Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Feature Author: J.L. Berg


 


Title- When You’re Ready
Author- J.L. Berg

Synopsis
Years after suffering the tragic loss of her husband, Ethan, which left her alone to raise their young daughter, Clare Murray still holds the last letter he wrote with the words "When You're Ready" written in his familiar messy handwriting, unable to break its weathered seal. Ready for what? He was her entire world, and Clare had accepted a life without him, without love. Until years later, fate brings her to an emergency room, and face to face with a stormy-eyed doctor intent on changing her mind.

Son of a billionaire, Logan Matthews has spent his life trying to make his absentee father proud. Without a family to depend on, all he's ever wanted is a place to call home. After a failed marriage, Logan believes he's unworthy of love...until he meets a woman who awakens his spirit and transforms his entire life in an instant. 

But how far are Clare and Logan willing to go for love? Can his love mend the pieces of her grieving heart?

When their love is tested, is Clare ready to put her whole heart on the line again? Can Logan learn the true meaning of love, even if it means sacrificing his own happiness? When a second chance at love is given, Clare and Logan learn you are never truly ready until you're ready to risk it all.
Available at AmazonBarnes and NobleSmashwordsKoboSony, and iBooks.

Review-  5 Awesomely Amazing Stars  ☆☆☆☆☆
OMG! OMG!  I absolutely LOVED this book!  It grabbed my attention starting on the first couple of pages and held it until the end.  This is a book that will really pull at your heartstrings and make you swoon!  Did I seriously just say swoon?!?! I guess I did, but there is no other way to describe the romance in this book.  It’s sweet and wonderful and gives me butterflies any time I think of it.  First, we get to meet Clare, she is a strong woman with a heartbreaking past.  After losing her husband at such a young age, she is left to try to salvage the pieces of her broken heart and raise her wonderful little girl on her own.  Enter Doc McDreamy!  Clare’s little girl gets sick and while at the ER, she is helped by Dr. Logan Matthews, hot, dreamy, and seriously swoon worthy.  I loved watching this relationship develop throughout the book and the growth in both characters.  I laughed, I cried, and I got angry! But through all of it, I LOVED it!  It was a very emotional read for me but I wouldn’t have had it any other way! ~Lauren


About the Author
I’m a California native, who lives in the South – Virginia to be exact. I still prefer sushi to fried chicken, avocados to okra, and I absolutely loathe humidity. I do love watching the seasons change though. My husband and I have been here for ten years, and I still get giddy like a school girl every time it snows.

I’m married to my high school sweetheart. We were married young, barely out of high school. Everyone told us we were crazy and stupid. We’ll be celebrating 12 years of marriage this year, and I love him more every single day. We’re living proof that true love knows no age limit.

We’ve been blessed with two beautiful daughters who continue to amaze and inspire me, and are probably making me go a bit insane. I’m obsessed with yoga and pilates and am a complete chocoholic. I apologize in advance for the amount of sweets in my book.

I’m absolutely obsessed with romance novels (duh) and probably could have built a vacation home with the amount of money I’ve invested in them over the years. Romance novels take you to another place, making your heart race, emotions swell, passion run free. After so many years of meeting hundreds of fictional characters and discovering their worlds, I found myself creating my own.

Author Interview Questions
1.      Where are you from?
I’m a California native, but have been living in Virginia for the past ten years.  I will always be a California girl and you’ll never convince me that grits and fried chicken are better than Mexican food, but I still loving living in the South!

2.      What do you do when you’re not writing?
I love to read.  I was a reader long before I ever got the courage to ever put any of my own ideas on paper.  I love the romance genre and am always amazed by the talent coming out of it.  I am also a yoga nut and practice at least three times a week.  I am a mother of two beautiful girls and married to my high school sweetheart, so there is never a dull moment in the Berg house!

3.      Where did the idea for When You’re Ready come from?
I don’t know that the idea came from any one specific thought, but I had just lost a friend very suddenly and so I was dealing with my own sort of loss at the time.  Also, I was in the middle of my own cancer scare, and had so many emotions going on and I guess in a way, needed someway to channel them.  Unlike so many others, I was lucky and my test came back normal, but it was still a scary experience. 

