Spotlight & Giveaway: Love at First Flight by Janine Amesta

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Janine Amesta to HJ!

Hi Janine Amesta and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Love at First Flight!

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

Love at First Flight is about a woman, Selah, who takes over piloting her dad’s hot air balloon business after his sudden death. As she struggles to find her footing and keep everything together for her family, she meets a potential client, a state park ranger named Dex, for whom she feels an instant connection. Unfortunately, he’s hiring her in order to propose to his current girlfriend. So all seems lost until the proposal goes badly, and then months later they start bumping into each other again, and this time sparks fly.
 

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

Her laugh lit up his whole world. Her smile dazzled him. He’d take her tears, but he wanted her joy.

I think this perfectly describes the relationship between Selah and Dex, which is why I love it. Selah always feels like she needs to be strong, to be a rock for people to lean against. In Dex, she finds the one person she can be vulnerable with, someone who’s willing to take some of her burden. And, in knowing her, he’s discovering that he’s willing to lean into the messy parts of life in order to find a love he can truly delve into.

What inspired this book?

The book takes place in the High Desert, which is an area located in Central Oregon and also my current home. Not only is the area beautiful and inspiring due to nature, but we also have a local hot-air balloon business and a yearly hot-air balloon Night Glow Festival. Sometimes when taking an early morning walk, I’d spot a hot-air balloon overhead, and it sparked my imagination. I don’t care how old you are—seeing a hot-air balloon always feels a little bit magical and fantastical. I thought it would be cool to wrap a romance series around a small family-owned business like that.

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

As an eldest daughter myself, Selah and I share many qualities, and as I started to write her, I felt like I already knew her really well. It seems like an eldest daughter was always expected to help out and, therefore, mature faster than the younger siblings. And because of this, there’s a certain aspect of her that tends to feel very closed off, especially after her father unexpectedly dies and she must take over his reins. I gave her Dex, someone who’s sweet but can also be a little goofy, so she’s allowed to recapture that feeling of being carefree again because it’s what she needs most in her life. And, in turn, she helps ground him.

Before I even start drafting a new story, I always write pages upon pages on just the characters alone. I think about what they want in life, what they need, how they see the world…just whatever I can think of until they start to feel complex and real to me. I’m always asking myself, if this one character is missing this, how can it be filled by this other character and vice versa? I’m always striving to make it feel like the characters truly belong together.

What was your favorite scene to write?

I love writing the scene where Selah finds herself on a bad date she’s been forced to take after losing a bet with her sisters. She, coincidentally, ends up at the same brewery Dex is at. And even though, at this point in the story, Dex is a little miffed at her, (and also drunk), he can’t help himself and still wants to rescue her. It was a really fun chapter to write. Below is a small snippet of when Dex has had enough and finally crashes the date.

“Oh my God! Selah?” The booming voice was followed by a man nearly crashing into their table. “It is you! God! It’s been forever! How’ve you been?”
“Dex?” It took her a second, but the disheveled man with a red flushed face, who was definitely not sober, was the familiar park ranger. His hazel eyes were glassy, his smile a little too bright. Him looking at her as though she was a long-lost friend wasn’t an unpleasant experience, even while knowing it wasn’t true. Being on a date with a man who was becoming more lecherous made Dex a welcoming sight.
“Hey, I’m Dex. State. Park. Ranger.” He pointed to a spot over his chest before glancing down and realizing he wore street clothes and not his uniform. It didn’t seem to bother him, though, as he awkwardly lowered his finger and addressed Kevin again while taking the extra seat at the table. “Anyway, did you know this is Captain Selah? The Captain Selah, world’s greatest balloonist in the world,” he said to Kevin.
Her date looked confused. “Like balloon animals?”
Before Selah could correct him, Dex jumped in. “No, you dump truck. Hot-air balloons. In the sky. She pilots them. So smooth you’d think you were floating on a cloud or a balloon . . . or a balloon made of clouds.”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

The most difficult scene was probably when Robert’s (her father’s) ashes were scattered off the hot-air balloon. As someone who lost my own father only a couple of years ago, it was very emotional, and I remember crying as I wrote it. I always get super attached to my characters, so when they’re in their feelings, I’m in it with them. It’s a very bittersweet scene in that it’s not just sadness they experience but also some joy. The heavy weight of holding on is lifted because it allows not only Selah but also the rest of the family to finally move forward when they’d been a little stuck and worried they wouldn’t be able to do it without him.

