Spotlight & Giveaway: Defiance of the Heart by Monica James

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Monica James to HJ!

Hi Monica James and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Defiance of the Heart!

 
Hi! Thanks for hanging with me…
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Defiance of the Heart is book 2 in the Sins of the Heart Series. It picks up right where book 1, Absinthe of the Heart ends.
It’s the continuation of Holland Brooks and London “Sin” Sinclairs story, as all lies will be unravelled. Their love has been forbidden since they were kids, but now that they’re adults, they refuse to allow the past to dictate their futures.
However, their families are still feuding enemies, making their newfound relationship all the more complicated.
It’s very Romeo & Juliet like, so expect the unexpected!
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

A table.
A chair.
The drip…drip…drip of the kitchen sink.
These things, they all make sense to me, but Belle’s admission that Lincoln is Emily’s father…does not.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

This book made me cry UGLY tears. I really had to tap into my emotions because the two main characters are the most passionate ones I’ve ever written. Because of this, I watched a lot of tearjerkers! I don’t read when I’m writing, so it was movie marathons to get into the zone.
Romeo & Juliet was a massive inspiration when I wrote this series, and the reader will be able to see this when reading the book.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

I LOVED WRITING THESE CHARACTERS!! They are both so strong-willed, and passionate. I admire Holland’s sassiness and her strength, as she doesn’t take any BS from anyone, including London. And I love what a bad boy London is, but he’s also tender when it comes to Holland. Both are so in love with the other, they would sacrifice their own happiness for the other. This book wrote itself. The characters spoke to me and I really am so happy how book 2 turned out. I think it’s an amazing sequel and I hope my readers agree!

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

It would definitely be the scene where London and Holland go back to “their” place. This is where, when they were 16, London saved Holland. This scene is the turning point in the entire book because they FINALLY, after 10 years of being apart, they finally declare their undying love. The chemistry leaps off the pages. Oh, god, I would LOVE for this series to be a movie *swoon*

“No one wants us together,” I confess, hating how bleak I sound. I want to add us being together isn’t that simple, but I suppose it never was. “My parents hate you. Your parents hate me. Our parents hate one another. How is this supposed to work?”
Just as I’m about to march toward him and beg him to tell me it’ll be all right, he runs his long fingers through his hair, fisting the longer locks on top of his head. “What do you want, Princess?”
His question stuns me because for once in my life, I’m given a choice when it comes to London. “It’s too late for what I want,” I reply, but London refuses to accept my answer.
He spins with a force so great, I retreat, fearful of what he’ll do. But he marches toward me, gripping my upper arms as though I’ll run from him if he doesn’t. I attempt to pry myself free, but he tightens his hold, rocking me lightly. “Don’t you say that,” he exclaims with a passionate tenacity. “We are not our parents. We are you and me, who we’ve always been, and fighting this, Princess”—he shakes me once—“is like fighting nature. We don’t stand a chance. I love you, Holland. So much it hurts.”
A sob escapes me when his face twists in agony. “When you left me, you didn’t just tear out my heart. You took me with you. I am nothing, nothing without you.”

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

That true love sometimes does triumph all.

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

I just finished my 19th book! Crazy, right?! It’s my first Dark Romance and I really love it! It was the most challenging book to write, but I’m so happy with how it turned out.
2019 is going to be a huge year! I have signings in Texas, Berlin, Melbourne, London, and Rome, and when I’m not travelling, I will be releasing at least 6 new books! The newbie comes out Jan/Feb 2019 and is a standalone Romantic Comedy written from a mans POV. They are so fun to write!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A signed paperback of Defiance of the Heart (open internationally)
3 winners– each winner wins an e-book of Absinthe of the Heart and/or Defiance of the Heart

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What is the book that changed your life?

