Spotlight, Guest Post and Giveaway
BLURB
Finance genius Meredith Klaus prefers numbers to people, especially around the holidays. At least the large sum of money that’s mysteriously vanished from the company accounts will distract her from the ghosts of Christmases past. Until her sexy boss asks her to be his last-minute date to a fundraiser gala, that is, and the promise of a special evening calls to something long-buried in her.
Andrew Stanton, Manhattan’s best-known philanthropist, has worked hard building his reputation in the industry. He offers to work closely with Meredith to fix his company’s financial crisis, but the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to look at her as just a colleague.
A beautiful dress. A handsome man on her arm. A challenge she can’t refuse. Can they find the missing money and fulfill their holiday wishes, or will Meredith be unable to overcome the demons of her past and lose her chance at happiness?
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Ms. North stopped here today to talk about "Real-life inspiration"
Many of the things that my characters do are often inspired by the actions of real life people. Sometimes, I hear a story at a party or meet a person who has done something extraordinary and I think, That would be so much fun to write about.And a few months later—poof!—that inspiration has turned into a full-blown romance manuscript.
Perhaps not surprisingly, in the case of Falling for the CEO, Andrew Stanton’s character was inspired by an actual CEO whom my husband met a couple of years ago. The founder of a tech company, this man made giving a part of the corporate culture from the start. His employees are given days off of work specifically to perform community service, and every employee receives a certain amount of money toward a charity of their choice.
In a nutshell, this man is an incredible person and I knew right away that I wanted to write a character like him.
In Falling for the CEO, I did exactly that. Andrew Stanton, the hero, has such a reputation for philanthropy that he has been nicknamed “Santa CEO.” And what better time of year to emphasize that kind of giving than during Christmas?
Meredith Klaus, the heroine in Falling for the CEO, experienced a Christmas Eve tragedy when she was nine years old, and since then she has had a difficult time getting through the holiday season. Andrew’s generous spirit is exactly what she needs in many ways. I had so much fun writing this story, not just because Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, but also because I could see something like this actually happening. Real life inspiration!
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Author Info
Audra North fell in love with romance at age thirteen and spent the next twenty years reading as many romance novels as she could. Even now, after having read over one thousand of them, Audra still can’t resist the lure of a happily ever after, and her collection continues to grow. She lives near Boston with her husband, three young children, and a lot of books. Visit her website at audranorth.com or find her (way too frequently) on Twitter @AudraNorth.
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Blog Tour Giveaway: one $25 Amazon gift card and one $10 Amazon gift card
Sounds great, looking forward to reading it :)))
ReplyDeleteOoo, that makes me so happy to hear! Thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteCool giveaway and the book sounds good! <3
ReplyDeleteI glad to hear that there are people that have made it give to their community. I liked the fact the your stories come real life
ReplyDeleteThanks, Felicia! Meeting this man was really inspiring. He was so modest about what he did, too--I had to find out from an employee about his charity giving!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cali! It was really fun to write! :)
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