AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR PATRICIA PRESTON'S ROMANCE HEROINE NATALIE LAYTON

Award-winning author Patricia Preston loves writing romances with picturesque settings and a host of unforgettable characters whose lives entwine in feel-good stories about life, love and finding happiness. She also writes short humorous stories and historicals.

Besides writing, she also works in a family medical clinic. Her favorite place to hang out is her writing cave where must-haves are iced tea and epic music. Learn more about Patricia and her books at her website. 

Everything His Heart Desires a single-title romance that reunites former high school adversaries. Brett “Hot Rod” Harris was from the wrong side of town and determined to make a success of his life no matter what. A wealthy senator’s daughter, Natalie Layton was considered the Cutest Girl in class and a total slacker, which annoyed Brett to no end, especially when he got stuck with her for a lab partner. Fifteen years later, Brett is a cardiologist and still driven to succeed. Natalie is a wartime photographer grappling with the losses in her life.

Natalie recently sat down with us for an interview:

Where are you from?

I grew up in Lafayette Falls, Tennessee but left after I graduated high school. I spent fifteen years abroad as a photographer until a bombing in Kabul ended my career and I reluctantly returned to my hometown.

Tell us a bit about Everything His Heart Desires.

My stubborn grandmother won’t see a doctor about her heart. My family concocts a scheme involving my old high school nemesis, Brett Harris, who, of all things, is a heart doctor now. This plot involves me inviting Brett over to Nana’s for dinner. He thinks charming an old lady will be easy. He is so wrong. Wait till he meets Nana’s thug cat, Pharaoh.

What did you think the first time you saw Brett?

That he hadn’t changed at all. He still has that “James Dean,” born on the wrong side of the tracks thing going. Still Type A, too, and he still has a low opinion of me.

What was your second thought?

That, despite everything, I still like him. And now I’m the key to his success. Karma!

Did you feel it was love at first sight? 

More like trouble at first sight.

What do you like most about him?

I like that he always believed in himself. Raised by his uncle, he had no parents and no money, but he never gave up and never settled for being less than the best.

How would you describe him?

He was our class valedictorian. Smart, sexy and sure of himself. So unlike me.

How would he describe you?

He always called me Slacker because I never worked hard in school. He resented that I came from a rich family and I grew up with everything he never had. But there were things about my life he didn’t know, and I am Type B totally, which gets on his nerves.

What made you choose photojournalism as a career?

I always loved photography. I thought I’d have a photography studio or maybe work for a home and garden magazine. All that changed when my husband died a violent death. I headed to the Middle East to take the kind of photographs no one wants to see.

What is your biggest fear?

I was fearless for a long time. Until I almost died in a bombing. Now I fear my future is in shambles.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received?

“It is in the small stories that we find our truth.” That came from my grandmother, who helped me find the truth when it comes to life and love.

Everything His Heart Desires

A Love Heals All Romance

Growing up in Lafayette Falls, senator’s daughter Natalie Layton hid her sorrows behind a bright smile that charmed everyone in high school—except Brett Harris. Hardworking and highly motivated, Brett dismissed Natalie as a slacker. Instead, she’s become an acclaimed photographer. And when Brett, now a successful cardiologist, needs her family’s help to secure a coveted position, Natalie’s more than happy to prescribe a little payback…

Hailing from the wrong side of the tracks, Brett believed he could never win the school’s popular princess. Now he’s intrigued by the complex and compassionate woman Natalie’s become. Gaining her grandmother’s goodwill is the key to becoming chief cardiologist—and Natalie has no intention of making it easy. But as mutual mistrust gives way to pure chemistry, there’s more at stake than either ever expected—and much more to learn about matters of the heart…

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#TRAVEL TO KAUAI WITH GUEST AUTHOR PATRICIA PRESTON

Alekoko Fishpond, Kauai

Patricia Preston writes witty mainstream romances where love matters most. Learn more about her at her website. 

Books and a Gift Card Giveaway!

Patricia is celebrating the coming of fall and the release of One Week in Your Arms, the first book in her new Love Heals All series, by giving away a batch of her Kindle ebooks and a $20 Amazon gift card. Enter by leaving a comment and email address on this blog and add extra entries by going to her Giveaway post on her blog. Drawing will be on Sept 30^th. The winner will be notified via email and posted on her blog.

The Magical Menehune

In my new release, One Week in Your Arms, Marla and Carson spend a week at a resort on the island of Kauai. During this time, Marla finds out about the legendary Menehune, and she can’t wait to share it with her little girl when she gets back home to Tennessee.

Legend has it that a race of tiny, magical people, like leprechauns, once lived in the mountains of Kauai. The Menehune stood only about two or three feet tall. They had stout bodies with potbellies. They loved pudding made from sweet potatoes, squash, and taro leaves. The Menehune were mischievous and playful. They loved diving off the cliffs. It is said when you hear water splash at night on the island, it is Menehune diving into the ocean. 

