Spotlight & Giveaway: A Lot Like Forever by Jennifer Snow

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jennifer Snow to HJ!

Hi Jennifer and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Lot Like Forever!

 
Hi! Thank you for having me!
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

A Lot Like Forever is a heartwarming story about what happens after I Love You, when a couple is put to the ultimate test of making love last…all the way to forever.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“Do you think the severed arm is too gory?”
Whitney glanced up from her laptop at the plastic Halloween decoration her friend Sarah was holding. With bruised-looking skin, a fractured bone protruding, and dark-red blood, the fake limb was eerily realistic, and she had to force aside her aversion to the upcoming spooky season as she contemplated critically.
“I think it will be fine for the adult tours. Maybe twelve and over?”
Sarah nodded and placed it in the “yes” pile, then continued sorting through the stack of decorations she’d bought in L.A. the day before—as soon as the Halloween pop-up shops opened in the city.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• In the story, there is a fictional reality show about authors competing for a book contract, and I just saw an announcement that that exact show premise has been picked up by a network to be a real show-lol! Think I could claim they stole my idea??
• I love attending Haunted Houses like the one they turn the B & B into in this story, but I’m always so terrified. I once punched a mechanical pop up vampire in the face!
• No spoilers, but the proposal scene in this story was something I actually saw happen at a corn maze and it was the sweetest thing ever!

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

Whitney and Trent are attracted to one another for their mutual work ethics, determination to succeed in their respective careers. They are also obviously attracted to the physical, but it’s their understanding of one another’s priorities that really make their relationship work.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Hot, steamy, passionate, full of conflict, almost impossible.
 

The First Kiss…

Caught unaware and slightly out of breath, she stared up at him. His face was so close to hers. Her breathing was labored as she clung to the front of his shirt.
“What was that about kicking my ass?” he asked.
“I went easy on you,” she murmured.
“I seriously doubt that,” he said, his gaze landing on her lips.
She licked hers, inviting the kiss she so desperately wanted. Passion flashed in his expression when his gaze met hers again.
He lowered his head, and his mouth captured hers.
They fell the rest of the way to the floor, his hand gently placing her head against the soft carpet. His body pressed against hers, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. Never wanting to let go.
Desire fueled through her as she deepened the kiss, savoring the taste of the whiskey on his lips. His hands rested on her hips and slid upward slowly. His fingers toyed with the base of her shirt, and she moaned her approval against his mouth.
His hands slipped inside, smoothing over her stomach and up higher over her rib cage. Her body trembled as she reached for the base of his shirt. This was it. This was the moment she’d torturously made them both wait for.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

My favorite scene in this book is the proposal scene, but I really can’t share a snippet without spoining the scene. It happens in a corn maze, which is the heroines favorite fall activity and it’s swoonworthy and romantic!
 

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

Side note-The second book in this series, A Lot Like Christmas was optioned and I wrote the screenplay version, titled Christmas Lucky Charm which will air this holiday season!
If THIS one was optioned, crucial scenes would have to include the proposal scene, mentioned several times already lol and the scenes with Whitney with her friends. I think the friendship element in this book is strong and sometimes movie adaptations of rom-coms lose sight of that important element in these stories.

Readers should read this book …

Be prepared for an emotional journey. This book is very different from my usual stories, including the first two books in the series. It is a heavier, more heartwarming but heartwrenching story. It was definitely a challenge to write a relationship in trouble trope, while adding lightness and humor, but I think if readers are looking for a tearjerker that makes them feel, this is the book for them.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I have several books in my new Alaska Wild Coast series releasing later this year and next year, which I am very excited about!
And currently I’ve been focusing on my screenwriting career. My movie, 14 Love Letters aired on Hallmark this month and I have two holiday rom-coms airing this holiday season.
A lot of script projects keeping me busy lol, but I’ve also pitched a new romance series so fingers crossed…

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A $50 Amazon giftcard

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Have you ever kept a really big secret to yourself?

