Spotlight & Giveaway: The Near Miss by Lily Joseph

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lily Joseph to HJ!

Hi Lily and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Near Miss!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The Near Miss is about Wren and Nick, and how the universe is trying to bring them together, one disaster at a time. It begins when handyman Nick is working on an upstairs window and drops it, only inches away from crushing Wren who is walking to the newspaper office where she’s a journalist. Through the story, every time they get close to meeting, a near death experience seems to intervene! Fate takes them from the North East of England to the shores of the Amalfi Coast, and they learn things about themselves and the people they love along the way.
 

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

‘You know, I’ve been thinking,’ she said. ‘About the lighthouse and the sirens in the grottoes.’ Nick turned with interest. ‘One of them lures people into danger, and the other warns people away and saves their lives. It reminds me of us. Every time we’ve got close it’s like the sirens have called us into some dangerous situation. But then you coming into my life feels like I’m out of harm’s way.’
‘Like I’m the lighthouse?’
Wren gave a quiet laugh. ‘It’s silly, I know.’
Nick said softly, ‘I think it’s very apt. And just so you know, I feel like you’re my lighthouse too.’

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

The idea for this book came from an unnerving personal experience! The near miss with a falling window frame actually happened to me, and it made me think, if we can avoid death by a few feet then maybe we might miss out on love in a similar way.
I had a lot of fun researching the book – I grew up in the North East of England so I enjoyed revisiting some places like the beautiful Northumberland coast. Sadly I wasn’t able to stretch to a trip to Italy, and had to rely on good old Pinterest!

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

It’s funny, because for a long time in the book they don’t get to see each other in person. Each near miss brings them closer together but also changes their own personal story. So when they meet for the first time, they are ready to find ‘the one’. Wren, who has been in an awful relationship with her uptight ex, is attracted to Nick’s sunny outlook and selflessness. And although Nick has hardened his heart after having it broken, meeting Wren leads to a surprising thaw.

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

There’s a scene where Wren is enjoying dinner in Italy with her dad, and a violinist comes to the table to play a romantic song, thinking they’re a couple. Thanks to the language barrier a very embarrassing situation ensues…

‘Bella signora…’ he said, gesturing at Wren. ‘Beautiful, no?’
‘Yes, yes, very beautiful,’ said Alan through gritted teeth. ‘But she’s not my wife. Not. Wife.’ He pointed to his ring finger, where the wedding ring he’d received from Wren’s mam many moons ago still sat, and then at Wren’s bare ring finger.
The man’s eyebrows rose then waggled. ‘Ah! Naughty, naughty…’ He made a tutting noise while grinning. Wren buried her face in her hands.
‘Not that either,’ growled Alan.

Readers should read this book….

… if they like a slow-burn romance that will keep them guessing. As well as being a love story, it’s about family, both lost and found, and how those people are so important in shaping us. And it should also make readers laugh, especially if they enjoy quirky characters and unusual mishaps!

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

My second book, Stuck Together, was recently released – it’s a Christmas enemies-to-lovers romcom, where Annie and Penn are forced to share a shop for the holiday season. Annie is selling cheap and cheerful novelty products alongside Penn’s serious and highbrow music memorabilia, and their personalities are about as different as their stock. So when they also have to fake a romance, sparks really start to fly.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A finished copy of THE NEAR MISS by Lily Joseph

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Excerpt from The Near Miss:

‘Oh, the falling-window killer left you a little present to say sorry,’ shouted Libby from halfway up the staircase. ‘It’s in the kitchen.’
Wren went through to the little back room and washed the cups under the hot tap with a squirt of washing-up liquid. The tap wobbled in her hand as she tightened it. Libby would probably be renovating this place forever – there always seemed to be something else on its last legs.
She looked around for a towel to dry her hands, but there was nothing in plain sight. Wondering if there might be something in the tall closet that stored all kinds of odds and ends, she pulled its door open and was greeted by a rumble and clatter as objects fell towards her. Wren drew back instinctively as a long, tall object swung forward like a headman’s axe, narrowly missing her face before it hit the floor.
She looked down to see a broom, which from the angle of it looked to have been propped bristle-end up, and hanging from the edge of the brush head by a loop of cord was an electric drill, its drill bit glinting menacingly in the strip lighting. She raised a hand to her left eye protectively, realising how close that had come to her face. Her nostrils flared. For the second time today, it seemed that workman had nearly taken her out – she was sure these weren’t Libby’s tools.
She picked up the broom and pushed it back into the cupboard, hearing a stirring of metal against wood as she wrestled it into place. Then the nest of tools and equipment collapsed completely, and a long pole swung forward, connecting brutally with the centre of her forehead. She reeled back, stunned. From behind the broom, a metal pole with a weird suction cup had fallen onto her.
She pressed a hand to her head, squeezing her eyes shut before she dared to look at her fingers. No blood, thank God, but it ached horribly, and patting her forehead again she realised it had already started to swell. Marvellous. She was going to go to work the next day looking like a black-and-blue unicorn.
‘Everything okay down there?’ came Libby’s voice from upstairs.
‘It’s fine,’ she shouted back up, not wanting to bother her baby-bound friend. ‘Just your workman breaking all the health and safety laws again. I’ll sort it.’
‘Okay,’ came a quieter voice from above. Wren heard the ping of the microwave and smelled a faint waft of popcorn. ‘Thanks. Love you.’ A door closed.
Wren huffed. It was bad enough that she’d had one hair-raising near miss courtesy of an incompetent glazier that morning, but this was just silly. She gathered up the bits that had spilled out of the cupboard and shoved them back inside, propping the broom up more carefully than that fool had earlier, and placing the electric drill safely on the floor.
She was about to close the door when she saw a tool she’d missed – some kind of metal scraper or spatula with a worn handle. She picked it up, wincing as her forehead throbbed. Losing the last of her patience with the workman’s hazardously stored belongings, she threw it in the cupboard, where it wedged itself into a jumble of wires snaking from an extension cable, and slammed the door shut.
It was then that she saw what must be her present – a bunch of white lilies propped in a pint glass of water beside a pile of John Grisham novels on the counter. How appropriate, she thought. He tries to kill me then sends me funeral flowers. She left them where they were.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Nick and Wren are meant to be. But Nick and Wren have never met. And now, fate is about to change everything…

Wren just wants a quiet life with no surprises. But one day, when she steps out of a bookshop, a sheet of glass falls from a window above and shatters at her feet. Walking off and not looking back, she doesn’t see the handsome sandy-haired man in the scruffy overalls who dropped it. Little does she know that he could change her life forever.

Nick is still reeling from a devastating breakup and just wants to keep his head down. But while restoring a bookshop, he drops a plate of glass from a window, just missing a young woman with beautiful brown hair and a bag full of books. He rushes out to apologise, but by the time he’s on the street she’s gone.

Luckily, over the next few months, he’ll run into her again. And again. And again.

But every time they cross paths something always gets in the way of sparks flying. Will they stop playing it safe and take a chance on love? Or are they destined to always be a near miss?

The Near Miss is a totally perfect, completely addictive feel-good romantic comedy of fated lovers and chance encounters that will have fans of Beth O’Leary, Mhairi McFarlane and Abby Jimenez hooked from start to finish.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Lily Joseph is a romantic fiction writer from North East England, a setting which appears regularly in her writing. Her work has been shortlisted for the Lindisfarne Prize, an award for northern authors, and the Joan Hessayon award for debut novels. She lives in North Yorkshire with her partner, two teens and two cats, none of whom are interested in books whatsoever. At least the cats have an excuse.
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