Spotlight & Giveaway: The Little Flower Shop by Lori Foster

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lori Foster to HJ!

Hi Lori and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Little Flower Shop!

 
Thank you. I’m so happy to be here, and I appreciate the opportunity.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

I am SO bad at summarizing but I’ll give it a shot.
Emily is at a point in her life where she feels stale and a little overwhelmed. She still loves owning her flower shop, but is it enough? She loves her house, but it gets lonely. She looks in the mirror and sees the same tidy style that she’s had for years. When others refer to her as “perfect,” it sounds so…boring.
Opening herself up to new, closer friendships, giving her appearance an overhaul, and accepting interest from the town’s favorite bachelor, gains her more attention than she ever wanted. Suddenly she’s a hashtag – #theflowerlady – and everyone is taking bets on her next move. How did her non-existent love life become a community affair?
It takes some adjustment, and a little help from the town busybody, but Emily gets the life she wants, and it does end up pretty darned perfect.
 

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

Vivienne leaned over one of her shoulders, Gentry over the other, as they all read a comment from Betty, the town matriarch. *Still waters run deep.*
Gentry chuckled. “She’s right about that.”
Rudely, Emily elbowed him. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny,” he replied.
“I think it’s awesome.” Vivienne snatched her phone back. “You’re a hashtag, Emily. Now everyone is talking about you being a femme fatale. And I work for you!”

“What if the shelter doesn’t have the type of dog you want?”
She shrugged. “I’ll be happy with any friendly guy to keep me company when I get home.”
This wasn’t the time for jokes, so Saul resisted the urge to point out that he was friendly.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I always research every setting and occupation, and I got so far in the research for the animal shelter where Emily adopts, I’ll be writhing a story about an animal shelter next.
• The location of the fun town is based off a real town in Indiana- complete with an actual map of the lake and the businesses around it.
• Readers on my Facebook page often help me name people and pets! That’s true for the animals in this book, as well as a few of the characters. (I’m quite sure they’ll help me with the next book too!)
• The mannequin in the story was inspired by something that happened in my own small town. A little indie shop threw out a broken mannequin, but someone got it out of the garbage and set it up with clothes. Then people started taking turns posing it… I didn’t realize until I saw some locals complaining about “the woman always hanging around outside the video store.” Apparently the mannequin often held a cigarette or beer.
• Neighborhood loops are fun because so many people get riled up – and they were sure riled up about that. Voila, Kathleen was born.

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

I like problems – big and small – maybe because we all have them. It’s super interesting to me how our backgrounds, our opportunities (or lack of them) and our influences can propel us forward, or hold us back. Overall, I LOVE how love – all kinds in all measure – can help with nearly everything. So for me, my first vision of the hero and and heroine is with them in a conflict of some sort, even if it’s unspoken. In this book, Emily and Saul already know each other. He’s been drawn to her overall kindness for a while. He sees her as a savvy business woman, always pleasant, but also contained. It’s the hints of vulnerability that really get to him. For Emily, it’s his confidence, how easily he opens up and interacts with everyone – someone she envies because she’s never been quite that relaxed when talking about herself.

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

So… a sad thing is that my absolutely wonderful mother-in-law passed away, and the entire time I was writing about Emily’s aunt and uncle, I was thinking of my MIL. She was this super-energetic, vibrant, “do anything for anyone” woman… right up until she had a stroke. I completely understood Emily’s need to want to pamper them both, to protect them the best that she could – even though they didn’t want to be pampered.
My heart broke for Emily, because I completely understood her struggle.
The difficult animals that she adopted (on the promise they wouldn’t be difficult) had me laughing a few times, as did her elderly uncle who is old enough to say what he thinks, however he wants to say it.
There are a few things with Saul as well… but they could be spoilers, so I can’t share. Let’s just say he dealt with a situation that had me crying for real.

Readers should read this book….

…if they want to be entertained. If they want a reminder that life happens, but how we deal with it matters. Kindness can make a HUGE difference in most every situation. And love is a precious thing. Give it and accept it.

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

Right now I’m writing The Wishing Well. It’s a story about a woman who runs an animal shelter because she likes cats and dogs a lot more than people. A guy she knew a decade ago, when they both lived in a very poor part of town, has a custom print shop, and they have to deal with those old memories together, while also learning to live in the present.

