Spotlight & Giveaway: Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jenn McKinlay to HJ!

Hi Jenn McKinlay and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Love at First Book!

 
Hi, Readers, I’m so excited to be visiting HJ today! Thanks so much for inviting me. XO Jenn
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

LOVE AT FIRST BOOK is a love story for book lovers. A librarian, a bookshop owner, and an author are each at a turning point in their life and it’s only when they all come together that they are given the opportunity to make peace with the past, finish the things they’ve left undone, and, in the case of the librarian and the bookseller, find their soul mate.
 

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

“There is simply no getting over you for me.”

“It was you. All of my daydreams were always about you.”

“Are you telling me that if I met you on top of the Empire State Building, holding an overly large radio above my head, playing “In Your Eyes’, whilst saying, “As you wish”, you’d forgive me anything?”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I drove the Ring of Kerry to experience what the heroine Emily would when having Kieran teach her to drive. Much of the driving scenes were taken from that trip verbatim—only it was Irish cab drivers teaching me and not handsome bookshop owners.
• The food in Ireland is amazing. We enjoyed high tea, boxtys, and the absolute best sticky toffee pudding I’ve ever had.
• Out of all the places I’ve traveled in the world, the Irish were the funniest and the friendliest. Impossible not to have a grand time in Ireland.

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

The hero Kieran is conflicted. He hates change and makes all of his decisions based on what is best for his mother, who’s been ill, and what will maintain his narrow comfort margin. His growth is delightful.

The heroine is a book nerd after my own heart. Born into a neglectful family, books have been her friends, mentors, and comfort her entire life. I know exactly how she feels. When she takes charge of her life and goes after what she wants, it makes my heart sing.

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

All of the above! But I don’t want to give any spoilers, so we’ll go with the laughing scene.

Mick the village barber is giving Emily some driving advice:

Mick laughed. He hunched over and looked past Kier at me. “You’re the girl from the States, yeah?”
“I’m the woman from Massachusetts, yes,” I said. I took in his crooked smile and perfectly trimmed sideburns. He had a beak of a nose but the sideburns made it seem less so.
“Might I give you a bit of advice?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” I said.
“When driving in Ireland, you always want to keep your passenger safe,” he said. “To that end, you want to keep the passenger side of the car closest to the curb. That’s how you’ll always know which lane to be in.”
I nodded. “Keep the passenger on the curb. That makes sense. Thank you very much.”
“An easier way to remember it if you’re likely to forget is ‘keep the bitch in the ditch’,” Mick said.
“Oh!” I laughed in surprise. I had to give it to him, it was a catchy way to remember.
Mick glanced at Kier and added, “That makes you the bitch, Murph.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Kier said. He wasn’t laughing, in fact, he looked a bit annoyed.

Readers should read this book….

For a free trip to Ireland! Plus, loads of laughs, some tears, a nice bit of spice, and happily ever after.

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

I’m currently working on my first cozy fantasy about a librarian who discovers she can raise the dead. Books of Dubious Origin will come out in 2025. Upcoming releases are a cupcake bakery mystery -Fondant Fumble – in June and a library lover’s mystery – and A Merry Little Murder Plot – in October.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 giveaway winner, Print copy of LOVE AT FIRST BOOK. US only.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: I’m one of the very lucky authors who gets to write in multiple genres. So far, I’ve written romances and mysteries and I’m venturing into fantasy. As a reader do you read any genre an author writes, if you like the author, or do you stick to just one genre?

 
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Excerpt from Love at First Book:

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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Book Info:

When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author’s prickly son… until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.

Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.

Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.

Emily persists, and spending her days bantering with the annoyingly handsome mercurial Irishman only makes her fall more deeply in love with the new life she’s built – and for the man who seems to soften toward her with every quip she throws at him. But when she discovers the reason for Kieran’s initial resistance, Em finds herself torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her now undeniable feelings for Kier. As Siobhan’s novel progresses, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.
 
 

Meet the Author:

Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars