Musings and Ramblings

Nobody's Fool

Willow Park Romance, #2

Sarah Hegger

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Zebra
Date of Publication: August 25, 2015
Number of pages: 352

In Sarah Hegger's latest Willow Park Romance, long-held crushes and past frenemies reunite--and wonder if there's ever a second chance to make a good first impression...

Holly Partridge had no plans to return to Willow Park, Illinois, until her troubled younger sister Portia fled her home and aimed herself straight at Holly's high school nemesis--too-gorgeous-to-be-true Josh Hunter. Riding a manic bipolar high, Portia's only a danger to herself, but Holly needs to find her before she crashes. That means asking Josh for help.

The ultimate love 'em and leave 'em lothario, Josh was never good for anything but a broken heart. But now he's lending a hand when Holly needs it most--and revealing surprising generosity and compassion. Has Josh shed his bad boy ways? Or is Holly suddenly grown up enough to acknowledge her own mistakes? Trusting Josh could be a disaster--or the first step in banishing the past to make way for a future happier than Holly ever imagined...

Excerpt: 

The sign above the glass door to the trendy single’s bar scrolled out “Scants” in hot pink neon, blinked twice, and repeated.

“Bugger.” Holly yanked her clinging sweatshirt away from her body. You should never ask how much worse a thing could get because Murphy’s Law went right ahead and showed you.

The door flew open, and the clamor from the bar roared out onto the sidewalk where she stood. A couple of girls brushed past her, giggling as they hurled themselves into the preening frenzy. On the other side of the window, a mass of beautiful bodies circled each other.

Holly was way, way out of her element. There was no choice, though. According to his doorman, she’d find Josh Hunter in there.

She squared her shoulders and braced for hell. Good thing she had her bloody passport with her.

Holly stepped over the threshold, and the manic melody of singles bars everywhere crashed over her; the clink, the chatter, the bass rumble of male voices juxtaposed against the higher pitches of women. The throb of amplifier and subwoofer underscored the babble and ground out an elemental jungle beat that quickened the blood.

Welcome to the mating ground of genus Homo sapiens. What a bunch of posers. Exactly where you would expect to find someone like Josh Hunter. Proof she and Joshua were an entirely different species. She’d suspected as much in high school. The evidence was now incontrovertible.

Her phone buzzed in her hand and Holly checked the screen.

Emma again. This made it the fifth call in the last hour. What a pity Emma hadn’t panicked four days ago, when Portia first went missing.

She stuck one finger in her ear to hear her sister. “Yes?”

“Did you find her?”

“I just arrived in Chicago.” Did Emma expect her to fly? Six hours and twenty-four minutes, according to Google Maps, and she’d shaved it to a shade under six.

“What have you been doing?” Emma wailed loud enough to rise above the storm of noise around her.

“Driving.” Holly clenched her hand into a fist by her side. Cool it, Holly. They were both worried about Portia’s disappearance.

Only this morning, she’d discovered Portia missing.

Emma, Portia’s twin, had broken down and confessed Portia had left four whole days ago for Chicago. Not only was their younger sister gone, she’d left London, Ontario, without her medication.

The sheer stupidity of it made Holly want to growl.

“Did you find Joshua Hunter?” Emma let fly with her persistent streak. “Portia spoke about him when she called.”

“Yes, you told me already.” Holly cursed her height as she levered to her toes to see over the heads in front of her. “I’m looking for him now.”

She might not recognize Josh Hunter anymore. A lot could’ve changed in the years since they’d gone to high school together. Maybe he’d grown another head, to admire the one he already had.

“She didn’t sound good.” Emma’s voice quivered. “You have to find her, Holly.”

“I know I do,” Holly almost snarled. Four days and Emma hadn’t said a word. Holly could barely get her head around it.

A phone call from Portia, flying perilously high and prattling about seeing Josh Hunter, had sent Emma scurrying for Holly and help.

“I have to go.” She hung up on Emma, still talking.

The name of her high-school nemesis had knocked Holly off balance for a moment. It was not a name she’d wanted to hear again. She shook it off. It couldn’t be helped. The most important thing was finding Portia, and she’d make a deal with the devil if she must.

In his school days, Josh had lived in Willow Park, and that seemed the most logical place for Holly to start. The Hunter house had been down the street from Holly’s, and she’d guessed it was where Portia had run into him.

She’d been hanging on to the secret hope of Portia standing on the sidewalk, gazing wistfully at the old family home. If you could call a house you’d only lived in for two years an old family home.

Holly dodged a weaving waitress and stopped.

The two women in front of her spotted each other and squealed like a pair of happy piglets.

Holly waited for the cheek kissing ritual to end.

Cheek kissing gave way to feverish chatter, and Holly finally pushed past. She was on a mission.

