Cozy Guest Friday: Liz Flaherty + Giveaway

Welcome, Cozies, to our first Cozy Guest Friday of the year! I’m pleased to welcome author Liz Flaherty, whose latest novel, One More Summer, will be released this month from Carina Press….

Grace has taken care of her widowed father her entire adult life and the ornery old goat has finally died. She has no job, no skills and very little money, and has heard her father's prediction that no decent man would ever want her so often she accepts it as fact.

But she does have a big old house on Lawyers Row in Peacock, Tennessee. She opens a rooming house and quickly gathers a motley crew of tenants - Promise, Grace's best friend since kindergarten, who's fighting cancer; Maxie, an aging soap opera actress who hasn't lost her flair for the dramatic; Jonah, a sweet gullible old man with a crush on Maxie.

And Dillon, Grace's brother's best friend, who stood her up on the night of her senior prom and has regretted it ever since. Dillon rents Grace's guest house for the summer and hopes to make up for lost time and past hurts - but first, he'll have to convince Grace that she's worth loving...

Stay tuned for a sneak peak from One More Summer! For now, we go now to our Cozy correspondent, Tink, who is still sharing Captain Jack’s quarters on the Black Pearl somewhere in the Carribbean.... Take it away, Tink….

*a chorus of “Yo Ho Ho, and a Bottle of Rum”*

Tink: Arrr, maties, and hello from the Bermuda Triangle! As you can see by the patch, I have been officially inducted into Captain Jack’s crew. They call me Red-Handed Tink, aka Mrs. Jack Sparrow :)

Liz, it’s good to have you aboard! We’ll put one of the hands to work on getting us a round of drinks. If you were a mixed drink what would you be and why?

Liz: I would be a strawberry frozen margarita. Because (1), I’ve gotten girly in my dotage, (2) I’m as sweet as I can be J and (3) I can kick ass if the occasion calls for it.

Tink: If you were stranded on a desert island and could bring only one of each of the following…what would they be? Person? Song? Book?

Liz: Person would have to be my husband. We’ve been together for two thirds of my life and I don’t want to go to any islands without him, no matter how crazy we might drive each other. The song would have to be “It Is Well With My Soul” because even if I were not religious, the lyrics would offer comfort and quiet if I needed it. Book. Is a fully-loaded Kindle cheating? If it is, I’ll go for Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s Till the Stars Fall simply because it is that good and I’m due to read it again.

Tink: What would be the name of your pet gourd?

Liz: Felix. Because he looks like a Felix to me.

Tink: Now for a bit about your book. If you wrote to music, what would be this book’s theme song?

Liz: I have never, ever thought about this. “Amazing Grace” was the first thing that came to mind simply because the heroine is Grace and I think she’s amazing, but that’s just too…easy, and neither the book nor Grace fit. Wait, I know! There’s a song on an old favorite exercise video called, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” There are huge mountains of pain in the book—how Grace and Dillon cross those mountains is the story.

Tink: What are the first words your hero speaks to your heroine (or vice versa)?

Liz:  Grace says, “Dillon, you’re late.” His to her were, “The cats wanted in.”

Tink: Would you define your hero as an alpha or a beta? Why?

Liz: If I had to pigeonhole him, I guess I’d say beta with closet alpha tendencies. He’d never start a fight and would try to talk himself out of one, but he’d still be the last guy standing. And he’d still be talking.

Tink: Does your hero prefer to wear boxers, briefs, a kilt? Or commando? ;)

Liz: Briefs. White ones.

Tink: What is your heroine’s idea of the perfect date?

Liz: One where she doesn’t have to dress up or wear makeup. She’d a whole lot rather just stay home and eat pizza.

Tink: What is your favorite thing about each character?

Liz: Grace is the best friends anyone could have. Friendship is the one relationship that—I think anyway—is as important when you’re 80 as it was when you were eight, and Grace is good at it.

Dillon is a good friend, too, and he’s funny, and he’s a loving man who doesn’t pretend not to be.

Tink: More seriously, what was your biggest challenge crafting this story or these characters?

Liz: I have a tendency, not just in this book but in all the ones I’ve written, to make everyone sound too much alike. Since I can see and hear the differences, I expect readers (and editors) to be able to as well. It’s always a challenge to me to not just tell about their differences but show them, too.

