Bookcation Event: Haven Creek by Rochelle Alers (Interview/Giveaway)

We made it to summer! Well, the beginning of summer vacation anyway. It doesn’t matter how long you have been out of school, summer vacation is the beginning of fun, freedom, and books. Looking for a great read to start off the season? Check out the new release from our guest today, Rochelle Alers!

Lexi: Welcome Rochelle! Speaking of beginning summer vacation from school...You became a member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority in college. Did you have any beginning of summer traditions you fondly remember?

Rochelle: I began every summer vacation either reading novels that didn’t remotely smack of required reading or visiting museums.  I was fortunate enough to live a half block from Central Park and within walking distance to the Museum of the City of New York and the American Museum of Natural History. I probably visited every exhibit in both museums every summer and years later when I took my granddaughter to the Museum of Natural History it was like stepping back in time.  

Lexi: What girl wouldn’t want to start out her summer break with the perfect romance? Your backlist is sure to guarantee one, with over 50 to choose from it is hard to know where to start! Do you have a favorite from your backlist? One that makes you smile to think of it?

Rochelle:  It would have to be Pleasure Seekers.  It is a sensuous story of three diverse thirty-something women whose lives are forever changed when they are invited to join the exclusive, secret world of the Pleasure Seekers.  They become objects of desire from über rich movie stars, politicians, CEOs, rock stars and European royalty.  But ultimately they realize there’s only one thing more satisfying than money and power …love.

Lexi:  Mental note: find Pleasure Seekers. Your newest release, Haven Creek, sounds wonderful. Morgan is an architect who gets a crack at her dream job, Nathaniel is the home town boy returned to center himself and heal. Friends to lovers always makes for a sweet story, throw in interesting characters and you have a great book! Do you base any of your characters off people you know?

Rochelle:  Some of the supporting characters are based on people I’ve met, but many of them are based on people my mother and aunts used to whisper about.  I loved eavesdropping on their conversations because they would talk about things they would never disclose in the presence of children.  If caught, their warning would be to “stay out of grown folks’ business.”  Once I began the Cavanaugh Island series I was able to recall their conversations in vivid clarity, smiling and silently thanking them offering an eavesdropping little girl a glimpse into a culture that took her decades to appreciate.  They’re no longer with me, but retelling their tales is my modest way of honoring them.  

Lexi:  Haven Creek seems to have that perfect mix of small town personalities. Do you have a favorite small town you like to visit in the summer?

Rochelle:  My favorite small town in the United States is Essex Junction, Vermont.  I would spend a week in this quaint New England village while attending the Champlain Valley Fair.  The fair, the largest in the state, offers something for everyone including live entertainment from popular performers.  Toby Keith is scheduled to appear this year.  Once you visit Essex Junction you’ll want to go back year after year.

Lexi:  I think I would like to visit any small town, as long as I could sit at an outdoor cafe with one of your books and a glass of sun tea! Thanks for stopping by to visit with us today Rochelle! Congrats on your newest release!

Rochelle:  Thank you so much for inviting me to visit with you.

Haven Creek

Cavanaugh Island #3

by Rochelle Alers

Paperback 448 pages

Published May 28th 2013 (TODAY!) by Forever

ISBN: 9781455501397

Home is where the heart is. 
Architect Morgan Dane has always lived according to a plan, crossing off her achievements one by one. But when she's offered her dream job-the restoration of historic Angels Landing Plantation on beautiful Cavanaugh Island-Morgan's life takes an unexpected turn.
Carpenter Nathaniel Shaw once took a big chance on commitment-and lost. Needing the healing comforts of home, he returns to Haven Creek to join the family business. Nothing in the small town has changed-except for Morgan Dane. The wallflower he knew in high school has grown into a beautiful woman . . . and stirs feelings Nate isn't sure he's ready for.
Together Nate and Morgan find a happiness neither could have predicted. But when secrets from the past come to light, their budding relationship is threatened. Will they play it safe, or risk their hearts to build a life together?

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About Rochelle:

Rochelle Alers was born in Manhattan, New York, USA, where she raised. She obtained degrees in Sociology and Psychology, before started to work. She is a member of the Iota Theta Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and her interests include gourmet cooking and traveling. She has traveled to countries in North, Central and South America, and Europe. She is also in accomplished in knitting, crocheting and needlepoint.
Published since 1988, today a full-time writer, has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today's most prolific and popular African-American authors of romance and women's fiction. With more than fifty titles and nearly two million copies of her novels in print, she is a regular on the Waldenbooks, Borders and Essence bestseller lists, regularly chosen by Black Expressions Book Club, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award. She also wrote as Susan James and Rena McLeary.
Rochelle Alers lives in a charming hamlet on Long Island.

~*GIVEAWAY*~

Grand Central Publishing is offering one of our wonderful readers the chance to win a copy of Haven Creek! To enter leave a comment for Rochelle: Do you have a favorite small town or Do you have a kick off summer vacation tradition? Then fill out the Rafflecopter. (Open US/CA residents, please see terms & conditions at the bottom of the Rafflecopter. ) 

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway