Spotlight & Giveaway: Sweet As Pie by Alicia Hunter Pace

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Alicia Hunter Pace to HJ!

Hi Alicia and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Sweet As Pie!

 
Thank you so much for inviting me to chat with you. I always love a chance to talk about my books with readers.
 

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

Sweet As Pie, the first book in the Good Southern Women trilogy, is a spin-off from the Nashville Sound series. Tired of the bad boy ways he fell into after a messy divorce, Jake Champagne is intent on starting over with a new team in a new town. He even bets his skeptical best friend that he can remain celibate for three months. Evans Pemberton is literally the girl-next-door who has known—and loved—Jake all her life. He bailed on their friendship when he married her beauty queen cousin and she’s not going down that road again. But Evans forgives Jake and agrees to give their friendship another chance. That’s when things get interesting—and oh, so tempting.
 

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

When it looks as if romance might be on the horizon, Jake tells Evie that he isn’t asking her for promises. She thinks, “But you could, Jake, you really could. I would promise you anything because I have had a lifetime of wishing that I could give you everything.”

Throughout the book Evans is a pleaser and has a problem saying no to anyone—especially Jake. As things twist and turn, she grows and finally begins to stand up for herself. “Good old Evie. Always ready with plenty of free time and some baked goods. Well, no more. It’s on me that I always made it easy for you, but that day is done.”

What inspired this book?

Jake and his friend Robbie, known as the Wild Ass Twins, in the Nashville Sound series, were mostly comic relief. But near the end of the series, they took on a life of their own and it became clear they had their own stories—and deserved happily ever afters. We knew about Jake’s heartbreaking divorce and the wheels began to spin. What if his ex had a cousin, who had loved Jake from afar all her life? Evans was born. Turned out, she was an artisan pie baker—and Jake loves pie.

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

I get to know my characters by thinking about them all the time before I begin to write. Think back to that first crush you had at fourteen years old and how that person invaded your every thought. That’s how it is with my characters. How would Jake like his potato salad? What’s his favorite movie? Has he been in love before? Was he a good student? Would Evans like an expresso or latte better? Did she go to the prom? Has she ever struggled with her weight? When did she lose her virginity? Most of these details don’t turn up in the book, but I need to know to understand who they are. And, of course, along the way, they tell me things I didn’t know. “You think I’m going to do that?” one will ask. “Think again.” They take on a life of their own. That’s when I know I have a good character.

They will surprise you. In Sweet as Pie, Jake needed a skillet and a knife, so I took him and Evans to Williams-Sonoma. I had no idea he was going to buy a whole set of fancy, horrendously expensive cookware because of the way Evans looked at it and caresses the little brass, apples, acorns, and leaves that served as knobs. I hadn’t planned it, but it melted my heart.

What was your favorite scene to write?

Oddly, it is a scene with Jake and Robbie rather than Jake and Evans. Two puck bunnies from their Nashville Sound days show up in Laurel Springs and land right in the middle of a post game dinner at the team hangout—and Jake’s and Evans’s parents are in town. In an effort to help Jake and Robbie “escape,” the girls claim to have a flat tire.

“Excuse us for a moment,” Jake said to the table, though he did not look at his mother. “Robbie and I are going to go figure out this out.” He looked back at the girls. “We’ll be right back. Why don’t you…have a seat and introduce yourselves?”
It wasn’t the best idea, but he couldn’t think of what else.
“This is a fucking nightmare!” Robbie said as soon as they were out of ear shot.
“I’m glad you at least realize that.”
“Don’t act like this is my fault. I didn’t invite them. You heard what Glaz said about staying away from ice girls. I doubt he cares that it’s not Yellowhammer ice girls. I would take go back downtown with them and change their tire, but I can’t be alone with them. They’ll take selfies with me and put them on social media that hasn’t even been invented yet!”
“You idiot,” Jake said. “They don’t have a flat tire. They’re trying to get us out of here to have sex with us. They probably think we want out of here.”
Robbie cocked his head to the side. “Well….”
“Stop it,” Jake commanded.
“You’re right. We’ve got to get rid of them.”
“Okay. This is the plan. We’re going to say we’re going to both drive our cars to take them back downtown, where we’ll change the tire. This is what we’re really going to do: If their car is still at the arena—which I doubt—we’re going to put them in an Uber and tell them goodbye. If it’s parked on the street—and I guarantee it is—we’re going to put them on the road.”
Robbie looked wistful. “We had some good times with those girls.”
“We had a good time on the ice tonight. I would like to keep having that good time.”
“Yeah.” Robbie reluctantly agreed.
Jake turned to go back to the table.
“Sparks,” Robbie said, “what if they really do have a flat tire?”
“Trust me. They don’t.”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Always, always, the black moment—that scene where everything goes so horribly wrong that it seems there is no road that could possibly lead to happily ever after. I love my characters. I know intellectually that I have to hurt them. I know that the more they hurt, the sweeter the reconciliation will be. But it’s hard. I cry every single time.

“It was never about my lucky puck that I bet Robbie! I don’t care about the damned puck. I want to make love to you right now. I want to make a relationship. Just give us a chance.” Jake reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. “Please, Evie. Just say yes.”
It was the hands that did it—made her hesitate. So far, she’d been strong and resolute, even when he was saying all the right words. She might still look cool and determined on the outside, but on the inside, she was as mess.
He dropped his head to the side. Widened the bluest eyes in the world. Bit his bottom lip—the lip she knew the taste of, that she wanted to taste right now. And, God help her, he let his hands slide down from her shoulders to the bare skin above her elbows.
Cold chills went over her. She could tell by the way he smiled that he noticed. Well, there wasn’t anything she could do about that.
But she could do this: “No.”
His smiled died. “What?”
“You said I always say yes when I really want to say no. That it’s my problem.” Evie stepped back out of his reach and squared her shoulders. “And you’re right. I do. So this time I’m saying no when I want to say yes.”
He opened his mouth, but she put up a hand and stopped him.
“You see, Jake, I’m saying no, because I should say no. I wish it wasn’t so, but I don’t think I can ever trust you not to abandon me again the minute something gets inconvenient for you.” She fought to keep her eyes from filling. “I’ve spent my life making myself convenient for you. That’s on me. But I can’t be your yes girl anymore and that’s what you would always expect.”
“I wouldn’t,” he said.
“I know you think that.”
“I know it. Is there anything I can do to prove to you that I wouldn’t abandon you?”
“Nothing I can think of, but then if I had to be the one to think of it, what good would it be?”
He looked at her for a long moment and his sad eyes went straight to her heart. Finally, she looked away before she could start thinking that if he looked that sad that surely, surely it didn’t have to end this way. But she knew it did.
“If that’s your last word, I guess I’ll go.” His voice was ragged.
“Then you should go.” She walked to door and opened it.

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

Definitely showcases. I love to write stories set in small Southern towns with a warm atmosphere and quirky secondary characters.

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

I hope it will take readers to a place that makes them believe that happily ever after can still come, or help them remember they are already living it. After a rough start, I know I am living mine.

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

Line edits for Smooth as Silk, and the manuscript for Shine like Silver, books two and three in the Good Southern Women series for Carina Press. Smooth as Silk features Robbie, Jake’s Scottish happy-go-lucky best friend, who tangles with by-the-book bridal shop owner, Hyacinth.

In Shine Like Silver, hometown sweetheart Ava Grace Fairchild has to rethink her whole future when the only man she has ever dated proposes to someone else. Sexy Russian hockey player Luka Zadorov might not be her future, but he can be her right now—until complications set in.

Both books will be released in 2022.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 Print copy of SWEET AS PIE by Alicia Hunter Pace (U.S. and Canada only).

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Most of my stories are set in small towns. What draws you the most to a small town romance?

 
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Excerpt from Sweet As Pie:

Here, Evans has left her phone in Jake’s parents’ vehicle and she is preparing to walk to her pie shop to use the landline.

