Spotlight & Giveaway: Her Aussie Holiday by Stefanie London

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Stefanie London to HJ!

Hi Stefanie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Her Aussie Holiday!

 
Hi, thanks for having me!
 

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

Her Aussie Holiday is a book about a house-swap that goes horribly wrong, when an American woman on the run from her troubles ends up in small town Australia, rooming with the older brother of her Aussie penpal.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Cora Cabot knew three important things about Australia:

1. The men were hotter Down Under (Chris Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, the other Hemsworth…)
2. It was hot. Period.
3. Pretty much every animal could kill you.

Okay, so maybe not every animal could kill you. But a country that prided itself on having the deadliest snakes in the world was not a country to be trifled with.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• If you read The Aussie Next Door then you already know the Walters family. The hero of this book is Trent, youngest of the Walters boys. Trent has a BIG secret.
• There’s a potty-mouthed cockatoo named Joe who uses some colourful Aussie words (he also loves rock music)
• GLITTER EXPLOSION…seriously, you have to read it.
• This book includes some very Aussie things like beach cricket, Vegemite, fairy bread, going to the pub and more.
• Trent is a total cinnamon roll hero. Yes, he’s strong and sexy and good with his hands, but he’s very much a hero with a big heart and a deep sense of kindness. I love that about him.

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

One of the things that Trent first notices about Cora is…she’s a dead ringer for his ex. Yikes! But the two quickly realise they have plenty of natural chemistry. Trent loves Cora’s resilience and her hard-working nature and Cora can’t help but be drawn to Trent’s fun-loving and vivacious personality…his work-honed body doesn’t hurt either 😉
 

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

Delicious and slow burning goodness
 

The First Kiss…

Hot and steamy with a side of warm and fuzzies.
 

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

One of the really fun aspects of this book is that Trent and Cora have to recreate a scrapbook that had been ruined in the scene where they first met. To find out how it got ruined you’ll have to check the book out! But neither Trent nor Cora are very craft people, so they end up with a few crafting mishaps along the way. It’s also a chance for them to share some fun childhood memories, like this one.
Here’s a snippet:

Even if this whole thing was a disaster, it was proving to be a fun, glittery distraction and exactly what she needed. Not to mention that spending time with Trent was absolutely not a hardship. After the copies were done, they spread out all the necessary supplies for their crafting adventure—a scrapbook album with plenty of pages, glue sticks, glitter, tape, scissors with those funny crinkled edges, all “borrowed” from Liv’s stash.
“I have a feeling this is going to get embarrassing.” Trent picked up a strange implement with a rotating wheel and looked at it as though it was some kind of mystical artifact.
“Why’s that?”
“I am the least creative person in my family. Seriously, my Christmas decorations were so bad as a kid, I caught my mum hiding them around the back of the tree whenever we had guests over.”
“Oh no.” Cora laughed and pressed a hand to her chest. “That’s mean.”
“I can’t blame her. My ‘Christmas rocket’ really did look like a sparkly dick.”
Now Cora laughed so hard, tears came to her eyes. The visual of little blond Trent and his sparkly Christmas dick-rocket was too much.
“Okay, rule number one for scrapbooking: no phallic objects. How about I put you on glue duty?”

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

The first kiss of course! Isn’t that always the best bit of any romantic movie?

For her whole entire life, Cora had followed the rules. Followed orders. Worked hard.
And that had done nothing but made her feel like a failure, so why didn’t she deserve to do something reckless for a change? Why couldn’t she seize life in the way so many others did without a second thought? Without worrying what people would think? Without making a list of “what ifs” in her brain?
Nobody knew her here, and she didn’t need anything from Patterson’s Bluff.
The thought was freeing. Here, she could be herself and damn anyone who didn’t like her. Damn anyone who rejected her. Damn anyone who didn’t accept her.
This was her moment and screw the consequences.
“I’m overheated because I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like if you kissed me.”
The words came out in a rush, like a whoosh of breath that had been held for too long. It was both a weight off her shoulders and electricity in her veins, the anticipation of his response making her giddy and breathless like a teenager.
She had never been the first to admit attraction, had never been the first to make a move—if her awkward, too-fast confession could be counted as such. Her mother had drummed into her that the only way to get a man was to make him chase, make him want by being slightly unavailable. Always a little out of reach.
By playing a game.
So many rules, so many points of etiquette when what she really wanted was to take charge of her own damn life. And if that meant wearing her heart on her sleeve for once, then she would damn well do it.
“Say something,” she said, her hands gripping the edge of her chair like it might keep her tethered to earth.
“Wouldn’t you rather I do something?” His eyes were like twin blue flames, flickering and holding her captive.
He leaned forward, bracing one hand on the back of her chair and closing the distance with a heart-fluttering slowness. She reached up and slid her hand along the sharp line of his jaw, feeling the gentle prickles of his five o’clock shadow against her palm. The friction sent a subtle shiver through her, kicking up fantasies like a sandstorm.
“Yes,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
It was like trying to talk underwater, her voice distorted and sluggish. Time had slowed to a trickle so she could take in every single detail—the widening of his pupils, so black and bottomless and beautiful. The parting of his lip as he came closer. The scent of shampoo in his hair and wine on his breath.
When his lips finally connected with hers, it was bliss—warm, sensual, spiraling bliss.
His mouth was confident as he coaxed hers open, knowing she would melt for him. And she did. His hand was in her hair, fist closing around her ponytail so he could tug her head backward. That grip, so sure and possessive, snapped the last vestige of her control, and she invited him in.
Their tongues met, and she arched toward him, wanting more, more, more. Wanting everything. The awkward seated position didn’t allow for much contact, but she didn’t dare move, dare twitch, in case it warned him away. Because she could drown in his kiss forever.
In that moment, she felt wanted. Cherished. It was goodness dragged up from the very bottom of her soul, making every cell in her body vibrate.

Readers should read this book …

if they want a fictional vacation to the perfect seaside town.

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

I’m working on several more books set in Pattersons Bluff! I have a Christmas novella called A Merry Aussie Christmas coming out in December that’s part of the Christmas, Actually anthology and it features two friends turned enemies who end up being the town’s Mr. and Mrs. Claus for the holidays. Like with all the Patterson’s Bluff books, it features a funny, furry sidekick.

I’m also getting ready to kick off a brand new small town series, called Kissing Creek. Book #1 is done and will be out in October and I’m writing book #2 at the moment. This town is so much fun! They’ve all leaned into their silly name and the whole town is full of kissing puns. There’s also a mean llama who likes to terrorize the towns folk Book one features a down-on-her-luck Barista slash trivia genius and a sexy professor with big dreams, and book two features a librarian with a taste for sexy novels and a major league pitcher whose home to nurse an injury.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 Mystery signed paperback

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Excerpt from Her Aussie Holiday:

They approached the beach’s outdoor showers, which were designed for people to quickly wash the sand and sea-water from their bodies before heading to their cars. A teenage boy with a boogie board stood under one shower and a mother occupied the one closest to the carpark, wrangling two chubby-limbed youngsters so deftly, Trent wondered if she had extra arms.
“After you,” he said, motioning for Cora to take the last unoccupied shower.
“I’ve been waiting all day for this.” Cora set her bag and sandals down next to Trent and then stripped her dress over her head.
Underneath, she wore a white bikini with little gold beads dangling from the ties at her shoulders and hips. Trent almost tripped over his own feet at the sight of it. Cora might not have ever played sports, but spin class was definitely working for her.
Her body was lean and strong, with legs that seemed to go on forever. And an ass that filled out her bikini bottoms to perfection.
Clearing his throat, he pretended to look at his phone as she strode toward the last shower. The teenage boy next to her did a double-take so comical, it looked almost as if it could have been staged. Cora was oblivious, driven by the desire she’d mentioned to wash the long flight from her skin. The water streamed over her, soaking her hair and gliding over her body. Making her glisten. Streams ran in rivulets along her back, over the curve of her butt, and down the backs of her thighs.
Trent’s mouth was suddenly drier than the sandy ground beneath his feet. Lust gripped him at the base of his spine, an instant need pulsing in time with his accelerated heartbeat. He dragged his eyes away—but not quickly enough. He’d need to be careful of that.
“I never knew a shower could make me feel that good,” Cora said with a blissful sigh.
Trent nodded, keeping his eyes on the crashing waves. Maybe if he counted them as they rolled in, his body would calm down enough that he could look Cora in the eye without thinking anything inappropriate.
“I feel like a brand-new human being,” she added.
Trent glanced back in her direction to see she’d turned around. Now the flat plane of her stomach was exposed, and the sight of her perky breasts barely kept in place by the skimpy white triangles was enough to melt him like an ice cream on a summer’s day. He caught sight of a small tattoo on her upper thigh, something black and white that was small and a little difficult to make out. He would never have pegged her to be the kind of girl hiding some ink under her skirt.
The teenage boy was scurrying in the direction of the carpark now, averting his eyes from Cora’s body and strategically holding his boogie board in front of him.
I feel your pain, buddy.
“Nice tatt,” Trent said, determined to keep his mind on a subject that felt safe, rather than letting his thoughts wander to how easily he could snap those bikini strings with his teeth.
She’s your sister’s friend, dude. Not cool.
“Oh, thanks.” Cora turned the taps off and squeezed the water out of her long hair. “It’s in the perfect hide-from-your-parents place.”
“They’re not a fan of sports or ink?”
“Just two items in a long list of many things I was never supposed to indulge in,” she said drily. When she came closer, he could see it was a small creature—a caterpillar. It was inked only in fine black lines, almost minimalist in design. It seemed an unusual choice.
“I’ve seen a lot of butterfly tattoos in my day, but not many caterpillars.”
“I have a theory on that,” she said, pulling her dress over her head. Since her body was damp, it stuck to her in places, but the fabric was thin and the balmy breeze would have her dry in no time at all. “Lots of people choose the butterfly as the representation for metamorphosis, because it’s the end state. The goal. And so many people want to be the butterfly now. They want the beauty and the admiration, without putting in the work required of the caterpillar. Yet without the caterpillar, there is no butterfly.”
“That’s very profound.”
“I guess I’d rather be at a point where there’s still hope and good things in front of me, than just wishing to rush to the end.” Cora’s cheeks flushed. “But that was probably way more information that you wanted.”
She gave him a gentle shove toward the showers, her pale-blue gaze not quite meeting his. Trent wasn’t sure he’d ever met someone where his initial impression had been so swiftly turned on its heel.
And, against his better judgment, Cora Cabot had him officially intrigued.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Book Info:

Cora Cabot’s life is falling apart. So when her Australian friend announces she’s secured an internship in the States, Cora has a brilliant idea: house swap! Small-town Australia sounds like the perfect getaway. Only, when she gets there, the house isn’t empty. Turns out her friend’s hot Australian brother is staying there, too—and he doesn’t look happy to see her.

The last thing Trent Walters needs is a roommate for the summer. Especially an American who immediately floods the house and single-handedly destroys the family project his sister created for their parents’ anniversary. Now, not only does Cora insist on helping fix the house, he needs her help re-creating the family scrapbook. And glitter is not his forte.

But between late nights cooking, pints at the local pub, and competitive matches of cricket on the beach, Cora starts to break through Trent’s defenses. Too bad Cora made a promise to return to working with her father at the end of the summer—a promise she can’t break—because this holiday is starting to feel like one she never wants to end.
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Meet the Author:

Stefanie London is a multi award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romances and romantic comedies.

Stefanie’s books have been called “genuinely entertaining and memorable” by Booklist, and “Elegant, descriptive and delectable” by RT magazine. Her stories have won multiple industry awards, including the HOLT Medallion and OKRWA National Reader’s Choice Award, and she has been nominated for the Romance Writers of America RITA award.

Originally from Australia, Stefanie now lives in Toronto with her very own hero and is currently in the process of doing her best to travel the world. She frequently indulges in her passions for good coffee, lipstick, romance novels and anything zombie-related.
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