Spotlight & Giveaway: THE VALENTINE’S HATE by Sidney Halston

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sidney halston to HJ!

Hi Sidney and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, THE VALENTINE’S HATE!

 
Hi HJ family! Thank you for having me
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The Valentines Hate is an enemies to lovers rom com about 2 childhood enemies who get stuck together at a resort for a Valentine’s Day Wedding. They agree to pretend to date in order to get their exes off their backs. Of course too much pretending leads to real life feelings.
 

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

Like Elsa always says, ‘Let it go!’” Lizzie singsonged the words and flung her arms out, hitting Brian right in the face. “Oh shit. I’m so so sorry.” She grabbed his face in her hands. “I’ve been told I gesticulate too much. Brits don’t seem to appreciate a good Cuban gesticulation.” Her hands were soft against his skin and she was looking into his eyes, softly, rubbing his cheek with her thumb. “I think you gesticulate just the right amount,” he said and then she let go of his face like it was a hot potato.

“I told you yesterday, you better not fall in love with me, Anderson!” “Trust me, that would never happen! I don’t think I can even get past the dislike!” he shouted through the door. Shouted! When was the last time he’d gotten this worked up? “Good!” A few days with Lizzie, and he wanted to pull his hair out. He didn’t feel rational, he felt completely discombobulated; there was no way he’d ever catch real feelings for her.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• It takes place in Cancun
• Lizzie is Cuban (just like me)
• There’s some forced proximity when there’s only 1 room available in the resort
• The hero “ruined” all Valentine’s Dayals for the heroine while they were growing up. So she’s not a huge V-Day fan
• The hero is a famous author and his book is about to become a huge motion picture. Therefore he has groupies he’s trying to avoid

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

It’s quite the opposite. They met in 1st grade and it was hate at first sight.
But he has always liked how extroverted she is and she loves his quirky artsy nature.

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

I love the first scene they reunite after not seeing each other for so many years. I find it funny and also the familiarity between them is what starts that chemistry going

Lizzie was exhausted. But, by the commotion around her and the various announcements in both English and Spanish, it seemed that they had landed. Oh! Oh no! She was resting her head on the person sitting next to her. Oh God! The embarrassment of it all. Her flight had been long, and the Advil PM had left her drowsy and loopy. The sunglasses didn’t help make things better. She righted her head and wiped her chin. Yep—drool. Excellent job, Lizzie. She pulled off her sunglasses and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so embarr—” She began to apologize to her neighbor, when she got a good look. Not just a good look, she did a double take and squinted. “Is that . . . are you . . . Brian? Brian Anderson?” “Yep,” he said with a shit-eating grin. The fact that she’d rested her head on someone she knew should have made her feel less embarrassed, but the shoulder belonged to Brian the boy next door, who’d made her life miserable whenever he could. The bane of her existence. She’d rather have rested her head on the propellers of the plane than on Brian Freakin’ Anderson’s shoulder. She wiped the cobwebs out of her eyes and tried to get the confusion out of her head. “Is this a nightmare? It has to be a nightmare.” “It was for me. My shirt is covered in drool and makeup,” he said, looking down at his shoulder. “What are you doing here?

Readers should read this book….

Because it’s fun, it’s funny, it’s sexy and who doesn’t love a HEA with great banter!

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

I’m working on another rom com between two preschool teachers who don’t get along. It’s super cute so far!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 5 Signed paperbacks of THE VALENTINE’S HATE by Sidney halston (open to US, only) non US can receive an ebook copy

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s the best and worst Valentine’s Day you’ve had?

 
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Excerpt from THE VALENTINE’S HATE:

