Spotlight & Giveaway: The One for You by Roni Loren

Posted December 9th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 50 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Roni Loren to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Roni and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The One for You!

 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Most days Rebecca Lindt feels like an imposter…
The world admires her as a survivor. But that impression would crumble if people knew her secret. She didn’t deserve to be the one who got away. But nothing can change the past, so she’s thrown herself into her work. She can’t dwell if she never slows down.

Wes Garrett is trying to get back on his feet after losing his dream restaurant, his money, and half his damn mind in a vicious divorce. But when he intervenes in a mugging and saves Rebecca—the attorney who helped his ex ruin him—his simple life gets complicated.

Their attraction is inconvenient and neither wants more than a fling. But when Rebecca’s secret is put at risk, both discover they could lose everything, including what they never realized they needed: each other

She laughed and kissed him. This morning she’d melted down. But somehow this man had her laughing and turned on only a few hours later. Everything inside her felt buoyed.

She felt…light.

She’d forgotten what that felt like.
 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • I was binge-watching all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (watching for the first time ever!) while writing this book. So there are a few Buffy references sprinkled into the book to commemorate the occasion.
  • The book originally was supposed to have a completely different hero (Marco, for those who have read the other books in the series.) But when I tried to pair him with Kincaid, they just didn’t click the way I needed them to. At the last minute, this childhood friend of hers came to me along with their intense backstory, and I just fell straight away for Ash being her hero. I’m so glad I didn’t get tied to the initial idea because Ash may be my favorite hero of the whole series. I mean, who can resist a hot, bookish hero?
  • I picture Ash as looking like Nico Tortorella from the show Younger. If you don’t know who that is, google a photo. You’re welcome. 😉 (And if you don’t watch the show, I highly recommend it!)
  • The song that represents Ash and his journey in this book is “My Poor Heart” by The Glorious Sons.
  • In writing classes, they often tell you not to write flashback scenes. I have to confess, I LOVE a great flashback scene. One of my favorite ones I’ve ever written is the opening chapter of this book. It was so much fun to write. Once I wrote that scene, I knew writing the book was going to make me so happy because these two deserved to be together SO much.

 

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

So although this book and the series have a serious and somber backstory, this book is about coming into the light of a fresh start and living life to the fullest. Kincaid and Ash are funny together. Kincaid is feisty, over-the-top, and says whatever is on her mind. Ash is wry and sarcastic. So if I were auditioning for their roles, I’d need to see that they could pull off a scene that had a lot of banter, tension, and some humor. There’s a scene early in the book when Kincaid catches an unsuspecting Ashton in a compromising state, and she thinks he’s an intruder (it’s dark and she doesn’t know he’s in town.) Needless to say, neither are happy to see each other.

Here’s an excerpt:

