TAKE THAT RIDE
by Meg Benjamin
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
BLURB:
They’ve only got a week. They need to make it count.
Coy Blackburn is an up-and-coming country singer, but right now he feels more like he’s down-and-going. He’s at the end of a long tour, and his band is dragging. A week-long gig at the Faro tavern in Konigsburg, Texas, may get them back on their feet or it may be a disaster. For Coy, it feels like it could go either way.
Lexi Markham is living life on auto-pilot at the moment. As the main driver at her family’s tour business, she spends her days taking tourists around the Texas wineries and trying to get over her breakup with her lying fiancĂ©. Now her sister has booked her to drive a country band around town, and she’s definitely not feeling it.
When Coy and Lexi meet, sparks fly—and not it a good way. Still, trust the power of music (and a back country cloudburst) to overcome a few bumps in the road. But can they even think about the future when they’ve only got a few days together?
Purchase TAKE THAT RIDE @ Amazon
Excerpt:
“What’s going on, Lex?” He sounded more puzzled than angry, which made things easier.
She took another moment, trying to order her thoughts. “A lot of stuff has been going on. I just wanted some time to think.”
“You mean the Marcia Mills stuff?”
She nodded, then realized he probably couldn’t see her that well. “Yeah. I saw all the things she posted.”
“Marcia posted stuff? Where did she post it?” He sounded confused.
“You didn’t see Marcia’s posts?” Then how did he know about it?
“No. I didn’t know anything about this until Clem showed me some article online tonight. Then I fielded some phone calls from writers at gossip sites and my manager’s PR rep, which didn’t make things any clearer. I’ve been rehearsing all day, and I haven’t had time to look at anything.” He sighed. “So Marcia posted stuff, too?”
“Yeah, on her Instagram. June showed it to me this morning. And then there was that video interview with you. The kid who did it seemed to be saying there was something more between the two of you no matter what you said to him.”
“That kid was about fifteen, and I’d never seen him before today. Whatever he thinks he knows, he actually knows squat. Plus, I think he’s trying to come up with stuff to get people to follow his blog. Same thing with the gossip sites, to tell the truth. They’re always just looking for the next headline.”
He sounded confident, but he’d always sounded that way. Trusting him made a lot of sense, but she wasn’t sure she could do it. She didn’t know how to return to where they’d been before—before this nagging doubt had been planted in her brain.
Interview with Meg Benjamin
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I’ve written around twenty-five books on my own, along with a couple more as part of a group of authors. As for my favorite, that’s sort of like asking me to name my favorite child! If pressed, I guess I’d say Venus In Blue Jeans, since that was my first published novel.
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
I do have plans for another book picking up characters from Take That Ride, plus all my Konigsburg books have characters who show up again from time to time. I’m planning a book to feature a character in this book, Delaney Boone. Delaney plays keyboards in my hero, Coy’s, band. In The Love Equation, Delaney ends up in Austin and meets a math prof through a dating app. Hijinks ensue.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I think it’s possible to do both. All my Konigsburg books stand alone in that you don’t have to know the plots of previous books to understand what’s happening. But since they all take place in the same town, it figures that some of the same characters will wander through. People who’ve read the other books will recognize them, but they won’t slow new readers down—although new readers might want to learn more about those characters by reading the books where they’re featured.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
All my Konigsburg books have song titles. Take That Ride is a lovely Emmylou Harris song about a woman trying to decide whether to leave her lover.
How long did it take you to write this book?
It usually takes me around four months to get a first draft done. Then I spend a while refining and rewriting. Maybe six months total.
What does the title mean?
I think the song title I used has significance beyond just the situation in the song. My h/h are both trying to decide whether to take that ride, to move on to the next step, the next relationship. And at the end of the book, they’re both taking a chance and heading out.
What did you learn when writing the book?
I learned a lot about individual songs that the band performed. For example, Coy does a duet with another singer on “Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This,” a Waylon Jennings standard. I listened to a lot of versions of that song, even watched some on YouTube. I finally stumbled onto one by Daniel Donato that seemed absolutely right. I did a playlist of the important songs from the book, and you can listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hpb9gSwdfwucF3seVN1qL
What surprised you the most?
I love listening to music, so it wasn’t a surprise that I enjoyed writing about it, too. But it was a surprise to discover how much fun it was to describe performing, both from the performer’s point of view and the audience’s.
Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?
Nope. When I kill somebody, they deserve it!
What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?
I don’t really have any routine; it just sort of happens. Once I start creating a character, it’s easy to slip into their thoughts and reactions.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with contemporary romance, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Soul Mate. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
Connect with Meg Benjamin
Website ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ Email
5 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
I liked the excerpt and cover.
I think this book sounds really good. I like the cover too.
Thanks so much for hosting and interviewing me. I enjoyed it!
This sounds like a good book and I really like the cover.
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