The Inn at Last Chance
Publisher: Hachette Book Group, Forever Romance
The Story Blurb:
Jenny Carpenter is the unrivaled pie-baking champion of Last Chance, South Carolina's annual Watermelon Festival and the town's unofficial spinster. With her dream of marriage and children on hold, she focuses on another dream, turning the local haunted house into a charming bed-and-breakfast. But her plans go off course when the home's former owner shows up on her doorstep on a dark and stormy night . . .
Mega-bestselling horror writer Gabriel Raintree is as mysterious and tortured as his heroes. His family's long-deserted mansion is just the inspiration he needs to finish his latest twisted tale, or so he thinks until he learns it's been sold. The new innkeeper proves to be as determined as she is kind, and soon Gabriel finds himself a paying guest in his own home. As Jenny and Gabe bring new passion to the old house, can she convince him to leave the ghosts of his past behind-and make Last Chance their first choice for a future together?
Want to read an excerpt? Check out Hope's website
Meet Hope!
Hope Ramsay was born in New York and grew up on the North Shore of Long Island, but every summer Momma would pack her off under the care of Aunt Annie to go visiting with relatives in the midlands of South Carolina. Her extended family includes its share of colorful aunts and uncles, as well as cousins by the dozens, who provide the fodder for the characters you'll find in Last Chance, South Carolina. Hope earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Buffalo, and has had various jobs working as a Congressional aide, a lobbyist, a public relations consultant, and a meeting planner. She's a two-time finalist in the Golden Heart, and is married to a good ol' Georgia boy who resembles every single one of her heroes. She has two grown children and a couple of demanding lap cats. She lives in Fairfax, Virginia where you can often find her on the back deck, picking on her thirty-five-year-old Martin guitar.
Lara: How often to you get lost in a story?
Hope: I read every weekday morning while I’m walking on the treadmill. I walk for an hour, and it’s not because I love to exercise. The only thing that gets me on that machine is knowing that for one hour no one can complain that I have my nose shoved into a book. (Of course I read on a Nook while I’m walking, but you get the idea.) When I get lost in a story, and it often happens, the hour finishes and the machine’s belt stops running and my reaction is, “No, wait, I’m not at the end of the chapter.” And if the book is really good I’ll go find the recumbent bike at the gym and keep on reading while I pedal. [Lara: What a great strategy for exercise!]
Lara: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?
Hope: I inform my husband that we’re going out to dinner and I’m ordering a glass (or two) of wine. Finishing a book is a major accomplishment. I’m always amazed that I’m able to do it. And to be honest when I’m finished with a book’s first draft, I’m so tired of the characters that I feel like strangling them. Luckily I get over that feeling when the revisions turn up several weeks later.
Lara: What do you do to unwind and relax?
Hope: I knit. This explains why my last book was all about a yarn shop. Knitting is an addiction. If you’ve ever met a knitter you will understand this. And it doesn’t take much for me to find an excuse to go “yarn crawling,” which is sort of like pub crawling only you drive from yarn shop to yarn shop. Every May I make a pilgrimage to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival along with other addicted knitters. I make sure to carry cash and not my credit card, because that way I won’t spend too much on yarn I don’t have room for because my yarn stash has already outgrown its storage space.
Lara: Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?
Hope: I’m ambidextrous on this topic. Coffee in the morning. Tea at night. Sugar and milk in the coffee. Just a little bit of sugar in the tea. (And it had better be Earl Grey.)
Lara: What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
Hope: You’re kidding, right? I have to choose one kind of story? Not possible. I read everything. Stories that sweep me away always have fabulous characters facing impossible odds and are set in worlds that feel real. But it doesn’t matter if they are romances, fantasies, science fiction, thrillers, mysteries or any other kind of fiction.
Lara: What are the next five books on your ‘to be read’ pile?
Hope: I’m currently re-reading the Sevenwaters series by Juliette Marrilier. These stories, which are set in Ireland at the time of the Vikings, are on my keeper shelf. I love this author because she sweeps me away to an incredibly rich world with three-dimensional characters who are flawed but nevertheless heroic. I have to re-read these stories every few years because I love them so much. And there are more than five in the series. I’m currently on book three with a long way to go (he, he, he).
Lara: Which of your characters would you most/least to invite to dinner, and why?
Hope: Tulane Rhodes would be my hands-down choice of dinner guest, for a couple of reasons. First of all the guy is just funny as hell and I’m sure he’d have me in stitches for most of the evening. And second, he’s a NASCAR driver and one of my fantasies is to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr. face-to-face. (And, yeah, I was sort of thinking of Dale when I was writing Tulane’s story.)
Lara: Can you tell us about a real-life hero you’ve met?
Hope: I’d have to say that my Aunt Annie is my real-life hero. (I know you were expecting me to choose some hunky guy, right? So sorry to disappoint.) Annie served in the Army during World War II as a nurse. She was stationed in England and helped to care for the American Air Corps members who were hurt flying bombing missions over Europe. After the war she returned to her nursing job at St. Luke’s hospital in New York City where she worked her entire life taking care of people. She had a no-nonsense bed-side manner, and when I was sick I much preferred to be nursed by Aunt Annie over my mom. Annie also took me traveling to South Carolina to visit family. Those visits with Aunt Annie became the memories that fueled the Last Chance series. She gave of herself and served her country. She was a role model for me. She taught me how to sew a straight seam, make turkey gravy, and the names of countless plants in the garden. I miss her every day. [Lara: she sounds like an amazing woman!]
Lara’s GOTTA ASK: What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?
Hope’s GOTTA ANSWER: When I was in my twenties, I wanted to be a singer-songwriter. I’m fairly accomplished as a guitarist and at one point in my life all of my creative energy was focused on writing song lyrics. I was in a girl band that had a sound much like the Indigo Girls (but this was way before anyone had ever heard of the Indigo Girls), and we performed at lots of clubs and restaurants around the Washington, DC area. We even made it into a recording studio. But, alas bands break up (sort of like marriages) and when that happened to my band it was emotionally painful. I didn’t ever want to do that again, as much as I loved playing music. So I put my guitar away for a while and that’s when I started writing my first novel. The thing about fiction writing is that it’s a solitary pursuit, which made it emotionally much safer for me at the time. Of course I also discovered that I had more talent for telling stories than for writing lyrics. I still play my guitar. And since I practice regularly (and have been playing since I was thirteen), I keep improving little by little. But today, I don’t perform. And I’m happy about that. When you perform you have to be perfect. When you play just for the joy of it, well it’s like a heavenly gift, and mistakes are always forgiven. [Lara: What a great skill!]
Where can you find Hope?
Contact her
Website
Blog
Facebook: HopeRamsayAuthor
Twitter: @HopeRamsay
Pintrest: Hope Ramsay
What's next?
My next release will be Last Chance Family. It’s a story of Mike Taggart, a professional gambler who finds himself suddenly responsible for his five-year-old niece. He decides that the child needs a daddy who is more reliable than he is, so he sets out for Last Chance, South Carolina to reconnect with his long, lost half-brother, who is a minister. Of course Mike has no idea what he’s getting himself into as he tries to find his brother the perfect wife. He got to befriend the Altar Guild, manage a slightly senile matchmaker, and run like hell from the feelings he’s starting to have for the cute veterinarian in town.
Hope is giving away 2 copies of Inn at Last Chance to some lucky US commenters!
Hope says: As noted above my favorite place to read a book is on the treadmill. What’s your favorite place to get lost in a story, and why?
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