 
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Excerpt from A Lot Like Forever:

“Do you think the severed arm is too gory?”
Whitney glanced up from her laptop at the plastic Halloween decoration her friend Sarah was holding. With bruised-looking skin, a fractured bone protruding, and dark-red blood, the fake limb was eerily realistic, and she had to force aside her aversion to the upcoming spooky season as she contemplated critically.
“I think it will be fine for the adult tours. Maybe twelve and over?”
Sarah nodded and placed it in the “yes” pile, then continued sorting through the stack of decorations she’d bought in L.A. the day before—as soon as the Halloween pop-up shops opened in the city. Unlike Whitney, Sarah lived for anything Halloween. As kids, she always had the most elaborate, homemade costumes and won the prize for “most school spirit” more than anyone else. She spent her own money decorating the family home with tombstones, ghosts, witches, and goblins and had been featured on the local news for her extreme efforts.
This year, Sarah’s recently renovated inheritance, Dove’s Nest B&B event venue, would be transformed into a spooky haunted house for the whole month of October and host various Halloween events in their small coastal town of Blue Moon Bay. Sarah’s fiancé and business partner, Wes, had already started on the exterior decor of a decrepit, crumbling facade. Though he had voiced the irony that they could have left the inn in its former condemned state and saved themselves a lot of work restoring the place.
As head of marketing and tourism in Blue Moon Bay, working out of the mayor’s office, Whitney was designing the haunted house announcement and marketing materials that would be distributed throughout Southern California the following week to announce the upcoming events. Small towns loved their holidays, and Blue Moon Bay was no exception. Tourist numbers being low in recent years, they needed anything they could get to draw people back to the community.
Seated next to Whitney on the comfy outdoor furniture on the B&B’s deck, her best friend, Jessica, was scrolling through gory desserts on her cell phone. “Ohhhh, these frozen eyeballs would be perfect for the drinks.”
Jessica owned the bakery in town, Delicious Delicacies, and had taken on the responsibility of providing desserts for the B&B’s haunted house. And like Sarah, Jessica was all in.
Whitney shuddered as she glanced at the image of the realistic-looking eyeballs floating on top of bloodred martinis. “That’s disgusting.”
“You should see the zombie-themed cake I’m making,” Jessica said, her eyes lighting up.
Whitney shook her head as she laughed. “It’s so hard to reconcile my bubbly, sweet friend with this horror fanatic you turn into this time of year.” As delicious as Jessica’s baking was, Whitney would not be eating the desserts at the event.
She wished she could get into the spirit the way her friends did, but she was mentally already on to Christmas…and by Christmas, she’d be moved on to planning for spring. Working in the marketing industry, she was constantly a season or two ahead of reality, never really having time to stop and enjoy the one she was in. By the time she hit Submit on these materials and they were on their way to the printer, she’d be lucky to even notice the pumpkins popping up on porches all over town in the coming weeks, as she buried herself in festive images on stock photo sites and prepped all the brochures and posters for the local holiday schedule.
A cry sounded on the baby monitor next to her, and she jumped.
Sarah laughed, her face instantly taking on that love-crazed look only a new mom would have. “It’s Henry. I’ll be right back.”
Jess jumped up and said, “I can get him.”
But Sarah shook her head. “He’ll need to be changed first.”
“Okay.” Jess sat back down with a grin. “You can get him.”
Jess would have no trouble changing the baby, but they both knew Sarah was still in that protective new-mom stage where she liked to do everything the baby needed herself. She and Wes hadn’t even had a real date night since the baby was born, but they didn’t seem to be in a rush to leave baby Henry and his older sister, Marissa, with a sitter. They loved their family time, and it was endearing to see the four of them together.
A moment later, Sarah returned with the adorable four-month-old bundled in a soft, knitted blue blanket, his little foot sticking out one end. Jessica instantly reached for him.
Sarah pouted. “I just got him.”
“He’s yours. You can have him anytime. Auntie Jess only gets to cuddle him a few times a week. Don’t be selfish,” Jess teased.
Coupled up since Christmas with the local doctor, Jess was likely to be starting a family anytime now, too. Her best friends would probably race her to the altar as well. Though Whitney was already engaged, her wedding plans hadn’t been firmed up. And sometimes it felt like they never would be.
Sarah reluctantly handed the baby boy to Jess, but instead of going back to her chair, she sat on the edge of theirs. Being two feet away from the baby would be too far. She gently touched his cheek. “Isn’t he the most perfect thing you’ve ever seen?” she asked, staring lovingly at the tiny face poking out of the blanket.
Jessica agreed. “So perfect it hurts.”
“He’s smiling now, too,” Sarah said. “Real smiles. Not the gas grimaces we thought were smiles a few weeks ago.”
Jessica cooed and cawed at the child, trying to draw out one of those smiles, but the baby wasn’t having it. Sarah tickled his chin, but still nothing.
“He’s selective,” Sarah said with a laugh.
Jessica cuddled the baby and begrudgingly glanced at Whitney. “Want to hold him?”
Whitney shook her head, checking her watch. “I actually have to get back to the office.” She closed her laptop, stood, and collected her things. “Sarah, I’ll finalize these event promo brochures and send you the digitals for the website and social media this afternoon.”
Sarah nodded, still distracted by the baby. “Sounds great. No rush.”
What didn’t sound so great was Whitney’s abrupt refusal to hold the baby. She knew her friend was a little hurt by Whitney’s standoffish way when it came to her child…but it was just difficult for a lot of reasons she wasn’t quite ready to share with her friends yet.
But she bent to look at baby Henry and gently touched his toes peeking out from under the blanket. “Such a cutie,” she said sincerely.
And the baby blessed her with a smile that had her chest knotting.
Sarah’s shoulders relaxed a little. “See? He likes you,” she said, and Whitney heard the slight note in her friend’s voice that secretly pleaded for her to show more instances of affectionate Auntie Whitney.
