Interview & Giveaway: Love Lost & Found by Michele de Winton

Love Lost and Found

Love Lost & Found
Love on Deck, Book 2
Michele de Winton

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Entangled Press

Date of Publication: September 9, 2013

Number of pages: 132

Cover Artist: Libby Murphy

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN     Sony     Kobo     ARe

Felicity Williams can't remember the last five years thanks to an accident that wiped out her memory. She fled her old life in hopes of starting fresh and found refuge working on a cruise ship. But her past is coming for her…

Rick McCarthy wakes after a climbing accident to discover that his business partner and fiancée has quit her job and disappeared. He’s trying to accept that she’s run out on him, but now he needs her signature to close a deal that could literally be life or death. He’ll go to any extreme to get what he needs…even if that means becoming someone else to win her back.

But a little lie becomes a large mess when they’re stranded on a deserted island together, and old misunderstandings might ruin their chance at new love…

Excerpt: 

Their walk took them high up into the dark cliffs, and Felicity had to bite her tongue plenty to stop from complaining. Richard kept up a punishing pace, and that combined with the humidity meant she could feel her hair frizzing with each and every sweaty step. As they started to descend, Richard finally showed signs of slowing and followed a trickle of water off the path to a shallow pool.

“Thank the Lord. Melting was not how I planned to die. Time for lunch before these lobsters we’re hauling around decide to crawl back into the ocean and I decide to join them.”

“Fine. I wouldn’t want you escaping again.”

Again? Weird thing to say. Felicity shrugged off Richard’s response and sat on a rock, fanning herself with her hat.

“I do believe you might expire if you don’t get in that water. Best we undress for luncheon don’t you think?” Without waiting for her reply, he dumped his small bag, stripped off his jacket and shirt, and peeled down his trousers to reveal turquoise board shorts and an array of ink Felicity would never have guessed at. He stepped into the pool and splashed the water up over his chest, making his tattoos sparkle and his muscles gleam. Oh God. If there was ever a need for a new Caped Crusader, Richard McCashin’s chest could take on Christian Bale’s any day. His tattooed torso was hairless with perfect pecs, not too buff so they looked like man-boobs, but firm and smooth and…Must. Not. Look. At. Passenger. Muscles. Say something to distract yourself. “Wouldn’t have picked you for the coloring-in kind.”

He rubbed his hand over his chest.

Duh. Now you’ll be rude if you don’t look. But it was reassuring in a way: if she did know him, surely she’d remember something as beautiful as that.

“Don’t you like them?”

“I didn’t say that. Just…”

“Just what?” There it was again. The way he looked at her, with his eyes hard, piercing, as if he was looking through her and searching for something only he knew was there. She wrapped her arms around her despite the heat of the day.

“Just nothing. What are they? Equations or something? You a scientist?”

“You could say that. Anyway, shall we eat?”

Not so great when someone’s asking you the questions, is it? She let it slide but filed the avoidance of his tattoo story for future ammunition, should she need it.

They made short work of the lobster, local flatbread, and mango they’d bought on the beach, washing it down with the bottle of water Felicity had brought from the ship. She looked at her watch. “Heck, it’s almost three-thirty.”

“No wonder I was hungry.”

She shrugged off his comment. “We need to get back. Sharpish.”

The shock registered on his face when he realized what she meant. “Right.”

He jumped out of the pool but misjudged his step, tumbling to the ground via a large pile of unfriendly looking rocks.

“Richard?”

Nothing. Just a blank look of pain on his face as he lay sprawled on his back.

“Oh, no. Richard? Richard, are you okay? Hey, dude. Dying on my watch is not okay.”

Nothing. He didn’t move, but his mouth was open, and he seemed unable to breathe.

The sound of water trickling and the faint hiss of waves on the distant beach was all Felicity could hear. Something was wrong with Richard McCashin, and help was a long, long way away.

Interview: 

Today, we welcome Michele de Winton to Musings and Ramblings. Let's all give her a big Geeky welcome!

Thanks so much for having me – and as someone married to a chemist, I’m stoked to be in good geek company!

I have some questions for you that are writer specific as well as some fun stuff so that we can really get to know the real you. *grin* Plus we will finish things off with round of Think Fast. Ready to begin?

Bring it on!

Writing Specific
1. Tell us something about yourself that's not in your bio.

I’m terrible at filing. Really. We have two filing cabinets and DH has to be in charge otherwise we’d never find anything ever again. Ever! My inbox is also a corresponding mess. But hey, it kinda works for me…

2. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Read, yoga, play play dough with Mr Two, cook, walk at the beach, eat chocolate (although I can do that while I’m writing too, I’m that good mwahahaha).

