refuses to discuss the accident that left him disabled. He struggles with his new reality and how it affects his art. He almost never speaks of his family. And while Theo has trouble letting her all the way in, Audrey is also wounded from her own tragic past and doesn’t know how to let someone truly care for her.

Not all scars are visible, and emotional ones can cut just as deep as the physical. Can both Audrey and Theo get out of their own heads long enough to find the love they’ve been longing for?
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

She wanted to feel him against her, inside her, all of him, forever and always, and all the hairs on her neck stood on end when he tilted his head up and pressed his lips softly to hers. His eyes were closed, but his mouth had sought hers automatically, that desperate need for connection innate and instinctive. It was as natural, as easy, as a reflex.
It was as though they’d been crafted for each other, made specifically to slot into the places where there were cracks, each one’s pieces fitting precisely into the grooves of the break.
She could feel it now, knew it now, clearly and fully.
When he breathed in, so did she.
When her heart beat, so did his.

-If I had to pick one quote that was my absolute favorite in the book, it might be this one. I was thinking of the Japanese art of kintsugi (or “golden repair”) when I wrote it: the concept that broken things can be healed in beautiful ways, and that the repairs – the scars – don’t have to be hidden. They should be celebrated for what they are and what they mean.

-It’s not about fixing someone, it’s about recognizing how their flaws and experiences have shaped them, formed them, or even forged them. The healed scars of a life lived and survived are often the most beautiful of them all.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I never intended to publish A LATTE LIKE LOVE! I wrote it to take a creative break from editing my romantasy series and just thought I’d try my hand at a contemporary romance for kicks. It’s still the only true contemporary in my repertoire. When my editor asked me about publishing it, I actually said no at first (wild, but true). I’m glad she convinced me otherwise.
• The inspiration for it came from a prompt on Twitter. I was participating in a writing community that was doing a 30-day writing challenge with one-word prompts for each day for a month. The word that inspired LATTE was “scar.” The book is about overcoming the trauma from the scars we carry, both visible and invisible.
• I wrote the first draft in five and a half months and it was originally much longer than the current version. I had to cut a lot.
• Theo is an artist who works in an unusual or unconventional medium that can be dangerous (it would be a major spoiler to reveal it here, so I won’t). The idea for this came with the initial lightning strike of inspiration. I thought it was super cool and I’d never seen it portrayed in a romance before, so I ran with it. I did a ton of research for it and plan on trying it myself in the near future with a local artist.
• My working title for this book was “Sadboy Coffee Shop,” which is also what the playlist is called. I should never be allowed to title anything – I’m terrible at them. My agent came up with this one, and I’m really grateful.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Audrey is, first and foremost, very kind. She had a rough upbringing and was bullied in school for it, so she’s an incredibly empathetic character who understands both pain and shame, which is what initially draws Theo to her (besides him thinking that she’s the prettiest woman he’s ever seen).

Theo is clearly broken and extremely introverted, but very sweet and generous. He shrouds himself in mystery, and Audrey’s response to the way he hides and shrinks is to try to pull him out of his shell. Once she gets him talking, his depth is obvious. He’s highly intelligent and very kind himself, and she can’t get him out of her head. She likes a puzzle, and he’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

[His outstretched hand] hovered there, trembling, and he screwed up his face in concentration when he tried to grasp the ceramic cup between his fingertips, clearly trying to will his hand to stop shaking. “Come on,” he whispered to himself, his voice so low she almost didn’t hear him. “Come on.”
But his fingers couldn’t hold the mug steady, and when he tried to lift it away from the counter, the hot chocolate nearly spilled over the sides from his tremor. He set it down quickly and tried again with the handle. But when the same thing happened a second time, he put both mugs down and glanced at her, despair clouding his expression.
His shoulders slumped, and Theo stepped back sharply from the counter, covering his eyes with both hands. His chest heaved.
It looked like he was trying not to cry.
“Hey.” Audrey stepped over and pulled his hands down. As soon as he caught her eye, he closed his and faced away from her.
“I can’t even hold a fucking mug right now without spilling everywhere and making a mess. I’m a disaster.”
“Theo. Look at me.” She slid her hands up along the sides of his neck to cradle his cheeks. They were smooth, like he’d just shaved, and he wasn’t wearing the silicone scar tape. He’d scrubbed the paint away from his scar, and it was redder than it had been before.
Everything about him right now was stripped bare and rendered raw.
He shook his head.
“I hate myself. I hate that I’m like this—that I’m so broken.”
“Don’t say that, Theo. I like you the way you are.”
She held his hand, but he didn’t seem to notice or hear her.
He was still lost within himself.
“How am I ever going to do my art again? Or take care of you? Or . . . o-or—”
“Well, the answer’s obvious.”
His eyes shot open, and he frowned at her. “It is?”
She smiled softly and picked up both mugs in her own hands. “I’ll be the one to hold things steady until you can.” She offered one to Theo and waited.
He stared at the outstretched mug. After what seemed like an eternity, he lifted his left hand and plucked it away from her. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he whispered. He sniffed and wiped at his right eye. “How are you real?” he asked, searching her face. “Where did you come from?”
“Tampa.”

