Review, Guest Post & Giveaway: The Eyes of Love by Angelina Rose

The Eyes of Love

The Eyes of Love
Mill Creek Crossing, Book 4
Angelina Rose

Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: BookBaby

Date of Publication: April 26, 2013

Number of pages: 93

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN     Sony     Kobo

After a tragic loss five years ago, Sally Overby becomes an Attorney in Atlanta. She convinces herself that all she'll ever need again is her young son, David, and her life as an attorney. Until one day, Colin Dean barges back into her life and promptly blows her safe world apart, driving her crazy as only a guy she'd had a "school girl crush" on can.

Sally is wary to love deeply. Only, with every loving look Colin gives her plus every sweet kiss, as the attraction between them sparks, she can’t help but wonder if she’s met the one she should be with. And although Colin didn’t realize his life was going to change so quickly, amazingly, he isn’t the least bit interested in fighting that change. Instead, he’s gearing up for a different fight altogether. The one for Sally’s heart.

Will Colin be able to convince her that's it safe to love him... and that forever isn't really out of reach?

The Eyes of Love is a novella… so you can enjoy it in just one day!

Excerpt: 

"Hi there. I'm Gracie..." the waitress said as she put down a napkin and some silverware.

"Gracie. It's me. Sally Overby," she said grinning.

Gracie stopped in her tracks and squinted her eyes. "Sally? I can't believe it! You're stunning, honey!" she said reaching down and hugging her. "What are you doing in town?"

"Reunion. And to see Momma, of course."

"I can't get over how beautiful you are!"

"Thanks."

"You were always a sweetheart of a person, but now your outside matches your inside."

"That's a nice way to look at it."

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Let's see... Became an attorney, got married, had a son, became a widow..."

"Oh, Sally, I'm so sorry! I remember that now. Your Momma told me a few years back. You're still single?"

"Yep. But I have a date to the reunion tomorrow night, so I guess I'm officially back on the dating circuit now," Sally said giggling.

"Date? Who with?"

"Colin Dean."

Gracie started fanning herself. "Oh, girl, you scored on that one, huh?"

"I did. He's a wonderful guy."

Guest Post: 
Character Creation
There is no way to sugar coat this. Bad characters can absolutely kill a story. If your protagonist is unlikable then it becomes very hard to make the audience cheer them on or hope for a positive outcome for them. A badly written antagonist can be even worse. Lack of depth in their character can turn them from frightening to cartoonish in seconds.

When creating a character, there are a few things that will let you add depth quickly and easily. One way to do this is to think of the setting of the story and choose characters who are going to be affected in some way by it. If you know you want to write a story about the stock market crash then make sure your character would be affected by it. Don’t let the character be incidental to the plot, make them essential to the plot.

Be sure to give them strong character traits as well. Maybe your protagonist cracks his knuckles all the time. Maybe your antagonist can’t leave the house without floss in her bag. These human quirks are what will make the character resonate with the reader.

There are also character development sheets online that many writers enjoy using. Some of them are very brief, with nothing more than the character’s name, age, and physical description. These aren’t bad, and they work well for some people. Other sheets include those questions and then everything from the characters temperament to their favorite songs and snacks. It’s a good idea to play around with several different sheets to see which type gives you the maximum amount of knowledge of your character.

Review: 

This is the fourth book in the Mill Creek Crossing series by Angelina Rose, but it was the first book I read by the author.  Honestly, I didn't feel that I was missing anything at all by not reading the other books.  I don't even know if they are full length novels or novellas, like this one.  I can tell you that I would read this author again.

The story starts with Sally Overton sitting at her desk in her Atlanta office, staring out the window contemplating her job as an attorney and how different is actually is than what she dreamed it would be as a young girl.  Her best friend Taryn comes in to pass along some information concerning a case and through the conversation with her and some minor backstory we find out that she has been widowed for four years and has a seven year old son who is spending the summer with his paternal grandparents. As she is wrapping up her work to head home, Sally gets an email reminding her about her 15 year high school reunion in Mill Creek Crossing.  Sally had a bad time in high school, but her one bright memory is of Colin Dean, the boy who's smile was almost literally her salvation.  She decides to go, grabbing the opportunity to see him again.

Back in Mill Creek Crossing, Colin Dean is standing in his new home, fresh divorce papers in hand, trying to figure out where exactly it all went wrong between him and his wife of 10 years. Not only did he lose his wife, but his best friend when he caught them in bed together.  When he gets the email notification of the impending reunion, he knows that he has to go, otherwise his ex-wife and former best friend will feel like they have won.  Now he just has to find a date, so no one feels sorry for him going alone.

