Spotlight & Giveaway: The Hope Chest by Amy Vastine

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Amy Vastine to HJ!

Hi Amy and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Hope Chest!

 
Hello! I am so happy to be here today.
 

Tell us about the book with this fun little challenge using the title of the book:

The Hope Chest is one of 12 books in the Twelve Days of Heartwarming Christmas series set in Christmas Town, Maine. All of the books center around the planning of a Christmas Eve wedding and the re-opening of the town’s carousel. In The Hope Chest, the maid of honor, Evelyn Marshall, wants to give her best friend a hope chest as a wedding gift. When her rush order gets cancelled, she has to reluctantly turn to the high school’s new industrial arts teacher for help. Felix Spencer wants nothing to do with someone like Evelyn. She reminds him of his snotty ex-sister-in-law and ex-wife, who left him for someone with more money in the bank. When Mason, one of his wayward students, offers to help, he decides to take the job for the kid’s sake not the customer’s. Evelyn feels the need to keep tabs on how things are going and ends up getting close to both Felix and his student. As the two adults start to fall for one another, they find out that Mason needs some major support. Can a troubled teen bring these two opposites together? In Christmas Town, anything is possible!

What’s your favorite line(s) from the book?:

Mason coughed a laugh into his fist. “Darn, Mr. Spencer, I think she’s implying you’d be one of those people she’d use the fake emergency on if you were her blind date.”

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Evelyn Marshall is a fashion buyer for the local department store. She also does some personal shopping as well. Clothes speak to her, tell her who they should belong to. She’s super organized and calm under pressure, which is why she got the maid of honor job. She’s also an identical twin. Her sister is completely the opposite of Evelyn, but the two are very close (Jax has her own story in the series, too!)
Felix Spencer is the new industrial arts teacher at Christmas Town High. He’s divorced and moved to Christmas Town to get away from his ex-wife and her new husband. He’s been struggling with the fact that his wife left him because she didn’t think he was “successful” enough aka rich. He doesn’t want to let anyone get close again, especially someone who might share the same opinion of him as his ex.
Felix can’t deny that Evelyn is beautiful, but what first attracts him to her is the kindness and compassion she shows Mason, his troubled student. He also likes that she’s willing to step out of her comfort zone and help when needed. Evelyn also finds Felix attractive, but it’s his wry sense of humor and concern for his student that hooks her.

When you sat down to start this book, what was the biggest challenge you faced? What were you most excited about?

One of the biggest challenges in writing this book was that this was my fourth time writing a story set in Christmas Town. Not only was I writing a story that was connected to 11 other stories, but there are four other Christmas Town anthologies, which means a lot of history, a ton of characters, and lots of things to keep straight. Making sure I kept things consistent with the other books from this series as well as characters, settings, and events that happened in four years of dozens of stories was difficult to say the least. I was most excited about getting to revisit some of the characters from my previous Christmas Town stories so readers who have been following these romances could see how some of their favorite characters are enjoying their happily ever afters.

What, in your mind, makes this book stand out?

The Hope Chest and all of the books in the 12 Days of Heartwarming Christmas are the first in the Christmas Town collection to be full-length novels. The previous anthologies were all novellas. I love that we could explore our characters feelings and motives a little deeper. I also love Christmas Town. There’s so much fun and magic that readers can’t help but fall in love with the town while the characters are falling for each other!

The First Kiss…

“What about you?” she asked, her head resting on the pillow-backed couch. “What do you do besides woodworking?”
Felix set his cocoa on the coffee table. “I like to watch college football on the weekends. Lately, I’ve found I am an excellent napper.”
“You nap well? Really?” Her smile was radiant.
“I think of myself as one of the greatest nappers of all time. I sprawl out right here on this couch. It’s where I do some of my best work. I can be out within seconds.” He snapped his fingers.
“Very impressive.”
The way she looked at him made his insides do flip flops. She had this one little freckle on her cheek that was hidden when she smiled.
Cupping her cheek, he brushed that freckle with his thumb. “I also spend a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to kiss you and if you’d say yes if I asked.”
Evelyn looked as shocked as he felt. He couldn’t believe he had said it out loud. “Are you asking right now?”
“Well, the only way for me to save face right now is to say it depends on what your answer would be,” he replied, praying he hadn’t misread all the signs she had been giving him.
Her green eyes gave little away. She bit her lip. He had it wrong. She wasn’t interested in him that way. Felix was about to excuse himself and hide in the bathroom for a minute when she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. She was soft and warm. He could smell the sweet scent of her perfume. He wanted to drown in it. Her hands slid up his shoulders and clasped behind his neck.
Kissing Evelyn was better than he imagined. She sunk her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck and he felt like a cat getting scratched in that sweet spot right behind his ear.
“Wow,” was all he could muster when they broke apart.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