-I love this scene and I teared up when I initially wrote it. It’s the first time Audrey visits Theo’s house; they had to run there to get out of a sudden downpour, but they get soaked in the process. Theo makes hot chocolate to warm them up, but his hand tremor from the accident gets in the way of him performing a simple task to take care of Audrey in the way he wants to. He’s still struggling with the aftermath of the accident and how it’s changed his life, but Audrey swoops in and tells him exactly what he needs to hear but hasn’t heard from anyone else until now.

-And then, of course, she just deadpans “Tampa,” which made me laugh (and Theo, too).

Readers should read this book….

• if you want softness, sweetness, AND spice. I wrote this to be a comfort read: there is no third-act breakup or miscommunication trope here. Those tropes can be great, but maybe you’re not always in the mood for them.
• if you’re interested in seeing how a cinnamon roll x cinnamon roll pairing might work. My goal for LATTE was to write “the two sweetest people on the planet,” but sweet doesn’t mean perfect or flawless.
• if you’re not in the mood for a slow burn, but also not into instaLUST. I would say that it’s a medium-paced love story, and Audrey and Theo take plenty of time to get to know each other.
• if you like your men in therapy and your women in STEM.
• if you’re a foodie! I am too, and food descriptions and menus are important to me!
• if you love autumn in New York and Cinderella stories mixed with a healthy dose of Beauty & the Beast.
• if you want to cry AND laugh. We’ll run the entire gamut of emotions!

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

My next two books are actually the first ones I wrote: next up is the first in my romantasy series, THE BOOK OF GRAVES. It’s about two witch sisters, Anne and Kit Graves, running an apothecary in a gritty, alternate version of London where magic is outlawed by the church. When the elder sister, Anne, is conscripted into service of the Ministry of Secrets to fight in a brewing conflict between the underground witch resistance and the church’s Inquisition forces, both sisters are plunged into the rumblings of a war with consequences more dire than either of them could have ever imagined.

GRAVES has a little bit of everything: medieval/Renaissance/18th century-ish vibes, a three-tiered magic system, elemental gods, ancient grimoires, smarmy noblemen, sexy assassins, court intrigue, enchanted ballgowns, blood rituals. It’s a good time!

I’m working on drafting the second book in the series right now while I wait for edits on the first.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 finished copy of A LATTE LIKE LOVE by Michelle C. Harris to a US resident

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: One of the ways Theo copes with his pain and grief is through art and film, as well as the memories he associates with it. Is there a movie or a piece of media that you have a strong emotional attachment to and why?

Book Info:

Love is brewing as a barista falls for a reclusive artist struggling with the tragic aftermath of an accident in this charming, epic romance.

Audrey Adams knows the exact routine for all her regular customers. That’s what happens when you work at the same Brooklyn coffee shop for years. So it’s completely normal that she notices Theo Sullivan, a shy new patron who comes in at exactly 8:17 a.m., right? And that this incredibly tall (and cute) man never drinks his coffee, always leaves a generous tip, only stays long enough to scribble in a notebook, and wears the same KN95 mask. Call it barista instincts or a reasonable reaction to Theo’s undeniable sweetness, but Audrey is crushing hard.

Eagerly anticipating Theo’s visits, Audrey relishes the precious few minutes they chat every time he orders his large, extra-hot Americano. When an incident reveals the horrific facial scar he’s hiding beneath his mask, Theo flees the café in shame, dropping his sketchbook and leaving a part of his broken heart behind.

Audrey decides to find Theo, return his book, and confess her feelings. Before long, they’re inseparable, talking nonstop and meeting up for dates at the coffee shop.

But Theo is reluctant to fully let Audrey into his heart. He continues to hide his scar and refuses to talk about his past. Their feelings are bubbling under the surface, but will Theo—and the truth behind his accident—keep him from finding the love they’ve both been longing for?
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Michelle C. Harris grew up deep in the heart of the Central Texas Hill Country, devouring as many books as she did tacos. By day, she wrangles academics at a university, and by night, she pens stories about love, magic, and men who yearn under the intense supervision of her Shiba Inu, Pippa. In her spare time, you can find her playing volleyball, buying more tea than she could ever possibly drink, and writing fan fiction about star-crossed space wizards on AO3.
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