Tink: Now for a more in-depth look at the author… I will now ask you a round of nosy and nonsensical questions developed by Bernard Peevo and used by James Lipton on Inside the Actor’s Studio…. Brace yourself J

What’s your favorite word? Least favorite?

Liz: My favorite word is joy. My least favorite, and I do apologize for this, is the f-bomb. When I was a kid and even thinking it would bring on the threat of soap in my mouth, it was good to have a word that was reserved for the truly awful—we no longer have one; it’s just become an annoying part of conversation. It doesn’t offend me; I just don’t like it.

Tink: What sound or noise do you love? Hate?

Liz: I love the sound of kids’ laughter—or nearly anyone else’s, for that matter. I can’t stand mindless whistling, though I can’t explain why.

Tink: What’s your favorite curse word?


Liz: Son of a bitch.

Tink: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

Liz: A travel writer.

Tink: What profession would you not like to participate in?

Liz: Politics.

Tink: Now for a sneak peak from One More Summer….

"This is supposed to be a prom.” Dillon pushed aside his dessert plate. He gestured toward the backyard. “The dance floor waits.”

Grace got to her feet. “Remember how fragile these glass slippers are.”

He nudged one of her bare feet with the toe of his sandal. “Damn near invisible too. Isn’t technology something?”

Dillon and Steven had placed citronella torches in the yard, and the scent of the oil blended with that of the flowers. The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” filled the air and Dillon put his arms around Grace’s waist. Gently, not pulling her close. She rested her hands lightly on his shoulders, suddenly shy. Other than aerobics classes in the church basement that Promise had dragged her to, she hadn’t danced since high school.

As they moved across the lawn, however, his arms tightened and her hands crept up around his neck, the left one with its glaring white bandage held palm out. His muscled legs moved against hers, but the motions they made were liquid, graceful, and she wished whimsically for a waltz and a flowing dress.

The song changed, and he sang close to her ear. The grass dance floor was cool and damp beneath her feet, the star-filled sky a splendid ceiling, the flickering torches the most romantic of lights, the subtle scent of roses a seductive aroma. Almost against her will, Grace’s eyes drifted closed as his lips lowered to hers. The ambiance was lost on Grace as Dillon’s kiss took over her senses. All she felt were his hands splayed on her back, his body flush with hers. All she smelled was the pleasant mingling of charcoal smoke and Irish Spring soap that lingered on his shirt and his skin. She tasted only his mouth, flavored with wine and coffee, and she couldn’t get enough of it.

After the third kiss, when her insides were a roiling mass of sensation and emotion, she murmured, “Geezy Pete.”

He said, “You got that right,” and stroked a hand up her back. “What’s this? You didn’t wear a bra to the prom?”

She brought her injured hand into his line of vision and waggled it. “I couldn’t fasten it.”

His hand came around between them to cup one small, denim-covered breast. “What a shame.” He found her nipple and worked the bead of its tip between his fingers.

A low moan slipped uncaught from her throat. Clutching her composure like a lifeline before it disintegrated completely, she said, “The music’s stopped.”

“Do you really think so?” he whispered, and teased her lips with the tip of his tongue until they opened.

They had danced their way to where they stood among the trees. When she opened her eyes again, she caught sight of a torch to their left, anchored into the ground beside the single step that led inside the gazebo.

The gazebo.

“No decent man in his right mind’s going to want you, girl.”

“No, Papa,” she whispered, caught in the horror, and moved restively in Dillon’s embrace.

“Gracie?” His voice was soft, gentling.

“I need to go in.” The words sounded much more urgent than the situation demanded, but she couldn’t unsay them.

“Okay.” He answered immediately, and turned her toward the house, but didn’t release her. “I’ll take you back.”

Steven and Promise weren’t on the back porch. The candles had been snuffed, but the dishes remained on the table. “Leave them,” Dillon said, leading her firmly past the mess and into the house. “Steven and I will take care of it. You go on up.”

She nodded and moved toward the stairs, but turned when she stood on the second one. “Dillon?”

“Yeah?” He smiled at her, the expression not erasing the frown of concern between his eyes.

“Thank you. The ‘prom’ was wonderful.” Without waiting for a reply, she ran the rest of the way up the stairs.

Tink: And the final questions the pirates have been waiting all day to ask…. If you could choose anyone (real or fictional) to be the captain of your, er, ship…who would it be? 

Liz: Oliver Platt. Because, like Felix the Gourd, I like how he looks.

Tink: Which savvy piece of the Caribbean would you most like to take home – the Black Pearl, the Dead Man’s Chest, or the Fountain of Youth? 

Liz: The Black Pearl…and I’ll have Oliver, too.

Tink: Would you rather take your chances with a zombie, a mermaid, or Blackbeard?

Liz: LOL. My imagination isn’t good enough to get around this, so I’ll go with Blackbeard. Oliver will help me…

Tink: And most importantly – Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, or Commodore Norrington?  

Liz: Captain Jack. Takes no imagination at all to answer that one!

Tink: It seems I have competition. :) Thank you for answering the crew’s nosy questions. From the Black Pearl, this is Tink and Captain Jack signing off….

Life is new and wonderful for writer Liz Flaherty these days. She retired from the post office in 2011, promptly gained 15 pounds—she swears it was overnight—and promised her grandchildren, The Magnificent Seven, that she would make each of them a bed-size quilt. She also planned to write all day, every day. What was she thinking?

She’s learned to write when she feels like it, sew when she feels like it, and maybe even to eat a little less. She’s gone back to school, where, yes, she is far and away the oldest kid in class. She’s learned to share the house and sometimes even the kitchen with Duane, her husband of, oh, lots of years. And she’s having a Very, Very Good Time. Her fifth book—she’s not really an overnight success; she just never gives up—is One More Summer a brand new release by Carina Press. She is thrilled to the point everyone she knows rolls their eyes as soon as she opens her mouth.

Visit Liz at her website and The WordWranglers where she hangs out with some of her best writer friends!

Cozies, you can find One More Summer this month at CarinaPress as well as Barnes & Noble and Amazon!

Liz has generously offered a giveaway for today’s Cozy Guest Friday. By commenting to today’s post and answering the following questions before midnight EST tomorrow, you will be entered to win a jar candle along with a book from her backlist:

What is your favorite scent and why? (If chosen as the winner, Liz will send your scent of choice!)

The winner will be chosen by the True Random Number Generator at Random.org and announced here at The Cozy Page on Sunday so please check back to see if you have won. (Chances of winning depend on the number of entries; you must be 18 years or older to enter.)

20 Questions with...Emma from HEALING HEARTS + Giveaway

Happy Valentine's Day! To wrap up our 20 Questions Valentine's Event here at The Cozy Page, today we're playing host to Carina Press author Taryn Kincaid and the heroine of her February 28th release, Healing Hearts...

As a girl, Emma Whiteside asked Adam Caldwell, Viscount Riverton, to wait for her to be of marriageable age. Now, twelve years later, Emma hates Adam as much as she once loved him, holding the former army major responsible for the death of her brother on the battlefield.

Adam already blames himself for the loss of the men under his command. But the fiery young woman Emma's become sparks his arousal, as well as emotions Adam thought long dead. The passion between them makes him want to reclaim the man he was before the war.

Though she tries to hold on to her hatred, Emma's longing for Adam is undeniable, especially after the two share a smoldering kiss. Still, Adam is certain no woman would want a man so damaged. Can Emma prove him wrong?

Our Cozy correspondent, Tink, sat down with Emma over the weekend for our last 20 Questions interview. Here's 20 Questions with Emma Whiteside! Take it away, Tink....

Tink: Are you the first one on the dance floor or not so much?
Emma: Oh, la! Once upon a time, I loved to watch the elegant ladies in their gowns and imagine myself in the arms of a handsome man. One handsome man, in particular. But sometimes we must cast aside our childish dreams, to capture those worth saving and holding. The love of my life would spin and whirl me around ballrooms throughout London if I let him, but I know he pays the price for such frivolous exercise when his wounded leg nags him. I never want to give him pain. Never. So I don't let him. These days I prefer to sit by his side in the garden, under the moon, just the two of us, my head upon his broad shoulder. Utterly content. Dreaming our dreams.

