Fearless: Connor & Ronni
Kaylene Winter
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
A Steamy, Feminist, Protective Irish Hero Rockstar Romance
“Family is everything, I protect mine with my life…”
Connor McLoughlin had it all, a great family, a college scholarship and music.
Tragedy forced him to grow up too fast.
When his life finally is on track, Ronni Miller appears like a dream.
Kindred spirits in the most unlikely of circumstances.
There’s only one thing in the way— her dark past he’s determined to protect her from.Will Connor’s protective instincts drive Ronni away for good?
“When your innocence is stolen, trust is a precious gift…”
Actress Ronni Miller tasted fame at a young age.
Her path to stardom was riddled with tragedy.
She never imagined falling for Connor McLoughlin, a rogue, Irish rock star.
The thing is? Ronni’s got revenge on her mind.
Regardless of the risk or the consequences— Or losing the one thing in her life that makes her feel alive.
Connor has only ever asked Ronni for one thing: her heart.
She risks losing the man who would do anything for her.What happens when Ronni’s bravery is couched in lies?
When your future has been tainted by innocence lost, learning to trust is an uphill battle.
For Connor & Ronni, the fight for true love is FEARLESS.
The Connor & Ronni Duet:
Interview with Kaylene Winter
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
Growing up, I was obsessed with music and musicians. By the time I was in high school, me and my friends had dreams of marrying rock stars. At 15, I wrote my first novel – it was actually a short story – about how I met the singer of a band and we became a couple. Each night, I’d read what I wrote to my two best friends and we all got lost in the fantasy.
Fantasy became a bit of a reality for me. While in college, I began to promote live music shows and eventually was recruited to work for some of the biggest bands in Seattle. For many years, I put on live shows, jumped on tour busses, and worked behind the scenes in the music industry. I may have even dated a rocker or two.
Years later, I found the novel. By then, I was happily married, a business owner and an avid reader of all types of contemporary romance tropes — especially rockstars!
My husband encouraged me to take a stab at writing a romance novel, so of course my first series had to be rockstar romance!
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
Fearless Encore is the 7th book in the Less Than Zero Rockstar romance series. The first four books are the foundation, and tell the initial stories of the couples. The “Encores,” as I like to call them, are the follow-up books.
“Happily ever after can mean so many things.”
When I read romance books and become immersed in a world, I’m always sad when the book ends. Plus, a love story doesn’t end at a marriage, or engagement or becoming a couple – a true love story explores how a couple navigates really hard things.
And come out the other side.
In Fearless Encore, Ronni Miller and Connor McGloughlin are new parents to twin boys when Ronni has to fulfill some career obligations she postponed during her pregnancy. Connor’s band, LTZ, is on a break for a year and becomes the prime caregiver to his kids. Everything starts out swimmingly until outside forces threaten the very fabric of Connor and Ronni’s marriage and future. With past hurts resurfaced, the couple is forced to make some hard decisions about how they can move forward together.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
There’s a twist in the prologue that I had to build up to and make believable and scary – and I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but not the exact way I was going to do it. So, there was a lot of work needed to build and smooth the arc in a way that was believable and current.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I’m so emotionally invested in all my characters – and Connor and Ronni have “technically” been together the longest despite their obstacles. As a woman author who also owns another business and has personal commitments as well, I think all of us can relate to Ronni’s dilemma regarding her career. The goals she has worked so hard for and are coming into fruition—now she has other objectives and desires. It’s hard to process and make sense of it all – so she reverts a little into techniques that used to work for her but maybe not now.
So, this is a long-winded way of saying – I loved exploring Ronni’s coping mechanisms when she’s trying to have it all and failing (in her own mind) not only in her career but in raising her little babies.
Where there alternate endings you considered?
Since this is part of a series, I’ve always known what each couple’s conflicts were going to be in their individual journeys. The series technically ends with the next book in the series, which will not only resolve Zane and Fiona’s story but the entire LTZ story as well.
Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?
Connor’s back story is captured in FEARLESS, which is an ode to my in-laws who all live in Northern Ireland. While none of the characters are based on my family, certain ways of speech, dialogue, mannerisms definitely have made their way in. As for Ronni, she is like every strong, woman I know – conflicted with pursuing her career, nourishing her great love and now raising children. Women really have to balance it all, and it’s not always pretty.
What genre of books do you enjoy reading?
I love all things contemporary romance. My favorites are all first person dual narrative in present tense – to me it puts you into the story in a way that feels authentic and dynamic.
Author Bio:
When she was only 15, Kaylene Winter wrote her first rocker romance novel starring a fictionalized version of herself, her friends and their gorgeous rocker boyfriends. After living her own rockstar life as a band manager, music promoter and mover and shaker in Seattle during the early 1990’s, Kaylene became a digital media legal strategist helping bring movies, television and music online. Throughout her busy career, Kaylene lost herself in romance novels across all genres inspiring her to realize her life-long dream to be a published author. She lives in Seattle with her amazing husband and dog. She loves to travel, throw lavish dinner parties and support charitable causes supporting arts and animals.
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3 comments:
I love the cover and look forward to reading the book.
Thank you for sharing your interview, bio and book details and for offering a giveaway, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and I am looking forward to reading the Fearless duet, the covers are gorgeous!
Thanks for hosting!! <3
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