There’s one scene in the book that is very emotional for both characters. It would be crucial that the actors could pull it off. There’s some crying and real personal pain. I would definitely want to see them connect during this scene:

Evelyn covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed. Her cries were heart-wrenching. Felix wasn’t sure what to do, how to comfort her.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close. “I’m so sorry.”
Evelyn wept so hard, she couldn’t speak. Her pain was so raw. He wondered how much of this had to do with her personal experience. She still mourned the loss of her own father.
“I’m here. It’s okay to be sad. It’s going to be okay.”
“No. It’s. Not,” she said between the sobs. “She’s dying. She’s going to die. Soon. I can tell.”

If your hero had a sexy-times play list, what song(s) would have to be on it?

Felix is totally an alternative rock guy, who wears flannel and jeans to work every day. He’d have Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon on his playlist!

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

The old saying don’t judge a book by its cover would be one take away. Both Evelyn and Felix make judgements about each other before getting to know one another. They think they are from two different worlds but learn they both have similar insecurities and the same desire to be loved and accepted for who they are. Their insides are much more alike than their outsides.

What are you currently working on? What are your up-coming releases?

In November, my novel The Rancher’s Fake Fiancee comes out. It’s the fourth book in a five-author continuity series I was lucky to be a part of for Harlequin Heartwarming called Return of the Blackwell Brothers. Not only did I get to brainstorm and work with some of my favorite Heartwarming authors, but I got to write my first cowboy book.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Signed copy of my Harlequin Heartwarming novel Love Songs and Lullabies (Print US only, ebook internationally)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Evelyn is determined to give her friend a hope chest for her wedding because Lisa is very sentimental and needs a place to keep those things that she wants to pass down to her children and her grandchildren someday. What’s a special keepsake you would store in a hope chest?

 
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Excerpt from The Hope Chest:

Felix’s phone lit up on his desk. He had it on silent so it wouldn’t interrupt any of his classes. The text message was from his ex-wife. Another question about how to fix something in her new house. The house belonged to her new husband, the lawyer with the fancy car and probably a closet full of three-piece suits. He was everything Felix wasn’t according to Brenda. Guess that meant her new husband was inept instead of handy around the house because here she was texting him again. Felix ignored the text. Her new husband could pay someone to fix whatever was broken. He owed them nothing.

Since moving to Christmas Town this past summer and starting his new life here, he’d been busy enough to keep his mind occupied on things other than his past. Brenda’s refusal to leave him alone made it difficult to be completely free.

“Knock, knock.” Jaycee Garland stood in his doorway. She was one of the social studies teachers and the girls’ basketball coach. Felix didn’t know everyone on staff by name yet, but Jaycee had been one of the first people to welcome him aboard when the school year started.

“Come on in, Coach Garland.”

Jaycee was dressed in her usual school spirit-wear. The woman owned more Christmas Town High sweatshirts than the rest of the staff combined. Behind her was another woman. Tall, blond, ridiculously pretty. She wore her hair in some fancy updo and had on a long winter-white wool coat cinched around her tiny waist by a belt. Her black leather boots went all the way up to her knees.

Both teenage boys took notice, suddenly very interested in their guests.

“Hey, Coach Garland,” Chris said with a wave even though his gaze was locked on the other woman.

Mason said nothing but pushed his hair back to get a good look.

“Coach Lassiter isn’t going to be happy you’re in detention instead of at practice,” Jaycee said to Chris.

“That’s what I told Mr. Spencer, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Felix sighed. These kids would never learn. Accountability was much harder to teach than how to sand a table leg.

“What can I do for you, Coach Garland?” he asked.

