Spotlight & Giveaway: A Surrealist Affair by Jacqueline Corcoran

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jacqueline Corcoran to HJ!

Hi Jacqueline and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Surrealist Affair!

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

When a broke and struggling art history doctoral student is given the opportunity to fly to Paris to attribute a newly discovered painting by her favorite artist, it’s the trip of a lifetime. But when she arrives in Paris, she’s neck deep in a murder and an international art theft.

Reluctant FBI Art Crimes undercover agent Ryan DeLong is assigned to the theft. The only bright spot is the shy but enchanting student who teaches him about the beauty of Surrealism. He can’t tell her the truth of his identity, and then he learns that Elle also has things to hide…
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

A bare tree scraped against the window. The sky, heavy with snow, was dark, even in the late afternoon. During the holiday break, Elle was given the “honor” of using of her advisor’s office while she skied with her family in Switzerland, a bone Diane Roche had thrown her after dismissing Elle’s efforts at a dissertation proposal. Elle wanted to be going full steam on her proposal during the winter break, but now she was stuck, laboring over a journal article revision Diane had assigned her. Elle’s brain felt like sludge as she read the reviewer’s comments: The authors need to provide a more detailed and nuanced framework for the analysis.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Each chapter heading is followed by the title of a Surrealist work, its year, and author. The selected work relates to the theme or events of that chapter.
• A SURREALIST AFFAIR was inspired by a “big birthday” trip to Paris by the author and her family.
• A SURREALIST AFFAIR involved extensive research on art history, the Surrealism movement, art thefts, Nazi plunder, and the FBI art crimes unit.
• A SURREALIST AFFAIR drew on the author’s solo journey through Europe, including Paris, when she graduated from college.

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

The hero, Ryan DeLong, is having a PTSD-induced panic attack in the plane over to Paris when he spots a beautiful woman looking at art reproductions at her seat. At baggage claim, he stops Elle from being pickpocketed, which bounces him out of his own anxiety.

Elle Dakin is grateful to the attractive stranger who saved her from a pickpocket ruse upon her arrival to Paris and wonders why she can’t stop thinking about him.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe Hero and Heroine’s love affair?

secrets
beauty
rescue
investigation
surreal
 

The First Kiss…

The first kiss takes place in the Pompidou, the French national modern museum. Their new intimacy allows Elle to guess the identity Ryan has to keep secret.

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

As she sipped the heavy red wine, she looked around. Typical of galleries, the space was cavernous compared to the amount of work actually displayed. Her gaze traveled up the front-and-center piece, a lavender line of lights in the unmistakable shape of a phallus that stretched up the entryway to the cathedral-high ceiling. That had not been there earlier. Babette’s staff must have spent all afternoon installing it.
When she shifted her gaze, she felt her eyes widen. Out of two million people in Paris, it was
the same man that had saved her from the pickpocket in baggage claim! Her heart beat so hard, it made her blood feel like it was fizzing. Was it the wine? She’d only had a few swallows.
She realized her gaze had been locked on his. Neither of them smiling, it seemed like foreplay, and her stomach dove deliciously, as if she had taken a sudden dip on a rollercoaster.
All of this was going through her and yet, she stood motionless. She was afraid she was going to topple over and make a fool of herself, when she’d never wanted to impress anyone more.
Her face grew warm. Part of it was the force of their eye contact, but it was also at the blatant symbolism of that lavender installation, a visible sign of what throbbed between them.

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

When Ryan guesses that Elle is being held prisoner:

Within minutes, Ryan was a passenger in another police Renault. Thanks to Elle’s ability to translate, the prefect officer with the pompadour had told one of his colleagues who had pulled up at the scene to drive him to the Alain Gallery. Tout de suite!
The driver seemed delighted to be given such an assignment, and they zoomed out of picturesque Ile St. Louis, driving along the Seine, where tour boats sailed past in the brackish water. The siren screamed. From inside the car, windows up, Ryan had never experienced such a deafening, urgent sound.
They flew by Parisians and tourists alike jamming the pavements, the specialty shops with their gold-lettered signage, cafes with tables in front, kids on scooters. He leaned as they swerved around corners so sharp they almost seemed to double-back.

Readers should read this book …

A SURREALIST AFFAIR is ideal for those who love romance, and learning a bit about art on the side.

A SURREALIST AFFAIR is the perfect armchair traveler read for pandemic times.

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

I am currently working on a traditional mystery, a middle-grade, dual-timeline paranormal, and a YA novel in verse.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: E-copy of A SURREALIST AFFAIR to U.S. audience.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Where is the first place you will go when the pandemic is over and we are safe to travel?

 
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Excerpt from A Surrealist Affair:

In the J. Edgar Hoover Building, Ryan deLong sat across from the chief of the FBI Art Crime Team. Ryan didn’t like facing his back to the door. He wanted to see what was coming at him from behind.
Kevin Greene flicked at a packet of sweetener, opening it with deliberate movements. “You need a haircut.”
“That’s why you called me in here?” Ryan rifled his hand through his hair. He had just taken off his hat coming in the building.
Kevin’s eyes were magnified behind his glasses. The office smelled of scorched coffee wafting out of a mug that said, World’s Greatest Dad. The surface of Kevin’s desk was as clear as the ice rink at the Smithsonian Ryan had hurried by on his way to work.
“Don’t cut it.” Seeing Ryan’s questioning look, Kevin said, “They wear it longer over
there.” A grin broke open the stiff demeanor of his face. “You’re going to Paris. We had a theft last night—or rather, early this morning,” Kevin said. “A Luc.”
Finally, some action.
Most of Art Crime was pursuing cold cases, chasing leads that had closed up years before, heck, decades, even centuries. Ryan frowned, struggling to recall the name “Luc.” He knew Kevin was testing him. Ryan hadn’t slept well last night, and his brain felt like sludge. French—he got that much. “Surrealism?”
Kevin couldn’t resist throwing in a little lecture. “Post-World War One, disillusionment
in Europe, the power of the unconscious, Freud?”
“Marc Luc.” Ryan snapped his fingers. “Marc Luc and Yves Tanguy.” They did similar
schticks—blobby forms in empty landscapes. Existential dread or some such. “Most people like one or the other.” He didn’t like either. He wasn’t a fan of the Surrealism movement as a whole. Call him prosaic, but he was Renaissance, if anything.
Kevin nodded in approval. “Very good.” He pointed his monitor toward Ryan. “Expectation of Time.”
Yup. Lumpy shapes in a blue wash.
As Ryan studied it, Kevin gave background information on the theft. “It was stolen from
a private home in Chicago. James Egart, CEO of Ameritrac corporation.”
He got the picture—wealthy businessman art collector. That was yet another reason not to like Art Crime — catering to the wealthy, not national security. And, until now, it had been only a desk job, no out in the field at all. That’s what he craved. But administration thought he needed the kind of calm environment Art Crime provided.
Ryan reminded himself to focus. This was his chance, and he had to pay attention, despite
his objections, if he was to ever get out of here. Kevin had made him a deal. If he solved a big case, not just a five thousand dollar Ming vase, but something in the priceless category, Kevin would give him the recommendation Ryan wanted to return to Counter-Terrorism.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Elle Dakin is shocked when she’s given the opportunity to fly to Paris to attribute a newly discovered painting by her favorite artist. After all, why would they choose a broke, struggling Art History doctoral student for such an honored task? When she arrives in Paris, she realizes the deal was too good to be true—suddenly she’s neck deep in a murder, an international art theft, and threats to her safety. Thank goodness Ryan, an art exporter, comes to her aid, protecting her from the dangerous side of Paris and those who would try to harm her. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s sinfully handsome…until she discovers he has just as many secrets as everyone she’s met on this trip of a lifetime gone wrong…

The last assignment undercover FBI agent Ryan DeLong wants is to investigate art theft. But here he is, stuck in Paris, chasing down the thieves of a million-dollar masterpiece. The only bright spot is Elle, the shy but enchanting doctoral student who teaches him about more than just the beauty of Surrealism. He can’t tell her the truth of his identity, plus he refuses to get romantically involved with anyone while he’s on a case. But when he learns Elle also has things to hide, he begins to doubt everything he thought he knew about her.
 

Meet the Author:

Jacqueline Corcoran was born in England, but has lived throughout the U.S., ending up in the D.C. suburbs with her husband and two children. Jacqui is a social worker, psychotherapist and Ivy League professor, and wanted to be an author from the time she was seven, already enthralled with the effect fiction had on the reader. A Surrealist Affair is her debut romantic suspense, inspired by a birthday trip to Paris.
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