THE CINDERELLA ROMANCES SERIES
Petie McCarty
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
BLURB:
The Cinderella Romances...Fall in love with the fairy tale all over again.
Modern-day Cinderella stories that provide unlimited opportunities to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.
Cinderella Busted
Once upon a time, in Jupiter Island, Florida . . .
Billionaire developer, Rhett Buchanan, is forced to inspect a shipment of priceless trees and meets the girl of his dreams instead. A bit jaded where women are concerned—since most are gold diggers—Rhett falls head over heels for the Jupiter Island socialite who only wants him, not his money. Except she isn't the glamorous socialite she appears to be.
She's the gardener . . .
Betting on Cinderella
Once upon a time in Biloxi, Mississippi . . .
Garrett Tucker inherits his grandfather's casino empire and steps into the reclusive billionaire's shoes as the new "Prince of Vegas." Discovering embezzlement in his newly purchased casino in Biloxi, Garrett goes in undercover. His prime suspect? The new finance supervisor . . . a feisty brunette who stole his heart at first sight.
Andi Ryan moves to Biloxi to care for her godmother. Taking a job as finance supervisor for the renovated Bayou Princess casino, she discovers someone is skimming from the till. Andi starts her own investigation, worried she will be blamed for the theft when the handsome new owner discovers her godmother likes to gamble.
Industrial espionage is afoot at the Bayou Princess, and Garrett and Andi are soon forced to work as a team to prove her innocence and save the casino before it’s too late.
This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other stories in the Cinderella Romances series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.
Par for Cinderella
Once upon a time in Cedar Key, Florida . . .
Golf resort developer Aidan Cross is at loose ends. Something feels missing from his life, but that something isn't women. He has too many women chasing him now. To confuse things even more, his yacht breaks down off-shore of his next project site in Florida, and Aidan falls for his only competition in the small town—a woman who wants nothing to do with him or his rakish charm.
Casey Stuart is stuck living in Cypress Key, unwilling to abandon her uncle or the golf course they manage together. She doesn't quite trust the stranger Aidan who shows up in town looking for work, and she vows to steer clear of him and the danger their intense chemistry provokes. Aidan’s stay is temporary, and falling for him promises only heartbreak.
But Casey needs Aidan’s help when she discovers Cypress Key’s mayor is making underhanded business deals, and she ends up on the wrong side of the powerful crook. Aidan steps in to rescue her, but secrets from his past threaten to bogey their new-found affair.
This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other Cinderella stories in the series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.
Excerpt:
Book Two: Betting on Cinderella
“I want to make love to you.”
Andi stilled.
Garrett mentally kicked himself. He had gone and scared her.
Too much. Too soon.
But he couldn’t make himself move. He could lie here forever with Andi in his arms.
She wriggled from his grasp to sit up. “Um . . .”
“What?”
She looked too uncertain.
Not good.
He was okay with, “Not now, but maybe later.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
Good thing he was sitting down. The jangle of fear that hit him could have knocked his knees out from under him.
“Can’t or won’t?” he forced out. No maybes on this one.
“Both.”
What the hell? Can’t and won’t?
All his uncertainties flooded back. Flora had said Andi and Peters were just friends. Was that friends with benefits? And what about that damn Drakos pawing her last week? No, he wouldn’t let those doubts crowd them here on the couch.
“Too soon?” he tried.
“Partly.” She looked away, and his heart sank amongst the growing heap of doubts.
“There’s someone else,” he said flatly, working to keep his expression blank and the hurt at bay.
She met his gaze square on then, no doubt trying to muscle her courage. “There’s something I should tell you.”
Damn.
“I’m—” She exhaled hard. “—no good at it.”
What? Is that all?
He fought back a grin of pure joy. “I’ll give you lessons.” He pulled her back for another kiss.
She shoved at his chest. “No. I don’t think I should.”
She flinched at his expression, and he worked to smooth his scowl.
“Go ahead. Spit it out.” Even he didn’t like his tone. “You’re sleeping with someone else, right?”
He should have done his homework before he went off half-cocked with all the flowers and balloons, trying to woo her.
