The Inn at Last Chance
Publisher: Hachette
Book Group, Forever Romance
The Story Blurb:
Jenny Carpenter is the unrivaled pie-baking champion of Last
Chance, South Carolina's annual Watermelon Festival and the town's unofficial
spinster. With her dream of marriage and children on hold, she focuses on
another dream, turning the local haunted house into a charming
bed-and-breakfast. But her plans go off course when the home's former owner
shows up on her doorstep on a dark and stormy night . . .Mega-bestselling horror writer Gabriel Raintree is as mysterious and tortured as his heroes. His family's long-deserted mansion is just the inspiration he needs to finish his latest twisted tale, or so he thinks until he learns it's been sold. The new innkeeper proves to be as determined as she is kind, and soon Gabriel finds himself a paying guest in his own home. As Jenny and Gabe bring new passion to the old house, can she convince him to leave the ghosts of his past behind-and make Last Chance their first choice for a future together?
Want to read an excerpt? Check out Hope's website
Meet Hope!
Hope Ramsay was born in New York and grew up on
the North Shore of Long Island, but every summer Momma would pack her off under
the care of Aunt Annie to go visiting with relatives in the midlands of South
Carolina. Her extended family includes its share of colorful aunts and uncles,
as well as cousins by the dozens, who provide the fodder for the characters
you'll find in Last Chance, South Carolina. Hope earned a BA in Political
Science from the University of Buffalo, and has had various jobs working as a
Congressional aide, a lobbyist, a public relations consultant, and a meeting
planner. She's a two-time finalist in the Golden Heart, and is married to a
good ol' Georgia boy who resembles every single one of her heroes. She has two
grown children and a couple of demanding lap cats. She lives in Fairfax,
Virginia where you can often find her on the back deck, picking on her
thirty-five-year-old Martin guitar.
Lara: How often to you get lost in a story?
Hope: I read every weekday morning while I’m walking on the treadmill. I walk for an hour, and it’s not because I
love to exercise. The only thing that
gets me on that machine is knowing that for one hour no one can complain that I
have my nose shoved into a book. (Of
course I read on a Nook while I’m walking, but you get the idea.) When I get lost in a story, and it often
happens, the hour finishes and the machine’s belt stops running and my reaction
is, “No, wait, I’m not at the end of the chapter.” And if the book is really good I’ll go find
the recumbent bike at the gym and keep on reading while I pedal. [Lara: What a great strategy for exercise!]
Lara: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?
Hope: I inform my husband
that we’re going out to dinner and I’m ordering a glass (or two) of wine. Finishing a book is a major
accomplishment. I’m always amazed that
I’m able to do it. And to be honest when
I’m finished with a book’s first draft, I’m so tired of the characters that I
feel like strangling them. Luckily I get
over that feeling when the revisions turn up several weeks later.
Lara: What do you do to unwind and relax?
Hope: I knit. This explains why my last book was all about
a yarn shop. Knitting is an
addiction. If you’ve ever met a knitter
you will understand this. And it doesn’t
take much for me to find an excuse to go “yarn crawling,” which is sort of like
pub crawling only you drive from yarn shop to yarn shop. Every May I make a pilgrimage to the Maryland
Sheep and Wool Festival along with other addicted knitters. I make sure to carry cash and not my credit
card, because that way I won’t spend too much on yarn I don’t have room for
because my yarn stash has already outgrown its storage space.
Lara: Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?
Hope: I’m ambidextrous on this topic.
Coffee in the morning. Tea at
night. Sugar and milk in the
coffee. Just a little bit of sugar in
the tea. (And it had better be Earl
Grey.)
Lara: What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
Hope: You’re kidding, right? I have to
choose one kind of story? Not
possible. I read everything. Stories that sweep me away always have
fabulous characters facing impossible odds and are set in worlds that feel
real. But it doesn’t matter if they are
romances, fantasies, science fiction, thrillers, mysteries or any other kind of
fiction.
