Spotlight & Giveaway: The Single Dad’s Promise by Anna J Stewart

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Anna J Stewart to HJ!

Hi Anna and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Single Dad’s Promise!

 
Hi there and hello! Always great to visit with the HJ fans.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

All of my books always feature the theme of family found/family made. THE SINGLE DAD’S PROMISE embraces that theme in multiple ways, both for Jana Powell, who has pretty much given up hope of ever being part of a family, and Silas Garwood, who has built his own circle not only with his five-year-old daughter Freya, but also his extended “family” in Nalani. It’s a book about homecoming, starting over, and appreciating everything life has to offer.

Silas has come back to Nalani for the first time in years, not only to finally bid farewell to his friend Remy Calvert, who recently passed away, but also to reconnect with life. He’s a single dad to a very precocious daughter and he has his hands full. Being back in Nalani shifts his perspective, especially after he meets Jana, who is on the other side of a serious illness. She’s come to Nalani to recharge and figure out where her life goes from here only to be seen as a mermaid by Silas’s daughter. Let the fun–and the romance–begin!
 

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

For me, there’s nothing more powerful than a homecoming and this bit of a scene where Silas is finally together with his island family again, really speaks to the power of friendship.

Silas hadn’t been so out of touch that he didn’t know about Kai, the child Remy had never met. The son he’d always dreamed of having. As he looked at the baby, with his mass of dark hair and dark eyes, it was the facial structure, the nose and that amused grin tilting the baby’s lips that felt like a complete gut punch of recognition.

Tehani came closer, tears filling her eyes. Standing in front of him, she lifted a hand to touch Silas’s cheek. “What took you so long?”

Her question broke the dam of swelling emotion, and she stepped into his arms, crying against his shoulder as her embrace welcomed him home,

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I always seem to give the kids in my book the oddest toys and stuffed animals. This time around, Freya is a bit peeved that she’s had to leave Roscoe, a big headed googly-eyed moose behind while they’re on their trip to Hawaii. She did bring a stuffed carrot named Fred, however, along with a one-eyed plastic chicken named Winnie. So at least some of her friends joined her, LOL.
• I loved playing with the idea of Jana secretly being a mermaid, and it was something Jana leaned in to with the little girl. Not that she could have convinced Freya otherwise, but, I think the entire idea lightened Jana’s heavy heart.
• Jana Powell is actually a scientist, an inventor, specifically of technology designed to help children with sensory and learning differences. I fell down a serious deep rabbit hole of research coming up with ideas of what things Jana has had a hand in producing, but it was also fun to think about what we’re capable of doing for one another when we want to.
• Silas’s job back on the mainland is as a cop and, after having written a LOT of law enforcement characters, it was refreshing to be able to back off that a bit. He’s not a cop really while he’s in Nalani. He’s helping Mano Iokepa (the next book!) with something “unofficially” but for the most part, he’s just a dad on vacation with his kid. Definitely a change of pace for me as a writer.

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

Well, for Silas, it’s really Freya that gets the ball rolling with Jana. The little girl is convinced Jana is a mermaid, but it’s Jana’s gentle and kind reaction to the accusation that captures his heart. Freya is a complicated child but Jana has personal insights into her behavior that most people simply don’t project. She knows what it’s like to be different and Jana and Freya bond rather quickly. Silas has never imagined anyone being able to slip into their lives as easily as Jana does, so it leaves him seeing her–and his life–in a completely different way.

For Jana, Silas offers a kind of island romance she never thought she’d experience. They become friends first as both are rather cautious when it comes to relationships, but he doesn’t push nor does he expect anything from her, which she finds very appealing. Seeing how easily he fits into the Nalani family, as well as how she’s been welcomed into the small town, she finds herself dreaming of things she’d long ago given up on. Belonging somewhere after a lifetime of being alone can be a difficult shift of perspective, but now she has friends to help her along the way. Including Silas and Freya.

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

There are a few scenes I found myself getting emotional about while I wrote them. There’s one with Jana and Freya alone on the beach and Freya is sharing all of her ‘treasures’ with Jana while they talk. Jana is able to get the little girl to open up about how she’s made to feel bad because she’s seen as different by her fellow pre-schoolers. As Jana herself had a similar experience in school, it creates a bond between them that builds through the rest of the book.

“AND THIS I FOUND at the playground in Golden Gate Park.” Freya dropped back to her knees and dug out a ragged feather from her bag and placed it on the sand beside her other “treasures.” “I’m keeping it in case a bird needs one.”

Elbow resting on her bent knee, Jana leaned her chin into her hand, unable to keep the smile off her face. She had never been so utterly entertained in her life. The unfiltered innocence of the little girl in front of her was just…well, it was absolute perfection.

“That’s a very good idea. And very nice of you, Freya.”

“Thank you.” Freya didn’t look away from her bag. Already she’d pulled out a miniature snow globe featuring a teeny-tiny castle surrounded with glitter, two worn postcards showing images of cable cars, a puka shell necklace that she must have acquired here, a number of buttons Freya declared had been left behind by fairies, a small compass that didn’t work, and an eraser in the shape of a butterfly. “Winnie keeps an eye on all of this in the bag.”

Jana blinked down at the plastic chicken in her lap. “Does she? Well.” She picked it up again. “It seems she’s doing a good job.”

“She’s one of my best friends,” Freya declared. “I couldn’t bring Roscoe because he didn’t fit in our suitcase. He’s a moose.”

Of course he was. “I’m sure Roscoe is having a good time while you’re on your trip.”

“I hope so.” Freya sighed as only a five-year-old could.

I also loved writing a kind of “fake date” scenario for Jana and Silas as they “investigate” a visitor to Nalani who might have duplicitous motives when it comes to the small town. The two of them together just make me smile. It’s rather easy between them, because they’re both falling so gently in love, not only with each other, but also with the possibility of a future neither could have ever anticipated.

It had to be the adrenaline rush from her impulsive decision making and surely didn’t have anything to do with the man sitting beside her. She squeezed his hand and couldn’t help but smile.

Being with him, just having him near, made all that white noise of life fade into the distance. She’d never met anyone who made her feel this way, as if she was right where she was supposed to be. The improbability factor was no doubt in the quadrillions that they’d come to Nalani at the same time, yet…

Yet here they were.

The bus bounced and shook as they exited onto a turnoff that led them into what looked like one of Hawai’i’s many forested areas.

“I want to thank each of you for reading your tour instructions.” Daphne’s voice came through load and clear through the speakers. “I did a quick check as we climbed on board and I’m glad to see everyone wearing sturdy walking shoes. Rest assured we do carry some spare hiking and rain boots on the bus just in case. But it looks like we’re in good shape today. Everyone wearing sunblock?” She bent down to peer out the window, her long red braid falling over her
shoulder. “We’ve got gorgeous weather, but that means no cloud cover, so please be proactive in protecting yourself.”

Jana dug into the backpack she’d loaded with essentials and pulled out the foldable straw hat she’d bought her first day in Nalani. Her smile at Silas’s assessing gaze was sheepish. “I know it’s…” She plunked it on her head and drew the drawstring under her chin. “I can sunburn in a snowstorm.” It didn’t matter she had slathered on half a tube of sunblock before leaving the cottage.

“Gotta protect this.”

He touched a finger to her nose so softly she shouldn’t have felt a thing. But she definitely felt something and that something shot straight to her toes and set them to tingling. He reached into his back pocket for his phone.

“Everything okay?” She glanced at his screen.

“Apparently. No messages about Freya.”

She tightened her fingers around his. She could feel the tension in his muscles. “I’m sure she’s fine.” It was on the tip of her tongue to remind him that Mano was there if Freya needed anything, but she didn’t want to volunteer any information that Don Martin might take to
connect the two of them to the resort’s owner.

“Just feels strange not having her with me.” His voice was low, as if he, too, didn’t want to be overheard. Jana couldn’t argue. Even she had to admit she thought of the two of them as a pair. But maybe this was going to be a good day, a good break, for both of them.

Readers should read this book….

If you love single father stories. I tend to write a lot of them. There’s just something magical about a father devoted to his child/children. This is also a book about recovering from an illness that a lot of women in particular deal with and Jana’s pretty much gone it alone. If you like stories about family found and finally finding a place where you belong, that’s definitely THE SINGLE DAD’S PROMISE (as well as every other book I write, LOL).

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

I’m just getting going on a new group of Hawaii-set Heartwarmings. Book 6 in the Hawaiian Reunions series, Mano’s story, will be out this December, but there will be at least another six that takes place in Nalani, which I’m thrilled about. I’m not ready to leave it yet.

I recently turned in book 3 of my McKenna Code series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Book 2 will be out late November and I’m already putting together a spin-off series that I’m super excited about.

Oh! And book 3 in my Circle of the Red Lily series (romantic thriller) is officially out! After a few publication delays (and the really long time it took to write), BURIED is finally in the hands of readers!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Digital copies of the first 4 books in the Hawaiian Reunions series (HER ISLAND HOMECOMING, THEIR SURPRISE ISLAND WEDDING, A SURPRISE SECOND CHANCE, and A HAWAIIAN CHRISTMAS ROMANCE) to FIVE (5) winners.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Family found is both my favorite trope and also the story I tell over and over again. It’s just one I fall in love with every time. What are some of your favorite tropes? What are auto-buys for you? Do you have a favorite ‘family found’ romance? I’d love to hear about it!