When all is said and done, this is the story about two people re-discovering each other and letting go of the past.  Trust issues and self confidence play a large part in the story.  The courtship is whirlwind, but the foundation was there, just waiting for the right time.  I thought this was a cute, quick read.  At around 70 pages on my reader, it didn't take long to finish.  One of the problems that can sometimes occur with a novella is that the story feels rushed or that pieces are missing.  I didn't find this to be the case for this story. It was a complete, if short story and was an enjoyable 3 stars on Goodreads.



Giveaway: 

One commenter will receive a $50 Amazon or BN.com gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour Info: 
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the Book Tour:

July 29:
Tory Richards
Victoria's Book Obsession

July 30:
Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
Caribbean Accent Book Reviews

July 31:
Reading In Twilight

August 1:
JM Stewart, Contemporary Romance Author
Dawn's Reading Nook Blog

August 2:
Sexy Adventures, Passionate Tales
#BookNerd

August 5:
Nana Prah's Blog
Smoldering Romance

August 6:
Whit's Book World
Book 'Em North Carolina

August 7:
Deal Sharing Aunt

August 8:
Margay Leah Justice

August 9:
Happily Ever After
Crazy Four Books

August 12:
Triad Literary Works
Jessica E. Subject, author

August 13:
Flirting With Romance
Chris Redding Author

August 14:
Nickie's Views and Interviews
The Snarkology of a Romance Author

August 15:
Books and Other Spells
Romance on a Budget

August 16:
My Devotional Thoughts

August 19:
Sharing Links and Wisdom

August 20:
Rachel Brimble Romance

August 21:
fuonlyknew

August 22:
Read Your Writes Book Reviews

August 23:
Beyond My Writing Space
Desiree Holt

August 26:
For the Love of Bookends

August 27:
Rookie Romance

August 28:
Welcome to My World of Dreams

August 29:
Wake Up Your Wild Side

August 30:
It's Raining Books
Author Raine Delight's Blog

September 2:
Novel Moments

September 3:
Author Jinni James

September 4:
Hope Dreams. Life... Love

September 5:
Straight from the Library

September 6:
Erzabet's Enchantments
Queen of the Night Reviews

September 9:
Rose and Beps Blog

September 10:
Musings and Ramblings

September 11:
Who's Reviews

September 12:
Sugarbeat's Books

September 13:
Wicked Readings by Tawania

September 16:
Room With Books

September 17:
Susana's Parlour

September 18:
Jersey Girl Book Reviews

September 19:
We Love Kink

September 20:
The Muse Unleashed

Author Bio:

Angelina Rose has wanted to write ever since she could hold a pencil. The first daughter of immigrant parents, Angelina had her head buried in books, lost in a world of heroes, heroines and exotic places.

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Angelina's author career.

"I awoke in the ICU... I had been unconscious for several days," Angelina says.

In 2010, Angelina had a long stint in hospital following her involvement in a motor vehicle accident: the longest time off work (as a Registered Nurse), she'd ever had in her life!

It was then she took up pen and paper and started to write again, just as she had done when she was a child. She wrote four short fiction stories for young adults, entered them in several competitions, and managed to win three first prizes!

After happily dipping her toes into writing those short fiction stories for young adults, Angelina has now authored four books in a new "Mill Creek Crossing Romance" series... contemporary romance intended for adults.

The "Starting Over Series" is another contemporary romance series she wrote about a subject she knows well... nurses and their love life. At a recent reunion of her graduating class, she could not help but notice how the same girls would group together and laugh, chat, and even shed some tears over their lives since graduating. Many of the girls had divorced... so Angelina thought "what if a group of the nurses came up with a plan to meet in two years and have a new love story to share?" Then the first story in the series was born.

There is always a story running around in her head. A man with thick dark hair, gray-blue eyes, with an engaging smile and a quick wit... or a girl crying over a broken relationship. She finds herself talking to these characters during her day: when she's doing dishes, or bathing babies at the hospital. These characters crop up on days at the beach or on walks through the neighborhood. This is how the stories start to grow.

Angelina's mother was an author, so Angelina grew up with a love of words and stories. If she wasn't writing a short story about something that took her fancy, her head was buried in books... reading, reading, reading, as her brother constantly told her...

When she's not spending time with her goodlooking man, or quality time with her laptop, she's working at the hospital, hanging out with her family and friends, or walking her two dogs around the neighborhood. Angelina spends as much time as she can traveling, then coming home and including some of those adventures in her stories.

Angelina really loves to hear from her readers and she invites you to connect with her on Facebook as she interacts daily with her readers there!

To connect with the author online:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads