WHO’S HOLDING THE BABY
DLI Publishing
Never
tell the truth when a lie will do!
Grace
Barnes, frumpy, engaged assistant to businessman, Luc Salvatore, is neither
frumpy, nor engaged—just pretending in order to hold her sexy boss at a safe
distance. Not that it works, especially when he’s given temporary custody
of his brother’s baby surprise and insists Grace pretend to be engaged—to him.
The
lies pile up fast and furious when the police become involved, followed by
Child Protective Services, not to mention a slew of nosy Salvatores and even
nosier neighbors. Pull out your score cards to keep it all
straight: They're boss and assistant at work, engaged for the police,
married for CPS, and just good friends in front of Luc's irrepressible
brothers.
Bad
goes to worse, when Luc's father shows up and assumes the baby is Grace and
Luc's. Maybe they could have skated on that one if Grace's father hadn't
also interrupted at a key moment. Did I mention Grace's father is a
minister? No? Well, now Luc insists they marry for real. And
Grace would...if only Luc loved her. There's only way to convince her,
and that’s to say the three little words he's never before uttered.
READ
A LITTLE, want the whole thing
DAY LECLAIRE is a USA Today bestselling
author and a three-time winner of both The Colorado Award of Excellence and The
Golden Quill Award. She’s won Romantic Times Magazine’s Career
Achievement, and Love and Laughter’s awards, the Holt Medallion, the
Bestseller’s Best Award, and has received an impressive eleven nominations for
the romance industry’s most prestigious award, Romance Writers of America RITA©
Award. Day ended her twenty-four year run with Harlequin with the release of her 60th book and is now self-publishing romances which continue to touch the heart and make you care about her characters as much as she does. In Day’s own words, “I adore writing romances, and can’t think of a better way to spend each day.” Day’s now totally focused on her self-publishing career and hopes to convert the entire reading world to digital.
ALL ABOUT DAY
DAY: Reading or writing? Reading, all the time, anywhere, any
circumstance. Writing can be slightly
more problematic because some days the words don’t come—or maybe it’s better to
say they don’t come immediately. On
those days, I simply keep plugging away until I disappear into the story. Sometimes it takes hours to get to that state
of involvement. Other times it’s pretty
quick. I live for the quick times!
ANGI: What’s the first book you remember reading?
DAY: To be honest, I can’t remember a time I couldn’t
read. However, I remember the time I
made the transition from picture books to full-fledged, no-picture books. It was second grade and the teacher had read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
aloud to the class. I was utterly hooked
and immediately afterward borrowed it from the library. I read that book over and over and over. I didn’t understand all the concepts, but I
was determined to. I still read that
book today and it was one I bribed my son to read, lol. I agreed to read one of his books—one of the
Doom series, heaven help me—if he’d read AWIT.
He ended up as hooked as I was.
ANGI: What’s your favorite fairy tale?
DAY: I guess it would be Cinderella—though there are so
many I truly love. I fell in love with
Grimm fairy tales at a very young age. I
still love them, though Disney has certainly whitewashed them, lol!
ANGI: What do you like about the hero of your book?
DAY: In Who’s
Holding the Baby, I love how he’s a take-charge type guy who will do
anything to protect his family. I guess
that’s a common theme in all my books.
My heroes are all strong, alpha males who are in charge of their
universe…right up until the heroine stumbles in and turns everything upside
down. But they all have similar
qualities. Family is vital to them. Once they fall in love, it’s forever. And though they might choke on the word
“compromise,” in the end their love for the heroine and desire to give her room
to be herself overcomes any lingering Tarzan instincts. I think one of the most common elements in
all of my books (in addition to the desire to find the “perfect” soul mate) are
trust themes, and oftentimes a feeling of not quite belonging or being out of
step with the rest of the world. Haven’t
we all experienced that at some point?
ANGI: Where do you read and how often?
DAY: I read everywhere.
My favorite is in the tub—it’s huge—and I light candles around the tile
surround. I read at night in bed. I curl up on the couch and read. I read in the car, the doctor’s office, at
the beach, on my deck. Anywhere, any
time. These days I always read
digital. I can’t recall the last time I
picked up a print book. I switched when
I went to a family reunion 2 years ago and lugged a dozen (hardback) books with
me and then lugged them home again—all read, of course. I said, “That is IT!” And then I bought a Kindle. The day after I tried it out, I bought my
mother one and she’s never been happier, mainly because it’s so light, which
helps her arthritis, and the font can be changed, which helps her aging eyes. I worried that it would be a difficult
transition for her, but she loved it!
Now we have a joint account and share all of our favorite books and
authors. Oh, right. You also asked how often. I read every day, usually several times a
day, though mainly in the evening.
ANGI: What sound or noise do you love?
DAY: Nature. I
love the sound of waves crashing against the shore. I can hear them in the distance from my
house. We live in the middle of a maritime
forest, about ¾ of a mile from the ocean and about a mile from the Pamlico
Sound. At night there is this wonderful concerto
of sounds. The deep bass thrumming of
bullfrogs. The higher pitched croak of
tree frogs. A sad little whinny from
screech owls. The echoing hoot of
great-horned owls. Crickets and cicadas
and locust. The rustle of the wind
through the trees. I don’t even mind the
Chuck Will’s Widow—similar to a whippoorwill—so long as it’s not too near the
house since it can be piercing if they come in too close. It all forms this amazing symphony that fills
me with joy. I just love it!
