Spotlight & Giveaway: AND THEN THERE WAS YOU by Nancy Naigle

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Nancy Naigle to HJ!

Hi Nancy and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, AND THEN THERE WAS YOU!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

AND WHEN THERE WAS YOU is a story about a widowed woman who is swept off
her feet by a man she meets by sheer coincidence as she’s treating herself to trips
between Virginia and Dallas using up her late husband’s airline miles, only to find
this “happenstance” romance was actually a con that’s left her in dire financial straits.
The story starts from that point. Her journey through the unthinkable and taking
refuge in the only thing she has left, her late husband’s little hunting cabin up in the
mountains of Virginia and how she courageously navigates her way back finding true
love along the way.

Chestnut Ridge Novels:
BOOK 1 – And Then There Was You (Jun 2023)
BOOK 2 – Christmas in Chestnut Ridge (Sep 2024)
BOOK 3 – Details Coming Soon!
 

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

I love this brief look into Natalie and her memories with her late husband. It’s a
teensy snippet into their playful relationship and I think it shows how thoughtful she is
at the very core. This is a scene where she’s just arrived in Chestnut Ridge and is
stocking up the little hunting cabin, determined to get back on her feet after the con
has taken everything. She’s missing her late husband more than ever with all of this
going on.

—

On the coffee aisle, Natalie stocked up on her favorite light-roast
toasted-coconut blend, then reached for a box of sugar dots. The splurge
always made her feel so lady-like.

As she held the box of sugar cubes, she heard Jeremy’s voice as
plain as if he were standing there with her. Have you ever tried to chop up
one of those dots in a bowl of Wheaties? Doesn’t happen. You’re left with
nothing but soggy flakes by the time that thing dissolves.

She pulled the sugar to her chest. They’d laughed about that
forever, but she’d kept a big bag of sugar right next to his cereal box just
for him from that day forward.

Natalie lingered there in the grocery aisle, glowing in that sweet
memory for a moment, then whipped her cart around and grabbed a box
of Wheaties, his favorite. “For old times’ sake,” she whispered, feeling
closer to Jeremy than she had in a long time.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Fact 1: Chestnut Ridge is a fictional town based on Patrick County, Virginia.
• Fact 2: I integrated some of the endearing things about this region like the fairy stones, yes they are real!, and that these mountains were once filled with enormous chestnut trees, as big as the redwoods, until blight took them out. Pictures from the late 1800s show entire families standing in front of the base of those trees. Amazing!
• Fact 3: Yep, the fire department in my neck o’ the woods really are called the BULL MOUNTAIN BOYS, and I got to meet them when my house was struck by lightning August 2022. An outstanding group of men and women, they swiftly identified the point of entry and exit (from the front porch all the way down it and then up the three ridges to the highest point) and made sure I was safe. It took me months to get all the damage sorted out and repaired. I’m so thankful for Co. 23 Patrick Springs Volunteer Fire Department and delighted to make them part of
  my Chestnut Ridge novels.

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

Randy is the detective on Natalie’s case to find the con who has stolen all of her
assets. His initial attraction is physical. She’s pretty and he even worries that he’s
falling for the damsel in distress, but these two build a relationship that’s on a sturdy
foundation of honesty and truth and is a slow build. And their attraction is not realized
until Natalie is on firm footing again. I love that about this story.

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

Oh gosh, when Natalie first meets Paul in Chestnut Ridge and sees the castle house
up close and personal…I love that scene. But you need to context to enjoy it so I’m
going to withhold from telling you too much about it here. Let me just say that things
are not always as they seem, but even though the reasons may not be obvious,
everyone has a reason for everything and this scene reminds us it’s not our place to
judge. It all seems zany at first, but as details unfold, it is all quite beautiful. I hope
you’ll reach out and tell me how that played out as you read it.

Readers should read this book….

It’s such a beautiful setting and I think they’ll be looking forward to reading the next books in this series. There’s a beautiful balance of heartache and joy, family and friendships. A perfect beach read.

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

I have a romantic comedy coming out early summer 2024 and I can’t wait to
announce more about it, but we’re still working on a final title. Stay tuned on that one.
Christmas in Chestnut Ridge will come out in 2024, Book 2 of the Chestnut Ridge
series. And in 2025, Angels By The Sea, the follow-up to The Shell Collector will be
released. I have a few smaller projects that will fall in between, and am contracted
out to 2026. It’s all so exciting.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 Finished Copy of AND THEN THERE WAS YOU available for a US only winner.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Have you ever been to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia? What are you most looking
forward to about escaping between the pages of this new series?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from And Then There Was You:

Enjoy this excerpt from AND THEN THERE WAS YOU…and get the first three chapters
to download FREE from my website at nancynaigle.com/and-then-there-was-you-
excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

No matter how wonderful the vacation is there’s nothing better than getting home and sleeping in your own bed.
​
That was the exact sentiment on Natalie Maynard’s mind as she stared out the window at the
puffy white clouds from the back of the taxi. The clear blue skies in Cancún the last two weeks
had been picture perfect; she’d almost forgotten how beautiful feathery clouds could be.
​
Missing Marc, who’d had to leave two days early because of a business issue, she couldn’t wait
to thank him for insisting she stay.

He’d even scheduled spa appointments to make sure her vacation ended on a high note. He
always thought of every tiny detail.
​
It’s only been two days. To think she’d sworn she’d never get serious with anyone after losing
Jeremy following fifteen years of blissful marriage; it still surprised her that things moved so
quickly after meeting Marc. Her heart had a mind of its own.

Jeremy had been a Monday-through-Friday, nine-to-five kind of guy. Now, being with Marc, she
realized she’d underappreciated the time she had with Jeremy. Nights, weekends, were all spent
together with him. It had taken some getting used to Marc being gone days on end and working
late more often than not.
​
Change. It wasn’t something that had ever come easy to her. But after being widowed for two years, she’d gotten used to her own company, which probably had made it easier to accept when Marc was called away for work.
​
Her life with Marc was practically the opposite of her marriage. She and Marc attended fancy
parties, ate at the best restaurants, and there were often unexpected surprises, like this trip.
​
The last two weeks they’d stayed in a swanky all-inclusive resort with shiny marble floors and
upscale dining. Morning walks on soft white sand and romantic nights dancing in Marc’s arms
had been magical. Somehow, he’d even arranged private time with the hotel biologist to release
baby turtles into the ocean under a starry moonlit sky. Bucket list stuff.
​
There was no comparing Jeremy and Marc, and maybe that’s why it worked.
​
I’m almost home, Marc. What will you surprise me with tonight?

Wearing the sundress Marc had insisted on buying her at the resort boutique when they first
arrived, her insides tingled in anticipation of the way his eyes would twinkle when he saw her.
The soft fabric flowed around her body like a whisper, fancier than any outfit she owned.
​

Life had changed a lot over the last couple of years.
​
Two years, nine months, and three days.
​
That’s how long Jeremy had been gone, and as happy as she was now, she still missed him. A
scar that would forever be a part of her.
​
She reached for her heart. The familiar ache pressing on her. Some days it felt like yesterday.
The phone call.
The accident.
No chance to say goodbye.
​
The flurry of funeral arrangements that left me unable to process reality until weeks later when
autopilot shut down. The day I broke down. Thank goodness Sheila was there that morning.
​
Leaning back against the vinyl seat, she crossed her legs, settling in for the ride home.
Concentrate on today. On the good things.
​
Finally, thirty minutes later, the taxi driver entered the gated community, where she now shared a house with Marc. The high-dollar home had been going into foreclosure when Marc told her he was looking for a partner on it, it had been too good of a deal to pass up. Plus, he knew someone who’d rent her house for more than the mortgage. Profits all the way around. Marc was good with money and the deals had all come together as easy as their own relationship.
​
Meant to be.
​
The driver pulled the taxi into the driveway. “Here we are.”
​
“Feels good to be home.” Out the window she could see that Marc had found the time to finally
neaten up the flower beds, even raising the profile of the front trees like she’d been asking him
for weeks. The tired-looking pine straw that had once covered the flower beds had been replaced
with fresh beautiful hardwood mulch. She’d never been a fan of pine straw.
​
Her heart danced. He understands my love language. Gifts of service.
​
“Forty-two fifty.” The driver pressed the button on the meter. “Need a receipt?”
​
“Oh. Yes.” She tugged her credit card from her wallet and handed it to him. The ruby ring on her
finger reminded her that his love language wasn’t all that bad either.
​
The driver pushed the card into his handheld device, then shook his head. “Didn’t go through.”
He handed her card back.
​
“Do you mind trying again?”