3. How did you choose the genres you write in?

With the literary work (which I write under a different name) it feels like that chose me (sorry sorry, that sounds barf worthy but it’s true). It’s the characters that dictate how the story comes together. With romance, I’d always wanted to write category, partly because it was what I grew up with and partly because I love the challenge of bringing together two people and their whole worlds in a relatively short space of time but with real fulfillment and a proper sense of closure.

4. Is there any particular author or book that has influenced you or your writing?

I love Sarah Mayberry and Nalini Singh. I have written a short paranormal novella, and would like to get back to that again, but at the moment I’m totally full up with all the other stuff.

5. What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

I’m part of a writing group who have known each other for years – because of that we’ve built up a pretty good level of trust and can be quite straight up – I know for some people who have visited, they’ve found it too full on. One of the group has a tendency to REALLY say what she means – she once wrote in the margin of my book – FU – meaning that that part was both F*&jked and F*&jked Up. Ha! The best compliment came from a reviewer who compared me to Michael Cunningham!

Fun Stuff
6. If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, fictional or real, who would it be and why?

I think I’d quite like to meet Helen Mirren, I think she’s got quite a mouth on her. Maybe Dame Judy Dench (apparently she cross stitches swear words into pillows while on set, so cool), Cleopatra could be kinda intriguing, and cos he might be able to share some good vegetarian recipes as well as, you know, theories on world peace, Gandhi.

7. You are going to be stranded on a deserted island and bring 3 luxury items. What would they be?

A coco bean so I could grow my own coco to make chocolate (forward thinking see), sunscreen, and a cocktail cabana boy with an unlimited supply of ingredients in his magic bar fridge (you did say they were luxury items right?) 

8. Pick two celebrities to be your parents. Who are they and why?

Oooo, hard. I’d choose Margaret Atwood for her mad crazy take on the world (and maybe I’d get to have her cool crazy-curl hair too) and how about Samuel L Jackson so he could read bedtime stories with THAT voice…

9. What would we find in your refrigerator right now?

Falafels, Haloumi cheese, Yogurt, Chocolate soy-milk, two different types of dark chocolate, apples, broccoli, lettuce, home-made jam, mayo, milk…ummm I’m getting hungry, I have to stop.

10. If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

Man, you don’t make things easy do you? Ummmm, how about Reading while falling

Think Fast
Summer or Winter? Summer
Coffee or Tea? Tea
Cake or Pie? Cake
Car or Truck? Truck
Print or Electronic? Print (and not just books)

Thanks for coming by and spending some time with us. Any final words of wisdom to pass along?

I’m often asked for writing advice but this could go for anything you are passionate about really – cooking, inventing, painting, knitting. You can just substitute create for write if you like. But cos I’m a writer – I relate it to writing. So I say create for yourself first, everyone else next – If you want to keep up this writing business you’ve gotta enjoy it. The moral of my story is that you don’t know where inspiration will spring from, or from what meager beginnings your writing star will start shining. But you can keep pushing a passionate pen. You can float your dreams out on paper and let your characters dance with them. You can let the color of some dark forest haunt your words or the light of morning warm them. And even if you don’t want anyone else to see them, those words will be all yours. Full of poise and personality and passion, you will have created something that no one else has. And you will have made the world just a tiny bit better because of it. Isn’t that fantastic.

Giveaway: 

Michele is giving a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

So follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

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

September 20:
Welcome to My World of Dreams

September 27:
Long and Short Reviews

October 4:
It's Raining Books

October 11:
Queen of the Night Reviews
Bookgirl Knitting

October 18:
Musings and Ramblings

October 25:
All I Want and More

November 1:
JM Stewart
#BookNerd

November 8:
Sharing Links and Wisdom
Welcome to My World of Dreams

Author Bio:

Michele was born in the mid 1970’s amid a burgeoning sprawl of vineyards and new retirement homes. With two teachers as parents, her love of reading and books was cemented at an early age. Being a writer however, was not was she was supposed to do when she ‘grew up’. Despite training in law (or perhaps because of it) she has been a dancer, producer, writer, and all round arty type in various countries for most of her life.

Moving into writing full time in 2010 was like being a part of a contemporary romance – perfect! Creating new worlds for her characters, or rather letting those same characters show her their worlds is now a highlight of Michele’s daily life. And falling in love over and over as each hero and heroine allow their true feelings to surface is something very special. What a treat to do it every day! Now back home in New Zealand after travelling extensively, Michele writes from an office where the sound of the tapping keyboard is only rivalled by the whisper of wind in the trees.

To connect with the author online:

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