Tink: Do you prefer to spend the night at the theatre or at a bike show?
Emma: I am not quite certain what a bike show is, but when Adam & I travel to London we love to indulge in a night at the theatre. I love the words, the costumes, the sights and sounds, the champagne, even the scents. But most of all, I love sitting beside Riverton and allowing him to steal kisses and take outrageous liberties in the dark!

Tink: Do you give relationship advice or think it's a bad idea?
Emma: My name may be Emma, but I am not THAT Emma. I hope I am not so silly as Jane Austen's miss. Although...

Tink: Describe the ideal hero -- rough and tumble highlander, titled gentleman of the ton, modern-day bad boy or supernatural anti-hero.
Emma: In a word: Adam. In a phrase, Adam Caldwell, Viscount Riverton. His character: Loyal, heroic, stoic, possessive and protective. I love that in a man. Throw in steamy kisses that can turn a girl's -- my -- knees to water and a sure, knowing touch...and I am lost. Utterly, blissfully lost.

Tink: Would you rather tell someone you loved them or show it?
Emma: Most definitely show. Eyes, lips, the stroke of a hand, the hitch of a breath. Actions speak volumes, loudest of all...even when they are whispers.

Tink: Travel to the past or into the future.
Emma: I dare say I am most suited to the Regency period in which I live, 1812. But it might be a great lark to learn to Twitter and Facebook, instead of having to make the rounds of all those tedious teas and calling upon dragons who gossip behind their fans. What fun!

Tink: Bubble bath or hot shower?
Emma: Is it wicked that I love to watch Adam at his hip bath, soaping his back for him as if I were his valet or batman, trailing my hands along his slick, muscled flesh? Ah, I blush just thinking of it now. This will be our little secret.

Tink: Flats or high heels?
Emma: I wear slippers and walking boots.

Tink: Flowers or chocolates?
Emma: I love to start the day with a cup of chocolate. And end it in a moonlit garden in my love’s strong arms.

Tink: G-rated or unrated?
Emma: I am not exactly sure what you mean here. But my hero is a sure, capable, very generous lover. Who can reduce me to a jelly with the stroke of a fingertip or the sultry spark of desire in his eyes.

Tink: Alpha or beta?
Emma: Unlike my twin brother, Michael, I never had the benefit of a formal, classical education, although I read…oh. You are talking about Adam again? Alpha. But he shows me – and only me – his vulnerable side. (Just between us, I think he secretly enjoys when I twist him around my little finger. )

Tink: Would you make the first move or wait it out?
Emma: I did propose to the man when I was an unruly little miss, all of eight years old, and he was but a youth of seventeen. But twelve years later, the shoe was on the other foot. Somewhat. I did mention that he is an alpha? And that I can nevertheless twist him around my pinky?

Tink: Favorite love song?
Emma: I’m not sure that I have a favorite love song. But I am taken by the poetry of that scandalous Lord Byron. “She walks in beauty like the night…” Oh. Yes.

Tink: For Valentine’s would you rather go out or stay in?
Emma: My dear. I do not wish to be rude. But that is a henwitted question. I did mention being reduced to a jelly by my hero, did I not?

Tink: Karaoke: yes or no?
Emma: I do not carry much these days due to my delicate condition. Possessive, protective alpha, you know.

Tink: Describe your most romantic moment?
Emma: Taryn Kincaid described those in Healing Hearts. (And I would blush to repeat some of that here. But…Adam is the sweetest man. And a collector of handkerchiefs.)

Tink: Boxers, briefs…or kilts?
Emma: I should probably not share this improper bit of on dit…but I much prefer nothing to come between us.

Tink: What is your idea of a dream date?
Emma: 1812 was a very good date for me. Quite horrid in the beginning. But, oh, lah, did it end well!

Tink: Valentine’s Day watch: sappy love story, romantic comedy, action flick?
Emma: I am always partial to a wonderful love story.

Tink: And, most importantly – do you like your man clean shaven or with a five o’clock shadow?
Emma: My dear. I love him anyway I can have him. At any hour of the day or night. But…have you seen Adam’s picture on the cover of Healing Hearts? I positively swoon every time I see it!