“No, and I should slap you for that, suggesting I’m loose enough to go out with you while sleeping with someone else.”
“Then what the hell is it?” he shouted, forgetting all about Flora at the back of the house.
“I’ve never done it before!” she shouted back.
“What? Slapped someone?”
“No, you jerk. Slept with someone.” This, she didn’t shout.
Interview with Petie McCarty
First let me thank you, Nancy, for giving my Cinderella Romances series a guest spot on your blog for my Goddess Fish Series Promo tour.
You are welcome. I am happy to be a part of the tour. I am glad you could visit with us at The Avid Reader today!
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
I hate to be obtuse, but I’m not sure I understand the question. If the question is writing fiction versus nonfiction, the answer is easy. No, I have never once considered writing nonfiction. I have only wanted to tell a story no one knows or has ever heard until I get to tell it. And one step further, I have never had the desire to tell any kind of story except one with a happily ever after.
How do you select the names of your characters?
The character's name has to
fit the character’s personality. A sneezely, weasely character
gets a sneezely, weasely name. More often than not the plot gives
the character their name. Strong character, strong name—weak
character, weak name. When a character appears in the movie running
in my head he/she almost always comes with a name. I do name a few
of my characters after family members, like the Willow twins, Velma
and Delma, in Any
Fin For Love are
named after my real twin cousins in Kansas, Velma and Delma. Hero
names are the easiest. Certain guy names were just meant for heroes.
😊
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Yes, absolutely. I LOVE red
herrings! In my Angel series, the reader doesn’t find out who the
angel is until the finale of the book, though I leave plenty of
clues. That is the most fun writing.
What was your hardest scene to write?
The kidnap/rescue scene in No
Angels for Christmas kept
me awake at night
for a couple of
weeks. I had three adults and three children trapped in a 2nd-floor
office and a crew of six police hostage rescuers downstairs and
outside, all in different positions coordinating the rescue. I had
to keep all the characters straight during the rescue operation,
both location and conversation. Hardest thing I have ever done. They
couldn’t be sneaking in the inner stairwell one minute and hiding
inside an adjacent office the next minute, or worse yet, a different
character doing the sneaking.
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 have three series besides
my two stand-alone romantic suspense stories—the Cinderella
Romances series, the Mystery Angel Romances series, and the Lords in
Time series. Series have turned out to be the easiest to write and
the most popular with readers too.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
The Cinderella Romances
series was an opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale in a
modern-day setting in a dozen different ways. Turned out that
returning characters were possible too. I've finished three stories,
almost through a fourth and the possibilities going forward are
endless.
What inspired you to write The Cinderella Romances Series?
Driving past Cinderella’s
Castle every day on your way to work can easily talk you into a
fairytale-retelling series with all the new heroines you can think
of.
Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in the Cinderella Romances Series or what you have planned for the future, and can you tell us a little bit about the characters in the proposed books?
Next up is Cinderella on the Rocks. A beautiful Yank is hired by the wicked stepmother of a hunky Scottish Highlander whisky distiller to steal her stepson’s proprietary recipe for single malt. The sexy Highlander, Ian MacVicar, previously appeared in Par for Cinderella. After that story plays out, Spying on Cinderella is a definite possibility with Liam Shaunessy, Aidan Cross’s private investigator, making a return appearance. He’ll no doubt be investigating, suspecting of illegal shenanigans, and then falling in love with his own Cinderella.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
There is nothing quite so satisfying as giving a hero a wild climactic scene in which to race in and rescue his girl and then give them both a bumpy, then smooth happily ever after
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.
Visit Petie's website on or her Facebook page.
Connect with Petie McCarty
Twitter/X ~ Goodreads ~ BookBub ~ Amazon
10 comments:
Thank you so much for featuring Petie McCarty and her series.
Sounds like a series I would enjoy reading.
Great interview! This looks interesting.
Looks like a good read.
sounds like a fun one
Can't thank you enough for hosting my Goddess Fish series tour! You ROCK!
Awesome! I hope you give it a try!
Thanks. I try. :)
Thanks! I think so!
Looks amazing
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