4.      What book are you reading now?
My Unexpected Forever by Heidi McLaughlin.  I love Heidi. 

5.      What was the hardest part in writing the book?
Oh gosh, there were many.  WYR is an emotional book.  Clare goes through so much.  One of the hardest scenes is the first graveyard scene.  I cried writing it, and pretty much cried every time I had to edit it or revisit it.  But it is the one scene readers always mention to me – “The Graveyard scene Jenn!!  It killed me!”  So I guess I did it justice. 

6.      What was your favorite part of writing this book?
I love writing epilogues.  They are my favorite part of a book to write.  I love that feeling of hope that comes with writing an epilogue. 

7.      What are your current projects?
Never Been Ready – the second book in the Ready series is releasing in three weeks!  I also just completed a novella in the series called Ready to Wed.  It is the story of Clare and Logan’s wedding and will be published in a charity anthology called Pink Shades of Words, which will release in February.  Right now, I am currently writing the third book in the Ready series, which will be released in May. 

8.      Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I released this yesterday in a little WIP game on Facebook.  This is from Ready #3.

(Unedited and contains adult language)

Ready #3 Teaser
Just as I was adding cream to my coffee, my mystery date appeared in the kitchen. She looked awkward, tugging at her dress, and staring at the floor. I got the feeling she wasn't the type of girl who did this often. 

“I’m going to take off.”

“Okay,” I answered, feeling like the worse kind of asshole on the planet. She waited for a second, obviously stalling to see if I would follow up with anything. When I didn’t, she reached for the door and took a step forward but I stopped her.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I just…I’m…”

I didn’t know what say. I’m fucked up? Permanently?

She looked up me with sad eyes, rimmed with tears. Tears that I’d put there.

“Just answer one question. Is your name even Adam?”

“No.”

9.      Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
My readers rock.  They are dedicated and supportive and have changed my life completely.  I never imagined I would be able to make a living doing something I loved.  I feel like I’m cheating the system every day I wake up and sit down at my computer to write.  It’s amazing. 

OK... Now that all the serious questions are out of the way, let’s have some fun.

10.  What is your most embarrassing moment?
Oh gosh, I’m a major dork, so there are so many.  I once tripped over my own feet walking UP a flight of stairs, while carrying a bowl of hot chili.  I was a work and splattered chili all over the walls, the carpet and myself.  My coworker had to take me to urgent care because of a burnt hand.  I remember the doctor asking how I burnt my hand.  “Um, I tripped….walking up the stairs.”  He tried not to laugh.  He tried.   

11.  What is one of the things you would put on your “bucket list”?
I love to do an author signing in another country.  I’d love to go to the UK or Ireland...Australia or Canada.  I have so many readers in other countries and I’d love the opportunity to finally meet them!

12.  If you could be any flavor of ice cream what flavor would you be and why?
Chocolate.  I love chocolate.  Like a lot. 

13.  What is one thing that annoys you the most?
Drama.  I can’t stand unnecessary drama. 

14.  What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?
When I was in college, I went on choir tour in England.  A hotel we were staying at served us fish.  But it was this dried smelly fish.  It was horrid.  The entire room smelled.  I think we all took one bite through clenched teeth and then continued to push around our food for the rest of the meal.  We were starving by breakfast.

15.  Are you a morning or night person?
I am definitely not a morning person.  I think waking up before the sun does is a sin against nature.  Doesn’t mean I don’t do it, but I’m not happy about it. 

16.  What’s your favorite movie?
I have several, but one of my favorites is The Princess Bride. 

17.  Where is the worst place you could get stuck?
OMG, so many naughty directions I could take with this open-ended question.  But I’m going to be an adult and just go with an elevator.  ;-)

18.  Where would you go if you were invisible?
Spy on my kids when they thought I wasn’t around.  I’d love to know what they say to each other.  I’m an evil mom. 

19.  What is the one thing you own you wish you didn’t?
A 3D PRINTER!!  I bought one for my husband as a gift.  I am so dumb.  That thing never shuts up. 

20.  If you were stranded on a tropical island what 2 things would you want with you?
My husband and kids obviously.

21.  If you could choose your nickname, what would it be?
My best friend calls me Jenny-B and I’ve always liked that one.  I think the fun part of nicknames is having someone else chose them. 


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