The Menehune slept all day hidden deep in caves and roamed through the forests of the island at night. According to legend, they were master builders, and they would band together in groups of thousands to do great feats of construction overnight. They did not like being seen, and if they were seen at work, they would abandon the project.

The Alekoko Fishpond on the island of Kauai was built by the Menehune. One of the stories regarding the fishpond is that it was built by the Menehune who used lava rock transported by a brigade of thousands of Menehune. They were building the fishpond for a princess and her brother, who stole through the forest at night to watch the Menehune at work although they had promised not to do so.

They were discovered by the Menehune who turned the princess and her brother into twin stone pillars, which still remain in the mountains above the fishpond. As was their custom, they abandoned the fishpond, leaving a gap in one of the retaining walls, which was finished by workers in the 1800’s.

The Menehune loved singing, dancing, and archery. They were said to use magical arrows on an angry person, thus replacing the anger with love. 

Some have suggested the Menehune were early inhabitants or primates that populated the island before the third century and the arrival of the modern Hawaiians. Nevertheless, their stories and legends thrive on the islands.

One Week in Your Arms

Book One of the Love Heals All series

It Started With A Fling...

Six years ago, ambitious med student Marla Grant gave into temptation with a gorgeous man. Now a busy doctor and a loving single mom, the only thing that matters to Marla more than her adorable daughter is the Lafayette Falls Community Clinic. When its funding is threatened, Marla is determined to find out why-until she learns the person responsible is none other than the powerful, persuasive man of her long-ago fling and the unsuspecting father of her child...

Carson Blackwell has never forgotten bright, beautiful Marla. When he discovers that she runs the clinic his grandmother's foundation funds, it's the perfect chance to put an end to his ongoing infatuation-and use his leverage to cement a new business deal. He needs a fake girlfriend for one week in Hawaii, and Marla is just the woman for the job. It's a win-win situation, until they realize the attraction between them isn't feigned, and the heat has never died down. Only the secrets they're both keeping stand in the way of a future together-and a love that could last a lifetime.

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TRAVEL WITH SERENA--THE FRENCH QUARTERS, NEW ORLEANS WITH GUEST AUTHOR PATRICIA PRESTON

Patricia Preston is an award-winning Southern author who writes historical and contemporary romance as well as humorous Southern fiction. Learn more about Patricia and her books at her website. Today Patricia stops by to share her love of the French Quarters in New Orleans.

Exploring the French Quarters: The Creole Townhouse

One of the most unique features of the French Quarters in New Orleans is the Creole townhouse. These lovely homes, with lacy ironwork balconies and courtyards, have come to symbolize the Quarters. On my trip to New Orleans in the fall, I was thrilled to get to see them and even tour one. 

The townhouses dominate the narrow streets of the French Quarters. In the early 1800’s, the residents of the French Quarters were of French and Spanish descent and were known as Creoles. France had colonized Louisiana and founded New Orleans. Later, Spain governed the city until it went back under French rule. Most of the lacy ironwork comes from the Spanish period. The earlier French houses in the 1700’s had wooden railings.

There are no front yards in the Quarters. What you see facing the street is the rear of the house. The front of the house faces a courtyard behind the house. The enclosed courtyards were the center of social activity for the Creoles. To access the courtyard from the street, houses had a carriageway, which was a brick tunnel that ran the width of the house.

At the end of the carriageway, there was a covered staircase leading to the second and third floors. There were no staircases inside the house and no hallways. One room led to another room. The kitchen was in a building behind the townhouse, usually in a wing that joined the main house.

I am including some pictures I took of townhouses while in the French Quarters. It is a great place to visit. The food and music are always terrific! As you are reading this, I will be (if nothing happens) en route to New Orleans. I am going on a weekend research trip and I will be staying in the Bourbon Orleans hotel, which has a great history as a former ballroom and a convent as well. It’s considered haunted, too. Maybe Lois will have me back again and I can let y’all know if I saw any ghosts!

 

I appreciate your comments, but it may be a day or so before I can respond because I will be on the road, but I will get back to you!

Almost an Outlaw

Rancher Austin Cade rides into Liberty looking for his old comrades, the James-Younger gang. He needs their help tracking down the horse thief who's stolen his prized mare. In town, the former gunfighter is reunited with Darcy, the first girl he ever kissed—and never forgot.

Young widow Darcy Branson owns a shop full of fashionable ladies' attire, but continues to wear mourning black so she won't forget her role in her husband's death. Austin stirs a passion inside her that has long been dormant, but can Darcy learn to believe in Austin—and love—enough to let go of her tragic past?

Time is rapidly running out... As a cousin to Jesse James, Darcy has attracted unwanted attention, thanks to her rumored association with the gang. Soon Austin and Darcy are faced with confronting not only their growing desire, but danger in the form of a deadly bounty hunter...

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