Jaycee moved toward him with her glamorous shadow following behind. “It’s actually what you could do for my friend here. Evelyn, this is Felix. Felix, this is my friend Evelyn.”

Felix stood up and offered a hand and she stared at it like it might dirty hers if she shook it.

“You’re not seventy,” she mumbled, her eyes scanning every inch of him.

He wasn’t sure what that meant and sure didn’t like the way she was giving him the once over. He slid both hands into his pockets. “Nice to meet you, Evelyn. What can someone like me do for someone like you?”

He knew her type. She was just like his former sister-in-law. Too polished. Too perfect. Too good to be bothered with someone like Felix, an opinion that eventually rubbed off on Brenda.

Jaycee answered instead. “My cousin is getting married on Christmas Eve and Evelyn really wanted to give the bride and groom something special, but the place where she ordered from can’t deliver on time, so we were wondering if you would be willing to take on a simple little side job?”

Simple? Little? Unlikely. “What exactly do you need me to do?”

“Build a hope chest,” Jaycee said, her voice rising at the end almost like it was a question rather than an answer.

“A personalized hope chest with their names and wedding date carved into the inside of the lid,” the beauty queen added.

Felix laughed. He could only imagine how particular this woman would be about every detail. “You want me to build you a personalized hope chest in less than three weeks in the middle of semester finals? Sorry, Jaycee. You’ve already got me working on one Christmas gift. I wish I could help your friend out, but I don’t have that kind of time.”

“I’ll do it.”

Felix’s gaze flew to the back corner where Mason sat. The troubled teen had his chin propped up on his folded hands.

“Ah … I don’t think …” Miss Fancy Pants started.

“You?” Felix asked Mason. “You haven’t completed one project this entire semester, but you want to build this lady a hope chest in less than three weeks?”

“I could do it if you let me work on it in class and after school instead of this lame oven rack pull.” Mason picked up his half-done project and tossed it into the garbage can near his workstation.

“That oven rack pull is not lame, and -” Felix stopped himself from shooting this idea down immediately. This was the first sign of initiative this kid had ever shown. Maybe he was just showing off for the pretty lady, but maybe this was Felix’s chance to break through Mason’s triple-reinforced walls. “We’ll do it together and if you do your part, I’ll count it as your semester project and pass you.”

A genuine grin spread across Mason’s face. “Deal.”

“No deal,” Princess Evelyn said. “I appreciate the offer, young man, but I want this gift to be special. I’m looking for a quality piece of furniture. Something my friends can hand down to the next generation in their family. Not some school project.”

It was one thing to look down her nose at Felix, but he was not going to let her make Mason feel like he wasn’t good enough. “How about this – Mason and I make the chest together and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it. If it somehow meets your standards, it’s all yours for nothing but the cost of materials.”

“That’s so generous of you, Felix,” Jaycee said, nudging her flustered friend. “I think that’s a pretty awesome deal given the circumstances.”

“Fine.” The Ice Queen relented. “As long as I can check on the progress.”

“Come by anytime,” Felix said. “My door is always open.”

There was no way she believed she’d be buying this hope chest. Even if it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever made, she’d probably refuse to admit it was worth it. Still, Felix was going to help Mason build it just to prove her wrong.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

As the maid of honor for a Christmas Eve wedding, Evelyn Marshall plans to give the bride and groom something special – a hope chest that they’ll want to pass on down through the generations. The only problem is that the bride didn’t give her much time to plan for such a gift. When Evelyn’s rush order gets cancelled, a friend suggests the help of the new high school industrial arts teacher.

Felix Spencer came to Christmas Town to start over after the end of his marriage. He has no desire to let anyone get close again. Evelyn’s request is easy to turn down until one of his wayward students shows some interest in helping out. Can a troubled teen and a hope chest bring these two opposites together? Maybe they aren’t as different as they think. In Christmas Town, anything is possible!
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Meet the Author:

Amy Vastine has been plotting stories in her head for as long as she can remember. An eternal optimist, she studied social work, hoping to teach others how to find their silver lining. Now, she enjoys creating happily ever afters for all to read. Amy lives outside Chicago with her high school sweetheart husband, three teenagers who keep her on her toes, and their two sweet but mischievous pups.
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