Spotlight & Giveaway: Right Where We Left Us by Jen Devon

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jen Devon to HJ!

Hi Jen and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Right Where We Left Us!

Dear romance lovers, it feels a little surreal to finally be introducing you to Right Where We Left Us, my second contemporary romance. The seeds of this book were planted nearly a decade ago when I began writing what would become my 2022 debut, Bend Toward the Sun. I spent many years falling in love with this story–it was sort of my very own slow burn with my own characters. By the time I finished, I was so reluctant to leave the pages. For those of you who are new to my Brady universe–hello! You can absolutely read Right Where We Left Us as a standalone. In my books, you’ll find smart, stubborn, sexy leads, and slow burns that ignite in a big way. Add in a funny multigenerational supporting cast that regularly steals the scenes they’re in, plus a lush sense of place, and you won’t want to leave the pages, either. For those of you who are picking up Right Where We Left Us after meeting the Brady family in Bend Toward the Sun–welcome back to Vesper Valley.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Right Where We Left Us is the second chance romance between Temperance Madigan and Duncan Brady. They’ve been in each others’ lives since they were kids, when their older siblings got married. They fell wildly (and secretly) in love when they were eighteen, but due to some complicated history between their families, it fell apart in a devastating way. In this book, we’re fourteen years of false re-starts and messy (still secret) hookups later. Temperance’s best friend and another of Duncan’s brothers–the couple from my first book, Bend Toward the Sun–are engaged to be married, so they’re forced to come together at the Brady family vineyard in the weeks leading up to the wedding. It’s yet another inextricable connection between them, and they really begin to feel those strings pulling tighter, even though their lives had finally begun to take divergent paths. Fate isn’t about to let these two out of each other’s orbit.
 

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

have so many! But the first two that come to mind are:

The main difference between a mess and a masterpiece is time.

Duncan Brady kissed with his entire self. His mouth was just the messenger

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I’d intended it to be third in my Brady universe of books. As a reader, I really love when a series teases a will-they-or-won’t-they couple in the background, amping up tension over multiple books and hundreds of pages. I’d planned that for Temperance and Duncan, but after my husband (my first reader!) met them in Bend Toward the Sun, he insisted that their story be next. So, Right Where We Left Us exists in this moment because of him. It would inevitably have been a different story if I’d written it at any other time.
• Also–in all the Brady books, I use an element of nature as a metaphor throughout to amplify a theme. In Right Where We Left Us, water and rain are used to symbolize redemption and revitalization. This is a very…wet book.
• Finally–my debut Bend Toward the Sun followed its main couple over the course of a year, and it includes a significant third-act breakup. Since Temperance and Duncan have been stubbornly dancing around each other for nearly two decades, I decided to condense Right Where We Left Us into a single summer, and the “dark moment” in the third act is less of a breakup and more of a brief time-out. I figured they’d already suffered enough in their backstory. It was fun writing something that was so structurally different from my first novel.
• Originally, I wanted to have a title that clearly signaled that this was a sister book to Bend Toward the Sun. The story is also very hot and volatile at times–both atmospherically and sensually–so its first title was Burn Down the Sun. While that didn’t remain the title, the phrase is still in the book during some dialogue. The title later became The Embers of August, and even though that didn’t make the final cut either, there’s still a lot of fire and ember symbolism throughout.

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

Temperance and Duncan’s first go at a relationship was when they were eighteen, so I imagine that their initial spark was rooted in horny teenage infatuation–it wasn’t that deep. But the thing that kept them coming back is that they fully see each other. They had dramatically different upbringings, but they’re both fundamentally misunderstood by the other people in their lives. With each other, they’ve always been able to be their full authentic selves. It’s just icing on the proverbial romance cake that their sexual chemistry is cosmic and their senses of humor are beautifully compatible.

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

Temperance has had Duncan metaphorically on his knees for over half his life, and that power imbalance is reflected in the early sex scenes in Right Where We Left Us. Temperance says when, and where, and how. Near the end of the book, there’s a reckoning between them, and we’re in Duncan’s POV. He’s frustrated and at his breaking point, determined to show Temperance exactly how serious he is about her and their relationship. I also wanted to make sure that we saw bossy, composed Temperance fully unravel on the page. It’s a very long scene, and it’s really, really hot. Here’s a teaser:

One by one, he drew silver pins from her hair until the coil slid down under its own weight, then he untwisted the braid. Standing over her at the bedside, he shucked his shirt off while she removed everything but her panties. A tiny triangle of bronze satin with black lace embellishments at the hips.

His mouth flooded like he was a goddamned animal. He swallowed so hard it ached all the way into his chest.

“Your panties will be on my death certificate,” Duncan growled, dropping his pants.

She drew a finger up the center of the fabric. “You recognize these?”

“Yes.” Duncan gestured with a sideways bend of his wrist. “Off.”

“I haven’t gotten to thank you for them yet.”

“Thank me by taking them off. Now.”

She propped up on her elbows and let her legs drop open at the knees. Just barely. “Come take them.”

“No.” He kept his eyes on hers. “I want your full participation in this.”

A lock of her hair slid between her breasts when she dipped her head. “Is this a power struggle?”

“No.” He grabbed her ankles and hauled her to the edge of the bed. “This is a course correction. And it’s long overdue.”

Readers should read this book….

…if they enjoy slow burn romances that feature imperfect people finally getting it right. Soul-walloping yearning. A supporting cast that’s as interesting as the leads. Loads of steamy summer atmosphere–think sweet sunscreen on salty skin, campfire smoke and fireflies. Rain on hot earth and nighttime festivals. The heady scents of lake mud and honeysuckle, and the nostalgia of an abandoned drive-in theater on a country road. Right Where We Left Us is summer distilled onto paper.

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

I’m really fascinated by the authors who find success in a hybrid traditional-indie career. I’m working on some proposals for my current publisher, but as of right now, I don’t have anything under contract. I have plenty of ideas, though! At least two other Brady books are in different stages of development, and a magical realism romance with a multiverse spin is outlined–very different from anything I’ve written before. Back in 2017, I’d begun outlining an epic fantasy romance, but ultimately decided to focus on the contemporary romance that eventually became my debut Bend Toward the Sun instead. The fantasy romance manuscript has gradually expanded over the years, but it would likely take me way too long to finish it to be able to hop on the popularity surge of that subgenre right now. Really, I’m just trying to identify what it looks like for me to be authentic to myself and find fulfillment as an author, while still writing the kinds of stories people want to read.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 5 print books 0f RIGHT WHERE WE LEFT US by Jen Devon for giveaway, US only!

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Excerpt from Right Where We Left Us:

[In this excerpt, Temperance and Duncan are hanging strand lights in a greenhouse. She’s coming down from a ladder, and he’s holding it steady.]

It had been years since she’d been this close to his face in daylight. The terrain of his body was charted in her memory with indelible ink, but the landscape of him had changed. Smile lines made tiny starbursts at the outer corners of his eyes, and his skin was a bit more snug over high cheekbones.

He ducked his chin and raised his eyes. “What?”

“I was just—ah—” Temperance stalled to think of a deflection. “Looking at your beard.”

“What about my beard?”

“Just occurred to me I’ve never dated a guy with one.”

“Do you want to date me, Teacup?” His attention was conspicuously fixed on her mouth.

She rolled her eyes. “Please.”

“What’s wrong with beards?”

“They’re dirty.”

He laughed. “That’s a goddamned myth. They’re no dirtier than the person under them.” He paused for a second, then his tone dropped low. “I guess they can get messy sometimes—”

She knew exactly where his mind had gone, and hers eagerly followed right into a horny, high-fidelity flashback montage.

Duncan Brady had a memorably strong tongue.

“I don’t like how they feel.”

“If you’ve never been with someone with a beard, how do you know how they feel?”

“Inference, I guess.” The man plucked her nerves like a mandolin. She pressed her knee forward into his chest. “Move.”

He didn’t. He nudged his chin toward her. “Touch it.”

“What?”

“Touch my beard.”

Temperance laughed and bumped her glasses up with a knuckle. “Absolutely not.”

“I don’t bite.”

She gave him a long look. “Yes, you do.”

When he still didn’t move, she let out an exaggerated sigh and patted the dark hair along his jaw. She used only her fingertips, the way an elderly auntie would pacify a precocious child.

Oh.

Soft.

Temperance snapped her hand away and balled it into a fist.

The scent of him was baked into the weathered cotton of his T-shirt like a sensory transcript of his day. Smoky sawdust and clean, coppery sweat. A sweet hint of cloves. Something unidentifiable and a little volatile, like damp earth after rain. She wanted to press her face to the center of his chest and inhale.

He laughed, a single deep ha. “Weak. That was barely long enough to—”

She made an impatient sound and delved the fingers of both her hands into his beard. Curled, tugged. His cheeks gave a little beneath her knuckles. He rocked into her with a soft grunt. The tips of his ears were red, and his cheekbones were beginning to follow suit.

The ladder creaked where he gripped it, white-knuckled.

Her fingers loosened to splay gently around the bottom edges of his jaw. A muscle ticced there, and his breath was hot against her wrists.

“Temperance.” Duncan’s pupils dilated rapidly, conspicuous even within the deep brown of his irises.

Her muscles had turned to ribbons. “What?”

“Your glasses are fogging up,” he whispered.

“They are not—”

“Am I getting you steamed, Teacup?” His smile was all mischief.

She felt his low laugh deep in her belly. It set her temper to a simmer. She snatched her hands away and shoved him in the chest with her knee. “Go to hell, Duncan.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Perfect for fans of Carly Fortune and Lucy Score, Right Where We Left Us is a searing and unforgettable romance.

Temperance Jean Madigan and Duncan Brady have never gotten it right. After one radiant, secret summer together when they were eighteen, they’ve been on-again off-again ever since. Now, despite red-hot chemistry and TJ’s closeness with Duncan’s family, they’re virtually strangers, only capable of adversarial banter, awkward small talk—and the occasional messy hookup.

When a wedding at the Bradys’ vineyard lands TJ there for the summer, their mutual avoidance strategies prove impossible. The last thing TJ wants is to be under those angsty, heated glances Duncan thinks he hides. And for Duncan, having fiery TJ constantly close is the ultimate distraction that he absolutely can’t afford. When forced proximity begins to chip away at their armor, buried tensions resurface, old wounds urge confrontation, and once-in-a-lifetime love demands one last chance to finally get it right.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Jen Devon is a lifelong lover of love stories. She writes vivid, cinematic romances about imperfect people finding their perfect match. A former ecology academic and adjunct professor, she now works in the Internet tech industry and dreams of writing full-time. An avid gardener, photographer, gamer, and unapologetic nerd, she’s also a mom of five (three kids, two rescue mutts) and lives in central Ohio with her engineer husband.
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