In June, BRAY will be available. It’s a short story loosely related to my Ultimate series featuring a hero readers met in Fighting Dirty. My advance, and all royalties from sales of the book, go to a local no-kill animal shelter, AAFPets.org

I have some reissues coming out, and then at the end of the year, The Fearless One will be available. It’s been a busy year!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: (1) A print copy of the book, The Little Flower Shop, U.S. only.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What format do you prefer? Most of my books are available as print (either mass market, trade or hardcover), digital, and audio, but for my pleasure-reading, I always prefer print.

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from The Little Flower Shop:

Vivienne darted through the door with a laugh. Pushing it shut behind her, she collapsed back, one hand on her chest, her face lit up with a smile. She was a jovial, plump sixty-year-old hippie who loved the town, the town’s name, and especially flowers. In her free time she painted, and often sold her work for added income.
Spotting Emily, she jolted forward, her long graying braids bouncing against her big breasts. “It’s genius marketing! Oh my god, I love it.”
“Genius marketing?” Emily asked.
“Half the town is out there taking pics. They’ll be all over the Facebook page in no time. Everyone loves it.”
“Loves…what?”
Saul cleared his throat. “Actually, that was my doing.”
Grabbing him, Vivienne danced him around in a circle. “You wicked, wicked man. It’s so fun it should be illegal, but I’m glad it’s not.”
“Now I have to see.” Gentry strode around the counter, went to the door, and leaned out.
For a few seconds, he said nothing, but the sounds of the onlookers filtered in. Laughter, jokes, a few cheers.
Saul wasn’t sure which way Emily would go on it; she’d either enjoy it as much as Vivienne did, or she’d be embarrassed.
Grinning hugely, Gentry came back inside—and gave Saul a high-five before he paused in front of Emily. “Go take a peek.”
“Now I’m not sure I want to.” She turned to Saul with wide eyes. “What did you do?”
“A little payback,” he said easily, and reached out his hand.
Emily laughed nervously, but she did finally put her hand in his. It felt like a gesture of trust, both friendly and—because it was Emily—intimate. Saul led her to the door, held it open, and waited while she peered around the crowd.
There on the bench outside her door, a bench that Emily kept scrupulously clean and freshly painted each year, was Kathleen the mannequin.
Long stiff legs stretched out and wearing a tiny bikini made of silk flowers, Kathleen drew attention. Sunglasses shielded her eyes. She had a plastic coconut drink in one hand, and a sign in the other.
Emily covered her mouth, but her eyes crinkled with amusement. “Oh, my.”
Relieved by her pleased expression, Saul leaned close. “That’s the first time I’ve decorated a woman’s hair.”
The grin broke free. “I’m not sure it counts if the woman can’t move…and if the hair can be taken off her head.”
“Guilty,” he said, enjoying the fact that her free hand was still in his. “I put her wig in my lap and painstakingly wove those flowers through. What do you think?”
“I think Kathleen has never looked…” She glanced up at him, her eyes even more beautiful with laughter. “So sexy.”
“Great.” His attention dropped to her smiling mouth. “Goal achieved.”
“What does her sign say?”
Saul tugged her farther out until she could read it: The real flower lady is inside.
“Oh, no,” Emily snickered with glee. “Everyone will think that I did this, like an advertisement.”
Saul brushed his thumb over her knuckles. “You would have, if you’d thought of it.”
“No way,” she denied. “Not in a million years. But since you did…” She noticed people taking photos of, or with, Kathleen, and catching the two of them in the background.
Quickly, Emily pulled Saul back into the shop. “Gentry?”
Broom in hand, Gentry exited the back room. “What’s up?”
“We’re announcing twenty percent off the daisies and chrysanthemums—and you’ll need to remove that shirt and go tell everyone.”
Gentry stalled comically. “Remove what shirt?”
“Your shirt.” She gestured at him as she released Saul and rushed behind the counter to grab a big marker and a cardboard sign. “It was Betty’s suggestion.” She caught the silence and looked up. “Oh. I mean, unless you don’t want to?”
“It’s not that I care,” Gentry muttered with discomfort. “Not exactly.”
Emily blanched. “I’m sorry. I thought… You always work shirtless at my house, so…”