She grabbed her phone and noticed a few missed texts from Mari asking if she wanted to join them for dinner. It was about an hour ago. Secretly, she was happy she’d missed the texts because spending the evening as the third wheel wasn’t all that exciting. Lizzie: Sorry. I fell asleep and just woke up to your text. You’re
probably in the middle of dinner. Meet me at the lobby bar when you’re done and we’ll catch up. She clicked send and then went back to her room, brushed her hair, applied a little bit of makeup, and decided to change from her lounge pants and camisole to a casual white linen dress. She slipped on some cute platform sandals and left in search of food. The resort was buzzing. By the signs scattered throughout, there were smaller events going on, all book or movie related. She assumed some of the movie’s supporting actors and maybe the director or producer were having press events. “Excuse me, do you serve food at the bar?” she asked a bartender walking about. “Sure do,” he said, and she sighed gratefully. “Thanks.” She walked herself straight to the bar rather than one of the booths. She wanted to be invisible. Eat, catch up with Mari, and go back to bed. She would force herself to sleep by eleven in order to try and regulate her internal clock. That was the plan, at least. “Buenas noches, señorita. El menú.” The friendly bartender handed her the menu. “Algo para beber?”
“Si, gracias. Una margarita, por favor.” “Coming right up,” the bilingual bartender said as he placed a basket of nachos and salsa in front of her. Before opening the menu, Lizzie began to nibble on chips. She was starving. “Hey!” Lizzie looked over her shoulder. It was Mari, who looked resort-wear chic in gauzy baby-blue palazzo pants and a flowy top that matched. Her inky-black hair was loose around her shoulders and she was wearing bright red lipstick and an envy-worthy straw bag. “Hey you. Come. Sit.” Lizzie pulled out the chair next to her and then signaled to the bartender to bring another margarita. Click click click. Lizzie looked over her shoulder to find Domingo taking photos of them. “You’re off the clock, Domingo. No more photos tonight, please,” Mari said. Domingo said his goodbyes and left. “You look right at home here, Mari. Resort wear is your thing, girlfriend.” “Thanks!” she said. “You should have joined us for dinner. The food was delicious.” “I meant to take a short nap and I overslept. Where’s Gus?”
“With his family.” She made a disgusted face. “Mari!” Lizzie said, shocked, and then looked around. “Lower your voice.” “Oh, please. There’s a million people here, mariachis, music from the speakers. I can barely hear myself think. Plus, his sister’s head is so far up her own ass, she couldn’t hear me even if she was sitting right here next to us.” Lizzie snorted out a laugh. “Jesus, Mari, I always thought you loved his family.” “I do. It’s mostly Demi and her contoured face and perfect hair and constant little digs. His mom’s the best but when Demi’s around the vibe changes. Why do you think I’m all decked out? Everything we do will be on TikTok by morning and I know the little witch is trying to catch me without makeup or with lettuce between my teeth or a booger coming outa my nose. Anyway, in small doses, it’s controllable but we’ve been together most of the day. I needed distance.” She let out a deep breath, one that sounded as if she’d been holding it in for far too long. “Speaking of doses, we need a shot!” Mari declared and when Lizzie started to protest she added, “Please,
Lizzie. I’m getting married this weekend! Don’t say no.” “Okay. Okay,” Lizzie said as the bartender brought over the margaritas. “And apparently, we’ll also be ordering bad decisions,” she added and the bartender’s lips quirked up. “Two shots of Patrón,” Mari ordered and then turned her attention back to Lizzie. “Where’s your boyfriend? Are you actually taking him to the wedding? Please don’t kick him in the balls anywhere close to my cake.” “That was an accident,” Lizzie said in defense of the sixth-grade incident that almost got her suspended. “We were playing kickball and I missed the ball.” “I think you hit the balls you intended to hit,” Mari said, with a snort. “When you two are in the same room, disaster ensues.” “That was twenty years ago. We’re mature adults now.” Mari’s brow furrowed. “Well, I’m a mature adult now but you two are playing pretend so I’m not sure I’d make that analysis just yet.” Lizzie took a big sip of her drink, which seemed full of liquid again. Either the bartender had been refilling it when she hadn’t been looking or she hadn’t drunk much
of it. Considering that she felt very relaxed all of a sudden, she knew she’d had at least one full drink. “Oh, Liz, I’ve missed you so much,” Mari said, her eyes becoming watery. Mariana was a sappy drunk and she’d likely had drinks at dinner, so she was teetering on sobs. She leaned over to hug Lizzie but her chair tilted forward, and she tumbled onto Lizzie. “Oh shit!” Mari said and burst into a cry-laugh that also sent Lizzie over the edge into fits of uncontrollable laughter. Maybe she should’ve eaten something. “Uh oh!” a deep voice—a deep and familiar voice—said from nearby. “This looks like trouble.” Without even having to look up, she mumbled, “Anderson.” Mari stood and righted her stool, then sat back down while Lizzie wiped the laughter tears from her face. “I guess you finally woke up,” Brian said, looking exceptionally sexy in loose-fitting jeans and one of those rock band T-shirts. This one said Journey on it. She hated that she found him sexy. Apparently, she was into guys with glasses who wore rock-and-roll T-shirts. Who knew?
“Anderson, you were supposed to wake me up,” she said over a hiccup. She covered her mouth and he chuckled. “One hour. That’s all I was supposed to sleep.” “You never shared that plan with me,” he said and she took a moment to think about that. “Oh yeah. I thought it, though.” “I’ll start reading your mind, no problem,” he quipped. “Ohhhhhh . . .” Mari said and Brian turned his attention to her. “This is so cute!” “Mariana,” he said in the form of a hello. “Congrats on the nuptials.” “Congrats on all the money and muscles,” she said, wiggling a finger around his biceps area. This time he laughed out loud. “You are hot. You weren’t wrong, girlfriend. You weren’t wrong.” Brian gave Lizzie a pointed look. He adjusted his glasses and wiggled his brows. She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I can still hate you even if you are sort of handsome.” “Hot. She said hot,” he corrected her and she glared at him. “Did you have dinner?” he asked. “Oh yeah! Tacos, I want tacos and more nachos. Oh, and guacamole. Let me find that bartender.” She started to turn but her stool wobbled. Shit,
she was getting a little sloppy. “These chairs are stupid.” “And dangerous,” Mari said. “Why don’t you ladies go over there. I’ll order you some food,” Brian offered, pointing to a booth. With a knowing nod, the bartender took the drinks off the bar before either of them could protest. “I’ll take their drinks over, man. You make sure they make it safely to the booth.” “It’s like ten feet. We’ll be fine,” Lizzie said. “They do kilometers here. I know this because my parents’ hotel is like a zillion kilometers away and Gus said that was twenty miles. I would be lost without Gus. I don’t know kilometers!” Again with the waterworks. “Is she crying over the metric system?” Brian whispered to Lizzie. “It’s the alcohol, she’s an emotional drinker.” “And you are?” “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she said with a sexy(ish) wink, because she hiccupped at the same time and he wasn’t certain whether it was intended to be sexy. Brian helped the ladies to the booth and then invited himself to the party. “Anderson, guess what?” Lizzie said when she slid into the booth. “What?” he asked, amused.
“I stole one of your books. Imma read it.” “They’re so good! I don’t like you, Brian Anderson. You were the biggest asshole growing up, but shit, those books were unputdownable.” Mari struggled to say the word and it came out slow—syllable by syllable. “I had so much sex with Gus during book five and the scene where Gwinnie and Zeth are stuck in the cave for the week. Talk about sexual tension!” “TMI,” Lizzie said and Brian pinched the bridge of his nose.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Lissette Alonso believes. Ever since the Most Disastrous Valentine’s Day of All Time(TM) she has hated all things V-day. But Lizzie’s best friend is having pre-nuptial festivities for a week leading up to her February 14th wedding and Lissette is taking her maid of honor duties seriously, maybe too seriously. Of course of course of course who is the first person she runs into on the way to the wedding? None other than her childhood nemesis, Brian Anderson, the reason for all of her Valentine’s Day hatred.

