Spotlight & Giveaway: A Match Made Perfect by Anna J Stewart

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Anna J Stewart to HJ!

Hi Anna and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Match Made Perfect!

 
Hi Sara! Thanks for having me back. Great to be here.
 

Tell us about the book with this fun little challenge using the title of the book:

A is for A Reconciliation (yeah, cheated there, LOL). That’s the heart of this story

M is for Mandy, the hero and heroine’s teenage daughter who firmly believes her parents belong together.
A is for A Determined daughter (did it again <G>).
T is for Trust, something that was broken, perhaps irreparably, as far as Sebastian is concerned,
C is for Cats (Sebastian’s bookstore, The Cat’s Eye, doubles as a foster home for cats). Mainly Balthazar and Tribble.
H is for hesitant. Both Brooke and Sebastian are very hesitant about where they go from here,

M is for Marina. We get out on the water in this book, multiple times, and explore Butterfly Harbor’s aquatic offerings.
A is for Aquatic (see above, LOL). Mandy’s a fish in the water and she loves being out on the boats.
D is for Diner. The Butterfly Diner is the go-to spot for great comfort food but also town gossip.
E is for Everyone. As in Everyone in town has an opinion about Brooke Ardell’s return to Butterfly Harbor.

P is for Parent Trap. Yep. Mandy definitely has plans for her estranged parents.
E is for
R is for Reunion. If ever two people belonged together, it’s Brooke and Sebastian. All they have to do is move beyond the past.
F is for Forgiveness. Without it, neither one can move forward.
E is for Emotional. When hearts are involved, everything’s emotional.
C is for Charm. While there’s a lot of hurt to heal, there’s no place better than Butterfly Harbor to begin.
T is for Together. Because of course! It’s a romance!

(not to self: push editor for shorter titles, LOL),

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“CHIN UP, MANDY.” Sebastian Evans tapped a finger under his own chin as he palmed the softball. “That’s better. Bat up. Just a bit. Even weight on your feet.”

Beneath her San Francisco Giants baseball cap, his nearly fifteen-year-old daughter wrinkled her freckled nose as she always did before a smile broke out on her face.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book.

Sebastian Evans is, as I’ve said above, the owner of Cat’s Eye Bookstore and full-time single dad to teenager Mandy. He’s lived in Butterfly Harbor his entire life and is quite content with how things are going. His main worry is really how long he has before Mandy leaves for college, something he’s both looking forward to and dreading. He’s dated some, but if pressed, he’d probably still admit to still being in love with Mandy’s mother, Brooke Ardell, who took off soon after Mandy was born. Fifteen years ago.

Brooke Ardell has a lot of regrets in her life, but none more painful than having left her daughter and Sebastian behind. While she’s lived what most would call a privileged life, she hasn’t led a particularly easy one. I’ve read so many romances about fathers who walked away from their families, but I really wanted to explore the emotional complications of a woman doing the same. Which of course meant there was only one real heroine capable of healing Sebastian’s heart: the woman who broke it,

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Sebastian was one of those peripheral characters who popped up in a previous Butterfly Harbor book (because every small town has to have a bookstore!). From the start I knew he was a single father utterly and completely devoted to his now teenage daughter. And I knew there would be cats in his life. Other than that…blank slate.
• I actually had some push back from friends about how I’ve portrayed Mandy, as this really good, drama-free kid. Except…that’s the kind of kid I was. Some of my friends thought she was entirely too unrealistic. I disagreed. Thankfully, my editor told me to “write it the way you need to.” So Mandy’s definitely, for the most part at least, a pretty easy kid.
• One of the fun things about writing a continuing series like Butterfly Harbor, is getting the opportunity to revisit old characters and see recurring characters in a new light. The Cocoon Club, for example, the group of elderly residents who always know everything that’s going on in town, definitely have their opinions about Brooke Ardell being back in town.
• This isn’t the first time The Parent Trap has proven an inspiration for a Butterfly Harbor story. I played with it a bit in A DAD FOR CHARLIE as well. There’s something enchanting about getting the kids involved when it comes to who their parents are with. Enchanting and a bit troublesome.
• I keep finding new characters in this town, and new locations. Being able to explore the ocean aspect of Butterfly Harbor was something I’d been looking forward to for a long time.

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

Sebastian and Brooke went to high school together; they were nineteen when Mandy was born. Who people are at that age is clearly not who they are fifteen years later, so what attracted them originally has definitely matured and become more complicated now. Sebastian has always had a protective streak in him, especially when it comes to the people he cares about. Brooke was no exception to that. And Brooke loved how Sebastian didn’t push her, but helped her find the path she wanted to take. There’s something special about a person who just supports and uplifts rather than tries to change.

Now? Of course all those old feelings come into play. Who they were then is part of who they are now, but Sebastian has someone more important to protect: Mandy. And Brooke is well aware she’s who her daughter probably needs protection from. Their daughter forged a bond between them and also creates a barrier than keeps them apart. All Brooke is really looking for is a relationship with her daughter, but the second she sees Sebastian again, all those old feelings, all the emotions she’s purposely kept bottled up for the past fifteen years surge to the surface, including Brooke’s own need to protect Mandy.

It’s that “how much do the past fifteen years really matter” question that really push the story forward. How can you find a way to forgive the hardest thing you’ve ever had to go through? And just how much longer can Brooke keep the secret about why she really left from the man she still loves.

The First Kiss…

Well, to go back to their first kiss we’d have to travel back more than fifteen years, but as far as after they’ve entered each others’ lives again:

Brooke’s soft laugh scraped against his heart. “What was her first word?”

“Cookie. Didn’t sound like that, of course. More like coo-kee. Thank you, Sesame Street.”

Brooke’s shoulders shook before she lifted her head and took a deep breath.

“I have pictures,” he said, because he’d never been able to stand seeing Brooke cry. “Boxes of them. I was never great at organizing them. I can dig them out if you want to see them. Brooke…” He moved up behind her, caught her shoulders in his hands and turned her to face him.

“I thought I was doing the right thing.” She looked up at him, blue eyes pleading behind the sheen of tears. “I promise you, Sebastian, I truly thought I was doing what was best for both of you.”

Best for them? Not best for her? Looking at her now, holding her again, seeing the pain in her eyes, left him shaken and…uncertain. “You leaving wasn’t best for anyone, Brooke. It hurt. It did more than that—but I had to hold it together. For Mandy’s sake.”

“I knew you could. I knew you would.” She lifted a hand to his face and gentle fingers brushed his skin. “You loved our daughter from the moment you knew she existed. Just as you loved me from the moment we met. That’s how I knew she’d be all right without me. Because she’d always have you.”

“Brooke.” He released her, sliding his hands up her arms to cup her face in his palms. “Imagine if she’d had both of us.” Before she could answer, he kissed her.

Her gasp of surprise ignited his blood even as he kept his hold light. It was unlike any kiss they’d shared before, and they’d shared a lot. The emotions that had started spinning inside of him from when he’d seen her on the beach surged to the surface, breaking over the tide of memories that crashed into him. When he tasted the salt of tears, he stepped back, reached up and drew his thumbs across the moisture on her cheeks.

“Friends don’t kiss like that,” Brooke whispered, the confusion and uncertainty bright in her eyes.

“Maybe they should.” He lowered his forehead to hers. He squeezed his eyes shut. What was he doing? What were they doing? No sooner had they found solid footing than he’d sent them veering off course toward…who knew what? He still loved her. Deep-to-the-core, soul-catching love that he’d never be able to shake even if he wanted to.

“You’re confusing me,” Brooke accused. “I don’t like being confused.”

“Neither do I.” He stepped back, moved away, because the more he touched her, the more he wanted to. “Friends go to parties together, right? So why don’t you come with me this afternoon. To Kendall and Hunter’s place.”

“I don’t want to intrude. That sounded like a family thing.”

“It is.” He stroked a finger down her cheek. “Come with me.”

