Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: Brass Tabby by Rowan Helaine @rowanhelaine @GoddessFish

Brass Tabby

by Rowan Helaine

GENRE: Contemporary Romance (Dark Comedy)

BLURB:

It’s loathe at first felony for the man with no future and the girl with no past.

Left blind and gruesomely scarred following a horrific accident, former golden boy Grant Harcourt isn’t looking for new friends when a snarky ball of hellfire dives into the back of his chartered car. Scrappy street artist Enola Fothergill is just trying to survive, and she definitely doesn’t need the attention that association with the Harcourt clan could bring. A bungled carjacking sparks a slow-burning passion, but when Nola’s murky former life catches up with her, they’ll both have to decide how far they’re willing to go for love.

Buy link:

Amazon

Excerpt:

The First Meeting:

The door swung open unexpectedly, and a body plummeted headlong into the back seat atop him. A winded feminine voice barked an order into the empty front seat. “Drive! Drive! Fucking drive!”

How surprising this world could be, Grant ruminated, a slow smile curving over his lips. He turned an ear to the parking lot outside, listening for footsteps. He’d sent his chauffeur into the store for a bottle of rye, but the man still hadn’t returned. He sat patiently for a moment, waiting for the girl in his lap to realize that there was no one to step on the gas. Tapping her shoulder, he smiled helpfully. “The driver’s inside. Also, this isn’t an UberPool.”

“Oh.” The girl behind the expressionless white Halloween mask sat up and groaned impatiently.

“For fuck’s sake…”

He heard the hinges on the seat in front creak as she threw one leg over the barrier. He realized, with some amusement, that she intended to steal the car with him inside. As if on cue, the driver’s side door opened and Grant reached up, grabbing the waist of her pants and yanking her back as the chauffeur slid into his seat. A seasoned professional, the man seemed barely fazed by the addition of a strange masked character sprawled across his fare’s knees. He simply passed the bottle back to Grant and waited for direction.

Interview with Rowan Helaine

How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?

I started writing the book 10 years ago when I was between other project and just riffing. I wrote out the crash scenes without knowing what I’d do with them, then sat them aside to write other things. Then one day I picked them back up and the story just flowed.

 

What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

I wrote the book that I wanted to read. I LOVE romantic fiction, but as a happily childfree woman, it was really alienating to have marriage and motherhood constantly pushed as the only pathways to happiness. I know a lot of people enjoy those stories, and I respect their popularity, but there are also people who feel disenfranchised by the genre. I wanted to see a book out there that traditional romance lovers could enjoy, but would also be “childfree safe”, meaning that a person who didn’t consider parenthood as a necessary part of their journey could sit down and read without getting to the end and having the female heroine being pregnant 6 months later, whether it suited her character or not.

What was the hardest part of writing this book? 

Definitely developing Nola’s emotional responses. She’s been through a great deal in her life, and has suffered longterm, sustained trauma. That changes a person. It makes them hesitant to trust others, even if they look totally normal on the outside. After my first draft, a couple of my beta readers came back to me and said that Nola seemed emotionally closed off. My first reaction was, “Good! I wrote her that way!” But then I realized that I would have give the readers a better understanding of what was going on in her head, even if she kept things hidden from the people around her.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book? 

I poured a lot of my personal experiences into this book, and I think it really comes through. In many ways, it was a catharsis, and when I read it now, I feel like I opened a vein over the page. It’s an intense experience, putting all that out into the world.

Were there alternate endings you considered?

I’m not sure when, but at some point the characters took the story out of my hands and ran away with it. I started out with a very different outline, which changed by the day. If I look back at my original plan for this story, it would look nothing like what eventually got published.

Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?

Unfortunately no, I wrote it during the pandemic, which didn’t provide a lot of opportunities for mixing and mingling. One of my biggest technical resources was my father, who is a retired mental health professional. When I would get stuck, I would call him and he would analyze my characters. Talk me through emotional development of each person and how they would play off each other. That input was invaluable.

What genre of books do you enjoy reading?

I love reading anything. Nonfiction history, absurdist fiction, satire, and lots and lots of romance. It all depends on my mood. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born and raised in New England, Rowan is currently leading a semi-nomadic existence in the company of her aggressively affectionate hound dog Filburt and a hardy Finnish sourdough starter. She enjoys solo travel, rescue animals, men, and carbs.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

Giveaway:

$15 Amazon/BN GC 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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