Spotlight & Giveaway: WEEKENDS WITH YOU by Alexandra Paige

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Alexandra Paige to HJ!

Hi Alexandra Paige and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, WEEKENDS WITH YOU!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Lucy Bernstein is surely doing what everyone in their twenties in London is doing: worrying
about job security (being a florist isn’t exactly lucrative), moving into a warehouse flat with
seven other people, falling in love with a man she only sees once a month (who happens to be
one of said flatmates), and trying her best to navigate it all. One weekend each month is
dedicated to exploring the city as a flat, and it is during these eclectic adventures that Lucy finds
herself not only falling for Henry, but striving for goals she previously thought were out of
reach, finding that friends can become family, and learning the real meaning of what it means
to be home.
 

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

The sound of our breathing overwhelmed the distant thump of the bass, and the party ceased
to exist at all. As far as I was concerned, we were the only two people in the warehouse. In fact,
we might as well have been the only two people in the city.

“You’re family now, too,” Raja said. “Which means your traditions are our traditions.”

All that seemed to matter was the gentle rise and fall of Henry’s chest under my head and the
way the first streaks of sunlight carried in all the promise of new beginnings.

We were pressed up against each other, drunk and uninhibited, spinning wildly under the dim
golden lights, falling through space and time.

We exchanged a glance, and I relished the second it gave me to admire the way his eyes
reflected the fairy lights. The way they resembled the river and the gardens, the soft green of a
watercolor painting.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Renee is based on (and named after) a late, great aunt of mine, who would have loved
  Lucy like her own granddaughter and given her the exact kind of tough love and
  guidance Renee does in the book.
• To find inspiration for the warehouse and its dwellers, I found a Facebook group of
  people living in warehouses and looking for roommates, and I interviewed a few via
  FaceTime. Jan is loosely based on someone I talked to who gave me the most
  information, and the warehouse itself is an amalgamation of nearly every warehouse
  space listed on SpareRoom.
• The first draft of this novel was called Conversion, and it featured an entirely different
  protagonist and story structure. Then, the first draft of this version was called Bloom, as
  per the recommendation of another student in my MFA program, before it became
  Weekends with You, thanks to my incredible editor.

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

On the surface, it’s Henry’s boyish grin and his big hands and Lucy’s unruly curls and the natural
flush of her complexion. But it’s really Lucy’s quick wit, Henry’s guileless confidence, and a
shared love of banter that pulls them to each other like magnets.

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

Lucy and Henry’s midnight kiss in the kitchen at Finn’s parents’ Bed and Breakfast in Ireland felt
in some ways more intimate to me than when they actually slept together. I was definitely
blushing writing this scene (and definitely telling my brothers to skip over these pages when
they read the book).

He placed his full mug on the island, then took mine out of my hands and did the same.
“It doesn’t have to be ‘just tea,’” he said, his voice barely audible. I opened my mouth to
protest at the same moment his hands found my hips and lightly pushed me against the
counter.
“Henry,” I whispered. “Are you joking? We’re in the kitchen, and surely the Kennedys
are still up.”
He put a finger to my lips. “Listen,” he said, turning an ear toward the rest of the house.
Silence, save for the quiet hiss of the old radiator and the wind whistling outside. “Doesn’t
sound like anyone’s awake to me, does it?”
“What’s gotten into you?”

“I’ve missed you, Lucy,” he said, his smile twisting into something more serious. “I just
want to make the most of the time we have together.” He pushed my hoodie up from my hips
just enough so his hands were against my bare skin, and I nearly lost all semblance of rational
thought.

Readers should read this book….

• if they are drawn to witty banter, British culture, found family, chaotic friendships, and
  realistic portrayals of love and life in your twenties
  if they are looking to escape the routine of the day-to-day and go on adventures with a
  quirky group of flatmates instead
  if they are looking for a romance that isn’t just a romance, but is also a story of
  friendship, believing in yourself, and finding a home wherever you are

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

My next release is another adult romance (this time, we’re going to Ireland), set to come out
late spring 2025. In the meantime, I’m working on editing a third romance (Sweden, anyone?),
writing a sleepaway camp YA, and drafting a Hanukkah romance, all of which I’m impossibly
excited about!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: We can give away one copy of WEEKENDS WITH YOU by Alexandra Paige

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Lucy and Henry only see each other for one weekend every month, even after they start falling for each other. They try their best to make the distance work, but they inevitably have quite a few challenges to overcome. What do you think non traditional relationships like theirs need in order to be successful?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from WEEKENDS WITH YOU:

