Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I’ve been thankful to keep an eye on emerging Contemporary Romance & Women’s Fiction stories for the past seven years – over the years, I’ve worked with different publishers to either bring featured content by the authors themselves or to find ways in which I can shine a light on the stories (such as this featured spotlight with extract) and/or when a format I can read or listen to were available, I’ve been bringing reviews to my blog Jorie Loves A Story.
Head of Zeus is a publisher I’ve been working with since April 2019 and it has been such an incredible journey of seeking out the stories their authors are writing. I even have had the chance to discovering a thrilling writer of Suspense in J.S. Monroe! I can’t wait to start listening to their audioreads and sorting out which Historical & Contemporary novelist has captured my attention the most through the stories they’ve written based off the ones I’ve selected to focus on during their blog tours on Jorie Loves A Story. As getting the chance to interview their authors is another wickedly exciting part of hosting their tours.
And, one of my favourite ways of finding new Contemporary authors who are writing stories I’m interested in reading is through hosting blog tours for Head of Zeus. They publish a wide variety of stories I’ve showcased (both Contemporary & Historical) but with the Contemporaries, I am finding a lot of different kinds of stories interest me – sometimes the plots take me by surprise and other times, they feel as cosy comforting as the last series I showcased for Jenny Kane!
Thankfully more of these lovelies are going into audiobook release and as they reach Scribd, I am hoping to listen to more of them over the course of the next year. Until then, it is a pleasure of joy of being able to talk about the stories, share an extract and hopefully increase my bookish friends’ TBRs as readily as I am increasing my own! Ha! I’d love to know if anyone has followed behind me and has started to read these stories ahead of me or if they are hoping to read them in the future?
Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract
for this new Contemporary Romance ‘Love Me Like You Do’:
As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!
I hanker after romantic comedies in theaters and yet, when it comes to my personal interests as a reader, I must confess, it is the RomCom which I struggle to find which carries with it my preferences for sophiscated comedy without derailing itself into a niche of comedy which makes my brow wrinkle. I love comedic romance because it tucks us into the lighter areas of life whilst poking fun at the complications of dating & courting before marriage. The interesting bit is that I’ve found that comedic timing in novels is just as layered and intriguing as the comedic timing in films.
Whichever medium the writer is writing – they have to grab our attention quite early-on and give us a reason to hunger after the story we’ve just become introduced. The best RomCom writers have a way of gripping me within the opening bridge of their novels and then, giving me such a satisfaction to reach their conclusions! When that happens, I count my blessings and am full of grateful gratitude for having found them.
I had a bit of a smirk when I read this involved a ‘runaway bride’ as I still have fond memories of seeing Julia Robert’s film (“Runaway Bride”) and being swept up in her life. Which at the time, felt less like a RomCom and more like a dramedy – but I could say that for her other films as well, including “Notting Hill”. I think the more stories like this one I can seek out the better I’ll be as I could use more lighter stories in my reading queue! I love to laugh at the movies but I think I’ve forgotten to find ways to laugh in my readerly life! Oyy.
Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy the extract from this story!
Love Me Like You Do
Subtitle: To fall in love they will have to find themselves again...
by Aimee Brown
A runaway bride. A handsome stranger. Two pasts to put behind them.
Parker is ready to marry the man of her dreams. But he isn't ready to marry her. It would be helpful if he didn't choose their wedding day to tell her this. But as she flees from the travesty behind her, she literally runs into the arms of a handsome stranger. The southern drawl, the dreamy eyes, she can't fall for another man after being left at the altar – can she?
When Liam agreed to go to go on a date he didn't expect to leave with the bride. Nor did he expect to take her the emergency room. Immediately he's drawn to her fiery spirit, her kind heart and beautiful smile. Liam's got a whole host of problems and a past that keeps coming back, now can't be the time to fall in love, but Parker might just be the one to break down his barriers and let him live a little – if she'll let him in.
Will these two strangers allow serendipity to put them together, or will their fears keep them apart?
Places to find the book:
ASIN: B0876FXPSH
Published by Aria Fiction
on 17th September, 2020
Published By: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)
a Digital First imprint of Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)
This is a Digital First Release!
Converse via: #LoveMeLikeYouDo, #ContemporaryRomance and #HeadOfZeus