Lara: What are the next five books on your ‘to be read’ pile?
Hope: I’m currently
re-reading the Sevenwaters series by Juliette Marrilier. These stories, which are set in Ireland at
the time of the Vikings, are on my keeper shelf. I love this author because she sweeps me away
to an incredibly rich world with three-dimensional characters who are flawed
but nevertheless heroic. I have to
re-read these stories every few years because I love them so much. And there are more than five in the
series. I’m currently on book three with
a long way to go (he, he, he).
Lara: Which of your characters would you most/least to invite to dinner, and
why?
Hope: Tulane Rhodes would be my hands-down choice of dinner guest, for a
couple of reasons. First of all the guy
is just funny as hell and I’m sure he’d have me in stitches for most of the
evening. And second, he’s a NASCAR
driver and one of my fantasies is to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr. face-to-face. (And, yeah, I was sort of thinking of Dale
when I was writing Tulane’s story.)
Lara: Can you tell us about a real-life hero you’ve met?
Hope: I’d have to say that my Aunt Annie is my real-life hero. (I know you were expecting me to choose some
hunky guy, right? So sorry to
disappoint.) Annie served in the Army
during World War II as a nurse. She was
stationed in England and helped to care for the American Air Corps members who
were hurt flying bombing missions over Europe.
After the war she returned to her nursing job at St. Luke’s hospital in
New York City where she worked her entire life taking care of people. She had a no-nonsense bed-side manner, and
when I was sick I much preferred to be nursed by Aunt Annie over my mom. Annie also took me traveling to South
Carolina to visit family. Those visits
with Aunt Annie became the memories that fueled the Last Chance series. She gave of herself and served her
country. She was a role model for
me. She taught me how to sew a straight
seam, make turkey gravy, and the names of countless plants in the garden. I miss her every day. [Lara: she sounds like an amazing woman!]
Lara’s GOTTA ASK: What is something
that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?
Hope’s GOTTA ANSWER: When I was in my twenties, I
wanted to be a singer-songwriter. I’m
fairly accomplished as a guitarist and at one point in my life all of my
creative energy was focused on writing song lyrics. I was in a girl band that had a sound much
like the Indigo Girls (but this was way before anyone had ever heard of the
Indigo Girls), and we performed at lots of clubs and restaurants around the
Washington, DC area. We even made it
into a recording studio. But, alas bands
break up (sort of like marriages) and when that happened to my band it was
emotionally painful. I didn’t ever want
to do that again, as much as I loved playing music. So I put my guitar away for a while and
that’s when I started writing my first novel.
The thing about fiction writing is that it’s a solitary pursuit, which
made it emotionally much safer for me at the time. Of course I also discovered that I had more
talent for telling stories than for writing lyrics. I still play my guitar. And since I practice regularly (and have been
playing since I was thirteen), I keep improving little by little. But today, I don’t perform. And I’m happy about that. When you perform you have to be perfect. When you play just for the joy of it, well
it’s like a heavenly gift, and mistakes are always forgiven. [Lara: What a great skill!]
Where can you find Hope?
Contact her
Facebook: HopeRamsayAuthor
Twitter: @HopeRamsay
Pintrest: Hope Ramsay
What's next?
My next release will be Last Chance Family. It’s a story of Mike Taggart, a
professional gambler who finds himself suddenly responsible for his
five-year-old niece. He decides that the
child needs a daddy who is more reliable than he is, so he sets out for Last Chance,
South Carolina to reconnect with his long, lost half-brother, who is a
minister. Of course Mike has no idea
what he’s getting himself into as he tries to find his brother the perfect
wife. He got to befriend the Altar
Guild, manage a slightly senile matchmaker, and run like hell from the feelings
he’s starting to have for the cute veterinarian in town.
Hope is giving away 2 copies of Inn at Last Chance to some lucky US commenters!
Hope says: As noted above my favorite place to read a book is
on the treadmill. What’s your favorite
place to get lost in a story, and why?
Note: Please leave
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