Why had Portia gone searching for Josh Hunter? Holly wobbled on her tiptoes and craned her neck past the mass of bobbing heads. It was one of the questions she’d ask her sister when she caught up with her. And catch up with Portia she would.

The house in Willow Park had changed. Dramatically. Holly had been standing outside earlier, wondering where to go next, when the door to the house opened and luck stepped out—trailing spangles and a cloud of perfume. God knows why, but the woman had been thrilled to see her. Holly didn’t recall her at all. Fortunately, she had remembered Holly and her sisters clearly.

The woman went on to say yes, she had seen Holly’s sister. Portia had been by a couple of days ago, looking for Josh. She confirmed Emma’s report that Josh and Portia had found each other and were briefly spotted together. And better yet, had been able to tell her the name of the upscale condo on the Gold Coast where Josh now lived.

Here the bedazzled woman had treated Holly to an abbreviated version of Josh’s infamy. Most of it went over her head, but the gist was women and more women, and when was he going to settle down?

Holly ran for cover between the woman’s pause and an invocation to God for Josh to stop breaking his mother’s heart and get married already.

So, same old Josh Hunter.

Holly had located the condo building easily enough, and a bit of creative truth bending with the doorman had her standing on the sidewalk outside Scants, exactly the sort of place she would rather chew her arm off than enter.

The crowd in front of her parted and, oh, sweet Mother of God, there he was.

Interview: 

Today, we welcome Sarah Hegger to Musings and Ramblings. Let's all give a big Geeky welcome!

Um… May the force be with you?
No, wait.—Live long and prosper.

Let's start with some writer specific questions before moving into the fun stuff. That way everyone can really get to know the person behind the writer. We will finish things off with a round of Think Fast. Ready for the interrogation to begin?

Bring it!

Writing Specific

Is your writing style more plotter or pantser?
Plotter all the way. Anal, OCD plotter. Everything planned out before I write ‘Chapter 1’.

How involved are you with Social Media and self-promotion?
As much as I am able to be, which is a bit of a non-answer.

I do Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, Tsu (is that still around?). I am also involved in three author blogs, which are collections of authors who blog together—Romance Writers Weekly, KickAss Chicks and Spice Aisle. I’m told I should get into Instagram, but I’m lost enough in my little cyber vortex.

What one thing do you wish someone had told you before you started writing?
To take up carpentry?

No, I love writing. It’s a true passion for me. To be honest, people pretty much told me how it would be before I got started. I just thought I would be that exception to the rule. If anything, I wish I’d listened sooner because ‘they’ really did know what they were talking about.

Tell us something about yourself that's not in your bio.
How about this? I’ll give you two things. Firstly, if I thought I could get away with it, I’d walk around in evening gowns all day long. And secondly, I can eat an entire 18-inch pizza at one sitting. You don’t believe me? It has been done.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
I’ll start with the compliment because the other thing makes me twitch. I love it when I get messages from readers thanking me for writing the book, and how much it touched them. One reader told me she love a book because it was an ‘ugly cry, five Kleenex read.’ I think she meant it as a good thing. She meant it as a good thing, right?

When I submitted my very first novel to a publisher, they told me my characters had no sparkle. To make matters worse, they were right. I’ve been working on the sparkly thing ever since. In a non-Twilight sort of way.

Fun Stuff

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
Understanding teenage girls. I have two and it’s an emotional abyss let me tell you.

What was the name of the last book you read?
Sweet as Sin by J T Geissinger. And it rocked. I loved it from start to finish. She’s a new-to-me author and I’m going to be raiding her backlist right about now.

What is your biggest pet peeve?
Discourteous people.

You are going to be stranded on a deserted island and bring 3 luxury items. What would they be?
Mascara (you do not want to see me without it)
Toothbrush (Furry teeth? Yuck!)
My iPad (this is my fantasy, so there would be a place to recharge it)

What would we find in your refrigerator right now?
I haven’t a clue. Do not go in there! You will not come out alive. Actually, I think the last person who went in there is still in there, so that’s one thing you’ll find.

Think Fast

Elvis or Sinatra? Sinatra
AM or PM? PM
Mountains or Sea? Mountains
Meat or Veggies? Meat
Italian or Chinese? Italian
Summer or Winter? Summer
Coffee or Tea? Coffee
Cake or Pie? Pie
Car or Truck? Car

Thanks for coming by and spending some time with us. Any final words of wisdom to pass along?

I really love hearing from readers. Writing is such a solitary thing. You scribble away and send your scribblings out into the world. It’s so nice to get a voice yelling ‘hello’ back.

Thanks for having me over on Musing & Ramblings, I had a blast.

Giveaway: 

Author Bio:

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.She currently lives in Draper, Utah, with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

She loves to hear from readers and you can find her at any of the places below.

To connect with the author online:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads