I love a good blog tour, and today I have the lovely Jennifer Garcia joining me with a guest post, and details of her new book. My Mr Manny is available at the moment, so please pop along and collect your copy.
Summary:
Mia Balducci misses her childhood days and yearns for the big, Italian family that she left behind in small town Massachusetts. At the tender age of sixteen, Mia moves with her bachelor father to Los Angeles, but no matter how many years pass, it never becomes home to her. The years spent living with her father aren’t easy, especially since she can’t stop thinking about what she once had. Her enrollment in the University of Southern California promises to bring exciting changes to her life, but Mia winds up with big problems instead. When she runs into an old friend from her old hometown of Winthrop, she gets swept up in nostalgia, and she soon loses herself in a quickly-progressing romance. When the fantasy falls apart, she is left to raise her precious little girl, Lucia, on her own. The demands of Mia’s work schedule and Lucia’s needs increase, and their lives become increasingly hectic. It is soon clear to Mia that she needs help. Luckily, her life-saving cousin saves the day and brings the mother and daughter a male nanny – their new “manny.”
After losing his high-pressure job on Wall Street, Dominic Roberts wants to follow his dreams to have a family. He’s already one fiancée down, and there are no likely prospects for another. In order to find the family he so desperately wants, he finds himself getting into the manny business. Since he is fully qualified to provide child care and is eager to leave New York City behind, his sister-in-law is able to land him a job in California working for his first client – the beautiful and intriguing Mia Balducci.
Will Lucia like the new man in her mother's life? Will Mia? And will this new trio discover the happily ever after they all so desperately seek?
Excerpt:
I rolled over to face Dominic and he began to stir. I watched him breathe and took inventory of his precious face. His lashes were thick and short against his cheek. The stubble on his face had thickened a bit more and his lips stuck out in a pout. I pecked them and his eyes opened.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” I said as he stretched and yawned. He scratched at his stubble and rubbed his eyes. He was adorable in the morning.
“Mhmmm, it is a good morning,” he said with a sleep-coated voice. He wrapped and tightened his arms around me and then squeezed. “A very good morning.”
“I need to get up and get ready for work. Lucia will be up in a bit. But ...” I began to say.
“What’s wrong?”
I exhaled a deep breath. “No, nothing’s wrong, but ... well I really want you to move into my room now. Too soon?” I wasn’t afraid he’d say no, but for some reason I felt strange asking him that.
He scoffed. “Did you think I was going to sleep in my room after last night? I had the best night of my life” he said while peppering soft, slow kisses on my face.
“It was my best night, too, baby.” I kissed him one more time and got up. “So, it’s official then. You’re moving in here and we’re a real couple.” I jerked my head in a nod to emphasize my statement.
He rolled on top of me, pinning me down on the bed. “I thought it was a given, Mia. You’re stuck with me forever now. I hope you can handle me.” He laughed.
“Mhmmm, I can handle you all right. I just hope you can handle me.” I kissed his lips.
Guest Post - What inspired me to write this book?
The initial inspiration to write about a manny (male-nanny) came from a writing prompt someone sent me. Somehow reading it sparked an idea in my mind. See, I needed a background for this to occur. Why would a woman need a manny? Then it just hit me, the idea of starting from childhood of a girl playing on her street with other kids. How growing up and moving on could call back the memories of those times. The nostalgia. Until one day she runs into one of those boys from her street and she feels more connected to her past.
I did not marry a kid from my block, but I did move away from my mother’s house at sixteen to live with my father. Those feelings of missing my friends, family, and the things that were familiar to me were familiar to me. From there I was able to weave a story of Mia marrying him and mistaking nostalgia for love. She made a huge mistake but one that gave her the best thing in her life, her daughter, Lucia. And after that marriage did its time, Mia was left in need of some help. Here comes the Manny.
I enjoy taking one feeling or one scene from my life and allowing it to blow up and expand into a story of its own. The amazing feelings of watching it grow into this wonderful world. And at the end of the creative process, it all feels so much more special because it has a piece of me in it.
Author Bio:
Jennifer Garcia’s (aka Forbes Arnone) love of travel began when she went to the West Coast to visit her father at the age of three. Her home until she was sixteen was a small coastal town near Boston. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.
Her lifelong love for reading and writing was put aside for many years while she made her way in the world and nurtured her young family. Even though she is older, and life never seems to settle, she’s finding her way while attending college full-time in pursuit of a B.A. in English Literature. She also runs a business, and is still caring for her family. Believing she can do it all, with the help of her family, she worked on her first novel during the late hours of the night while balancing the rest of her life during the day. Her hard work paid off, as her first novel, My Mr. Manny, will be published August 2013.
Thank you so much, Matt for having me. :)
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