Get Lost in Falcon Football with Laura Trentham

I'm welcoming another Golden Heart finalist to GLIAS today!  Meet Laura Tretham.  We were 2014 Golden Heart finalists together--the Dreamweaver class.  I'm thrilled to introduce her to the crew so you all can read her addicting series of Falcon Football coaches.  (They are wonderful heroes and need great heroines to match them.)

MEET LAURA TRENTHAM

I was born and raised in a small town in Northwest Tennessee. Although, I loved English and reading in high school, I was convinced an English degree equated to starvation! So, I chose the next most logical major - Chemical Engineering- and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years. Now I live in South Carolina with my husband and two children. In between school and homework and soccer practices, I love to get lost in another world, whether it's Regency England or small town Alabama.

Let's talk about your latest release--MELTING INTO YOU - Book 3 in the Falcon Football Series

THE STORY BLURB

Alec Grayson returns home to Falcon, Alabama, to rebuild his life after a knee injury ended his NFL career. As the Falcon high school quarterback coach, Alec's love for the game is reignited. Meanwhile, he puts his hard-partying past and the betrayal of the people he trusted most behind him, and adopts a hard demeanor. That is, until a spitfire artist with soulful eyes and a body that haunts his dreams gets under his skin and threatens to crack his armor.

Lilliana Hancock is forced to leave her struggling-artist lifestyle in New York and return to Falcon after her father's unexpected death leaves her a decrepit family mansion. Determined to use her skills to turn the home into a successful bed and breakfast, Lilliana is stopped at every turn by the town contractor, who happens to be Alec, the gorgeous and arrogant jock to whom she lost her virginity in college. Except Alec doesn't remember, which infuriates her. Too bad she can't forget the way his body felt against hers or how his heated gaze follows her...

Will they be able to put their pasts behind them for a future together?

NAN:  Laura--I loved the book!  Congratulations on another winner!

EXCERPT

“Everything in here checks out electrically. But your balcony is a hazard. Get it fixed, and for God’s sake don’t take one step onto it until you do. Next, I want to see the bathroom that caused so much fuss last year.” Alec’s voice was back to its short, brisk usualness.

The moment Lilliana had been dreading. Without offering an excuse, she led him to the Pepto-Bismol bathroom. She propped a shoulder against the doorjamb instead of following him into the tight space.

The handheld machine he used let out a series of beeps as he checked the outlet. He grunted and dropped to his knees to check under the cabinet. Even from the doorway, Lilliana could see the tangle of wires that Carl hadn’t known what to do with.

Pulling out a flashlight and crunching his shoulders into the tight space, he muttered, “Good Lord.”

Having your inspector utter calls to the Almighty didn’t bode well. After a couple of minutes of grunting, he clicked off the flashlight and reversed his shimmy. Would she need to tear the wall out? Rewire the entire upstairs? She waited for the crushing blow to her plans.

“Dammit!” He jerked as he ducked his head out from under the cabinet. Crouching on the nauseating pink tiles, he fingered a tear in his shirt. Blood oozed, but she couldn’t tell how long or deep the scratch was.

“Goodness, how bad is it?” Falling to her knees, she tugged his shirt out of his pants, lifting it to reveal his wound. She traced smooth, firm skin alongside a long, shallow scratch. Her voice creaked a little. “It’s not bad. Let me dab on some ointment, and I can stitch the tear in your shirt. It’ll only take a minute.”

She went to work on his shirt buttons from the bottom, her breathing pacing faster to match the beat of her heart.

“Stop. I’m fine. I have other shirts.” His words sounded rushed, panicked.

He grabbed at both her wrists, but the movement only flipped his shirt apart, exposing the bottom half of his chest. Something dark edged from the checked cotton. He froze, his hands loosening. She finished working his buttons open and spread the shirt to expose his entire chest.

“Oh. My. God.” Her words compressed out of lungs that held no air.

She wasn’t in shock from the defined muscles of his chest. That she’d expected. It wasn’t even the sexy dusting of hair trailing into the waistband of his pants. What hypnotized and held her rapt was the enormous tattoo that covered one side of his torso.

The vibe was difficult to nail down. Tribal with some Picasso cubism thrown in. Script played peekaboo along his side, obscured by the shirt hanging on the curve of his shoulders. What words would a man like him pick to inscribe on his body? One thing was certain—his tattoo was a work of art. Now she was less interested in his warm, man-scented skin than what was drawn on it. Impatiently, she pushed his shirt off his shoulders to hang at his elbows.

The tattoo extended to his shoulder and over his upper arm, stopping at mid-biceps like a permanent sleeve. In all the football practices she’d attended, he’d never revealed his ink. Unlike the boys or other coaches, he wore long-sleeved workout gear and used a towel tucked into his shorts to wipe away sweat, but she’d chalked his habits up to being a quarterback and needing a protected throwing arm and dry hands.

Never in a million years would she have guessed what preppy, uptight Alec Grayson had up his sleeve. Literally.

“It’s old. From when I was young and stupid. Most of my teammates in Philly had tats and I thought I was the sh—” He muttered to cover the curse word and ran a hand through the top of his hair, mussing the regimented style. “I’m planning to get it lasered off.”

