24 Sleeps ’til Xmas tour “The Winner is Love” by Stephanie Hurt (Day 2)

Today on the tour my guest is fellow author Stephanie Hurt and her book “The Winner is Love”. Here is my review of the book;

The Winner Is Love by Stephanie Hurt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A holiday themed romance, The Winner is Love is another great book from author Stephanie Hurt. Set mainly in the snowy mountains of Colorado the story concerns a competition winner and a film star. Stuck without electricity away from any neighbours and without a phone signal they must make do as best they can. The easy friendship turns to a romance in it’s early stages when the weekend comes to an end. Determined to meet again they plan to get together for Christmas. I was all set for a great ending when the book ended on a cliff hanger and the story must pan out in the second in the series coming soon.

Find a copy of the book here from Amazon.co.uk or here from Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

Let’s talk to Stephanie some more;

1)  Where is your home town?

Pike County which is south of Atlanta Georgia. I’m a southern girl all the way.

 2) How long have you been writing?

Since I was a young teenager which was well over 30 years ago. I published my first book in May 2012. It’s been such a wonderful experience. I’ve always had a very active imagination and wrote everything down, even some of my dreams which have come out in my books. That’s a little scary.

I write romance and love everything romance. I’ve been reading romance novels for as long as I can remember. The very first long romance I read was “Remembrance” By Danielle Steele and that really inspired me to go with it. A couple of my currently published books actually stemmed from stories I’d written many years ago and I used some of the manuscripts. I actually had to blow the dust off a couple and the words were faded.

3) This book was a move away from romances featuring cowboys, is it the first book you’ve tried on a new theme?

This is the 2^nd book that stepped away from my normal cowboy fetish. My Christian Romance “With All My Heart” didn’t revolve around cowboys. My trademark is cowboys and some have been surprised when I did something out of that box. I enjoyed this experience going with another type character. The main character was easy to write as she is an Accountant and that’s what I do for a daily living. Christmas is my favourite time of the year, so that part was easy, but I kept wanting to put a Stetson on the handsome actor. He just wasn’t the cowboy type.

4)  What made you decide to have a cliff hanger ending?

Funny thing about that, this story started out to be a stand alone book. Then as I continued toward the end, I decided to leave it open to speculation. It’s funny the remarks I’ve received regarding the cliff hanger. Especially since I’ve waited over a year to put out book two. My editor was completely shocked because she didn’t know that I was leaving it like this. She thought it was a stand alone. I love to take people by surprise.

5) How many books in the series do you plan?

That’s an interesting question Rosie. As it goes now I’m planning on just two, but as with the first book, you never know when the inspiration for a third book will hit me.

6)  Is Colorado somewhere you’ve been yourself in winter?

I’ve never been to Colorado. My parents have been and I enjoyed the stories of all the snow and beauty. I’ve always wanted to go, but not to ski. Sometimes we have to realize our limits. LOL

7)  Tell us 5 things about Colorado.

Ok here goes: 1- The beautiful snow covered Rocky Mountains, 2- Even in the Spring Colorado is gorgeous, 3 – It’s a place for romance to bloom with the many romantic lodges and cottages, 4 – The atmosphere is laid back and pleasant or so I’ve been told, 5 – It’s on my Bucket List.

8)  The timescale of your book spreads around the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, is this a favourite time of year for you?

Yes this is my favourite time of the year. I love the chill in the air, the holiday songs which I start tuning in like three weeks before Thanksgiving. I love being with family and friends. Also the biggest part is the birth of Jesus. Oh yeah and the food, you can’t forget the food.

9)  What would be your perfect Christmas; Snow or Sun?

Oh definitely snow. Who doesn’t dream of a white Christmas which is rare here in Georgia. Every once in a while we have flurries on Christmas. I just love to be able to have a crackling fire and drink hot chocolate on Christmas Eve as the snow falls outside.

10) I know you love writing, tell us about your latest book.

I love to talk about my writing. It’s so much a part my life. I’m working on a couple of books. The biggest draw will be my newest Christmas romance which should be out by the time this post goes out. It’s called Alpine Christmas Romance. Here’s a little hint: What do you get when you bring together Switzerland at Christmas, a handsome Cowboy and a woman trying to get over a break up?

Yep, I’ve brought back my cowboy. Also, this is bringing out one of my dreams and that’s to travel to Switzerland. Maybe one day I’ll get to go there, but for now I’ll go there with my character. This one is full of humour, romance and lots of Christmas joy.

Thanks Stephanie, Merry Christmas!

All this month as it is the season of Goodwill, I’m suggesting a Good Deed a day for readers to take part in. Many of you know about my year long challenge to do one Good Deed a day and I’d like you to join in. Today I’d like you to bake a batch of cookies to give away to others.