Spotlight & Giveaway: Just for Show by Julie Hamilton

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Julie Hamilton to HJ!

Hi Julie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Just for Show!

 
Hi! Thanks for having me!
 

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

Just for Show is a contemporary romance about an aspiring photographer, Audrey, and a home renovation TV star, Luke, who meet-cute on an airplane. When he messes up his chance to ask her out, he turns to Twitter to find her—and his tweet ends up going viral. His producers present him with a deal: If he spends the summer posting pictures of his dates with Audrey and getting high ratings for the network, they’ll pick up a full season of his new show. The only problem? He’s not dating her.

Audrey is in shock about going viral, but when they reconnect and Luke presents her with the idea of fake dating for social media, she can’t resist the opportunity to get attention for her new photography business. But keeping things fake proves harder than either of them thought…especially when they go away for a weekend and there’s only one bed.
 

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

“You’re not worried about following the rules?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.
“I’m an excellent rule follower.”
“So you’re not planning on breaking any of them? Not a single one?”
“Only if you ask me to.”

What inspired this book?

Meet-cutes that have gone viral. It feels like there have been a number of them in the past few years, but this book was inspired by a tweet I saw from an athlete who hit it off with a woman on a plane but didn’t get a chance to ask her out before they lost track of each other in the airport. As soon as I saw the tweet, a plot bunny was born. I also wanted to explore what it’s like navigating viral fame for the people involved, especially for someone who’s not famous, like Audrey.

Home renovation and real estate shows! I’m a big fan of HGTV. House Hunters is one of my favorite shows.

Chicago. I’ve lived here for 10 years and wanted to make sure the city was a vibrant setting for the story and didn’t just fade into the background.

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

I do a lot of work before I start writing to get to know my characters and their backstories. I think about their goals, motivations, and conflicts, and events in their lives that have helped shape who they are. I also like to figure out their zodiac signs because I’m into astrology.

Luke and Audrey were a lot of fun to get to know. I always knew Audrey was going to be a bit of a nerd about planning things—her job at the beginning of the book involves planning conferences—but her love of rules, lists, and spreadsheets came out as I was writing. Yes, she’s a Virgo.

What was your favorite scene to write?

I loved writing the scene where Luke takes Audrey to a photography-themed bar (which is a real place in Chicago). It takes place about halfway through the book, and it’s the first time one of their dates feels like a real date.

She pulled out her phone to snap pictures of the charcuterie board once it arrived at the table. She took a photo of her drink, too, and finally, she aimed her phone at him. With his elbows on the table, he leaned in.
“Are you taking my picture?” He meant to tease her, but the question came out sounding serious.
“Is that okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” He kept his eyes on her. “Is this for social media?”
“No,” she said, pursing her lips. She glanced at him over the top of her phone. “It’s for me.”
Goose bumps prickled along the back of his neck. His chest expanded with hope and pleasure and some other emotion he couldn’t name.
“Okay,” he finally said.
“Ready?”
He nodded. With a tap of her finger, she took the photo. She lowered the phone and stared at the screen. Her face softened with a smile.
“Oh, this is nice,” she said. “It’s a good picture of you.”
“Can I see?”
She turned her phone toward him and slid it across the table. Their fingers brushed as he reached for the device. Audrey exhaled softly at the brief moment of contact. Warmth spread through his fingertips and up his arm, a pleasant buzz that traveled through the rest of his limbs. He looked up at her, and her face flushed when she met his eyes.
“Well, look,” she said, nodding toward the phone.
In the photo, he leaned toward her, his head tilted to the side. One corner of his mouth quirked up. He gave her—and there was no other way to describe it—an adoring stare.
That was how he looked at her? Shit, he had it bad. And he didn’t care that she knew.

What was the most difficult scene to write?

The most difficult scene to write was when Audrey realizes she needs to apologize to Luke for saying the wrong thing at the worst possible moment. Their entire relationship moving forward hinged on her getting that apology right.

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

It definitely showcases my writing style. It’s got humor and heat, strong female friendships, and it’s set in Chicago. All of those things show up again and again in my writing.

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

I want people to smile when they finish this book. Just for Show was fun to write, and I hope it’s just as fun to read. I also want people to see the importance of going after what you want in life, and how that might not always look like what you originally expected. Audrey is navigating starting a new business and pursuing a lifelong dream after quitting a job that wasn’t right for her. Luke is figuring out that the vision he had for himself professionally doesn’t align with what’s best for him personally. They both do some soul-searching to figure out what will make them happy.

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

I’m currently working on a sequel to Just for Show, which stars two side characters you’ll meet in Luke and Audrey’s story. It’s a grumpy/sunshine forced proximity romance where she’s the grump and he’s the sunshine.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One (1) mass market paperback copy of JUST FOR SHOW by Julie Hamilton. (Open to US and Canada)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: This book involves a home renovation show, so what’s your favorite home renovation (or real estate/house hunting) show?

 
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Excerpt from Just for Show:

In the conservatory’s lobby, she grabbed a map and they headed into the palm house. The warm, damp air in the room pressed in on them as they wound their way past palm trees and other tropical plants.
Luke’s arm brushed against hers. He leaned down and said in her ear, “How couple-y are we supposed to be acting?”
She sucked in a breath at that brief moment of contact. His lips were so close to her ear. “What do you mean?”
“I mean those people over there keep looking over at us, and I think they recognize me. I’m wondering if we need to look like we’re actually on a date.”
“We are on a date.” They stopped at a curve in the path and she looked around him, trying to get a better view of the people checking them out.
“A fake date,” he corrected, “but we’re supposed to look like we’re on a real one.”
“Rule number four says—”
“Touching is only allowed in photos. I know.”
No touching kept things safe, uncomplicated. She’d put it on the list because she didn’t trust herself, not the other way around.
“Do we really need to play up being a couple?” she asked. “Doesn’t it only matter as long as we look like one in our posts?”
“People are going to see us out and about. Shouldn’t we sell it?”
Okay, he had a point. If people’s eyes were on them, they needed to look like they were actually together. They had to sell it online and offline to make this work. If even one person suspected their relationship wasn’t real and decided to tweet about it, they were both done for.
She looked around Luke again. Oh, crap. Those people were coming over here. The woman looked familiar, but Audrey couldn’t place her. A vendor she used to work with? Someone she’d met at the animal shelter? Regardless of who the woman was, Audrey had met her before.
They needed to look like they were on a real date within the next thirty seconds.
“Hold my hand.”
He stared at her open palm. “I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
“What happened to breaking the rules if I asked you to? I’m telling you to hold my hand. So hold it.”
“Yes, boss.” He took her hand, sliding their fingers together. His rough hand enveloped her softer one, his thumb rubbing a gentle circle on one of her knuckles. The soothing motion gave her a strange sense of comfort.
Yeah, she wasn’t going to overanalyze that.
He looked up from their joined hands. “Is this okay?” His voice dipped low on the question.
It was more than okay. It was fantastic.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

#Twitterbae forever…

They’ll fake a relationship for the social media exposure, but can they be more than a hashtag?

Here’s how things are going so far for me in Chicago:
1. Messed up my attempt at asking out the gorgeous woman next to me on the plane.
2. Couldn’t catch up to her at O’Hare.
3. I’m hoping she finds me on Twitter.
4. Maybe if she sees this, we can split another cheese plate sometime.

It doesn’t take long for Luke Murphy’s tweet to go viral. So it also doesn’t take long to reconnect with Audrey. Nailed it. But at what cost? His network has put his whole career as a TV home renovations carpenter on the line. A midair meet cute is exactly what they want.

After recovering from the shock, Audrey Whitaker can see the benefits of faking a relationship for social media exposure. She’ll get the publicity to launch her photography business—her lifelong dream—and she’ll get to spend time with a man who can, as his fans say, “really fill out a plaid shirt.”

Luke and Audrey agree to spend the summer together to get what they each need, then say goodbye. And to keep it professional, they’ll follow all the rules…except the “no kissing” one. And maybe the “no sex” one, too! But with so much on the line, they definitely can’t fall in love.

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Meet the Author:

Julie Hamilton has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She fell in love with romance novels during the summer between quitting her newspaper job and starting grad school, when she realized she was looking for a love story in every book she read. She writes contemporary romance with heat and humor that features characters chasing after their dreams—and finding happily ever after along the way. Originally from Pittsburgh, she now lives near Chicago.
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