Then, the doorbell rang.
Oh, happy, happy day! She wouldn’t have to dress and walk to Crust, after all. They had found her phone. That would be her daddy bringing it to her. She ran across the room and jerked open the door.
“Hey, Evie.”
Her whole world stopped.
There stood Jake, blue eyes wide, blond hair a mess, wearing shorts and a T-shirt that had seen some wear and hot water. He looked like he’d been to the gym a few times since its acquisition, too. Then it occurred to her that her tank top was none too loose fitting either—and she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Was it her imagination or were his eyes sliding up and down her body?
He held up her phone. “I brought this.”
Right. Of course.
She had, for a fraction of moment, forgotten about her phone. She’d thought he had come to see her. Some things never changed. She looked past him to see if Robbie and the twins were waiting outside for him to get his little errand done so they could all get on with the good times.
But no. Just the bugmobile, and it was empty.
“I thought you’d be with Jezebel and Jolene,” she said.
He laughed the barest bit. “Delilah and Dawn. I’m not.” He stepped inside and closed the door with his foot without turning around. “I thought you’d be with Killjoy.”
“I’m not.”
He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. She couldn’t read his expression. That almost never happened, but this look was one she’d never seen before.
Electricity bloomed around them, gradually at first, until the room was alive with full-blown lightning—at least for her. Maybe it was the feeling that she was about to be torn apart by a thunderbolt that made her brave enough to ask, “Do you want to be? With them, I mean?” She immediately regretted the question and braced herself for hearing that he was on his way to catch up with them now. She took the phone and stepped away from him, away from the electricity and the door he would, no doubt, exit in the next five seconds.
“No. If I wanted to be, I would be.”
He closed the space between them, placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on her cheek. And there was the lightning—in his hands. The electricity started on her scalp and worked its way down her body, crackling as it went.
“Do you want to be with Killjoy?” He slid his thumb down her neck.
“No. If I wanted to be, I would be,” she echoed his answer.
“I’m glad to hear it.” He looked deep into her eyes and let his own go soft. “So damned glad.”
Her heart lifted and reached for a gold ring engraved with the word hope—the same gold ring it had tried to catch so many times.
After years of hiding her heart, swallowing the words she wanted to say, and pretending like her feelings didn’t matter, she found her backbone and went for broke. “Jake, don’t look at me like that if you’re not going to do anything about it.” She closed her eyes and waited for the answer.
“What do you want me to do? This?” And he pulled her completely into his arms. “Or this?” He let his hand drift over her collarbone and down—almost grazing her breast—to stroke her side.
Her breath caught, her nipples went on high alert—and she dropped her phone with a thud.
He laughed a little into her ear. “I guess you didn’t want your phone after all. But I’m glad you lost it.”
And with that, he lifted her hips and molded her to him, pelvis to pelvis, letting his arousal come to full bloom against her. She felt hot, cold, and impossibly desirable. His desire might be left over from an ice girl or even a faceless fantasy, but—in this moment—she felt like it was for her.
He boldly moved against her, it seemed, just to show her this was not an accident. She went limp and shivered in his arms.
“Is that what you wanted me to do?” he said against her ear. “Or was it this?”
After all these years, and all the longing that the world could hold, his mouth was finally on hers.
This was not a kiss. This was The Kiss.”

I do love a first kiss!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A pro hockey player learns that home is where the heart is in the first novel of a delightful new series from USA TODAY bestselling author Alicia Hunter Pace

Evans Pemberton has always had a problem saying no. To her overbearing Mississippi Delta family, to her business mentor’s push to expand her thriving pie shop and to her lifelong crush, Jake Champagne. But Jake chose her beauty queen cousin three years ago and ghosted on their close friendship. When he comes to her small town in Alabama with a new pro hockey franchise, Evie fears she’ll lose her heart all over again. Of course, she’ll forgive him like the good Southern woman she is, but anything more than that is off the table.

So why can’t she stop baking for him?

Jake is looking forward to a new team, a new town and a clean slate in Laurel Springs. After a disastrous year, the hockey hotshot is leaving his past behind—even betting his best friend that he can stay away from women. But he’s happy to reconnect with a piece of home when he visits Evie. Between slices of Mississippi mud pie and chicken potpie, he’s starting to remember all the good times they had and the man he always intended to be. Not to mention what a fool he was to let Evie get away…

How will they find a future together when she can’t say no and he can’t say yes? The path to true love isn’t quite easy as pie, but it sure is sweet in the end.

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

USA Bestselling authors, Stephanie Jones and Jean Hovey, write together as Alicia Hunter Pace.

Stephanie lives in Tuscaloosa, AL, where she teaches school. She is a native Alabamian who likes football, American history, and people who follow the rules. She is happy to provide a list of said rules to anyone who needs them.

Jean, a former public librarian, lives in Decatur, AL, with her husband in a hundred-year-old house that always wants something from her. She likes to cook but has discovered the joy of Mrs. Paul’s fish fillets since becoming a writer.

Stephanie and Jean are both active members in the romance writing community. They write contemporary romantic comedy. They love to hear from readers.
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