Blog Tour: Last Call - Jennifer Schmidt, Guest Blog, Review and GIVEAWAY!

A special treat for you today!!  Author Jennifer Schmidt is here to talk about how she is among the most unromantic  Romance Authors around!  

You know the saying ‘write what you know’? Well, that’s good advice…if you actually know something interesting. Me? I know how to type 82 words a minute, how to change a diaper without completely undressing a child, I’ve learned to become a fairly good cook since having babies and I also know how to make the biggest mistakes known to man – or woman in this case. Needless to say I live a fairly boring, ordinary life, definitely not book worthy. Although some of the other things I do know I wouldn’t want everyone to know I know so writing about that wasn’t an option either. So writing what I know wasn’t going to cut it.

But it turns out I can write what I don’t know. 

I’m talking romance. I am the most anti-romantic person ever. I hate Valentine’s Day. Hate it. Really, what is the point of it besides making single women everywhere dive head first into the nearest tub of ice cream? Yes, we know you’re in love, so am I. The difference is you won’t see me pawing him in the most inappropriate place. FYI, dry humping in front of my son’s elementary school would be one of those places.

PDA’s. Nope, not a fan of those either. I love you. You love me. Must we constantly declare it to the world?

Big weddings. Or weddings in general for the most part. Maybe I’m not only missing the “bride” gene but also the girly gene. A wedding will not make my bucket list. I prefer to live in sin. If I did do it though there would be none of that big, white dress type of thing. Jeans and t-shirts? Hell, yeah. Even better? My Scooby Doo lounge pants. Oh, yeah. Now that I could get behind. 

Flowers? Keep ‘em. They remind me of funerals. Although you can pass the chocolate any time you want.

Affection makes me nervous. Attention makes me nauseous.  Do you see where I’m going with this? I would be the least likely person ever to write a romance, let alone be good at it. But it turns out I’m not half bad. So how does someone who is so non-romantic write romance?

I have no idea! Surprisingly enough it comes naturally to me. As natural as the eye rolling I tend to do while writing it. I guess I can credit all my girl friends who are complete opposite of me. They are the ones who believe in fairy tale romances and happily-ever-afters, the ones who have seemed to have found those things with their husbands – for now at least. (Sorry, girls, couldn’t help but throw that one in there!) The thing is, just because I don’t like what most women do that doesn’t mean I don’t know about it. And let’s face it, romance sells. Whether it’s a human, blood lust vamps or some other kind of supernatural creature, as long someone is falling in love you’re going to hear the collective sighs of readers all over the world. 

Besides the sighs, I think the biggest compliment that an author can receive is a reader saying you made them cry. Yes, I like making people cry. And I don’t mean that in a ha-I-hurt-your-feelings-and-now-I’ll-laugh-at-your-misfortune type of way. I’m not evil! (All the ex’s who just opened their mouths can now shut them and keep their comments to themselves.) I like the emotion behind making a reader cry. Whether it’s out of frustration, anger, sorrow or love if there’s tears then I’m all smiles. 

And here’s a little secret: I like being one of the authors who make readers sigh and their hearts melt, too. I guess there’s a little girl in me after all.

Contact info:

Blog: www.jleeschmidt.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jennifer-Schmidt/181909148531269

Twitter:  @jleeschmidt

SYNOPSIS: 

While on vacation, a night out turns into a drunken haze, and Novalee Jensen wakes up hung over, confused, and… married? Fleeing Nevada, Novalee returns home to Montana to hide out, dreading the moment when her husband will show up to take her hard-earned business. But two years later just when Novalee thinks her secret is safe, guess who walks through her door? Now, face-to-face with the man she left in a hotel room two years ago, Novalee discovers the difficult part isn't having to explain her actions that night, or the questions that arise about the sexy stranger's arrival, it's keeping her hands off her husband. And what's Novalee to do when the hardest part turns out not to be confronting her past, but facing a possible future without her soon-to-be ex-husband?
Multi-millionaire Dean Philips wakes up in a Las Vegas hotel room to find the pretty blonde he married the night before gone. The piece of paper he possesses proves she served her purpose, and guilt ridden over his actions, Dean begins a battle with his father for a fight for his grandfather’s fortune. When Dean is ordered to have his wife appear in court, he finds himself in a small town in Montana, looking for the woman who ran off two years ago. Caught up in secrets and lies of his own, he has to find a way to persuade her to come back to Vegas with him without having her find out that she's the missing puzzle piece to everything he's been fighting for. But when Dean decides to mix a little pleasure with business, he suddenly finds himself in unfamiliar territory that could cost him everything.
Source: The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House

MY REVIEW:

Last Call is chalk full of sex talk, innuendos and playful banter; it’s a lusty novel from beginning to end. On the whole the story was rather predictable, however it did not make it any less entertaining to read. I enjoyed the storyline, a spontaneous Vegas wedding for strangers who both have pain and causality in their lives, as well as successful careers. The two meet, are attractive and inevitably fall in love. (Of course, there is a lot more to it than that…) Really, the details of the story were written extremely well. I was able to invest interest into both Novalee and Dean’s lives, and found both of their stories rather believable.

Novalee comes off as innocent outwardly, yet she’s almost aggressive in her inward thoughts. She has a nice quiet, if not a bit boring life prior to Dean showing up. Dean has determination, first to keep everything he has from his father, but later to do what it takes to win Novalee’s heart. I enjoyed the relationship between Novalee and Dean, fiery and hot. I was not really fond of Calli’s character however; I found her too brass and a bit trampy. Thankfully, she did a bit of redemption for her character later in the story.

While I love romance novels, I’m really not so much into how casual and blasé the sex and sex talk was in this particular novel. It’s just not who I am, or what I like to read – so I can’t say that this is one of my favorite books ever, but I’m sure that there are many people who do and enjoy it, and who this book would be perfect for.

GIVEAWAY!!  Now here's your chance to win your own ebook copy of Last Call.  The publisher has granted me permission to give away 2 (YES TWO!) copies of this book.  This is open internationally.  Due to the content of this book - I request all participants be 18 and over!