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

For once, this is an easy question to answer. The scene where Sebastian sees Brooke for the first time in fifteen years. Right on the beach in Butterfly Harbor. There’s so much emotion tied up inside both of them, so many things that need to be said, but just can’t be; or maybe shouldn’t be.

He took the walk slowly, pinning his eyes on Brooke’s back as he trudged through the sand. A cool breeze had kicked up, but it blew through him, exhilarated him. Steeled him. She’d tucked in on herself, drawn her arms tight, as if trying to disappear. He remembered she did that when she was struggling, but he pushed aside that tinge of empathy as he stepped up behind her.

The years, the pain and the hurt faded, and for a moment he was nineteen again. Nineteen and completely, hopelessly in love with a girl he knew was far out of his reach. A girl he’d fallen heart over sense for the moment he’d seen her in the high-school cafeteria their first week of sophomore year. But he wasn’t that boy anymore. He was what her decisions had made him: independent, focused and a father raising their girl. Alone.

What did he say to her after all this time? What words could possibly carry them over the past? “Some things never change.”

She stiffened, spun around and nearly toppled backward when her feet stuck in the sand. He reached out and grabbed her arms to steady her, held on to her a bit longer than was wise.

“Sebastian.” He dropped his hands. The way she said his name, the way she’d always said his name, not only thrilled him, but also pushed through him like a dull knife.

“Should have known right away this was where I’d find you.” His eyes drank her in, as if he’d been dying of thirst. The girl was still there, behind the drawn face, delicate features and bright blue-green eyes. The same eyes he saw in the face of the child they shared. She was thinner now, thinner than he remembered her being, and her hair had been bobbed to her chin. Even in the jeans and sweater she looked polished. Elegant. And still out of his league. “You never could resist the ocean.”

“Not this ocean, anyway.” Was he looking at her with the same ferocity, the same hope, she gazed at him with? “You look good, Sebastian.”

“Thanks. You look—”

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t. But thank you. How did you know…?”

She was right. She looked frail. Fragile. As if a sharp wind was going to blow her over. There were dark circles under her eyes. Her skin was stretched thin over her cheeks and her entire body seemed to be trembling. “Mandy called me after you left the bookstore.”

Brooke’s expression seemed caught between shock and wonder. “She knew who I was?”

“Of course, she knew.” A surge of anger swept through him. “You’re her mother.” What did she think? That he’d have erased her from their daughter’s existence?

“I assumed… I mean, I thought…” Her smile was quick, as if a reflex.

“Then you do us both a disservice.”

If your hero had a sexy-times play list, what song(s) would have to be on it?

Heartwarming romances aren’t exactly known for their sexy times, but I think Sebastian is more of a romantic than maybe Brooke is. He’d go with a collection of sultry music by women mostly: I can hear Alicia Keys, maybe some Sheryl Crow. Throw in some Nina Simone and Carol King, Carly Simon. He’d be listening to the words as much as the music.

If you could have given your characters one piece of advice before the opening pages of the book, what – would it be and why?

For Brooke, I would probably tell her to stop worrying so much about what people think. Or what they’ve been thinking since she left town. She can’t control any of that, but of course that plays a big part in how Brooke comes into her own during the story. She did what she had to do at the time. She should be proud of that, despite how things turned out.

For Sebastian, I’d probably tell him he should be dating more. He should be getting out and not wrapping his life up so much in his daughter’s. But if he took that advice, they wouldn’t have the relationship they do and I really love how they are with each other. And that’s why I write romances. So things can be how I want them to be. Not how they should or probably are in real life. I’m definitely an optimist when it comes to family relationships, LOL.

What are you currently working on? What are your up-coming releases?*

Oh, I’m working on so many things! I’ve got a romantic suspense for Harlequin that’s due first–it’s an undercover lovers story featuring Kyla and Jason from my Honor Bound series (this will be book 6; there will be 8 all together).

I’m also working on a romantic suspense novella for a Thanksgiving anthology that loosely ties in to a paranormal story I wrote a few months ago.

And then I get to write Ozzy’s Butterfly Harbor story. It’s a May/December with Ozzy falling for the new town construction forewoman who happens to be a mother-to-be. She lives in a tiny house she drags around with her and from the start, Ozzy is…well, let’s say he’s definitely smitten.

My next two releases will be on October 1st, both from Harlequin. I’ll have MONTANAN DREAMS, my contribution to the new Blackwell Sisters continuity series from Heartwarming. I got to work again with my writing BFFs, Melinda Curtis, Cari Lynn Webb, Amy Vastine, and Carol Ross. The series starts in August with MONTANA WELCOME. Who knew Elias Blackwell had five granddaughters? He sure didn’t! My story is about Peyton, the oldest of five sisters, who falls tail over teakettle for her body guard (and his son, Gino).

Also that month will be GUARDING HIS MIDNIGHT WITNESS, the fourth in my Honor Bound Romantic Suspense series. I’m so excited about this one as it’s a bit different than anything else I’ve written. It was inspired by Hitchcock’s Rear Window and the movie Gaslight. Definitely on the noir side of things, so very atmospheric, very almost creepy, and the heroine is, well, as one character calls her, a bit “kooky.” She and Jack McTavish are perfect together.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 3 digital sets of the first 4 Butterfly Harbor books (THE BAD BOY OF BUTTERFLY HARBOR, RECIPE FOR REDEMPTION, A DAD FOR CHARLIE, and ALWAYS THE HERO). Winners’ choice of format.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: As I said above, The Parent Trap was one of my inspirations for this story. What are some of your favorite second chance romances, books, TV, or movies? I’d love to know!

 
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Excerpt from A Match Made Perfect:

They didn’t say a word to one another as they walked across the street, nor did the conversation start immediately after they sat on the stone wall. She was tempted to take off her shoes and sink her feet into the cool sand, but given the way her toes were throbbing, she wasn’t convinced she’d be able to get the shoes back on.

Waiting for him to take the lead, she busied herself unloading her lunch. The thin cardboard box inside the bag was filled with a parchment-wrapped tuna sandwich, a cup of potato salad, a container of homemade sliced pickles and a chocolate-chip cookie for dessert. But first…she punched a paper straw into the cup and took a long, thick drink of the shake, all the while avoiding anything close to eye contact with Sebastian.

It didn’t last long, however. When she forced herself to look at him, she found him watching her with something akin to a smile on his face. “What?”

“You and ice cream. Or in this case milkshakes. You get this expression on your face.” He waved a hand in front of his own. “This blissful, peaceful expression the second you take a hit. Mandy gets it, too.”

Brooke found it hard to swallow. The questions piled up in her head. Where did she start? Where did she end? “Did she get anything else from me? Other than the eyes?” She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sorry. I smell like burgers and fries.”

Sebastian’s smile was quick and he looked out over the horizon, as if debating whether to answer her question. “She has your laugh. Right from the start, she had your laugh.”

Tears burned hot in her throat. She forced herself to take a bite of her sandwich. When she swallowed, she brushed her hands on her jeans. “There hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought about both of you.” There it was, the first admission. “There hasn’t been a day I haven’t missed you.”

“I didn’t have the luxury of missing you.” Sebastian’s voice sounded detached. “I had a baby girl to worry about. I had a store to open, a home to make. And I had to do it without you.”

“I know. Sebastian, I—” The words evaporated from her mind. He’d had his parents. His wonderful, loving, accepting parents who had welcomed her into their family without a second thought. “I knew you weren’t alone.” But she had been. Every single day since. “I didn’t know they’d moved away. Are they…okay?” She hated to ask for fear the answer would only be another barrier between them.

Sebastian nodded, looking out into the ocean. “Mom’s sister was having health issues so they went out there to help. They liked it so much they decided to stay. They come back for a few weeks during the holidays.”

So she had left him to raise their daughter alone. Brooke swallowed hard.

How many times had she rehearsed this moment? Written it down, talked it out? Dozens, hundreds of times. And yet now, when it mattered most, when the opportunity she’d been waiting for had finally arrived, it was clear no amount of preparation would do any good. She’d abandoned him. Abandoned their daughter. Her reason didn’t matter. Couldn’t matter. “I know there’s no forgiving what I did. Especially how I did it.”

“Yeah, that disappearing act was memorable.”

Brooke bit her lip and ducked her head.

She’d written him a letter. Weeks later. She’d written one to Mandy, too, but never mailed them. Nor had she mailed the dozens she’d written over the years, spilling out every doubt, every regret, thought and ounce of love she could manage at the tip of a pen. She’d tucked away the notes in a locked box in her closet. Notes and cards for birthdays, Christmases. Good days. Bad ones.

The box was in BethAnn’s house now. Other than clothes, it had been the only thing she’d brought with her from South Carolina.

It had been the only thing that mattered.

“What happened, Brooke?” Sebastian’s voice brought her instantly to the present. “One day we were happy and ready to dive into the future together, and the next you were gone. What changed? What scared you so much you had to leave without even saying goodbye?”

Even the milkshake lost its appeal. “My mother—”

“At the hospital after Mandy was born, you chose me. You agreed to marry me. You left with me. I was there, remember? I stood by your side when you told your parents you weren’t going home with them. That you’d chosen your life. Our life.”

Other than bringing Mandy into the world, it had been her proudest moment. Until she’d been faced with the reality of what her choice entailed. And what her mother would do—had sworn to do—if she didn’t change her mind. “I wasn’t strong enough, Sebastian. I know you always thought I was, but the truth was—the truth is—I wasn’t. I could barely take care of myself, let alone a baby and a husband.”

“That’s your mother talking.” He shook his head. “All these years and I can still hear her words coming out of your mouth. I loved you, Brooke. Enough for both of us. Enough to see us through whatever we had to do. We didn’t need their money thanks to my parents. We didn’t need their approval. You didn’t trust that. You didn’t believe in me the way I believed in you.”

She could see it on his face—the disbelief, the hurt.

“I can’t change the past, Sebastian.” Something it had taken her years to come to terms with. “I can’t take away the pain you and Mandy suffered as a result of my decisions. I can only try to make amends and move forward.”

“That’s it?” Confusion marred his brow. “That’s all you’re going to say, after all these years, that’s all I get? It’s all we get?”

“Yes.” Exhaustion swept over her like the evening tide. “Nothing I say is ever going to change what happened. If that’s what this discussion is supposed to be, you may as well go.” She leaned over to pick up the empty paper sack that had been caught by the wind.

“Brooke.” He whispered her name an instant before his fingers brushed against the bare skin of her torso, where her T-shirt had inched up. Against the angry red scars she saw every day when she got dressed and undressed. “Brooke, what happened?”

She pushed away his hand, tugged down her shirt and moved out of reach. She didn’t want his pity. But that was exactly what she saw on his face when she forced herself to meet his gaze. “It’s nothing.”

“Those aren’t nothing. They’re recent. Brooke—” He reached for her again, but she shot to her feet, nearly stumbling to avoid his touch. “I said it’s nothing!”

“Tell me.” She shook her head and then tilted up her chin to the afternoon sky.

“Brooke.” He reached out but she scooted away. Not far enough, though, because he caught her hand in his. “Tell me what happened to you.”

“I don’t want your sympathy.” If only her tone matched her words. Instead they had come out as a plea. She didn’t want him to touch her. Not when it reminded her of everything they’d had. Everything they could have had. His disappointment she could handle; she’d prepared for it. But the idea that he felt sorry for her…

He drew her back down, clinging to her hand even when she tried to pull away. Her blood surged through her veins. Her heart pounded so hard she felt it echo in her ears.

“It was a car accident.” Five words encompassed so much. “Five months ago. Just after my father died. I’d been helping organize a fund-raising dinner in downtown Charleston and the car my mother sent to pick me up was hit by a big rig.” If she let herself, she could still hear the echoes of screeching brakes, the explosion of metal against metal, feel the shower of glass slicing her skin.

“It must have been pretty bad to leave you with scars like that.”