Emma, thanks for answering all of Tink's intrusive questions! Readers, you can read more of Emma and Adam's story on February 28th at Carina Press! Now for a sneak peek into Healing Hearts....

The wind blew off the sea, moaning and wild, buffeting the man pacing the cliffs.

Hidden by a wall of rock, Emma Whiteside shielded her eyes against the bite of salt spray and continued to watch him, as she did every dawn.

Today, she thought. Today she would approach him at last. Confront him. Give him the royal tongue-lashing he deserved. She had nothing left to lose, after all. And she might not have the opportunity tomorrow. Or ever again.

The things I will say to you, Riverton, will peel the skin from your bones and lay you lower than anything Napoleon's Grande Armée had to offer.

A small voice nagged Emma from within, the advice reasonable considering her current dire circumstances. Better to seek the man's aid than chide him. But she snapped her mind closed against the unwanted counsel. The viscount was the last man on earth she'd ever ask for help.

Grief chilled her, numbed her heart, deadened the tender feelings she'd once had for him. Only her need for vengeance broke through her frozen emotions now. She longed to set Riverton in his place, however little effect her words might have on a man so impervious to remorse.

But once again Emma could neither confront him nor beseech him. The evidence of his stiff-necked pride—and her own—continued to hold her back with as much force as if an unseen hand pressed down upon her shoulder. She glared in the man's direction, as if it were his hand oppressing her.

Fierce gusts punished him, impeding his tortured progress. Pain twisted his handsome features but he confronted the gale without flinching. A tiny chip splintered off from the ice sheath encasing Emma's heart.

Damn him.

How do you bear it, Riverton? Are you made of stone?

She knew he was not. She saw the agony against which he fought, the stalwart way he pushed himself onward, despite the uneven gait that hampered his progress.

A cold blast of wind whistled past, ripping the hood of Emma's cloak aside, whipping her hair against her neck. The frigid current stung her eyes, wringing reluctant tears. She blinked the moisture away and rubbed the damp trail from her cheeks.

No tears, she instructed herself. Not for him. Never for him.

Riverton wore no coat or cravat. His linen flapped about him, white shirttails torn from his trousers—an unlikely flag of surrender when he refused to give quarter.

Did you stand so against the French?

Emma could think of no oath dark enough to curse a man so remarkably stoic. She envisioned him in her mind's eye, saber raised, hastening up and down the lines, shouting at his men to hold: Major Adam Caldwell, Viscount Riverton, at his most courageous.

She shuddered, conjuring the brutal attack that haunted her grimmest moments, the scene clouded by smoke and thunder, blurred by the limits of her grief and imagination. The battle where her twin had fallen, belly pierced by an enemy bayonet.

Michael admired you so, Riverton. I will never stop blaming you. 'Tis time you knew it.

Anger burned within her breast, bright as her love for the viscount once had.

And yet...her gaze swept him again, lingering on the trousers that molded his muscular thighs, the loose shirt that emphasized the breadth of his shoulders. 'Twas but the vicious wind that stole her breath, she told herself.


***GIVEAWAY DETAILS: Good news, readers! Taryn has generously offered a giveaway for today! By commenting to this post before midnight EST, Thursday; February 17th, you will have a chance to win a copy of Healing Hearts! (Chances of winning depend on the number of entries. You must be 18 years or older to enter. One winner will be chosen by the True Random Number Generator at Random.org and announced the morning after contest closing. Please check back in to see if you have won.)

Winner of Gwyneth Greer's Giveaway!

The giveaway for Gwyneth Greer's novel, The Showboat Affair, and an engraved, flip-top mirror from Thursday, February 10th is now closed! The winner, chosen by the True Random Number Generator at Random.org is...

Commenter #5 - marybelle

Congrats, marybelle! Please send a confirmation email to amber@amberleighwilliams.com with your physical address as well as your paperback or ebook preference for your copy of The Showboat Affair.

Readers, even though the 20 Questions Event is coming to a close, there are still prizes to be won. February 14th is the last day to enter Elaine Cantrell's giveaway for romantic suspense Return Engagement. And today our last 2o Questions guest, Taryn Kincaid, is giving away a copy of her upcoming Carina Press release, Healing Hearts! Don't miss out!