Brian knows he messed up with Lizzie but give him a break, he was just a kid who was trying to look cool and Lizzie regularly pushed all of his buttons–both in school and out of it. He’s always been gruff and grumpy, but these days, Brian is much better off with his writing; fictional characters never talk back. Unlike Lizzie who always has something to say.

Suddenly the two are back under the same roof and bickering like old times, except that Brian has bigger problems than dealing with Lizzie’s verbal sparring. Someone Brian is desperate to avoid shows up and somehow Lizzie gets roped into pretending to be dating him. And, suddenly, the simmering anger has blossomed into something extra spicy…
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Meet the Author:

Jeanette Escudero worked as an attorney before picking up a pen at thirty years old to write something other than legal briefs. Being published fulfilled a dream and gave her an outlet for her imaginative, romantic side. Writing as Sidney Halston, she is the USA Today bestselling author of the Panic series, the Worth the Fight series, the Iron-Clad Security novels, and the Seeing Red duet. In addition to writing and reading, Jeanette has a passion for travel and adventure. She and her family have been to the Galapagos Islands and have hiked Yellowstone, the Shenandoah mountains, and the Great Smoky Mountains. Born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents, she currently lives in South Florida with her husband and her three children, in whom she’s instilled a love of nature and an appreciation for the planet.
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