Tipping the bag over the side, the wind took Robert away. He was flying, he was free and, in a way, Selah was free too.
There was something odd in letting go. One always assumed it would be the hardest thing in the world, but when the time was right, it was also easy. The weirdest part was that Selah didn’t feel that way about the business. Earlier that week, she had talked to another potential pilot and he hadn’t felt right, either, but maybe it was because she was looking for another Robert and there wasn’t another one. He was one of a kind. She was trying to have it both ways in getting someone else to take over because she was afraid she’d never live up to her dad, while also finding no one worthy enough to take over his legacy because they wouldn’t love The Blue Wonder and the business as much as she and her dad did.

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

If you’ve loved previous Janine Amesta books, like the Love in El Dorado series, then you should enjoy this new one. It’s very much in my writing style where it’s a little sweet, a little sad, but ultimately has a lot of hope in it. And I think these are the type of romance stories we need these days.

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

I want people to love these characters as much as I have. I’m actually a little disappointed that they were invented in my head and aren’t actually real. For me, that’s the whole point of reading romances: to fall a little bit in love every time.

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

I have two more books in this series, Love is in the Air, and they focus on Selah’s other two sisters, who also help her run the hot-air balloon business. The Wedding Con comes out in September of this year, and The Love Feud releases in March of next year.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Winner will receive one ebook copy of LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT from Tule Publishing along with one additional ebook from Tule Publishing of the winner’s choice.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Floating in a hot-air balloon is a unique way to see the sights. When you’re sightseeing, what’s your favorite way to do so?

 
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Excerpt from Love at First Flight:

Fate sometimes had terrible timing.

In her twenty-nine years, Selah Moreno had found this to be true more times than not. How unfair it all was when Robert, her stepdad, used to tell her about how he’d dreamed of nothing more than becoming a commercial airline pilot, only to work his family’s farm for most of his life instead. Sure, he could have run off, joined the Air Force, found any way to make it happen, but that wasn’t the kind of man he was.

“A military way of life just wasn’t for me, and besides, then I met you and your mom,” he’d told her one time. A younger Selah decided then and there that a military life wasn’t for her either. It wasn’t until she was older did she realize Robert meeting her and her mom was one of those fated roadblocks keeping him from his dream, even if he’d never stated this directly. This roadblock was followed by more, first with the death of his father, which was soon followed by the death of his mother, resulting in Robert inheriting the Central Oregon alfalfa farm.

Despite having two of his own biological daughters with Selah’s mother after marriage, he’d always made special time for her. Perhaps because, like her, he was also adopted and raised by a father who wasn’t his biological one. They’d often take short car rides to the next town over to watch planes land and take off at the small Redmond airport. Sitting on the car hood while drinking blue raspberry slushies from 7-11, he’d wrap a big arm around her small, bony shoulders and blow her young mind with things he’d learn about the weather or flying. Such as when the sun warms the Earth’s surface, it can create strong, unpredictable winds, so the best time to fly is early morning, at sunrise. This was what he considered to be the best, most peaceful time of the day, the golden hour.

He was a collector of weather gadgets, put-together model planes, was obsessed with shows like Star Trek, and would tell her about his plans to take aviation lessons. And because Selah loved the man so much, she’d come to love any topic he was interested in.

As a kid, she realized there were people who should have loved her but didn’t. Her biological father, for example. Then there were people like Robert, who came into her and her mom’s life when she was five years old and didn’t have to love her, but he did, anyway. Selah was lucky because she’d been chosen when he didn’t have to pick. And while they didn’t share genes or physical similarities—she had a tanner complexion due to her Mexican-American heritage for one—she’d always felt included. Robert was her dad, and she was his daughter in every respect of the word. She was a Moreno.

Robert and Selah’s shared love of the sky was something that connected them together. When he watched his favorite movie, Galaxy Quest, or episodes of Star Trek, there was Selah right beside him, resting her head on the worn arm of her mother’s floral sofa, sharing a bowl of microwaved movie theater popcorn with him.

Finally, the day came when, after years and years of planning, Robert was going to take flight lessons at a small private airport in Prineville, a town not too far from their farm in Terrebonne. Selah had been ten at the time and was never more excited or proud. Her dad was doing it—he was going after his dream. He promised her when he’d put in enough flight hours, he’d take her on a special ride.

“You’ll be my Number One,” he told her.

“Like Commander Riker?”

“Yup, that’s right.”

