Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I had the joy of interviewing Ms Magee when her debut novel “Happily Ever Afters” published wherein I was able to gauge a bit more about her writing style, how she found the right publishing company for her writing sensibilities and especially, why she loves writing ‘Clean Romances’! A writer I could relate to personally – as even though I read both mainstream & INSPY Romances, there are moments where I lean on the ‘cleaner’ side of the spectrum moreso than anything else, as I love the gentleness of how the romances play out. I also have less irritation at times when authors might add a bit too much explicit content like language choices, etc.
In case you didn’t get the chance to see my conversation with Ms Magee let me re-share what she had to say when I asked her about how she found her publisher – as I thought it was rather lovely considering how their entire focus is on providing readers with stimulating reads but with clean content:
My favourite takeaway from our previous convo was about how she approached finding her publisher, even though technically finding out we’re both #Janeites was a personal moment of JOY:
When you were pitching Happily Ever Afters – how did you decide to focus on an Indie Publisher and what motivated you to seek out Clean Reads? What gives them the advantage over other Indies?
Magee responds: I liked the idea of a small publisher because it allowed me to be more involved in all the decisions while still having the expertise and advice of people who had done this many times. Clean Reads was actually recommended to me by a good friend who thought it would be a perfect fit for this book. I’m so happy she did! They publish clean fiction in a variety of genres, so it was a great match for my love of writing sweet romances. It allows my story to shine in the specific market where it belongs. But more than the books they publish, they are an amazing group of people who inspire and encourage me. It’s a joy to be part of the Clean Reads team.
I have crossed paths with this publisher a few times in the past – either as a blogger or as a reader of fellow book bloggers’ blogs’ finding their selections to be quite intriguing and of interest! However, I noticed a lot of the editions are strictly Digital First and I am hoping at some point they might either go into POD or traditional print editions – even audiobook releases would be lovely for those of us who cannot read digital books. However, having said that – even if my dream of reading the stories isn’t realised, I wanted to at least continue to highlight the authors I am finding whose writing the stories which interest me to read. Perhaps, by doing so – others will find them and in effect, help pave the road towards different mediums of release.
I liked how your style of writing and their outlook as a publisher was such a strong kinetic fit! This is always good news for a writer – as finding the right niche in which your story can be housed is one thing but to find a publisher who understands your vision for your stories is the best blessing to be bestowed. I am so very happy for you!
What drew me into reading ‘Political Parties’ was the plot itself – I have a keen appreciation of a plot surrounding a Wedding Planner – from books to films, there is something about the curious nature of what happens whilst a wedding is being planned which tucks you into the drama, the heart of the relationships and the ways in which *everything!* can either unravel or come together rather smashingly in the end!! You just never know what is going to happen which in effect I think is what is so dearly charming about those kinds of plots! You also get to look at the families and friends, whilst at times, peering into the life of the planner of whom generally has just as complicated of a life if not moreso than the people she’s trying to help marry!
Of all the plots I’ve found, it is rare you have a male as the wedding planner, though one in particular remains my personal favourite which was “Father of the Bride” (1991) which is a classic in its own right! Others I have found either as major theatrical releases and/or ran on the Hallmark Channel.
What drew my eye into this particular plot, of course, was the fact in this instance, the ‘wedding planner’ wants to become a bonefide ‘event planner’ and breakaway from constantly hosting nuptials and happy affairs. In essence, Reece wants something with bite attached to it to give herself more of a challenge and a well-rounded career. At the same time, I was smitten with the idea of Griffith being in a key position to advance himself further in his own career but being struck with the idea he perhaps knows less about life & love than he realised?
These are the kinds of plots which are most fun to disappear inside – you have workaholic mentalities, random encounters and the joyfulness of seeing ‘what happens’ when two people who are not looking for love suddenly find themselves growing in attachment & fondness for each other! I honestly can’t wait to be reading this lovely – whilst I was overjoyed this release was available in print for review, was I’ve been wanting to read Ms Magee’s writings ever since I first crossed her path on her debut’s blog tour!
Political Parties
Subtitle: Falling for him was one contingency she didn't plan for
by Rachel Magee
Planning one amazing party is more complicated than it sounds.
Reece Ryan is known as the best wedding planner in town, but it’s time to take her company to the next level. Getting the contract from a prestigious law firm to plan their upcoming political related events is just the break she needs to prove that she can put together more than just the perfect nuptials. Sure, these events which will receive national coverage might be slightly out of her league, but it’s nothing she can’t handle. Managing the hotshot lawyer the firm has tasked as their liaison for the project is a whole other story.
Griffith Brighton always thought the start of his political career would come from hard work and his brilliant legal mind, not throwing some fancy party. But when the firm’s managing partner asks him to work with the event coordinator to organize a fundraiser dinner for the presidential candidate, he knows it’s the opportunity he’s been waiting for to get in front of some major political players. After years of goal setting and career planning, his future finally seems to be coming together …until two weeks of working with Reece make him reconsider everything he thought to be true about life and falling in love.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1621357957
Also by this author: Author Interview: Rachel Magee
Published by Clean Reads
on 25th September, 2018
Published by: Clean Reads (CleanReads_)
Stories by Rachel Magee:
Happily Ever Afters (see also Interview)
Political Parties *review forthcoming!
Converse via: #CleanRomance + #Contemporary & #SweetRomance
About Rachel Magee
Rachel Magee wrote her first novel when she was twelve and entered it into a contest for young author/illustrators. Unfortunately, the judges weren’t impressed with her stick figures. So she dropped the dream of becoming a world famous illustrator and stuck to spinning stories.
When she’s not busy working on her latest book, she loves to travel with her family and friends. By far, her favorite destination is the beach, which tends to work its way into most of her stories.
Between vacations, you can find her at home in The Woodlands, TX with her wonderful husband, their two adventurous kids and a couple of spirited pets, all of whom share Rachel’s love of the ocean. Well, except the cat and dog. They’re both afraid of water.
Read an Extract from ‘Political Parties’:
The important thing was to stay calm. Although at this exact moment, Reece Ryan felt anything but calm. So what if this was a minor—okay, major problem? Every problem had a solution. Even major ones.
“We can fix it,” Reece said, her eyes glued to the bridal bouquet in her hand.
“Fix it?” Bella glared wide-eyed at the offending flowers as if Reece were holding roadkill.
Not that Reece blamed her. She was thinking the same thing. This was by far the most important wedding she and Bella had ever planned, and the bride’s bouquet was arguably the most important piece of that wedding. And it was wrong.
Not just a little wrong, like the florist used pink instead of blush flowers. No, this was much worse. What Reece held was the anti-version of what the bride had ordered.
Anxiety started to creep in, stealing some of the normal bounce in her personality. “Maybe it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Bella, her trusted assistant for the past three years, tilted her head to the other side, the look of disgust still plastered on her face. “It’s a ball of white roses and the bride wanted a hand-tied arrangement of pink peonies with…” She paused and flipped through several pages on her clipboard before she read off one toward the bottom. “Absolutely no roses anywhere.”
Bella let the pages flutter down and glared at the arrangement. “I’ve seen you do some pretty amazing things, Ree, but changing roses into peonies? That’s going to take a small miracle.” Bella shifted her weight to her other foot and chewed on her already nubby nail.
Reece stole a quick glance at her watch. Only twenty minutes until the bride was to walk down the aisle. The photographer’s assistant had already been out twice asking for the bouquet. The last time, she reported the photographer was threatening to delay the wedding if she couldn’t get her shots.
Reece rotated the arrangement, searching for some redemption in the design. Not that it helped. No matter how hard she stared at it, the roses refused to change into anything other than roses. Anxiety’s grip tightened, promising to deflate her whole body. She wanted to let out a long, weary sigh, but she didn’t. It wasn’t her style.
Instead, she sucked in a deep breath, pushed back the anxiety, and scanned the room. So maybe fixing this was going to require a small miracle. But she was Reece Ryan, wedding planner extraordinaire, and she wasn’t about to let one florist’s mistake destroy this wedding. Not with everything she had riding on it.
I personally felt so invested in the scene, I wanted to have the ‘next’ paragraph and several pages thereafter to be ‘reading’ immediately!! It is quite the critical error – some brides are dearly attached to particular flowers and particular ‘everything!’ when it comes to their weddings & the receptions attached to them. Finding something askew or altered from their own interpretation of what they wanted that day would be the ‘end of everything’ as they knew it – rightly so (in their minds) would be the motivation to take it out on the wedding planner!
I admit, I loved her tenacious response – there might not be a magical way of twitching your nose or wand to turn the roses into the one flower the bride wished most but what else could you do to ‘hide’ the fact the bouquet was going to be completely ‘differen’t than the one the bride dreamt of having in her hands!?!?
The irony of course is the fact the offensive flower is a ROSE as I personally find roses darling additions to a wedding as they speak of love & romance in such a classy way! However, I suppose others have an alternative reaction to these delicate buds and want something completely different than the traditional.
I think I already can attest to liking Reece – she keeps calm under pressure but she has that kind of moxie I love finding in a character! Almost like there is simply nothing that life can throw her way to tip her off balance! That of course, isn’t quite true if you read the synopsis of this novel – which in effect, I think will be what makes this a rather charmingly brilliant read!! Eek. I cannot wait for my copy to arrive and I hope this lovely spotlight has enticed your eye towards seeking it out as well!
This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours
Click through via the badge to find out what else awaits you!
Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Political Parties”, the author’s photo and biography, blog tour banner and The Prism Book Tours badge were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
#BookSpotlight | #Contemporary Rom
🌸NEW RomCom by @rachell_magee
🌸for #RomanceReaders who💜#CleanRomance
🌸one workaholic wedding planner
🌸one career minded bloke
🌸a random encounter
🌸love walks in the door
🌸pub by @CleanReads_🌸Read an Extract: https://t.co/xHjROBXTjx pic.twitter.com/03QCweL6Eg
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) September 25, 2018
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