Spotlight & Giveaway: A Waterfront Wedding by Leigh Duncan

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Leigh Duncan to HJ!

Hi Leigh and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Waterfront Wedding!

 
Hey Sara! Hey Everyone! I’m thrilled to be here in The Spotlight today! Thanks so much for having me!
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

A Waterfront Wedding brings two of Heart’s Landing’s most-loved citizens together–Evelyn Heart and Ryan Court–when the duo are tagged to help the young winners of a Wedding-in-a-Week contest make all the decisions for their wedding. While Brianna and Daniel plan their wedding, readers get to re-visit some of our favorite spots in Heart’s Landing, like Forget Me Knot Flowers and I Do Cakes, and are introduced to a few new places, too. There are plenty of hurdles to jump in planning this military wedding. Of course, Evelyn’s and Ryan’s growing feelings for one another is the biggest hurdle of all!
 

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

I loved Evelyn and Ryan’s banter throughout this book, so it’s really, really hard to pick just one favorite. That said, I love the moment when Evelyn and Ryan realize the Wedding-in-a-Week couple will have to choose their wedding venue from between Ryan’s restored boat works and the Captain’s Cottage, Evelyn’s family home. Evelyn remembers the old boat works as a decrepit, falling-down building, but once she sees pictures of the work Ryan has done there, her confidence that the couple will choose her venue takes a big hit. And she thinks: This year might call for all hands on deck in order to save the day for the Captain’s Cottage. That line sets the tone for the rest of the entire book.

What inspired this book?

Oh, I love weddings. And I love, love, love reality shows. I can’t tell you how many episodes of “Say Yes To The Dress” I’ve watched, but it’s a lot! And “Love It or List It”, such fun! And the spring wedding events on “Good Morning, America!” I think, when planning to go back to Heart’s Landing one last time, all of those things just came together. And it was so much fun to write because I was dealing with not just one romance, but two!

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

Evelyn and I have gotten to know each other quite well over the course of these three books. I love how she always manages to stick her foot in her mouth, how her mind works, how smart she is. I’m not sure I realized how competitive she was until I started A Waterfront Wedding, but once she let me see that side of her, I saw how perfectly it fit in with the rest of her personality. We haven’t seen much of Ryan before now, though, and he was such a delight to write! I love his straightforward, honest approach to life!

What was your favorite scene to write?

Oh, the wedding scene, of course! I mean, what’s a Heart’s Landing book without a wedding? I love, love, love how this one came together, despite some very serious obstacles Ryan and Evelyn had to overcome. (But if I tell you what those are, it’ll spoil the book!)

What was the most difficult scene to write?

There are quite a few “group” scenes in A Waterfront Wedding. Scenes where four or six people have gathered together to sort out a problem or make a plan. I always find those difficult to write…so I work extra hard on them. 🙂

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I absolutely adore writing about second chance romance. So giving Evelyn and Ryan a second chance at love let me use some familiar tools from my writers’ toolbox. But handling two romances in one book—that was a stretch!—and I enjoyed it so much!

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

Misunderstandings and doubts nearly destroy Ryan and Evelyn’s chance at love. Those two factors also nearly drive the wedding-in-a-week couple, Brianna and Daniel, apart. One thing I took away from the experience of writing this book was the importance of open, honest communication. I think that would benefit all of us, wouldn’t it?.

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

Last month, I kicked off a brand new women’s fiction series, the Sugar Sand Beach series. These five sweet and wholesome books revolve around four best friends who, for various reasons, have reached crossroads in their lives and band together to start over when one of them inherits beachfront property on Florida. The Gift At Sugar Sand Inn is available now, with The Secret at Sugar Sand Inn due to release on May 14th. I’m very excited that the other three books in the series will all be out this year.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: For US mailing addresses only: 1 signed, print copy of A Waterfront Wedding
For International and/or US mailing addresses: 1 digital copy of A Waterfront Wedding

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you were given an all-expense paid wedding, but had to plan it in a week, would you?

 
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Excerpt from A Waterfront Wedding:

In this scene, Ryan and Evelyn have been cornered by the Mayor Greg and several others who need Ryan and Evelyn to take the winners of the Wedding-in-a-Week contest under their wing…something neither of them wants to do.

“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything,” Evelyn mumbled.
Ryan wasn’t convinced. “I don’t have any experience planning a wedding. What makes you think I can do this?” He fought an urge to sidestep when Greg pinned him with a steely gaze.
“Daniel already likes you, Ryan.” Greg turned the same unflinching gaze on Evelyn. “And you seemed to hit it off with Brianna.” Raising his hands, the mayor aimed a finger at each of them. “I saw the way they opened up to you in the reception line. Believe me, they didn’t say more than two words to anyone else.”
He shook his head. Working with Evelyn was a bad idea on so many fronts, he couldn’t even count them. And then there was the not-so-little matter of the couple who stood like two abandoned puppies in the middle of the room. How was he supposed to help them? “This is beyond my comfort zone, Mr. Mayor.”
“Even with Jenny’s help, I have my hands full,” Evelyn objected.
Greg’s firm features said he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “I wouldn’t ask, but Heart’s Landing needs you. The Marines have given Daniel extra time off because of all the good publicity he’ll generate for the Corps. That only adds to the pressure this couple will be under this week. Can you imagine what’ll happen if they crack? Our reputation will be ruined. Ruined, I tell you. You’re our best hope for helping them get through this. You both grew up here. Weddings are ingrained in your blood. You’re young enough that Brianna and Daniel can relate to you. And there’s one more thing you have in common with them that no one else does—you’ve been friends since grade school. Just like Brianna and Daniel. In my book, that makes you not just a good choice, but our only choice.”
He scuffed his foot against the floor. He’d been right—he didn’t like the mayor’s solution. But if it meant that much to Heart’s Landing, he supposed he didn’t have a choice. He’d have to help out. “Okay, I’ll do my part…”
Heaven help him, what on earth had he been thinking? He’d just agreed to spend an entire week shepherding a couple he’d barely met through their very own Wedding-in-a-Week. Worse, he’d promised to work closely with the one woman he’d sworn to avoid.
He squared his shoulders. For the good of Heart’s Landing, he’d do his best to make sure Brianna and Daniel got the wedding they deserved. He had no doubt he could help them survive this week. But would he?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Heart’s Landing is throwing a wedding! This time, it’s for Marine Private First Class Daniel Johnston and his high-school sweetheart Brianna Smith, the winners of an all-expense-paid Wedding-in-a-Week. While Weddings Today photographers snap pictures for an upcoming magazine spread, the lucky couple will choose everything from their theme and color palette to their music and venue. But when a burst water main eliminates Statue Park as an option for their wedding site, Brianna and Daniel must choose between Ryan Court’s restored Boat Works and the Captain’s Cottage, managed by Evelyn Heart.
The Wedding-in-a-Week festivities spark a good-natured rivalry between Evelyn and Ryan who’ve known each other practically their entire lives. As they help the lucky couple plan a military wedding, Ryan discovers that though she often lands the starring role in Heart’s Landing theater productions, Evelyn is not the drama queen he thought she was. Likewise, Evelyn quickly realizes there’s more to Ryan than the baseball bat he swung in high school or the tool belt he often wears on his hips.
Evelyn and Ryan’s feelings for one another deepen from friendship into something more while they help Daniel deal with his concerns about leaving Brianna alone while he’s on his first deployment and assist Brianna in overcoming last-minute doubts about becoming a military wife. But will the love that blossoms between Evelyn and Ryan survive when the Wedding-in-a-Week winners make an unexpected choice for their wedding venue?

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Meet the Author:

Leigh Duncan is the award-winning author of more than two dozen novels, novellas and short stories. Though she started writing stories at the tender age of six, she didn’t get serious about writing a novel until her 40th birthday, and she offers all would-be authors this piece of advice: Don’t wait so long!
Leigh sold her first, full-length novel in 2010. In 2017, she was thrilled when Hallmark Publishing chose her as the lead author for their new line of romances and cozy mysteries. A National Readers’ Choice Award winner, an Amazon best-selling author and recently named a National Best-Selling author by Publisher’s Weekly, Leigh lives on Florida’s East Coast where she writes women’s fiction and sweet, contemporary romance with a dash of Southern sass.
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