Kristan Higgins Talks Heroes and Heartache with a Tasty Giveaway

Today is BEYOND an exciting day for me...I have the AMAZINGLY TALENTED author, Kristan Higgins as my guest today and right now I am doing a bit of a HAPPY DANCE, Today is ALSO Release day of her Newest Romance, Somebody to Love.  If you have NEVER picked up a Kristan Higgins Romance then I believe we can't be friends anymore...ok...just kidding...but it is time to get started today. 

I am also hosting a GIVEAWAY for One Lucky Commenter to win SOMEBODY TO LOVE.  So PLEASE make sure to read the entire post and answer the GIVEAWAY QUESTION at the end with a Valid Email Address included.  I'll pick the winner tomorrow morning, and if you are NOT the winner, PLEASE purchase the book anyway.  Kristan is giving part of the first week proceeds to Save the Children.  So...It's for a GREAT cause!!!

A Tasty Read: Kristan, welcome to A Tasty Read...gush, gush, gush, wipe the drool, I'll contain the Fan Girl Screams in just a moment.

Kristan Higgins: Oh, let it all out! I love Fan Girl Screaming! Gush away—it never gets old.

A Tasty Read: Kristan, Firstly I just wanted to tell you that each time I have met you, you have been one of the nicest, sweetest, most gracious people I have ever met.  And so darn funny!  I know both times I met you, I was nervous and probably stuttered...A LOT.  Is it strange when fans gush over you, or when people recognize you while you are out?  Do you have any "Funny" Fan moments that come to mind?

Kristan: See, now we’re best friends, given all those nice things you’ve said. I generally am not recognized when I’m out, except at writer conferences or once in a while when I hand over my credit card, since Kristan Higgins is my real name. It’s always thrilling…the clerk might say, “Are you…a writer?” And I say, “Yes! I am! Seriously? You’ve heard of me? Kids! She’s heard of me! Mommy’s famous!”

I do have a funny fan moment—a woman came up to me at a signing once and just burst into tears, hands shaking (like me if I met Jeremy Renner), and I said, “What happened? Are you okay? Want me to call someone?” because you know, I figured her dog had died or something. But no, she was just a little overwhelmed. And being me, I said, “You’re crying because you met me? That is so great!” I still have a picture of us together.

Another time, a librarian chased me down a street at an American Library Association conference. I thought she was a mugger. That was exciting. I believe I offered her my wallet if I could keep the pictures of my kids.

A Tasty Read: Only you...I am cracking up over here.

OK...onto the important stuff...Trevor Meade...*swoon*.....Sorry....*wipes chin*. 

Since you are the Author of the book that features My Favorite Hero, (ok...he shares the spot with Luc "Lucky" Martineau from See Jane Score, but you are friends with Rachel, so I figure you won't mind) I wanted to ask you who your Favorite Hero is?

Kristan: Okay, first of all, I do mind! That Rachel! How dare she write such great books! (Luc…I love you!) Trevor…sigh! Any man who will carry you out of a burning building…so sexy.

Anyway, my favorite hero is usually the one I’m writing at the moment, the blush of first love and all that. When I was writing SOMEBODY TO LOVE, though, I got to revisit Malone from CATCH OF THE DAY—he makes an appearance—and I found him just as smokin’ delicious as ever.

A Tasty Read: Malone definitely has that...something.  Haha

Kristan, your books can have the reader cracking up laughing one minute and then bawling their eyes out a few pages later.  From Widowed Characters, to Loving from Afar, to Broken Families, Is there one particular book of yours that was the hardest to write emotionally? 

Kristan: Yes, and that’s an excellent question. The hardest book to write was, by far, THE NEXT BEST THING, because my heroine was a widow. I’d read a lot of books featuring a widow, and it seemed that the trend was to make the first husband nice, but not the love of her life…the new guy, he’s the love of her life. I wanted Lucy to lose the love of her life and try to get over that.

It was also hard because there are a lot of young widows in my family. My own mom was widowed young, and because McIrish, my sainted husband, is a firefighter, I’m always worried about losing him. One time, he came home from work half an hour later, and I was sitting there, typing and crying. He said, “What are you working on?” My answer: “Your eulogy.”

So yes, that book was hard, and it has a special place in my heart because of it. Of all my heroines, I think Lucy had the most to overcome, and that last scene, when she’s so brave…blerk! I’m tearing up just thinking about it.

A Tasty Read: Don't get me started now...I cried like a baby while reading My One and Only, and thought my heart would crush into a million pieces while reading Until There Was You.  What can I expect with your new release, Somebody to Love?  Is it true that we might see some old friends?

Kristan: So glad to have made you cry! I know, I’m cruel that way. I cry while writing these scenes, too, so it goes both ways…

SOMEBODY TO LOVE: Parker Welles is sitting pretty in life. She’s wealthy, she has her perfect son, she’s successful…and then she loses everything (except her kid). Dear old Dad gambles away her trust fund in an insider-trading scheme, and voila. Parker’s broke. No money, no job…just a decrepit little shack on the coast of Maine that’s her only hope of a nest egg. When her dad’s lawyer, whom Parker calls Thing One, shows up on the scene, she’s forced to accept his help, even though she hates that she has to. But maybe James has more going for him than being a slick lawyer, and maybe losing everything was the best thing that ever happened to Parker.

So yes, you’ll see a few familiar faces: though the book isn’t part of a series, Parker first made an appearance in THE NEXT BEST THING, and she goes to Gideon’s Cove, Maine, the setting of CATCH OF THE DAY. For readers of those books, I think it’ll be nice to see some of those characters, though the book is definitely a stand-alone.

A Tasty Read: I know they are stand-alones, but I think EVERYONE should experience The Next Best Thing and Catch of the Day ALSO...oh and Just One of the Guys, Until There Was You, My One and Only, Too Good to be True....I can go on and on....

What's next for Ms. Higgins?  Is it true that you are planning a series?

Kristan: Yes! I’m giving a series a try. McIrish and I went up to the Finger Lakes region of New York, and we fell madly in love with the area. One of the things I like best is writing the town where my books are set, and I thought it’d be nice to see a place again. SOMEBODY TO LOVE was my first attempt to revisit a place or character, and I loved doing it, so voila! A series. I’ll let you know how it goes.

A Tasty Read: I can't tell you what an HONOR it was to have you as a guest today.  You write some of the most amazing Romances and anyone who has not read your books has some major catching up to do.  I will try to contain the gushing from here.....

Kristan: Thank YOU! More gushing right back atcha.

Giveaway Question: Which Kristan Higgins Romance has made you cry like a baby??  And If you haven't read a Higgins Romance, what romance have you read that had you bawling like a baby? 

(Please include a valid email address.  U.S. Residents Only.  Giveaway will run until 7am on 4/25/12, Eastern Time)


Congratulations Candice Valdez, you have won the Somebody To Love Giveaway!!  I will be contacting you today for your information. 

A special Thank You to ALL of you who entered, I hope you will all come back to enter more Giveaway's!! 

About Kristan

I started writing romance novels when my kids were little. I’d always been a writer of some type—public relations, advertising, research—but wanted to stay home with the bunnies. I’d been reading romance novels ever since I swiped Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss from my grandmother’s night table. “Higgins,” I said to myself, “I bet you could write one of these.” And so I sat down every afternoon when the kids were napping, took my lifelong love of romance novels and tried to make a career out of it. We’ve been living happily ever after since.