“Talk to you both later,” Whitney said, descending the stairs and heading toward her new car. It wasn’t the banana-yellow two-seater convertible that had once been her baby, before she’d totaled it in a car accident the Christmas before. This one was a basic black SUV. Safe, dependable, better handling on slippery roads. And plenty of seats for the family her fiancé Trent envisioned in the not-so-distant future.
Whitney waved to her friends, and her hand shook slightly as she reached for the door handle.
Be cool in front of them.
Her friends tried to pretend that they weren’t, but she knew they were constantly watching her lately. Since the accident, they all worried about her, and she was desperate not to show any sign of fear around them.
But her heart raced as she climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine. The memory of that night going off the road on the curvy, winding stretch of coastal highway was never too far from her mind.
It’s only eight blocks and four minutes to the office.
Eight blocks and four minutes later, Whitney breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled into the parking lot in front of the tourism office and slid her sunglasses to the top of her head. Opening her purse, she retrieved her concealer and lowered the mirrored visor. The darkness under her eyes was getting harder to hide. She dabbed the light concealer onto her finger and reapplied it beneath her lower lashes, blending it in with her slightly darker tanned skin.
She grabbed her coffee from that morning from the console and got out of the car, forcing her legs forward.
What she really wanted was a nap, but if she gave in to that craving and fell asleep, she wasn’t sure she’d ever wake up.
Seeing Scott Rodale’s Escalade in the parking lot, she picked up her pace. The mayor’s son was back in Blue Moon Bay after finishing his master’s degree in business at UCLA. He was currently working as her assistant, but Whitney knew he’d specialized in communications. Scott was smart, a real go-getter, and he was a fast learner. The nagging sensation that her job could be on the line only fueled Whitney to work harder.
“How was lunch?” Kim Digby, the office receptionist, asked as Whitney entered the office. Fall-colored, leaf-shaped garland entwined with orange lights hung from the desk, and a plastic pumpkin sat on top. The distinct smell of pumpkin spice lingered on the air from Kim’s scented candles she liked to burn when no one was around.
“Lunch was good, thanks.” If her lukewarm third coffee of the day and half a muffin counted as lunch. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten anything substantial. The night before? No, she’d been at the office past nine, and she refused to eat after eight. Lunch the day before? Nope.
But who had time to eat when there was always work to do, emails to respond to, calls to make?
Her workload was a challenge when tourism was steady. Lack of it in recent months made it even more so, as she was constantly striving to find new ideas to bring people to town.
Down the hall, through the open blinds in the office window, she saw Scott in his mother’s office. Door closed.
They could just be having lunch. Discussing family stuff. Not executing Scott’s plan to steal my job out from under me.
Still, instead of rushing off into her own office, she lingered a beat at the reception desk. “Did you finish that episode of Love in the Books?” she asked Kim. The latest reality show that had everyone talking was about a group of romance authors battling it out for a publishing contract. Who knew watching people write would be so fascinating?
Kim looked slightly surprised at the attempt at chitchat as she pointed to Netflix paused on her computer screen. “I’m addicted. I’m going to lose my job. Thank you for telling me about this show,” she said.
Whitney forced a laugh. “You’re the mayor’s niece—I think you’re safe.”
Unlike me.
Whitney was a graduate of an online marketing course she’d taken part-time while holding down three jobs, a non–family member of the mayor’s who could and would be replaced if she didn’t continue to give 110 percent every day. She was lucky that Mayor Rodale had taken a chance on her, and in the last seven years, she’d refused to allow her boss any opportunity to second-guess that decision. She swallowed her unease. “Any calls?”
“Messages are on your desk.”
“Thanks.” Whitney walked into her office and closed the door.
Brilliant rays of midday sun shone through the large ceiling-to-floor window, warming the space. She adjusted her air-conditioning before sitting at her desk. Removing her shoes, she wiggled her toes, trying to regain circulation in her swollen feet. The usual icing hadn’t been helping the last few days. By tomorrow, she’d be wearing flats.
She forced a breath. It could be worse. So much worse.
But anything that slowed her down annoyed her. She needed this job now more than ever. The cost of Rejuvenation, her mother’s living facility, was a large expense every month, and there was no way Whitney would consider moving her to a more affordable home. No other job in town would pay her as much without a degree.
Like Scott’s.
She flicked through the messages on her desk—two from local photographers following up on the quotes they’d provided to contract next year’s Blue Moon Bay tourism calendar, one from a local artist hoping to showcase their work in the Winter Art Walk… She stopped at one from Rejuvenation. Her mother was refusing her Alzheimer’s meds again.
Her mother could be so stubborn about it sometimes. Just the day before, Whitney had explained to her how important they were to take. And in her lucid state, her mother agreed. But during her more confusing times, she was more difficult to reason with.
Though forcing medication on her mother made Whitney feel like a hypocrite.
She continued going through the messages, seeing one from Trent. She knew why he was calling. He’d texted her as well. He wanted to confirm their appointment at the jeweler’s that evening to pick out their wedding bands. At five o’clock, she’d be sending a “Sorry, got stuck at the office” text. He was pushing for a wedding date, hoping these trips to the jeweler’s, bridal shops, and flower shops would get her in the planning mood faster.
She stared at the picture of the two of them on her desk. Their first date, taken at the local pumpkin patch. It had been a favorite tradition of hers every year as a child with her parents, but it had been Trent’s first time there. It had quickly become their new tradition. They’d gone every year the last seven years…except last year when she’d been too busy to take the time off to go.
Seven years together.
If she could go back to that day a lifetime ago, knowing what she did now, would she have said yes to that first date?
***

