Spotlight & Giveaway: The Summer Retreat by Sheila Roberts

Posted April 24th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 39 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sheila Roberts to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Sheila and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Summer Retreat!

 
Thank you so much for having me! I always love stopping by and sharing what’s new with everyone.
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

Think summer time, hitting restart on your life and finding true love. That’s what my heroine is planning on. Celeste Jones is off to spend the summer with her sister Jenna at the Driftwood Inn in Moonlight Harbor. Helping with maid service, connecting with family and finding new friends. Oh, and new men. Did I mention men? I’d say that about sums it up.
 

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

There oughta be a law against cheating and you oughta be sent to love jail. For life.” (How’s that for a great line to throw at someone who’s broken your heart? Feel free to adapt and use if needed.)

 

What inspired this book?

I’m settled in at the beach town of Moonlight Harbor and I had a character who I felt really needed to find her happy ending, so I gave Celeste Jones center stage. I love the beach all year round but especially in summer, so I was anxious to return there.

 

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

It’s an interesting thing about characters. The more you write about them the better you know them. Their likes and dislikes, their little quirks all emerge as the story progresses. So I guess, as with any friendship, the more time we all spent together the more we got to know each other. (Or rather the more I decided what they’d turn out like!)

 

What was your favorite scene to write?

I had a lot of favorite scenes in this book, but one of my favs, sick puppy that I am is when Celeste loses her bathing suit top and gets in trouble in the ocean. Oh, dear, and here come some women who are sure to run straight to that perfect man in her life and tell all.

Her top. She had to get her top. The stupid thing had come off—with a little help from Nemo, who’d mistaken one of the strings tying it on for… Who knew what he’d mistaken it for? He’d sure found it fun to tug on, and between his tugging and her swimming she’d swum right out of the thing. Every time Celeste grabbed for it, it dodged her. Now it was floating away, just out of reach.
“Fetch, Nemo,” she said through gritted teeth.
Fetch was not in Nemo’s vocabulary. He trotted out of the water and stood shaking himself dry. Woman’s best friend.
Her leg was cramping. She knew better than to stay in the water this long, even in summer. If she wasn’t careful, the undertow was going to catch her and she’d really be toast.
She was already in the toaster. She tried to kick, but her cramped leg wouldn’t cooperate. She thrashed her arms. They felt like lead. This wasn’t good. She tried again. Her whole body refused to cooperate. A wave washed over her, making her choke. Surface, Celeste. Surface!
She willed her head back above water but she couldn’t get enough momentum to make it to shore. Like her bikini top, it was becoming increasingly out of reach.
Oh, Lord. She was dying. It was true. Your life did flash before your eyes. She could see Jenna and her playing dolls; and saw herself climbing into bed with Mom during a thunderstorm. There she was, throwing a hopscotch game so her sister could win. The images kept coming, faster and faster. Jenna socking a mean girl who’d picked on Celeste. There were the two of them, Jenna starting middle school, she still in grade school, at Aunt Edie’s house in the bedroom with all the dolls, making silly faces by the light of a flashlight. She saw little Tommy Driscoll from last year’s first-grade class, holding out an apple. “You’re so pretty, Miss Jones.” And here came her first boyfriend from middle school. “Wanna go to the movies?” This was followed by, “Wanna make out?” The string of bad boyfriends flashed past, ending with Emerson, who seemed to be calling her.
No, not Emerson. Someone else. “What were you thinking?” demanded a voice she knew all too well.
A pair of sinewy arms hooked around her shoulders and started towing her out of the water. “No!” she screeched. Sort of screeched. She could hardly talk.
“You’re gonna drown, you idiot,” snapped her rescuer.
She tried to point to her runaway top, but couldn’t raise her arm. She tried to say something but her teeth were clacking together too hard.
Henry Gilbert finally got them to where the water was waist-high and hauled her up. His eyes bugged out at the sight of her bare chest. “Shit.”
Her teeth were chattering so hard her jaw ached. “My t-top,” she stammered.
“Forget your top. It’s gone. Some kid will find it washed up on the beach.”
She looked in the direction of where the top had been. Where would it wash up? Who would find it? Who knew?
One thing she knew for sure. People were coming. Two women, walking along the beach. One of them she’d seen with Hyacinth. Oh, no! Celeste let out a squeak and turned toward Henry.
He’d seen the people, too, and pulled her against him, all the while trying to struggle out of his wet T-shirt. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 

What was the most difficult scene to write?

You know, I just didn’t have one. Hmm. Does that sound egotistical or shallow? I hope not. For this particular writer putting down the story is easy. But rewriting and polishing, that’s another thing. And I’m sure I had my struggles. But it’s a little like childbirth. Once you’ve got the baby you forget the pain.

 

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I’d say this is definitely a Sheila book. I love writing humor and I love happy endings. I think I can promise both on this one.

 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I’m very excited about my upcoming Holiday Read, CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART. Look for it this fall!

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: A Paperback copy of THE SUMMER RETREAT and a beach charm, U.S. only

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you could go anywhere to hit restart on your life where would you go?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Book Info:

Celeste Jones has plans for a perfect summer with her boyfriend (and hopefully soon-to-be fiancé)—until he dumps her to be with the woman he’s had on the side for months. Heartbroken and furious, Celeste resolves to move on. When the going gets tough, the tough…okay, the not-so-tough go to the beach.

As soon as school lets out for the summer, she waves goodbye to her first-graders, packs up her bikini and heads for Moonlight Harbor, where she knows her big sister, Jenna, will receive her with open arms. Jenna could probably use some help at the Driftwood Inn, and Celeste is happy to do chores around the place in exchange for a relaxing summer escape. She just needs something—or someone—to distract her from her troubles.

Finding The One can be tricky, and Jenna is determined to make sure Celeste gets it right this time around. Not that Jenna’s an expert. She’s still trying to sort out her own love life. But if both sisters listen to their hearts, eventually they’re bound to discover that life—and love—is good at the beach.

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Best-selling author Sheila Roberts has seen her books published in a dozen different languages and made into movies for both the Hallmark and Lifetime channels. She’s happily married with three children and lives in the Pacific Northwest. When she’s not hanging out with girlfriends, speaking to women’s groups or going dancing with her husband she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |

 

 

 

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39 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: The Summer Retreat by Sheila Roberts”

  4. janinecatmom

    I would love to live in a beach house, preferably in Hawaii. That is what my ex did after we divorced, he moved to Hawaii to restart his life. Of course he could afford that. I had to move back home with my parents because I don’t have the job skills to afford my own place to live.

  6. John Smith

    “If you could go anywhere to hit restart on your life where would you go?” Age 1 or 2. My parents would somehow magically become non-narcissistic, and I would never be left in the care of terrible, terrible people far worse than my parents.

  9. Glenda M

    Maybe a beach, maybe the mountains maybe another country. It all depends on the season and my mood

  12. clickclickmycat

    I would go to Montana and live on the mountains in a log cabin.

  16. noraadrienne

    I have two go to places when I “NEED” to get away. It depends on the time of year. I have Orleans on Cape Cod and Colonial WIlliamsburg in Virginia. I could happily spend the rest of my life at either of those places.

  27. eawells

    I would go someplace near water, whether it be a coast or on a large lake. Plus it must not get too hot or too cold there.

  28. Felicia Fallon

    Not home — too many well-meaning relatives who will insist on helping me press the restart button. CANCUN. I just love it there.

  30. Martha Lawson

    I really don’t know, but somewhere with a more moderate climate!!