Release: March 13th, 2017
Romance Subgenre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Ever After #1
Romance Subgenre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Ever After #1
THE RIGHT DRESS CAN CATCH THE EYE OF PRINCE CHARMING…
Felicity Hart has one goal: Completing her masters in art. Falling in love isn’t part of the plan. She reluctantly agrees to attend a Halloween party with her best friend. After sneaking away from the party and falling asleep in an unoccupied room, she wakes to the sexiest pair of eyes she’s ever seen. Eyes that belong to the one man who could turn her well organized world upside down. When he flashes that wicked, panty-melting smile at her the vow to not fall in love seems impossible…
EVERY PRINCE IS LOOKING FOR HIS SLEEPING BEAUTY TO KISS…
Jared Redmond used to be the ultimate bad boy. But now his legal career is taking off and the partners of his firm are trusting him with high-dollar real estate transactions. Jared’s king-size bed is empty. But when he arrives home on Halloween to find a princess sleeping in his bed – his all work and no play attitude goes out the window. There’s nothing he wants more than to explore the hidden desires of this mysterious beauty and show her just how much of a bad boy he really is by fulfilling her every fantasy.
WHEN MIDNIGHT STRIKES AND COACHES TURN TO PUMPKINS…
Underneath the glitter of this fairy tale romance, Felicity and Jared might have found true love. But the mounting pressure of their real lives takes hold again and Jared and Felicity are pulled further and further apart. Can they find their fairy tale ending or will they be left with the dying embers of what could have been?
Felicity Hart has one goal: Completing her masters in art. Falling in love isn’t part of the plan. She reluctantly agrees to attend a Halloween party with her best friend. After sneaking away from the party and falling asleep in an unoccupied room, she wakes to the sexiest pair of eyes she’s ever seen. Eyes that belong to the one man who could turn her well organized world upside down. When he flashes that wicked, panty-melting smile at her the vow to not fall in love seems impossible…
EVERY PRINCE IS LOOKING FOR HIS SLEEPING BEAUTY TO KISS…
Jared Redmond used to be the ultimate bad boy. But now his legal career is taking off and the partners of his firm are trusting him with high-dollar real estate transactions. Jared’s king-size bed is empty. But when he arrives home on Halloween to find a princess sleeping in his bed – his all work and no play attitude goes out the window. There’s nothing he wants more than to explore the hidden desires of this mysterious beauty and show her just how much of a bad boy he really is by fulfilling her every fantasy.
WHEN MIDNIGHT STRIKES AND COACHES TURN TO PUMPKINS…
Underneath the glitter of this fairy tale romance, Felicity and Jared might have found true love. But the mounting pressure of their real lives takes hold again and Jared and Felicity are pulled further and further apart. Can they find their fairy tale ending or will they be left with the dying embers of what could have been?
Author Interview
I'm excited to have author Lauren Smith on the blog today to discuss her new book, Legally Charming. Thanks for sharing so openly and freely, Lauren!
What kind of research do you do and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book??
It depends on what type of book for how long I research. If it’s a historical book I tend to write the book in 2 or 3 months but then as I edit, I research to include clothing, food and social details that enrich the historical romance story. For other book, like contemporary romances if I have a particular setting that I’m unfamiliar with, I’ll acquire several travel books and coffee table books before I begin to write and then as I start writing, I reference them for details to get locations and settings as close to reality as I can.
What is your favorite scene in Legally Charming?
Probably the scene where Felicity decides to seduce Jared. She’s a shy girl, a very realistic heroine with full curves and she’s a virgin. So she and her best friend go shopping for sexy lingerie because she wants Jared, who up until this point has been reserved and in control during their heated make out sessions, to lose control. So while he’s cooking dinner, she changes into lingerie and covers up with a trench coat and then she walks into the living room and drops the coat. She’s wearing these little black heels with red bows and he just loses it. They have a really steam love scene then but it ends impossibly sweet. It’s what I love most about the characters. Their real, not stereotyped but it’s still smoking hot when they come together!
What's your favorite underappreciated romance novel?
Noah by Jacquelyn Frank. Her books are just…they leave me in awe. I read them and the characters, descriptions and emotions are so evocative and real that the book itself seems to breathe. Her entire Nightwalker series is just the best!
What question do you wish readers would ask? What is the answer?
