ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE
BY JULIA LONDON

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Should some questions be left unanswered? Adopted as an infant, Jane Aaron longs to know the identity of her birth mother and why she gave her up. Her only clue is the name of the small Texas town where she was born, so she's come to Cedar Springs for answers. Handsome ad executive Asher Price lost his wife, the beautiful, mysterious Susanna, in a terrible car crash eighteen months ago. When he hires Jane as the nanny for his two children, sparks fly. Jane finds herself falling in love with both Asher and his children, but begins to suspect that Susanna was not the perfect mother and wife the family portrays her to have been. As Jane gets closer and closer to finding out the truth about both her own and Susanna's past, devastating secrets begin to emerge that may be more than anyone can bear. Will the truth bring Jane and Asher closer together or tear them apart forever?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

JULIA LONDON is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of numerous historical romance and women's fiction novels. She is a four-time finalist for the prestigious Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction. A native Texan, Julia lives in Austin. You can write to her at P.O. Box 228, Georgetown, TX 78627, or email her at julia@julialondon.com.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

1. Welcome to BOOKIN' WITH BINGO, Julia. Before we get started, can you share any websites or other social networks where people can find you?

Hi Bingo. Thank you so much for inviting me to blog with you. My website is http://www.julialondon.com, and readers can also find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/julialondon.

2. Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this book?

From a piece I read about a woman who had come to Texas to soak up the Texas vibe. She had been given up for adoption at birth, and the only thing she knew was that she’d been born in Texas. She had come to Texas to just feel what it was like. I thought it was remarkable that she would cling to something so vague about herself. It made me wonder what it would be like to not know some very basic information about me, and the concept of not having that history of person intrigued me. The book started out as a woman’s search for her identity, but it turned into something more than that. It turned into a novel about how the past influences all of us, no matter what you may or may not know about your beginnings.

3. How did the title of your book come about?

It was slated to be a summer book, and the novel takes place in summer, and it seemed like a season, so….One Season of Sunshine was born. We actually went through many different titles with the “season” theme before we came up with this one. Sometimes, coming up with titles are harder than coming up with the entire book. Sometimes, they just come easy. But they usually come easy for my editor. I am never very good at it.

4. Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?

I see parts of me in characters, but usually, my characters are their own person. In ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE, Jane is listening to Pearl Jam when she runs. I listen to Pearl Jam when I run. She has that part of me, but that’s about all of me that you will see in Jane. As for which characters are easiest to write, that would be the periphery characters. In this book, that would be Carla, and Laru, and Linda Gail, and Emma. They are composites of the sort of women I have known all my life and are friends with today. They are easy and fun to write because I don’t have to delve into their emotions. The hardest characters are the hero, the heroine, the families—particularly in this book—because I have to get inside their heads and plumb them for emotion. For me, that is the hardest part of any book—getting the emotion onto the page.

5. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out? What are you currently reading?

Judith McNaught’s books, when I discovered them, inspired me to write, but it was one of Iris Johansen’s old romances, whose title escapes me (I think it was the Lion’s Bride), that made me believe I could write. I don’t know why that particular book, but something about it made me think I could do it and I wanted to do it. Books that have transported me are many, but some that stick out in my memory are Sharon Kay Penman’s Here Be Dragons, and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Currently, I admire writers such as Neil Gaiman, Mark Twain, Bret Easton Ellis, and Marian Keyes. At this moment, I am reading Sherri Browning Erwin’s Jane Slayre, which is a Jane Eyre retold with zombies. Very funny!

6. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?

I am currently working on A LIGHT AT WINTER’S END. It’s about a conflict between two sisters and a lonesome cowboy who steps into the fray. That lonesome cowboy is the husband who was left twisting in the wind at the conclusion of SUMMER OF TWO WISHES (I won’t name him for those who have not read it). I want to give him closure. My next book to be published is THE YEAR OF LIVING SCANDALOUSLY, which will be out in October. This is an historical romance with a bit of a mystery.

7. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?

You know, I am pretty open with my life. I am active on the internet and most of my mundane life is on display. The one thing most people don’t realize is that my husband and I are raising a grandson who is three. He has been with us since he was eight months old.

8. What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?

You have to write. It’s like anything else you do that you want to be good at – you have to practice the skill to become really good. The best way to do that is to write something every day. Even if it is just a paragraph, write something and try and improve on what you did the day before. I know that when I take a couple of weeks off, I get rusty. I find my writing is better when I at least touch a project each day. Thank you so much for having me, Bingo! I am thrilled to be able to share ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE with your followers. Please know that there is a sweepstakes in progress for readers of the book. You can enter through my website at http://www.julialondon.com.

MY REVIEW:

Julie London has written about school teacher Jane Aaron who is in search of one thing and finds more than she went after in ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE. Set in Cedar Springs, Texas, where Jane was born, the story follows her as she grew up knowing that she felt different from the rest of her family but there is a reason. Jane was adopted and although she loved her adopted parents, the older she got, the more she wanted to find out about her real parents and where she came from. She takes it so much to heart that when Jonathan, her boyfriend proposes to her, she says no. She wants to find out who she is first. Moving back to Texas, Jane begins her search. In order to pay the bills over the summer that she has given herself to live there and find her birth parents, Jane looks for a job to pay her expenses. Thinking it would be easy work so Jane can have time to work on finding her birth parents, she accepts the job of being a nanny for a recently widowed father of two, Ashton Price.

Price, now a single dad, is raising two children, Riley and Levi, 12 and 5 respectively. Their dad is an executive who works way too much and his life is very stressful so Jane does her best to keep things with the often rambunctious boys at home in line. Having recently lost their mother, both boys have their own issues and with a father often working, it falls on Jane to try to help the boys, so she quickly becomes very involved in all their lives. Their mother, Susanna, was mysteriously killed in a car crash less than two years ago. Although outwardly Susanna is made out to have been a perfect mother and mate, Jane begins to suspect that there may have been deeper issues than would appear on the surface. Jane also starts to find out some things about her real parents and it is amazing how lives can suddenly take on a new direction. Ashton is aware of Jane and her impact on the home in more ways than one. Could he be feeling something for this woman who is caring for his children? Would Jane feel something in return or will she work things out with Jonathan? And will Jane’s goal of finding her birth parents in the small town ever be achieved? London has written a good solid story that will quickly capture your attention, have you wondering which way things will go, and is easy to pop into a bag and take along anywhere this summer and have a relaxing read.

GIVEAWAY

THANK YOU TO AYELET AND THE GOOD
FOLKS AT SIMON & SCHUSTER, I HAVE
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