AUGUST

Flowers have always been the best communicators. They’ve mastered falling over one another in that perfect way that announces exactly what they need: sunlight, water, space, time. They let us use them again and again to say congratulations or I’m thinking of you or I’m sorry. They do not rush. They do not bloom before their time. They do not take without giving in return. They are nothing like the rest of London.
I knew I shouldn’t have been at work this morning, seeing as I was supposed to be packing the last of my room in my old apartment to move this afternoon, but I couldn’t resist finishing this project in the clarity of the morning light. All weekend I’d been putting together an arrangement for a proposal, and the remainder of the cosmos had been delivered to the shop before sunrise this morning. It would only take a minute.
I twisted the firm stems of the cosmos around one another so the pale pink petals faced outward, then filled in the spaces with delicate white sweet peas. The combination of colors was meant to mimic the blush of promised love, but I was sure that would be lost on both parties. Most people came in requesting something “beautiful” or “extravagant” with little regard for the actual arrangement, but it didn’t bother me. All it meant was I was able to take creative liberties and share in my customers’ celebrations or sorrows, which was the whole reason I found myself in this business in the first place.
This particular customer told me he was proposing with his grandmother’s ring to a woman he’d been with since school, so I opted for something traditional.
“Lucy, is that you?” Renee’s voice startled me from my reverie, and I spun on my stool to see her poking her head into the office.
“In here,” I said from the studio.
Renee secured this space before I was even born at a fraction of the price I imagined it would be now, and I was lucky to reap the benefits. The studio had a mix of tables, some pale wood and others shiny metal, but the tops were always hidden by masses of flowers, stems, shears, ribbons, and whatever else we could get our hands on. Bolts of canvas paper bookended our workspace, and old photos crowded the walls, framed in antique bronze. It was the kind of clutter that made me feel nostalgic instead of claustrophobic, which made this place feel even more like home.
“I could hardly see you,” she said, turning on the rest of the lights as she came in. They flickered to life, bulbs asking to be replaced, bathing us in a dull fluorescent glow. “How can you work with such little light?”
“Well, I’m younger than eighty, so that might have something to do with it.” I looked up from the last of my ribbon curls to check if she was smiling. I could tell she was fighting it.
“I’m only seventy-four. And careful with that sharp tongue, pet,” she scolded. “You’re going to end up cutting yourself.”
“Spoken like a woman with years and years and years of wisdom.”
A dry laugh slipped from her coral lips, followed by a quick pinch of my earlobe. I swatted her hand away, relishing the sound of her clinking rings in the silence.
“What are you doing here so early?” she asked.
“I could ask you the same,” I said, eyes narrowed. We had both been, admittedly, spending way too much time in the shop lately. Some days, it didn’t feel like we had much of a choice if we wanted to keep our lights on.
She sighed and lowered herself onto the stool beside me, hands braced on the worktop. “I was planning on finishing this arrangement once the dahlias were finally delivered since you’re supposed to be moving today…” she trailed off, prompting me to fill in the blanks.
“Which I will be, just as soon as I finish this,” I said, picking at a singular dry leaf and keeping my eyes locked on my work.
I was only moving across the city, so I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. I’d moved before. More than once. Across the Atlantic, in fact. But always on my own and never into a warehouse conversion with seven other flatmates.
Renee took her turn swatting my hand from the flowers. “It’s finished, Luce.” Her tone was firm but not unkind, and I knew it was her way of shooing me out the door.
“But the delivery,” I tried.
“Will be handled by Carla when she arrives later this morning.” Carla was our new part-time hire, and I hadn’t yet gotten used to having the extra weekend help. “It’s taken care of. Go. Those last bits aren’t going to pack themselves.” She nodded in the direction of the door, and I had no choice but to obey. As much as I hated to admit it, Renee did usually know best.
“Call me if there are any issues,” I said from the doorway.
“I can assure you the only issue is how late you’re going to be if you don’t get moving.”
I rolled my eyes and let the door close behind me, the familiar chimes announcing my departure.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

or fans of Beth O’Leary and Josie Silver, a heartwarming and romantic debut told over the course of one year in monthly weekend installments, about found family, new love, and the magic of London.

Flowers have always been the best communicators. They’ve mastered falling over one another in the perfect way to announce exactly what they need: sunlight, water, space. They do not rush. They do not bloom before their time. They do not take without giving in return…

They are nothing like the rest of London.

Between trying to keep her north London flower shop, The Lotus, afloat and falling for a flatmate, Lucy Bernstein is going to have to rethink everything she knows about “creative arrangements.”

Unwillingly becoming one of eight flatmates in a quirky warehouse conversion would have been difficult enough without any romantic entanglements, but when Lucy lays eyes on Henry Baker, the traveling photographer who only comes home twelve weekends a year, she knows her hands will be full with more than just posies. As each weekend progresses, Lucy also finds herself unexpectedly falling for all her new flatmates, along with this bustling but ultimately sweeter home.

Can Lucy learn from the flowers she tends to and bravely reach for all that she needs to bloom?
Book Links:  Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Alexandra Paige is a writer and educator. She is enthusiastic about all things romance, and her work often serves as a love letter to European travel and the chaos of being twenty-something. She currently writes in an apartment she shares with her boyfriend above a pizzeria downtown, though her stories are always taking her elsewhere. She has an MFA from Lindenwood University and lives in New Jersey. Weekends with You is her first novel.
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