Welcome to the Blog Tour for Her Surprise Hometown Match by Tara Randel, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
About the Book
Title: Her Surprise Hometown Match More Books in this Series
About the Author
Tara Randel is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. Family values, a bit of mystery and, of course, love and romance, are her favorite themes, because she believes love is the greatest gift of all. She writes for multiple genres, including romance, mystery and Women’s fiction.
Connect with Tara by visiting tararandel.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.Author Guest Post
The Story Behind the Story: On the Inspiration of Her Surprise Hometown Match
One of my favorite vacation spots is located in the mountains ofnorth Georgia. We took my daughters there every year for Thanksgiving when they were young. They loved the beautifullywooded trails, the fall foliage, the small towns and colderweather. As they got older, we went less often because they were busy with school. Once they went out on their own, my husband and I were up that way on a business trip and decided to visit a few of the places where we’d made fond memories.
To my surprise, I fell in love with the area all over again. At the time, I had been writing for Harlequin Heartwarming, and it was time to send in new ideas. I couldn’t imagine setting the stories anywhere else, so the town of Golden was born.
One town in particular has an actual gold rush history, so I came up with the name Golden and used the local lore as a basis for the small town. I incorporated a few other towns in the area as my inspiration, creating a magical place where I would live if it actually existed.
Next came my characters. Since I have a pretty good imagination, it didn’t take long to come up with a group of people I’d want as my friends. This last series, The Golden Matchmakers Club, was so much fun. Who doesn’t love pesky matchmakers with no boundaries? These characters practically wrote themselves.
Coming up with the romance plots took a bit more brainstorming and tinkering with. By the time I got to the last book in the series, Her Surprise Hometown Match, I realized that I’d really met my match with Juliette and Ty.
How did I portray a woman with a long-held secret who could have easily revealed it from the start? The more I worked with the character, the more Juliette’s emotions and facets of her personality came to light. I understood her fears, why she’d stayed mum for so long. How no one had made her want to take a chance in admitting the truth, until Ty came along.
Ty had to be understanding and a stand-up guy, despite his past. He was the perfect person for Juliette to trust in, if she’d take that leap of faith. But as we all know in real life, sometimes we’re afraid to let go of the one thing we know isn’t good for us. So, we cling to. It took love to make Juliette reconsider her motivations. To put herself out there. All because this man had loved her when she didn’t think she deserved it.
I love romance novels not only for the journey of two people falling in love, but especially for the power of love itself. Love overcomes so much. It brings us joy, family, even heartache at times. But there is no stronger, or worthy, emotion I can think ofsharing.
So, my love for romance brought me Golden, which then gifted me with wonderful characters and finally, stories I love telling. Even though this book is the final installation of the series, I’m already brainstorming ways to get back to the small mountain town I adore and bring stories of the greatest gift of all…love.
Tour Giveaway
(1) winner will receive an autographed copy of His Small Town Dream as well as Stealing Her Best Friend's Heart, a bookmark, and a $25 Amazon gift card!
(1) additional winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight March 6, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 13, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
Thanks for featuring Her Surprise Hometown Match!
ReplyDeleteSounds good, I like the cover.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the guest post. Loved to know more about the story ! :)
ReplyDeletegreat post! Thank you, Tara & Randi!
ReplyDeleteSeems like a good read.
ReplyDeleteMarion
This sounds like a great book! I really like the cover & blurb! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a good book
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing read.
ReplyDelete