Friday Fiction Friends - Emily Reynolds

This week Friday Fiction Friends spotlights Emily Reynolds' debut novel, PICTURE PERFECT. 

Seven years ago, I met Emily through an ACFW critique group. Together with Sally Bayless, we dubbed ourselves "The Three Musketeers" and determined to encourage each other to publication. Life happened and each of us has journeyed different roads to our dreams. Yet we are all three published!

Back then, Emily's WIP (work in progress) went by other names but her main characters were Lily and Micah. I fell in love with them from the start. Lily is spunky, determined, yet caring and full of compassion. She's pursuing her dream of opening a photography studio and has finally found the perfect location. Micah has a past he's not proud of - would love for no one to know about, in fact. A personal tragedy brought him to Christ and now he wants to open a martial arts dojo to teach jujitsu to teens at risk.

Micah just found the perfect location for his dojo. Uh-huh, you guessed it!

That's not what has sparks flying between Lily and Micah, though. Micah gets drafted to help Lily learn swing dancing for her cousin's wedding. Their time on the dance floor heats up their romance but their pasts are about to collide. Again.

Micah is such a wonderful hero. He wants to improve the lives of teens. He's strong yet not a brute. He can dance! He's considerate. And flawed. When he gets frustrated, he stops talking to Lily, which only makes matters worse. So true to life. Lily, for her part, doesn't always open up and share her thoughts and concerns. Which makes matters worse. More real life, right there. Lily sees the good in Micah but she can't quite let go of the past and trust him.

Added to the mix is Lily's best friend, Erica, and her boss, Ian, who owns/runs the local coffee hot spot. Then there's Jeff, the youth pastor. And Myrtle Boralis, a wealthy elderly lady in church who has rubbed a few people the wrong way. We all know someone like her - she means well but is abrasive anyway.

PICTURE PERFECT is a delightful read, full of real life and plenty of romance. Get your copy today, for Kindle or in print.

Emily Reynolds writes contemporary, faith-filled romance novels filled with laughs and small-town charm. She loves exploring the mystery of falling in love, God's redemptive grace, and laugh-out-loud humor. Visit her website to learn more: http://www.emilycreynolds.com/ 

For more incredible contemporary romance novels, check out BLING! Romance, a division of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas

Author Spotlight - Suzanne Williams

I'm starting a new feature on my blog - on Mondays I will post an Author Spotlight or Book Review. This week, I'm happy to kick off with someone I met through Facebook. Suzanne D. Williams is a best-selling author of both fiction and non-fiction books. She's also a photographer and does graphic design for indie published authors. Suzanne and I share a love of photography as well as writing. 




Suzanne has a Christmas-themed novella with a title many of us up in the frozen North will be drawn to - and dreaming about! Merry Christmas from Florida is just the thing to warm you up and get you in the Christmas mood. 

Fashion model Whitney Hobart snuck off to Florida to solve her Christas blues. A bad, extremely public breakup combined with endless rounds of holiday cheer seem like simply too much to endure. She'll hide out at a small hotel on the coast, soak in the winter sunshine, and no one will be the wiser.

But when her secret gets out, the problems she's tried to escape multiply, and what's supposed to be relaxing isn't anymore. The only good thing remaining is hotel manager, Fletcher Collins.

She finds in him a listening ear, a gentle hand, and maybe, just maybe, the greatest gift of all - love.

Suzanne, tell us a little about yourself. What do you do when you are not writing?

I snickered a little at this question because when am I not writing? I write practically all day every day. That said, I do stop to eat. I like to try new recipes, especially desserts, and to cook with my daughter. I also garden. I plant both flowers and vegetables. I love watching the birds and bees enjoy what I've planted. I enjoy that even more with my camera lens. Nature photography is like therapy for my soul. It helps me set aside all the nonsense of the day and clears my head. When nothing else makes sense, photography does.

A sample of Suzanne's photography

A sample of Suzanne's photograpy

  

 When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I was a graphic artist first, doing book covers, newsletters, and the like. I went through a trying time in 2007 and decided to write my personal testimony. This was my first effort at writing and, for me, the hardest. Writing fiction, came after that. I had an idea for a story and a friend encouraged me to go after it. Though I had no idea what I was doing at first, I've never looked back. 

   How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I write mostly novellas of about 20,000 words. That said, I currently have 59 novels/novellas/short stories released, 34 of which I released this year alone. My brain seems to be an endless fountain of ideas.

I love all my stories, but have a fondness for Love &Redemption (The Florida Irish) and Me & Timothy Cooper for their place in kickstarting my writing career. Love & Redemption has been not as popular as some series, but it was the book I learned to write on - how to plot, how to create meaningful characters. Me & Timothy Cooper set me to writing YA romance. There's something about the innocence of youth that appeals to me and keeps me coming back to that genre.

    Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?

I have all kinds of themes slated for next year. I have a YA Rodeo series, a YA Surfing series. I have a contemporary Celebrity series. I also have a historical fiction series to finish as well as several individual contemporary novels. I do write a lot of romantic suspense and have even written sci-fi. 

If I would list favorite characters, my swoon-worthy hero is Michael O'Fallen in the Love & Redemption series for that amazing singing voice. My favorite YA hero is Aaron Loving in All About Romeo. He's imperfect, but somehow, that makes him so likeable. For personality I would choose Atlas Bellamy in Atlas(Billionaire Boys Club) Book 1. He's strong and confident, knows who he is and doesn't turn aside for anyone but his wife, who he adores.

Get Merry Christmas from Florida on Kindle or in print at http://amzn.to/12hEj3A

About the Suzanne D. Williams:
Best-selling author, Suzanne D. Williams, is a native Floridian, wife, mother, and photographer. She is the author of both nonfiction and fiction books. She writes a monthly column for Steves-Digicams.com on the subject of digital photography, as well as devotionals and instructional articles for various blogs. She also does graphic design for self-publishing authors. She is co-founder of THE EDGE.
To learn more about what she’s doing and check out her extensive catalog of stories, visit http://suzanne-williams-photography.blogspot.com/ or link with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/suzannedwilliamsauthor