 
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Excerpt from The Single Dad’s Promise:

“Daddy.” The little girl moved in and grabbed the edge of her father’s shirt. Her green eyes had gone saucer-wide and the smile on her lips sent tingles down Jana’s spine. “Daddy, we saw her last night. She’s the mermaid!”

Jana automatically looked down at her legs as if expecting to find fins and a tail, then at Sydney, who seemed as surprised as Jana. “Mermaid?” Jana asked Silas.

Silas’s cheeks flushed again. “We went for a swim yesterday and…” He pointed to Jana’s flaxen, short-cropped hair. “I think you might have been glowing in the sunset. Freya was convinced you
were a mermaid.”

“Did you go swimming yesterday, Jana?” Sydney asked.

“I’ve been in the water more than I’ve been out of it.” Perhaps that qualified her as a mermaid? “So yes, I was.” She dropped down so she was eye to eye with the child. “I’m sorry, Freya, but I’m afraid I’m not—”

“Yes, you are! I know you are.” Freya stepped away from her father, touched a hand to Jana’s as if testing to see whether she was real. She then touched Jana’s short hair. “I saw you swimming.”

“Well, I have been called part-fish, I suppose.” Jana cast a quick glance at Silas, who appeared shell-shocked at his daughter’s interest. “But you know what, Freya? If I was a mermaid, I couldn’t tell anyone because mermaids are secret.” She pressed a finger to her lips. “That’s how we—how they stay safe while they’re on land. We’re very solitary creatures.” What a pleasure it was to fall into fantasy and make-believe for a moment.

“I knew it! Oh my gosh, Daddy! A real-life mermaid!” Freya jumped up and down, grabbed her father’s hand. “Isn’t that the best thing ever?”

Jana felt her entire being fill with joy. She wasn’t one to lie, but there were times little fibs could be forgiven. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were ever going to see each other again.

Freya’s eyes dimmed a bit as she looked more closely at Jana. “What does solitary mean?”

“Alone,” Silas said at the same time Sydney said “lonely.”

It took Jana an extra beat to realize Sydney’s definition was probably more accurate. “It just means I’m on my own,” she said in an effort to sound less woeful.

“Makes me sad.” Sydney Calvert heaved a heavy and far too dramatic sigh. “You in the cottage all by yourself while the rest of us are at a big party this evening. It would have been really cool to have a mermaid at Keane’s birthday luau.”

Jana glared at Sydney before she thought better of it. “No fair.”

Sydney only grinned as Freya’s mood brightened. “But we’re going to be there, aren’t we, Daddy?”

Silas inclined his head. “You weren’t too keen yesterday.” Silently, he mouthed, “I’m sorry” to Jana in a way that had her heart tipping toward him.

“That was before I knew a mermaid would be there,” Freya said simply. “I want to go now. I really do. Please can we go, Daddy?”

“How can I say no?” Silas feigned surrender. “We’ll definitely go.” He grinned at Jana. “If the mermaid does.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Could a single dad and daughter be her unexpected future?

A Hawaiian vacation is just what police officer and single dad Silas Garwood needs, but five-year-old Freya is more anxious than excited about their holiday. Until she sees Jana Powell swimming in the moonlight and becomes convinced the ethereal beauty is a mermaid. Suddenly Freya is on board for a magical adventure, and the trip is looking sunnier for Silas, too. Jana is drawn to the strong, capable man who clearly adores his little girl. But due to a recent illness, a ready-made family hasn’t been in her plans. Will she give up her peaceful life for the chaos of an instant family?
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Meet the Author:

Anna J. Stewart is a National and USA Today bestselling author of more than sixty emotionally layered romances, ranging from sweet to suspenseful. She currently writes for Harlequin’s Heartwarming and Romantic Suspense lines and is the author of the award-winning Circle of the Red Lily romantic thriller series.

A Maggie and Holt Medallion winner, Anna’s work has also been recognized as a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers’ Choice Awards and one of her novels, Recipe for Redemption, was optioned for a TV movie.

At the heart of every story Anna tells is family—the kind you’re born into, and the kind you fight for. Her characters wrestle with real struggles, deep wounds, and the kind of love that changes everything. When she’s not writing or working with editing clients, Anna can be found in her kitchen chasing comfort through cooking, or deep in a TV binge that often includes The Great British Bake-Off, Supernatural, and anything Starfleet-approved. She shares her space—and negotiates for desk rights—with two cats, Rosie and Sherlock, who are equal parts muse and menace.
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