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Whitney Carlisle has everything under control—or at least that’s what she needs everyone in Blue Moon Bay to think. She has always faced the hard times in her life head-on and come out stronger for it. But this time, she isn’t so sure. Whitney knows she needs help, but how can she put that burden on Trent, her fiancé? How can she crush his dreams by telling him the plans they made for a future together have to change?

All Trent Connolly wants is to get married, have kids, and spend the rest of his life loving Whitney. Their relationship has had its share of ups and downs—like any other couple—and they’ve always managed to get through it unscathed. So when Whitney is clearly struggling with something, Trent is ready to help. His fiancée’s strong will is part of what draws him to her—but this time, it feels like it’s pushing him away.

Whatever Whitney is hiding from everyone has to be big. Possibly life-changing. She must believe that revealing her secret would do Trent more harm than good, even if it crushes her under the weight of it. The only thing he can do now is be there for her in whatever way she needs…until a secret of his own comes to light that threatens to steal their chance at forever.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Jennifer Snow is a USA Today Bestselling Author writing contemporary romance fiction for Grand Central Publishing, Entangled and Harlequin. Her stories range in heat level from sweet to sexy and are set everywhere from big cities to small towns. Her books are light and humorous, but also full of heart, featuring families and communities readers love to visit over and over again.

Originally from Newfoundland, Canada, she now resides in Spain with her husband, son and three mischievous cats.

She currently publishes psychological thrillers under her pen name J.M. Winchester and writes screenplays and TV shows in her ‘spare’ time.
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