“Don’t you dare!”

Clarity struck like a shot of adrenaline to her heart. He was ashamed or at least embarrassed by the tattoo. With trembling fingertips, she skimmed the outer line of a dark black swirl of ink tracing the muscle of his pectoral. At first contact, the muscle jumped, and he flinched away as if in physical pain.

“Don’t you dare,” she repeated in a whisper leaning in to follow the line with her lips.

NAN:  Liliana's fascination with Alec's tattoo was wonderful!

Click here to BUY THE BOOK

A LIGHTING ROUND OF Q&A WITH LAURA TRENTHAM

NAN: How often to you get lost in a story?

LAURA: Like most writers, I *love* to read. Before I started writing, I went through a reading binge where I was inhaling more than a book a day. After a couple of months (and when my husband threatened to find me a Readers Anonymous group--jokingly, I think?), I decided to write my own stories down. Writing became my new obsession. I wish I had more time to get lost in someone else’s story these days. My TBR pile might crush me before I get off deadline!

Nan:  I know what you mean about the TBR pile!

NAN: What’s the first book you remember reading?

LAURA: Go, Dog, Go?  Actually, the book that made the biggest impression on me was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. I’ve re-read it countless times since second grade when I first picked it up. And, the theme at the heart of the book is love. Now that my son is in middle school, I’m often reading middle grade books so we can talk about them together.

Nan: Ahh, A Wrinkle in Time.  I need to re-read that book.

NAN: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

LAURA: Beauty and the Beast. I’m a sucker for a good twist on that tale. In fact, my next Regency historical has tones of Beauty and the Beast. I love scarred, reclusive heroes.

Nan:  I can't wait to read it.

 

NAN: Do you write while listening to music? If so what kind?

LAURA: I actually prefer complete silence while I’m writing. In fact, I’m high-maintenance and prefer to be alone in the house while I’m working. Even the dog can be distracting!

That being said, music is a *huge* inspiration for me, and I have playlists for my series in Spotify. For the Falcon Football series, it’s mostly country music. Not only does the tone fit the books, but the best country music tells a story with its lyrics. I’ll cue up my playlist while I’m doing the school runs or soccer practice carpools and can do some great plotting even with eleven year old boys in the car!

Here’s my Falcon Football playlist:

https://player.spotify.com/user/trenthamlaura/playlist/5MtCBJGl9zbDOw6N57WcZY

Nan:  Nice!

NAN: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

LAURA: I start the next one. I have too many ideas and not enough time to write them! Plus, I really enjoy writing beginnings. For me, that’s the part of the book that is the most fun and pours out of me. But, I also give myself evenings to binge watch shows once a couple of seasons are complete.

NAN: What’s the last show you binge watched?

LAURA: Orphan Black on BBC America. I can’t say enough great things about this show! Suspenseful, exciting, funny, fascinating, amazing writing and acting…So, so good. I’ve never seen Supernatural, but so many people rave about it, I feel like it’s going to be next.

NAN: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

LAURA: When I’ve had a tough writing day or a rough day with the kids, I unwind by drinking a glass of wine and watching Ellen. Not only do I think she’s super amusing, but she highlights regular people who are out in the world fighting the good fight and rewards them for being kind. With uncertainty all around us, she brings positivity and a smile to my face!

Nan:  Make my glass a Prosecco!

NAN: GOTTA ASK:  Benedict Cumberbatch or Chris Pine? 

LAURA: GOTTA ANSWER:   My lady parts pick Chris Pine. BUT, I love Benedict Cumberbatch. I’m a huge fan of his Sherlock Holmes on PBS. So, to sit down and hang out with long term? Gotta pick the Batch.

Nan: I'm with your lady parts!

UP NEXT FOR LAURA

I’m switching gears from present day Alabama to England during the Napoleonic Wars…up next for me is a very steamy Regency historical, A BRAZEN BARGAIN Book 2 in the Spies and Lovers Series. It hits the shelves January 26^th, 2016. This was a Golden Heart finaling book in 2014 and how I met the lovely Nan Dixon. We’re Golden Heart sisters!

After that, I’m returning to small town Southern life with a new series set in a town that straddles the Louisiana/Mississippi state line. Get ready for a hot, steamy, Southern summer. The Cottonbloom Novels release May, June, July 2016.

NAN:  So glad we are Dreamweavers together!  Both of these series sound wonderful!  

Thanks for joining the crew today, Laura!

FIND LAURA TRENTHAM:

Contact: Laura@LauraTrentham.com 

Website: http://www.lauratrentham.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraTrentham 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraTrentham

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9802779.Laura_Trentham

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lauratrentham/

Blogs: http://www.lauratrentham.com/blog

http://www.badgirlzwrite.com/

LAURA TRENTHAM WANTS TO KNOW:    

Since I currently write across two genres, contemporary and historical romance (and I have ideas for a paranormal romance and a literary novel—someone come stop me!), I want to know what genre(s) are your favorite and why?

LAURA TRENTHAM is giving away an ebook copy of SLOW AND STEADY RUSH to one commenter.

NAN:  I loved theNa