The sob caught in her throat before she took a breath, but she pushed on. “I should have died.” The breeze cooled the dampness on her cheeks. “I was in a coma for ten days. Massive concussion.” She waved her hand by her temple. “I still get headaches, but not as bad as I used to. Just when I get stressed or overtired. There were other injuries, a lot of lost blood. The doctors said it was a miracle I survived.” She hadn’t felt lucky. She’d wondered why she’d lived. The depression that had followed had nearly swallowed her whole.

“I didn’t know.” She nodded, focused on the ocean, on the memory of her own ghostly screams. “I know.” “Brooke, I would have been there—”

“I know.” She squeezed her eyes shut so hard she saw stars. Without any doubt, she knew. Because that’s who he was. Who he’d always been. “That’s what I felt most guilty about, I think. Realizing that even after all the time that passed, even after the way I walked out on you and our baby, you would have come.”

“You didn’t have anyone other than your parents? No friends. No—”

“Dad’s gone. Cancer. It…wasn’t quick. Don’t worry.” She managed a weak, faltering smile. “No reason you should have known that, either. And I never really made a lot of friends. Not like the ones I had here. Not like you and…” And Frankie and Monty. The kind of friends she could spend hours with talking about nothing and everything. The kind of friends you planned futures with. Teased. Loved. The friends who would have done anything for her.

She took a deep breath. May as well tell him the rest. “My mother didn’t even tell BethAnn about my accident, probably because she assumed BethAnn would tell you and, well, we couldn’t have that.” Oh, no. Couldn’t have the man who had gotten her teenage daughter pregnant turning up and casting a shadow on the pristine Ardell name and reputation. “When I woke up in the hospital, the only thing I could think was that I’d almost died without seeing my baby again. Not that she’s a baby anymore.” The threat of tears died as she found her strength. “It took me several months to get back on my feet. Private nurses, physical therapists, a psychiatrist who was about as useful as a shrimp fork at a buffet. But every day I had therapy, every day I managed to claw through another session, I knew I was closer to coming back to Butterfly Harbor. Closer to seeing you and my daughter again.” Like finishing the chapter of a book, and being satisfied with the ending. “When I finally got the all-clear from my doctor, I left Charleston.”

She exhaled, feeling freer than she had in months. Years, maybe. “I know my coming back hurts you, Sebastian. I know it’s inconvenient and selfish, but let’s face it, I’ve always been both of those things.”

“I used to hate it when you did that.” Anger sparked in his eyes when her gaze jumped to his. “You never give yourself enough, if any, credit. It’s irritating, not to mention insulting. It’s also your parents talking.”

“I know. I’m working on it.”

“Work harder.”

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Fifteen years later… Are they still a perfect match?

After a near-fatal accident, Brooke Ardell’s return to Butterfly Harbor sends shock waves around the small town. Years ago, she walked away from the love of her life, Sebastian Evans, and their baby daughter—and she never looked back. Now it’s finally time for her to right those wrongs. Sebastian wants to trust Brooke again…but can he risk his daughter’s heart as well as his own?
Book Links: Amazon | B& N | iTunes | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

USA Today and national bestselling author Anna J. Stewart writes sweet to sexy romance for Harlequin’s Heartwarming and Romantic Suspense lines. Early obsessions with Star Wars, Star Trek, and Wonder Woman set her on the path to creating fun, funny, and family-centric romances with happily ever afters for her independent heroines. A former Golden Heart nominee and 2018 Daphne DuMaurier finalist, her Heartwarming book RECIPE FOR REDEMPTION was recently turned into a holiday movie for UPtv (A CHRISTMAS RECIPE FOR ROMANCE and aired during the 2019 holiday season. Since her first novella with Harlequin in 2014, Anna has written and published more than forty romances in multiple sub-genres. Anna lives in Northern California where she deals with a serious Supernatural and Jason Momoa addiction and surrounds herself with friends and family. When she’s not writing, you can find her cooking and baking, attending fan conventions, at her local movie theater, or building her client list for her content editing services. You can read more about Anna, her books, and the workshops she offers at www.authorannastewart.com.
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