Ash finished drying off and knotted the towel around his waist. He felt around the edge of the sink. Dammit. Where had he left his glasses? He squinted through the steam trapped in the small room and didn’t see them. He sighed, wishing, not for the first time, that he was back in his New York apartment where he had defined places for everything.
He vaguely remembered pulling off his glasses when he’d gotten undressed by the bed, so he headed out of the bathroom, vision blurry but manageable. The apartment was just a studio with a small kitchen in the corner, a bed, and a table where he could eat and work at his laptop, but the layout was unfamiliar. Plus, the place was filled with boxes and dark, the curtains still drawn. He walked carefully, hoping not to stub a toe or knock something over. He finally located his glasses on the small bedside table and slipped them on. He reached for the lamp, but when he heard a sound off to his left, he only had time to register that someone was standing near the door before a woman’s shriek tore through the small room.
He lifted his palms as if it were a holdup and jumped back in surprise. But before he could get a word out, something heavy and solid crashed into his shoulder.
Oof. Pain rocketed down his arm and up his neck. The sound of breaking glass exploded at his feet. “What the fu—”
“I have pepper spray and know self-defense!” the woman shouted. “Don’t you move!”
“Me?” he asked incredulously. “You don’t move. This is my apartment. And if you have pepper spray, why the hell didn’t you use that instead?” He rubbed his throbbing shoulder and took a step toward the lamp to illuminate his unwelcome visitor, but sharp pain pinched the bottom of his foot. “F–k.”
“Your apartment?” she said, affronted. “I don’t think so, squatter. This place is on the market.”
Ash’s foot was on fire with pain. The glass had nicked him, and he was losing his patience and possibly blood. “Look, calm down. I think there’s been a mix-up, but give me a sec. Let me turn on a light.” He kept his feet where they were and reached for the lamp again. He clicked it on, soft light flooding the room. He was ready to yell at whoever this stranger was for attacking him, but when he saw the blond woman standing there, pepper spray aimed, familiar just-try-me expression on her face, all his breath left him. “Kincaid?”
Kincaid’s face, which he hadn’t seen since their last awkward shared Christmas at the Lowells—an annual tradition that always involved a lot of tense, fake smiling at each other—was the picture of shock. Eyes widening. Lips parting. Her gaze slid down his body, which he now remembered was bare except for his tattoos and the damp towel around his hips. He cleared his throat.
Her attention snapped back up to his face. “Ash? What the hell?”
He grabbed the knotted towel at his hip, not trusting the thing to hold up. Apparently the universe hated him, so full frontal nudity was imminent if he didn’t take precautionary measures. “I could say the same to you. How’d you get in?”
“I have a key. I’m showing the place for the Lowells so they can rent it out.” She lowered the pepper spray and swept her other hand in his direction. “I was bringing flowers by to brighten up the place. I have someone coming over later to see it.”
Ash looked down at his feet where shards of glass glinted in the lamplight and a puddle of water had spread like some kind of abstract art, mixing with the blood from his cut and the scattered flowers. His foot was burning like hell. “Well, it’s not for rent anymore. I’m…using it.”
Her brow creased, and she glanced around, noticing the boxes for the first time. “Using it? You always stay at Grace and Charlie’s when you visit.”
God, he didn’t want to get into this with Kincaid. He’d always made sure to bring a date home for Christmas, and he’d been extra thrilled the last two years to bring a serious girlfriend home to prove to everyone how well he was doing. Without this town. Without his parents. Without Kincaid. That he was just fine. Now here he was, right back where he’d started. “I needed a place for a little longer to get some writing done. Someplace quiet.”
“Where’s Melanie?”
In the Hamptons, f—ing Harlan. “Can we focus? I’m kind of bleeding and stranded over here.”
She blinked. “Oh, right. Bleeding. Naked. Don’t move. You’ll make it worse.”
“Not much choice, KC.”
Her attention flicked back to him, and he realized the mistake he’d made. The old nickname had tripped off his tongue unbidden. He didn’t get to call her that anymore. He hadn’t called her that since they were seventeen.
She looked down at her large purse and made a show of tucking away her pepper spray, thankfully ignoring his gaffe. “Is there a broom here? I can clear a path for you.”
“Check the closet by the door. I think I saw some cleaning supplies in there.”
Kincaid set her stuff down on the table and then made her way toward the front door, her black heels clicking along the floorboards with purpose. He couldn’t help but watch her. Kincaid had always walked like she was inviting every eye in the room to follow—chin up, hips swaying, blond hair spilling down her back. Not seductive per se. More like she was issuing a challenge she didn’t expect anyone to meet.
Today she was wearing some outfit that made Ash think of the pink ladies in Grease. Fitted black pants that stopped at her ankles and a pink suit jacket over a black top. It was business wear, but he had no doubt that her outfit had some of her male clients forgetting that they were supposed to be buying or selling a house.
Kincaid had always known she was beautiful and had leveraged that when she needed it. He couldn’t blame her for that. Being pretty and bubbly was how she’d eventually risen above the scorn from others about where she came from and who her mother was. When she turned her charm on you, it was nearly impossible not to be drawn in. By the end of high school, no one was calling her white trash like they had in middle school. They were voting her prom queen.
Kincaid rummaged in the closet by the front door and came back with a hand broom and dustpan. She frowned at the mess at his feet and let out a heavy sigh. “What a waste. That was such a pretty bouquet.”
Ash’s lip curled. “Glad you’re so concerned for the flowers, Breslin. Meanwhile, I’m bleeding out. Can I have the broom, please?”
She gave him a cocked brow and a head tilt. “Honey, you don’t want to squat down right now. I saw quite enough of what’s under there in sixth grade when your swim trunks got snagged on a branch at the lake. I’m still slightly traumatized. I don’t need a repeat.”
Heat crawled up the back of his neck, some remnant of the awkward boy he used to be trying to surface, but he shoved the feeling down. He wasn’t that person anymore. Plus, they both knew that sixth grade wasn’t the last time she’d seen him naked. She would never mention that other time, though. Pretend, pretend, pretend. That was the game they played. “Just leave me with the broom and go. I’ll clean up when you’re gone.”

 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 
 

Giveaway: A paperback copy of THE ONE FOR YOU by Roni Loren

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: How do you feel about flashback scenes in books? Do you like getting a peek into the past? Or would you rather the story stay in the present?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Meet the Author:

Roni Loren wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. She holds a master’s degree in social work and spent years as a mental health counselor, but now she writes full time from her cozy office in Dallas, Texas where she puts her characters on the therapy couch instead. She is a two-time RITA Award winner and a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.

Connect: Author Website: roniloren.com
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes |
 
 
 

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50 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: The One for You by Roni Loren”

  1. Mary Preston

    Not a big fan of flashbacks. I prefer the story to move forward. Best to begin in the past.

  2. lynnpallaske

    If the flashbacks help with understanding events or situations in the present then I don’t mind.

  4. Diana Hardt

    I like flashbacks if they help to understand anything in the present.

  6. Courtney Kinder

    Flashbacks are ok if they help with understanding how a character acts or a life event.

  8. Karina Angeles

    I love flashbacks. It gives more insight into the characters.

  10. Juli Huber Hall

    I don’t mind them , a couple is fine. I like to know their backstory, their history.

  12. Kathy Partridge

    They frequently add to the story, but sometimes the timeshift back and forth seems jarring.

  13. janinecatmom

    I enjoy a peek into the past in books as long as they don’t get too drawn out. I have read some books that go on so long with the past, I often forget what I was originally reading (about the present).

    • Shannon Capelle

      I love flashbacks in books and getting back story makes it really interesting

  16. Vicki Clevinger

    I love them. It helps to understand the reasons why the hero or heroine are the wasy they are

  17. Glenda M

    I like them when they belong in the story and where they are placed in the book. A flashback that doesn’t add to the story bothers me.

    • Lynne Brigman

      I don’t mind flashback as long as they help you understand the story line.

  23. dbranigan

    I don’t mind them unless they are throughout the book dragging out the backstory.

  27. Maureen Bakker

    I loooove this series. It’s such a great one!! And i definitely don’t mind flashbacks if they serve a point to the story. If it makes me understand the character and their story better.. than go for it.
    Thanks for the opportunity! 😉

  29. Amy R

    Do you like getting a peek into the past? I’m fine with peeks into the past in small amounts but I hate when it’s a constant back and forth as it takes me out of the story.

  32. Tina Alicea

    Great interview!!

    I like flashbacks. To me it can help understand the characters and/or storyline.
    Loved the excerpt…can’t wait to read it.

    PS: The beginning summary is for The One You Can’t Forget.

  33. Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

    I love getting glimpses into the past.
    Thanks for the chance!

  35. Mary C.

    I enjoy flashback scenes – it gives one a better understanding of the character.

  36. Jennifer Beyer

    I usually like flashbacks. They need to make sense and add to the story or else they become annoying.

  37. BookLady

    I enjoy reading flashbacks when they help to understand the characters and the present situation.

  38. erinf1

    I don’t mind flashbacks as long as they don’t take over the story. thanks sharing!

  43. Anita H.

    I enjoy flashbacks into the past, I feel it gives more insight into the characters.

  46. Tiffany Johnson

    I like them as long as the transitions between past and present are done well

  47. Terrill R.

    I enjoy flashback scenes and have really enjoyed them in this series. Getting glimpses of the characters and pieces of their shared pasts with the school shooting has been enlightening and handled well.