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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Happy Release Day! Interview and Giveaway: Love On The Line (Heart of the Game #4) by Pamela Aares

Description:

Hiding her identity was a small price to pay for freedom…

Heiress Cara Barrington fled the opulent world of her rich and famous family to carve out an idyllic existence on the California Coast. In the sleepy town of Albion Bay, she’s embraced the simple way of living she’s always craved. No one knows her identity, and she’s free from the pressures of wealth…until her sexy new neighbor threatens the unpretentious world she’s worked so hard to build.

All-Star athlete Ryan Rea enjoys his high-profile status. He’s used to charming his way into the heart and bed of any woman he desires while keeping his own heart secure behind a steel wall. When he meets Cara, she throws him a curveball—she’s unlike any woman he’s ever met, and he has to have her.

Cara’s growing attraction to Ryan endangers her hard-won anonymity, and when she inherits the family business, she must choose between the world she left behind and her new life in the community she’s come to cherish. But facing up to her responsibilities could destroy her freedom and cost her the greatest love she’s ever known.

MB's INTERVIEW
Thank you, Mrs. Pamela Aares

From Historical Romance to… romance in the world of baseball… How different is to write these kind of stories and what they have in common (or not). 
The power of romance is timeless! Although it's kismet that you should ask this question today as just this morning I woke up thinking about the very first story I wrote, The Lady and the Patriot (coming winter 2015), and how the fact that travel in 1851 and communication required that that the story be very spread out over time. The hero and heroine travel by sailing ship from Venice to England and then to Boston and then to California. There was no rushing the time it took to travel from one place to another back then whereas today we can hop on a jet and make those trips in a day rather than months. 

My stories, no matter the setting, all have in common the extraordinary power of love. Just last week I had lunch with a quantum physicist friend of mine and was thrilled to hear him describe how it is attraction (via the power of gravity) that brings the universe alive and causes it to develop, to unfurl, if you will. Romance writers and readers have known this for a very long time. Romance stories are popular because readers know and resonate with the power of love, with the undeniable force of attraction-- it's timeless and knows no bounds. The romance community is in touch with the force that powers the universe. 

I could talk for quite a bit about what the stories have in common across all time periods. For now I'll just say that we have expectations of a story, any story, romance or not: humans expect a story arc. They expect that there will be learning and change within the structure of the story. The first stories came into being to help us survive. I still think stories help us survive and thrive! 

Your first book was Jane Austen and the Archangel, and Cara, the heroine of Love On The Line, chose to live in Albion Bay. Having in view that Albion was one of the name given to England, is there any connection between these details? Did Jane Austen influence your stories in any way? 
Jane Austen always influences me! I love her genius for storytelling. Albion Bay is a mythic town I created with very real characters, dilemmas and magic. I've always loved the myths of Albion and it seemed the perfect name for a California Coastal town where love comes alive against all odds. I'm thrilled that readers love the people of the town and are asking for more stories set there. Albion Bay is currently also setting for <spoiler alert> Jackie and Alex's new home in Love Bats Last, book #1 of Heart of the Game, as well as her newly built marine mammal research lab >. 

One description of the series says: “The Heart of the Game series by Pamela Aares, get ready for All-Star alpha males and the strong women they come to love!”. How much of this description fits to Cara and Ryan? What kind of persons are they? 
Cara is an heiress to one of the largest fortunes in the world but when her closest girlfriends, a misguided and partying young heiress, dies of an overdose/possible suicide, Cara chooses to leave the world of flash and fortune behind and go live in the small town of Albion Bay. She wants to carve out a life of her own choosing, not the life that was handed to her. It takes great strength for her to resist her family and to create a new identity in the town. 

Ryan Rea is one of my favourite heroes. He is body-shocking handsome, comes from a rural ranch in east Texas and has all the attributes of a man's man and yet he has a soft spot for animals in trouble--and women. The latter gets him in trouble. And when he meets Cara, her apparent simplicity and yet mysterious depths call to him. He's hooked. And doesn't know the problems that falling for an All-Star, darling of the press like him will pose for the secretive, publicity phobic Cara. Loving him could blow her cover. But shutting down her heart could blow her life. 

Having in view that the HEA is a “must” of a romance story, how can the author maintain the reader's attention until that HEA? 
Ah. We all have so much to learn in life. The hero and heroine of a great romance must make a journey to awareness and wholeness in the course of a story. That journey, coupled with facing the obstacles they meet on the path to their HEA is what gives each story its particular magic. I am always surprised at the depth of the wounds of my characters--it's like they show up with exactly what needs to be healed by the process of falling truly, deeply in love and doing the work to make that love real. 

What makes in your opinion a great love story? 
Everything that I said above, and chemistry. I wish there were a better word for the power of attraction that draws the hero and heroine to leave their comfort zone and dive into the emotion and world-shaking path that will lead them to love. 

I wanted to say one last thing about characters showing up and insisting that their love stories be told: sometimes they show up with names! Names that no matter how hard I try to finagle or argue with them, no matter how many alternate names I research and throw out there, that character has that name and won't be budged. It's the strangest thing. There's a thread of mystery to storytelling, just like there is in life. And romance readers and writers know the power of that mystery; have for a very long time. 
Thanks for having me! 
​About the author: 
Pamela Aares is an award-winning author of contemporary and historical romance novels and also writes about fictional romance in sports with her new baseball romance book series titled Heart of the Game.

Her first book, Jane Austen and the Archangel (Angels Come to Earth, #1) was released in 2012. Midnight Becomes You, the second in the series will release this year as will the celebrated historical romance novel, The Lady and the Patriot.

Her popularity as a romance writer continues to grow with each new book release, so much so, that the Bay area author has drawn comparisons by reviewers to Nora Roberts.

Pamela Aares writes romance books that she loves reading, particularly those that entertain, transport and inspire dreams while captivating and tugging at the heart. She takes her readers on a journey with complex characters in both contemporary and historical settings who are thrown in situations that tempt love, adventure and self-discovery.

Before becoming a romance author, Aares wrote and produced award-winning films including Your Water, Your Life, featuring actress Susan Sarandon and NPR series New Voices, The Powers of the Universe and The Earth’s Imagination. She holds a Master’s degree from Harvard and currently resides in the wine country of Northern California with her husband, a former MLB All-Star and two curious cats.

If not behind her computer, you can probably find her reading a romance novel, hiking the beach or savoring life with friends. You can visit Pamela on the web at: 


Author's Giveaway
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