ANGI: Fairy Tale or Action Adventure?
DAY: Oh, definitely both! I think that’s why I love the TV series Once Upon a Time so much. It’s such a brilliant combination of both
genres.
ANGI: What was the first story you remember writing?
DAY: It was a Cinderella western. I was younger than 10 and we were
snowbound. My mother was going crazy
because there were 4 of us determined to drive her ‘round the bend. I’d have been fine if I had anything to read,
but I’d read everything in the house, including the cereal boxes. Finally, she said: “If you can’t find anything to read, then write something.” It was such
a cool idea! So, I did. I was (of course) Cinderella. My sisters were (of course) the evil
stepsisters. I escaped onto a wagon
train and headed west for romance and adventure. I think I still have it stuck in a file
cabinet somewhere. I should try and find
it and post it online, just to give my readers a laugh.
ANGI: What’s your favorite movie of all time?
DAY: With a dog named Yoda, how can it be anything
other than Star Wars?!? Though, to be
honest, I am a huge Star Trek fan. I
often put little bitty references to both series in my books, just as a private
wink to those wonderful movies/TV shows and the incredible characters that
people them.
ANGI: What is your biggest vice?
DAY: Computer games.
I have to confess I love The Sims 3 (soon to be The Sims 4!!). And it really makes me laugh because, for
those unfamiliar with the game, here’s how you play: You create characters. You put them in a world you can tweak to your
own specifications. You have them meet
and interact with other characters in that world. And you have them work, fall in love, marry,
and have children. In other words, when
I’m not writing romance stories, I’m…well…
Making up romance stories in a virtual computer world. How sad is that?!? And even sadder? I’ve recreated a bunch of my Dante characters
and play with them in my game!
ANGI: That is really cool. I'm afraid if I got started...I'd be playing more than writing.
ANGI: Is there a “Blooper” in your story (it may have
been changed before printing)?
DAY: No bloopers in this latest one, thank
goodness. But there was a huge blooper
that a reader caught in one of my Dante series books for Harlequin. In Dante’s
Honor-Bound Husband, I had my heroine, Gianna Dante, unable to drive. She gets kidnapped by her boyfriend who wants
to compromise her so her grandfather will insist they marry and she escapes by
stealing his car, which is a stick-shift.
And because she’s never driven a car before, it’s a really intense,
dramatic scene. I was so pleased with
how it had turned out… Until I received
an email from a reader who explained that Gianna did know how to drive. She
drove in Dante’s Temporary Fiancée. Oops.
Of course, it was far too late to change. The problem is, when you create a series that
rambles across 10 books, you sometimes forget small details like that. I guess that’s why I’ll have Beta readers for
future series—so I have someone who can help me keep track of little details
like that!
ANGI: How is it working with hot guys and sexy women
all day?
DAY: That’s a trick question, right? It’s fabulous! Not only is fun to be with such wonderful
characters, it’s even more fun to create them, shape them, play with them,
tweak them. You’re literally a god
(small “G”!) within the universe you create.
You create the world, you people your world, you direct their lives,
and—most important of all—you give them amazing, wonderful people to love and
with whom they can share a “happily ever after” lifetime. There just is no better job in the world.
ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: What is your favorite thing to
do during a power outage? (Feel free to explain why you may experience more
than most people.)
DAY's GOTTA ANSWER: First, you have to understand that I live on an
island off the North Carolina coast. And
we tend to have a lot of power outages, along with
frequent Nor’easters and hurricanes. So,
we’ve learned to rough it when a storm’s coming. We’ve been without power for as long as a
week, which isn’t even a little fun. And
we’ve been trapped on the island for weeks/months at a time. If the road is knocked out, which it often
is, we’re transported off-island by ferry.
It’s a 2+ hour trip each way, so it’s an all-day event. So, there is the occasional downside to
living in such a beautiful place. Of
course, my favorite thing to do when we’re without power is read, by candlelight
when it’s dark. I snuggle close to my
dog, Yoda, and my husband. Wait. Maybe I should have changed the order of
that, lol. My husband, Yoda… No.
That’s not right. My husband and
Yoda! That’s what I meant! And we both read (my husband and I, not
Yoda!).
FIND DAY:
UP NEXT for DAY:
Once Upon a Jinx
November 1st
Once Upon an Enchantment
December
PREVIOUS RELEASES by DAY:
The Wacky Women Series:
Once Upon a Ghost
Once Upon a Cowboy
Once Upon A Time
DAY'S giving away the
digital book of your choice from her current releases. International readers who can access a Smashword’s
coupon.
Note: COMMENTERS
are encouraged to leave a contact email address to speed the prize notification
process. Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America
addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary
due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking
this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the
author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be
responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not
automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter
publicly posts their email address.
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to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes. Join me Tuesday when I
host me (ha ha, it's my birthday!). And come back tomorrow when Lara hosts Amara
Royce. Don't miss FIRST FRIDAYS with our host Maureen McGowan. ~Angi
DAY WANTS TO KNOW: What types of stories do you get lost in?