Selah started teasingly referring to him as Captain Picard, referring to the famous officer from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which soon became Captain for short, much to the annoyance of her younger sisters. They didn’t always understand their bond. They didn’t know Selah had already planned on being a captain, too, just like their dad.

Except the special flight never happened because, as fate would have it, soon after completing his flight certification, he got a detached retina in his right eye. He had a medical procedure, so the vision returned in that eye, but not well enough to make being a commercial pilot a viable option anymore. So his piloting dreams floated out of reach once again.

“It’ll be okay, Number One,” he’d tell her. “We’ll figure it out. We’re going on that special flight together someday.”

Amazingly, Robert did figure it out. He got certified, bought a secondhand hot-air balloon setup, and started High Desert Tours right on the farm. Her mother, Elena, bought him a leather bomber jacket. He wore it and a blue baseball hat with Captain embroidered across the front almost every day. “She’s called The Blue Wonder. Hot-air balloons are like ships of the sky. It’s good luck to name them,” he’d proudly told his family.

When he’d go on a flight, he’d point to the sky and dorkily say in his best fake Captain Picard impression, “Engage.” This elicited eye rolls from her sisters, but never failed to generate a chuckle from Selah. She found it especially funny since the balloon would gracefully float upwards at a rate not even close to warp speed.

Being a captain of a hot-air balloon may not have been what some people considered to be a “real pilot,” but Robert and Selah knew differently. She was right there by his side to help and be his Number One. Eventually, Selah had saved enough from years of working at a local grocery store and attended the same aviation school as he had.

“Permission to come aboard, Captain,” she said one morning after being part of the chase crew, helping to tether the basket, technically known as the gondola, upon landing and assisting passengers as they disembarked.

Her dad gave her his usual crooked smile, the one showing a chipped front tooth he’d never bothered getting fixed, the result of an old boyhood accident. “Permission granted, Number One.”

She saddled the edge of the gondola while retrieving an email on her phone, displaying her final license acceptance. Selah then excitedly told him about a job interview with a transport airline company that promised to continue training her. She hoped to make enough money from this to eventually pay for commercial pilot flight school. It was a unique opportunity that had been brought to her attention by one of her flight instructors. There was a sparkle of tears in his eyes at this news, but then he grabbed her, pulling her into the basket, and wrapped her in a rough hug.

“Did you tell your mother?” The question was muffled, with his face pressed into her hair.

“Not yet. I’ll talk to her after the interview. You know she’s not going to be happy if I tell her I might be moving to Portland.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t blame her. I don’t want you to leave either. But I’m proud of you, kid. I’m going to miss having my Number One around.”

“You’re going to be okay . . . you know, with the business?” Selah had always tried to help and learn about the business as much as she could between school and work. It helped that her father mostly booked flights early in the morning, the best time, after all. Still, she worried about her parents, with them growing older. Her sisters didn’t necessarily pitch in as much as they should. Naomi was better than Hailey. The latter seemed to have gotten into a frame of mind that she was the designated princess of the family and didn’t need to be responsible for anything.

“Sure. You know I can handle it. Besides, you’re going to be a big-shot pilot soon. When they see how good you are, you’ll be in the captain’s chair before you know it.”

Despite her initial excitement, she sniffled, because the reality of the situation was sinking in. She was possibly leaving, striking off on her own to create a different future, to be away from her family. Part of her wondered why she was doing it, and thought maybe she didn’t want to leave. Unlike Hailey, she didn’t have the confidence of thinking of herself as the greatest thing ever. Propping herself up alone was a little scary.

She resigned herself to the single sniffle while pressing her face into his strong shoulder, and allowed no other emotions to escape because pilots weren’t supposed to cry.

“You’re going to take me on that special flight soon, right?”

“Yeah, of course, Dad. I’m going to take you on all the special flights.”

He gently patted her back. “Good. Did I tell you I’m getting a new envelope?” The envelope was the balloon portion of a hot-air balloon setup.

“What’s wrong with The Blue Wonder?”

“Nothing. It’s just time for a change, and it’s blue.”

“I thought you liked blue.”

“I do, but during the summer, it doesn’t really stand out when the sky is the same shade. This one is more colorful. You’ll like it. You can help me name it. With this new envelope, I think business will pick up even more. We’ll do even better than Soaring Over Oregon.” His rivalry with the other hot-air balloon company had always been entertaining. It was fun to play along, as though there was a long and deep hatred for this other company located near Bend. All families should have an imaginary Hatfield and McCoy situation. It kept things interesting.

“They have nothing on you, Captain Picard,” she said, giving him a lazy salute. “What’s the new envelope look like?”

“Nope. Nice try. You’re not going to get it out of me. You’ll just have to wait and see when it comes.” He then peppered her with advice in preparation for her Portland trip, such as getting her tire pressure checked and making sure her phone was fully charged and looking up weather conditions before traveling through the Mount Hood region. “You want to give yourself plenty of time to get there. No opportunity is worth rushing and risking your safety.”

“I know,” she said, already planning to get up early because, in their family, minus Hailey, it was already a habit to do so.

When the morning of her trip arrived, she’d gotten a little later start than she had hoped, but was more than halfway to Portland when her phone rang.

“Hello?” she answered on speaker phone.

“Selah, it’s Elena.” Her mother using her own name when calling her daughter should have been a sign something wasn’t right. It struck Selah as odd, but before she could make a joke, her mother gasped a choked sob. “He’s gone, mija,” and then she rambled more sentences, a mixture of both Spanish and English.

“What? What do you mean?” There was a brief moment of panic, where her heart ascended into her throat, before Selah switched off each emotion. She shifted into calm piloting mode in order to understand what turbulent problem she was about to find herself flying through. “Mom? Mom. I need you to calm down. Take a breath and then tell me what’s going on.” Selah found a road turnout to pull onto.

Taking a long shuddering breath, Elena said, “He’s gone. Your dad died. I tried to wake him, but he wouldn’t wake up. I don’t know—What are we going to do now?” The question ended on a wail as sobs overtook her mother once again.

As close as Selah was with Robert, despite finding herself now entirely captainless, she didn’t fall apart like her mother. Maybe something broke inside her. The sting of tears never crept past the barrier of her eyes, and she quickly blinked those away. “Okay, I’m coming over there. It’s going to be a little bit because I’m currently on the road—”

“Where are you? I don’t want you to get into an accident. Ay, mi roca. I can’t take it if something happens to you too.”

“I’m fine. I’m going to turn around. Did you call an ambulance this morning?” She asked while driving her car onto the opposite side of the highway once it was safe.

“Yes.”

“Okay, good. That’s good. Are Naomi and Hailey with you?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, ask Naomi if she can call Aunt Becky.” Her large extended family lived an hour away, but they were closer in distance than Selah at the moment. Both her Aunt Becky and Uncle José had calming spirits and could provide the strength her mother needed right now. “I think you would feel better if your sister and tío José were there while you waited for me. When I get there, we can all figure out what we need to do together. Okay?”

“Okay, but please be careful, mija. You’ll be strong and steady like a rock, right?”

“I’m going to be careful. I’m coming, okay?”

“Okay.”

Selah wouldn’t go to her interview or any other interview after that. She realized her world had completely shifted then. A tear finally broke free and she angrily dashed it away with the sleeve of her shirt, feeling horrible and selfish to be angry at the universe for snatching away her and her dad’s dream once again.

But she knew there wasn’t any point to her anger.

It was just fate sometimes had terrible timing.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Can the most awkward ‘Meet Cute’ lead to something real?

When Selah Moreno‘s father unexpectedly dies, she abandons her dream job as an airline pilot to helm her family’s struggling hot air balloon business. While piloting is in Selah’s blood, the pressure of being everyone’s rock leaves little room to breathe. It’s no wonder she gets caught up in the daydream of flirting with a handsome potential client…until she finds out he’s booking a proposal flight.

Smith Rock park ranger Dex Westerly wants to take his relationship to the next level, but nothing goes right. His proposal is rejected and a rogue wind tips the basket upon landing, sending the pretty and curvaceous balloon pilot into his lap where she makes an ill-timed joke, increasing his humiliation.

Months later, Dex and Selah bump into each other and bond over business struggles. Dex proposes a marketing partnership to promote her balloon tours while raising funds for the park’s new wildlife rescue program. Sparks fly between them, and when a promotional social media post goes viral, they’re pushed into a pretend whirlwind romance that starts to feel too close to love.

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Meet the Author:

Janine Amesta has loved reading kissing stories most of her life. She currently resides in Oregon with her husband and their pets, Hitchcock and Pippin. She studied screenwriting in college and her banter is influenced by the screwball romantic comedies of the 1930’s. She’s always on the lookout for the perfect line.
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