“In the yard.”
Her face went hot. “You go shirtless to the beach.”
“To the beach.”
Seeing the appalled expression on Gentry’s face, Saul laughed. “Hon, I think you’re bordering on sexual harassment.”
Vivienne sat there taking it all in. “I’m just imagining both you boys shirtless.” She gave a low purring growl.
Emily immediately apologized. “Oh my god, I’m sorry, Gentry. I’m awful. I should never listen to Betty.”
“Betty? No, don’t tell me.” Now Gentry flushed. “It’s just…” He glared at Saul. “Stop laughing. Or better yet, you do it.”
Rolling a shoulder, Saul said, “No problem.”
Emily instantly perked up. “Seriously? You wouldn’t mind?”
Phone in hand, Vivienne spun on her stool to stare at him with rapt attention.
“You ladies are bent,” Saul teased, and then he stripped off his shirt and handed it to Emily. Hell, he ran shirtless on the beach every morning. No biggie to him. “Give me the sign.”
Vivienne immediately snapped a few photos, then started typing.
“What are you doing?” Saul asked with suspicion.
“Facebook page. And Twitter.” She glanced up. “And Instagram and TikTok… You don’t mind, right?”
Saul laughed. “I’m guessing if I did, it’s already too late?”
Trying to look abashed and failing, Vivienne said, “Sorry.”
“No problem. Just make sure you tag Emily’s shop and mention her flower sale.” He turned to Emily…who stared ardently at his chest. “Em?”
With his shirt clutched in both hands, she said, “Wait until I tell my aunt about this.”
Gentry snorted. “See, this is why I didn’t want to do it. It’s going to be all over town in under thirty minutes.”
“I can handle it.” Saul took the finished sign from the counter, and slipped his sunglasses over his eyes—because yeah, he could use a little cover. “I’ll be right back, and then we have to get on the road or you’ll miss visiting hours.”
As he stepped outside, he heard Emily mutter, “Good grief, I forgot all about that.”
If nothing else, Saul figured he’d relieved some of her stress.
Once he hit the sidewalk, he held up the sign and gave a loud whistle. “Big sale inside, everyone. Twenty percent off some flowers. You all know you want…some.” He added just enough hesitation to make it suggestive.
Catcalls filled the air while Saul held the sign high, strolling through the crowd, answering a few quick questions from vacationers, posing with a few people for photos, laughing with different locals, and all in all, having fun.
Damn, but he loved this town and everyone in it.
It was perfect, like Emily, and if things went his way, his relationships—both of them—would soon be perfect, too.
Several people headed inside, while others gave orders to friends who would do a collective purchase. He straightened Kathleen’s hair, adjusted her bikini to “protect her modesty,” and then went to collect Emily.
Overall, he’d say their date was off to a good start.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

How did her love life become a community affair?

Since her divorce, Emily Lucretia—affectionately known as the flower lady to the people of Cemetery, Indiana—has been focused on her flower shop and taking care of her aging aunt and uncle. Her love life is hardly the centerpiece of her busy days.
Saul Culver, the town’s favorite bachelor and owner of the local barbecue joint, has been interested in Emily for a while. But as much as Emily knows about flowers, she can be a little oblivious to her own appeal. Saul is determined to show her just how special she is.
Saul isn’t the only one trying to get Emily out of her shell. Well-meaning locals have started tagging photos of Emily with #theflowerlady on social media—and now the entire town is involved in finding her Mr. Right. Saul won’t give up easily. He’s finally caught her attention, and he’s determined to convince Emily—and the town—that this is the real deal and not just some passing trend.
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Meet the Author:

Lori Foster is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than 100 titles. She’s known for her fun contemporary romance novels revolving around strong, independent characters who fall in love. Lori’s been a recipient of the prestigious RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award for Series Romantic Fantasy, and for Contemporary Romance. Even more fun, Lori’s been a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle, a clue in the USA Today Quick-cross puzzle, and the sensual and sexy Too Much Temptation was Amazon’s 2002 top-selling title in Romance.
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