Spotlight & Giveaway: Puck and Prejudice by Lia Riley

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lia Riley to HJ!

Hi Lia and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Puck and Prejudice!

Thanks so much. Hi, Everybody.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

A modern hockey player, Tucker Taylor, accidentally time travels to 1812 England after falling into an icy pond. There he meets Lizzy Wooddash, a free-spirited woman who wants to avoid marriage and live independently like widows can. They form a plan: marry so Tucker can return to his time, leaving Lizzy a “widow” with the freedom she desires. But as they fall in love, they must decide if their growing feelings are worth sacrificing their original goals.
 

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

“Do you know what’s the most powerful thing a woman can be? Happy.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Jane Austen is my heroine’s BFF.
• I came up with the name of the book in the shower.
• One book I ready as research was Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin,
• I’ve ready every single one of Jane Austen’s books.
• I really love Korean Dramas and I put in some Easter Eggs from popular tropes, including a Regency version of the “white truck of doom”
• I was inspired by the concept of “isekai” a genre often found in anime (that also has influenced Korean dramas) where a character portals to a different time or place through water.
• I had a 104 fever (with the flu) when I wrote the logistics of time travel scene.
• I dedicated the book to Min Yoongi: my bias in BTS. I am really inspired by his passion for creative work and his drive motivated me to return to writing.

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

Lizzy has one heck of a throwing arm. And Tucker is genuinely curious and listens to Lizzy when she talks to him.

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

I don’t want to give away a lot of the plot but I cried when writing a separation moment.

“You are …” Her voice trembled as she trailed off, wiping her eyes. “You are the first person has ever seen me, all of my parts, the good and bad, and didn’t turn away or ask me to be someone else.”

Readers should read this book….

If you want a feisty heroine who wants her man, but also her friends and interests. Also, you will like if you prefer a golden retriever/himbo hero who respects women.

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

My next release is the second installation of The Regals Hockey Romance series. It is called The E.M.M.A Effect and is inspired by Jane Austen’s EMMA, of course. There is no time travel this time but there is a twist.

Logline: When an AI program, E.M.M.A, designed to help athletes maximize their performance suddenly starts matchmaking instead, will NHL center Gale Knight and computer guru Harriet Smythe, discover E.M.M.A knows best?
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Signed copy of Puck and Prejudice: US only

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you could travel to any time period, when would it be and why?

 
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Excerpt from Puck and Prejudice:

“Just keep looking at the birds.”

A few were flying by, nothing special or out of the ordinary, but having Lizzy pressed up close made it more interesting.

“The moors have a certain charm, don’t they?” she murmured.

“Is that what these are?” The landscape was bleak, devoid of trees or cheer.

“This feels more romantic to me that. . .” She inclined her head toward the couple busy cooing. “Out there I can imagine feelings get very stark, almost painful. There are no distractions to your thought, so it’s just you and your ugly heart against the horizon.”

“Ugly heart? That doesn’t sound very poetic.”

“But it’s true.” She pressed her lips to his ear. “Real hearts aren’t happy all the time. And they aren’t perfect. They get angry, envy, hunger for more, and still crave. But we are all beautiful in our ugly little ways as well. At least that is what I think.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

From the author of Mister Hockey comes a sizzling marriage of convenience romance between a pro hockey player who accidentally travels back in time to Regency Era England and the brazen contemporary of Jane Austen he just can’t help but fall for…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a modern single man in possession of a hockey jersey may be exactly what a Regency woman needs to avoid the shackles of marriage…

Goalie for the Austin Regals, Tucker Taylor is benched due to health issues. So he decides to visit his sister in England. But an accidental plunge into an icy pond thrusts him back to 1812 where he comes face to face with a captivating blue-eyed woman who regards him as if he’s grown two heads.

Lizzy Wooddash dreams of a life surrounded by books, engaging conversation, the presence of literary icons like Jane Austen, and… nary a husband in sight. But in Regency England, only widows like her cousin Georgie enjoy freedom and solitary pursuits, unencumbered by expectations. The only way to quickly become a widow is by marrying a dying man or killing a perfectly healthy one, neither of which Lizzy desires.

A visitor from the future might just be the husband of her dreams. Once married, they can figure out how to return Tucker to his proper time, and his absence—aka death—will make Lizzy the widow she always dreamed of becoming. Yet as sparks ignite, they soon realize that matters of the heart rarely adhere to carefully laid plans. Can their love stand the test of time, or will Lizzy get exactly what she wanted…as well as a broken heart?
Book Links: Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Lia Riley is a contemporary romance author. She loves redwood forests, beach fog, procrastinating, BTS, and matcha tea. She is 25% sarcastic, 54% optimistic, and 122% bad at math (good thing she writes happy endings for a living). She and her family are lucky to live on Monterey Bay in California.

You can find her co-hosting the weekly Afternoona Delight Podcast, exploring the wonderful (and trope-filled) world of Korean Dramas through a writer’s lens. She also co-hosts the Afternoon Army podcast to boot.
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