 
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Excerpt from Defiance of the Heart:

“Yes. Things could have been different for us, but it doesn’t matter. We can’t change the past, but we can make our own future. Don’t let the sins of the past win.” His words are exactly what I needed to hear, but we can’t ignore that the odds are stacked against us.
He translates my withdrawal and shakes his head violently. “What do you want me to say?” He abruptly releases me and rips his sunglasses from his face. His eyes are begging me to believe him and not to run away—not again.
“London, I—”
But he refuses to listen. Instead, he drops to both knees, gripping my upper thighs as he surrenders before me. The sight breaks me. His feral gaze holds so much emotion. I can’t stand to see him so vulnerable. I attempt to pull him up, but he stubbornly stands his ground.
“You don’t understand, Princess. I don’t exist without you. You are a part of me.” He thumps his fist over his heart, pressing it hard against his chest. “You always have been.”
“But other pe-people—”
“I don’t care about people!” he cries, staring up at me, squeezing my legs. “I only care about you because it was always…it was always you. I love you without apology, and that’ll never change. So whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it because I can’t stand to lose you again.”
He bows his head, the ultimate submission as he accepts his fate.
My chest heaves with the utter emotion pouring from me as words escape me. On his knees, in the dirt, London has just declared his undying love. He isn’t hiding behind smokescreens. This is what we are—primitive, passionate, and real.
This is why he brought me here. He wanted me to see that, underneath it all, we are still the same people who somehow fit together.
I’m drowning in a torrent of tears as I respond the only way I can—I drop to my knees and surrender to him. Placing both hands on his cheeks, I coax him to look at me because we’re in this together. His anguish tears me in two.
Searching his face, I stroke his beard, needing him to know that everything he just said, I feel too. He leans into my touch, a contented sigh leaving him. “You are impossible,” I whisper, the soft bristles of his scruff tickling my fingers. “Us being together is defying all odds…but I’m game if you are. I can’t stand to spend another ten years without you. I don’t think I could.” I run my fingertip over the smooth scar above his lip, cementing my promise.
“Princess…” His voice is low, perforated with emotion.
He mimics me, pressing his large hands to my face. With the tips of his fingers, his thumbs, he brushes away my tears with a frown. “Don’t cry. I promise to do everything I can never to see you cry again. Forgive me for everything I’ve done.”
A sob rattles my chest as I weep, touched by his promise. “I forgive you. Forgive m-me too?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” He shakes his head, still caressing my cheeks.
“This isn’t going to be easy. You’re a father,” I declare, needing to address the obvious. “You’re the father to my ex-fiancé’s daughter, a daughter he has neglected for so many years.”
“I know. I’m sorry my life is complicated. But this is me, and I’m offering everything I am to you,” he replies, caging me with his honesty. “Will you have me?”
“Even with everything stacked against us—your parents, mine, Belle, distance, Lincoln, the past…there really is only one answer.”
He waits with bated breath, not pushing as he knows my answer has the ability to change us forever.
Placing my hand on his chest over his heart, I smile a bittersweet smile. “Yes, London, I’ll have you. Now and always.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

For never was there a story of more woe than that of Holland Brooks and her Romeo…
For as long as I can remember, London Sinclair was the boy who was forbidden. It didn’t matter that he made my heart skip a beat. Our surnames fated us to be sworn enemies. But when the truth was finally revealed, my life changed forever.
Lies have shaped our past, leaving London and me to pick up the pieces. But through the chaos, one thing is certain—I love London, and he loves me, and we won’t allow anyone to tear us apart again.
However, life has a funny way of proving us wrong.
As we attempt to make amends for the past ten years, we soon discover that the ghosts of our past will do anything to drive us apart. We are once again surrounded by deceit and betrayal, testing us in ways we never imagined.
When I’m faced with a proposition to end this heartache once and for all, I blindly agree. That decision changes everything, and I soon learn that those who act in haste create their own destruction.
Does love really triumph all? Or will London and I succumb to what was always written in the stars?

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Meet the Author:

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.
When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.
She is a bestselling author in the U.S.A., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.
Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.
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