He shrugged and did so, but with the same results. “Sorry, ma’am. You have another card?”
​
“Um? Here.” She pulled a fifty-dollar bill from the zippered compartment of her purse. “Here you
go. Sorry. I was out of the country. Those fraud algorithms can be as much a nuisance as a help.”
It was the card they’d been using in Mexico. Maybe it had to do with being in two countries in
one day. She tucked her credit card back into her wallet and got out.
​
The driver followed, wheeling her bags up the sidewalk.

She was so happy with how pretty everything looked. A little landscape love went a long way to
improve the curb appeal of their home.
​
The driver hoisted the bags onto the porch. “I can get those from here,” she said. “Have a good
day, ma’am.”
​
“Thanks for the safe travel.” She put her carry-on bag on top of her big suitcase, then made her
way to the tall double doors with an extra snap in her stride.
​
Natalie unlocked the doors, then stepped inside.
​
She sucked in a breath. Her eyes darted left, then right, trying to make sense of what she saw.
“What?” It was more of a shriek than a question.
​
Her suitcase slipped from her hand and fell backward with a thud.
​
The taxi driver was at her side in an instant. “Ma’am. Are you okay?”
​
She spun toward his voice, still trying to take in the situation. Twisting back toward the foyer.
The shiny floors still reflected nothing but sunlight.
​
The house was empty.
​
“No!” She swung her arms in the air. “Look.” Her heart raced. “Everything is gone. Something is
very wrong. It’s not okay!” She didn’t wait for his response, instead rushing inside, overwhelmed
with concern. Had she fallen asleep and this was all nothing but a dream? She opened the hall
closet door. Not even a dust bunny.
​
“Marc?” She called out more in desperation than anything, because if he’d been here she’d have
seen him by now. There was nowhere to hide. Not even a place to sit. How does a lifetime of
furniture and memories, two really, his and hers, all just go missing?
​
She grabbed her phone and called Marc. No answer, and she didn’t wait for voice mail.

“Ma’am. Are you sure this is the right house? Maybe I put it in my GPS wrong.”
​
The cab driver’s voice was slow and steady, but his eyes were wide. He was giving her that slow,
over-polite treatment as if she might explode. I’m not crazy.
​
“I used my key.” Natalie ran to the porch. The Cancún sun hadn’t baked her brain, causing it to
misfire and fail her; this was her house. The numbers on the front pillar not only matched, but
they were the ones she’d hand-painted on tiles and hung herself.
​
“I made those.” She stabbed her finger in the air toward them. “What is going on?”
​
The driver pulled his phone from his shirt pocket. “We have a problem at 4410 Landover Lane.”
​
“Who are you calling?” she asked.
​
“The police.” He stepped away, turning his attention to the phone. “I don’t really know for sure.
A robbery, I think?” He shrugged, looking to her for concurrence.
​
“I guess.” Her mind clicked through a virtual slideshow of everything she owned that had been
here. From the cherry dining room hutch that had been her grandparents’ to the blond mahogany dresser she’d splurged on with her first real pay- check. Her favorite handbag. More importantly, the things that couldn’t be replaced. The silver frame that held the picture of Jeremy asking her to marry him that stayed tucked in the bottom of her lingerie drawer. Mom’s Bible, and Daddy’s watch that his father had given him when he graduated college.
​
A tear slipped down her cheek.
​
Through the cloud of confusion, a moment of clarity flooded her with fear. Things were things,
but where was Marc and why hadn’t he answered? Was he in trouble?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

During the coziness of sweater weather in the mountains of Virginia two people find love against all odds in USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle’s And Then There Was You.

Reeling after falling prey to a Romeo con-artist who just waltzed away with the better part of her belongings, Natalie Maynard works closely with the detective assigned to her case, only the few leads have led nowhere.

Detective Randy Fellowes can’t promise Natalie restitution, but he’s determined to find the culprit and serve up justice. Married to his work, he’s caught off guard when Natalie has his thoughts wandering to more than the case.

Natalie soon seeks refuge in the one thing she still owns — an old fishing cabin in the mountains of Chestnut Ridge. She quickly falls in love with the town and the eccentric people who are teaching her so much about the area and its heritage.

Through these people, and the determination of Detective Fellowes, she rediscovers her courage, self, and a reason to risk love again.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N |  Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

USA Today bestselling author NANCY NAIGLE whips up small-town love stories with a whole lot of heart. Several of Nancy’s novels have been made into Hallmark movies, and most recently The Shell Collector was adapted as the first Fox original movie to stream on Fox Nation. A native of Virginia Beach, Nancy now calls the Blue Ridge Mountains home.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |