Claiming My Valentine Countdown with Josette Reuel

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Author SpotlightJosette Reuel



Tell us about your story in Claiming My Valentine
What is the story about?
Love Burns is for those readers who enjoy a bit of steam from this side of the bedroom door. A sweet paranormal romance, it takes us on a quick journey with Hy and Brann as they determine what they want from their relationship.--Hyacinth Sieress didn’t want to get burned by another bad relationship, and for a year she had been doing just fine on her own. Maybe her apartment was less than desired and seeing her ex every time he showed up with work for the agency she worked for wasn’t easy, but Hy was determined to be happy. Growing up in foster care, Hy had always been good at putting her best foot forward and making the best of a bad situation, and continued to do so. That was, until she looked up into the deep sea blue eyes of a god.After meeting Brann Drahgue, Hyacinth Sieress’s world was turned on its ear. Nightly dreams of the man and working with him all day long... even the prim and proper Hy was bound to break.Can a dragon claim Hy's heart this Valentine's Day or will love burn her yet again?Who is the main character?Hyacinth Sieress is our female lead. She is searching for happiness, but between losing her parents at a young age and her ex-fiancé, Hy feels a bit burned by love. Brann Drahgue is our male lead, since the story is from Hyacinth’s POV, we only get to see bits and pieces when he interacts with Hy. However, he is a larger than life hunk (from Hy’s persepective). Strong and compassionate, he always seems to catch her at her worst, but is ready to help her overcome any trial.
What inspired this tale? How did the story come to you?I needed a short story for an anthology and didn’t want to use any of my already started series, as they are already plotted out for what books will be next. I love dragons and my readers love dragons, so I decided that it had to have dragons. I wanted it to have a slightly more “contemporary” feel to it than the typical PNR. When creating the Draghue, I looked at a picture that Mr. Reuel drew for me for Valentine’s 2014. I also wanted the dragon to be more humanoid in form. Other than that, I wrote this one by the seat of my pants.
Did you have to research for this novel. If so, why and what did you learn?No. This one was 100% made up in my own imagination.
Do you relate to your character? Is your protagonist anything like you personally?All of my characters have some aspect of my personality in them, even the douchebag ex-fiancé. It’s difficult not to include a bit of myself when they are born from my own imagination. My characters help me explore all of my traits, whether they are strengths or weaknesses.If yes, how?My heroine’s tend to be strong, yet timid. Introverts and readers. I follow the old adage, “write what you know.” So, when you read a phrase that makes you go hmmm or you laugh (or not) at a joke… well, let’s just say that you are in a small way meeting me.If no, how do you differ from one another?By the end of my books, the heroine has learned something about herself and becomes stronger and more confident. This is something that I work at each and every day – not always with any success. Learning to except her flaws and fight for what she wants, is a similarity, yet difference between the character and myself. I struggle to trust myself and find that my characters are more confident when I finish than I am.What made you write this character; what made them important to you or made you want to tell their story?In this case, the story grew organically from a small seed of an idea, so I had no real direction that I wanted to go. As the characters in my head made themselves known is when I began to see where they were coming from and where they needed to be. I quickly fell in love with them and their story, which required me strive for the best ending as possible. I had planned for this to be a standalone story; however, I’ve already gotten the 2nd release in this series started in my head.Is there anything you specific want readers to know about this piece of work?This story flowed onto the page, each step I took into this story revealed new and exciting things. For the anthology, I had to reduce the number of words, which meant cutting out sections. I did not plan for this story to be “sweet” but that is how it worked best for the restrictions that I had.


MEET MY CHARACTER
Who are you?
What is your name?Hyacinth Sieress
What should we know about you?I grew up in foster care and from the time I was found until I met Brann Draghue, the only family I ever had was the kind couple of my last foster home and my best friend who was also at the foster home.I work for my boss, Mr. Marc Trollman. He owns a research company that specializes mostly in finding people. Typically it was related to finding long lost relatives. My position is a mesh of personal assistant and office manager, but I also help out the team whenever I can.I consider myself average. Brown hair and a medium complexion, average height, and a few more pounds than I would like. When I’m down and look in the mirror, I think of myself as not only average, but forgettable. My ex certainly forgot about me while screwing the neighbor.I learned early on that it was good to be forgettable in some situations. Not all foster homes are bad, but not all are good either. I always felt disconnected and lonely. The only person I ever let in was my best friend, Sam. Until, my ex… let’s just not go there. It was a mistake and sadly he keeps bouncing back my way like a bad penny.
When and where is your story set?A small mid-western town, close to another small town, so that residents are known to move between the two towns. There’s my job at Trollman’s Investigative Services, Sam’s bookshop / informal arts center – the Daily Vice, Sansota’s Fine Italian, and the Rouge Club. Not too bad for a small community.
What is your personal goal?  I mean, what do you ultimately want?What I want is to have a family. The real deal. I want the husband, with the white picket fence, and the 2.5 children. My dream was always to have someone love me and I them. But, that’s not easy when you close everyone out. Just ask Brann, he’ll tell you. He’ll also tell you that we won’t be having a fence – his home is in the middle of a forested area with lots of room to roam. He needs that room for when he needs to stretch his wings. I’m still trying to understand why all statistics tend to have that .5 person. How can you have half a person. Either way, I’m ready to have children whether it’s one or five, I don’t care, just as long as it’s with the right guy. A certain tall and handsome Draghue.
What conflict(s) do you face?Allowing myself to trust. Losing my parents and not knowing why really did a number on me over the years. Add in jumping from one foster home to another, not being able to put down real roots; I simply built walls and kept everyone distanced.
Are there any secondary characters we should keep our eyes on? Who are they?My best friend Sam, she’s going to have her own story coming real soon.
What is their connection to you?Sam is my best friend. She was also in the foster care system and we spent our last four years at the same home. They were good people and meant the world to us. In reality, Sam became my sister, my only family. She knows me too well and calls me on my shit all of the time.

What is the title or working title for this piece?Love BurnsTell us again where we can order our copy.
You can pre-order this book as part of the Claiming My Valentine anthology!



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When will Claiming My Valentine be available?It’s available for pre-order NOW. Release day is 2/14/17Where can we grab our copy?Amazon: Global link: getBook.at/CMValentinehttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKJXV4https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MQKJXV4https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01MQKJXV4https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MQKJXV4https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01MQKJXV4Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/claiming-my-valentine-c-d-gorri/1125171460Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/claiming-my-valentineiTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/claiming-my-valentine/id1178023003?mt=11Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/682329Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33024537-claiming-my-valentine