I wish readers would ask me why I chose to write about an Alpha non-asshole hero. I feel like too may authors right now are writing about jerk heroes that are too one dimensional. It’s easy to write a jerk and then let him fall in love. Jerks can be hot but I think it sends a wrong message to readers that it’s okay to have heroes be rude and abrasive. You can create tension and chemistry that’s just as hot without the hero being a jerk. I choose to write my heroes for this series as non-jerks because I wanted a real life/ real hero feel to the books and I hope readers will notice and like it! Let’s show some love for Non-asshole Alpha males!
As a writer what would you choose as your spirit animal/mascot/avatar? Theme song?
My spirit animal is definitely a north American river otter. They are playful but can be fierce when need be. I love their happy go lucky manners. My Theme song is “Hells Bells” by ACDC. I just hear the bells and the opening guitar and I think…this song should play whenever I enter a room!
Do you listen to a specific playlist, album or song when writing? How does music factor into you writing process and the book's world?
I make a playlist for every single book I write which consists of certain songs for the hero, heroine and for certain situations. There are some repeat favorites that show up on more than one book’s playlist because they are just so good that I need to hear them again. Music is key, especially in the last fourth of my drafts because the toughest emotions and the hardest scenes including the black moments occur there and I need to be in a totally focused zone where I’m touching deep emotions inside myself to reach the characters and make their situation the deepest I can. Music carefully chosen can help me achieve that!
It depends on what type of book for how long I research. If it’s a historical book I tend to write the book in 2 or 3 months but then as I edit, I research to include clothing, food and social details that enrich the historical romance story. For other book, like contemporary romances if I have a particular setting that I’m unfamiliar with, I’ll acquire several travel books and coffee table books before I begin to write and then as I start writing, I reference them for details to get locations and settings as close to reality as I can.
What is your favorite scene in Legally Charming?
Probably the scene where Felicity decides to seduce Jared. She’s a shy girl, a very realistic heroine with full curves and she’s a virgin. So she and her best friend go shopping for sexy lingerie because she wants Jared, who up until this point has been reserved and in control during their heated make out sessions, to lose control. So while he’s cooking dinner, she changes into lingerie and covers up with a trench coat and then she walks into the living room and drops the coat. She’s wearing these little black heels with red bows and he just loses it. They have a really steam love scene then but it ends impossibly sweet. It’s what I love most about the characters. Their real, not stereotyped but it’s still smoking hot when they come together!
What's your favorite underappreciated romance novel?
Noah by Jacquelyn Frank. Her books are just…they leave me in awe. I read them and the characters, descriptions and emotions are so evocative and real that the book itself seems to breathe. Her entire Nightwalker series is just the best!
What question do you wish readers would ask? What is the answer?
I wish readers would ask me why I chose to write about an Alpha non-asshole hero. I feel like too may authors right now are writing about jerk heroes that are too one dimensional. It’s easy to write a jerk and then let him fall in love. Jerks can be hot but I think it sends a wrong message to readers that it’s okay to have heroes be rude and abrasive. You can create tension and chemistry that’s just as hot without the hero being a jerk. I choose to write my heroes for this series as non-jerks because I wanted a real life/ real hero feel to the books and I hope readers will notice and like it! Let’s show some love for Non-asshole Alpha males!
As a writer what would you choose as your spirit animal/mascot/avatar? Theme song?
My spirit animal is definitely a north American river otter. They are playful but can be fierce when need be. I love their happy go lucky manners. My Theme song is “Hells Bells” by ACDC. I just hear the bells and the opening guitar and I think…this song should play whenever I enter a room!
Do you listen to a specific playlist, album or song when writing? How does music factor into you writing process and the book's world?
I make a playlist for every single book I write which consists of certain songs for the hero, heroine and for certain situations. There are some repeat favorites that show up on more than one book’s playlist because they are just so good that I need to hear them again. Music is key, especially in the last fourth of my drafts because the toughest emotions and the hardest scenes including the black moments occur there and I need to be in a totally focused zone where I’m touching deep emotions inside myself to reach the characters and make their situation the deepest I can. Music carefully chosen can help me achieve that!
About Lauren Smith
Amazon Best-Selling Author Lauren Smith is an attorney by day, author by night, who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She’s a native Oklahoman who lives with her three pets: a feisty chinchilla, sophisticated cat and dapper little schnauzer. She’s won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including being an Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter-Finalist and a Semi-Finalist for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award.
