Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Love. Local. Latebreaking. by H. Laurence Lareau - Book Tour and Giveaway



About the Book

Professional passion in the tradition of Julie James, Love. Local. Latebreaking. is a page-turning romance shining a spotlight into television news.

"Heart-tugging relational tension but with a sophistication that raises it above the romance genre." -- Jlaird, verified purchaser

"Mr. Lareau manages humor beautifully--I was able to envision certain scenes/situations/people so clearly that I was chortling into my coffee. I highly recommend this novel as a light-hearted (and sexy) diversion." -- Sarah K. Clark, verified purchaser

"The heroine had a career that she worked hard for and that she didn't give that career up simply because she'd found love" -- A. Geek, verified purchaser

Local TV news reporter Karli Lewis has one goal: escape Iowa's cornfields and podunk local news scene to hit the bright lights of the Chicago's newsrooms. Karli’s career is on the rise, thanks to her talented, dizzingly handsome, yet enigmatic news photographer, Jake Gibson, a dedicated hometown boy who is staying put. Will Karli listen to her heart, or will she choose a dateline over her favorite date? Can she reconcile her unbridled ambition and her longing for the man she could lose forever?



Excerpt

Her eyes and the smell of her skin and the pulse beating in her neck all told Jake that she was ready to be his. Her raised eyebrows and her erect, squared-off posture told him to stay away. He saw all of this in an instant, then fumbled for something to do that wasn’t kissing, in spite of the thudding pulse and the insistent twitch that urged him—now—to find the sweetness of her lips. 

Jake wasn’t thinking through the feelings, the urges, the choices. Evolution or God or something had equipped men—and Jake more especially than most—with a finely calibrated system to gauge a woman’s readiness. Something—the pheromone density in the air or her posture or the pace of her breathing or some combination of those things or some other primal indicator—wasn’t yet right. One more moment of intimacy, though, and they would both be ready. Instinct guided him to the movie’s moment of consummation.

“When the heroine finds out that he really does love her and wants to marry her—that’s pretty powerful, isn’t it?”

Jake knew immediately that he’d said the wrong thing. Karli shook her head slightly and turned her blue eyes from his. She reached up and took Jake’s hand and the napkin it held from her face. 

“Shut up,” she ordered him. “You think I was rooting for that insipid girl?” she asked. “No, Jake, I don’t identify with girls who need men to define them. I was cheering for the reporter. He had finally found his way to a real news job in a real market. He had escaped Des Moines.”

Guest Post

When the host asked me to tell readers what I want them to know about me—a male romance author—it felt like an odd exhibitionism project. Most of all, I want my readers—who are predominantly women—to be comfortable enough with who I am and what I hope to accomplish with my books that they’ll be willing to spend several pretty intimate hours with me—or if not me, at least my characters.

In as sense, then, I’ve been tasked with writing a dating profile: you should be comfortable enough to risk getting close to me because. . .

Because the Newsroom Romance series springs from a deep respect for strong women. The heroines are gifted and driven professionals who are incredibly responsible about their journalism and about doing the best work they possibly can. They’re serving their television news viewers, yes, yet they also have the courage to be unashamed about wanting to advance their own careers. They’re badass. From my Ph.D. mother to the countless female journalists and lawyers I’ve worked with through two careers, I’ve been continually impressed with powerful women and how they exert their power.

Because The Newsroom Romance series respects the human vulnerabilities and self-doubts that plague even the most-badass women (well, and men, too, of course). We all live with doubts about our own worth, with fears about exposing our vulnerabilities, with the conflicts between our professional lives and our personal need for connection, self-revelation, and completion with a partner. Romances are all about reaching the happily ever after, in the end, anyway, but authentic conflict—the kind that resonates with actual life experiences—is what makes the happily ever after satisfying. Faithfulness to the conflicts that shape each of our lives is the fulcrum around which good romance pivots. 

Because the settings and action are authentic. Spending my first career in television newsrooms provided me with any number of events to draw from in shaping the stories my characters live through. I met the broadcast journalists, I covered the stories, I tried to do work I was proud of. (For a sample from that long-ago time, check out this series report: https://youtu.be/D3NJ_txK0ps) The second book in the series, Traffick Report, has a pretty intense courtroom drama creating a source of conflict between hero and heroine. I’ve lived more or less non-stop courtroom drama for the last 25 years. My recent arguments at the Illinois Supreme Court (skip ahead to about 18:20 if want to see me in action) establish some credibility on that score: http://multimedia.illinois.gov/court/SupremeCourt/Video/2018/051618_122484.mp4 . (My response to the Chief Justice’s question at 31:50, by the way, is not only a true story, it also made every single justice laugh!)

And more on the dating profile aspects of things: Because my I speak most of the love languages with some fluency. Physical Touch—cuddling on the couch with Quality Time conversations, books, or movies is near the top of my list. Cooking and cleaning up afterwards are Acts of Service I love to perform, as well as laundry, vacuuming, carrying, and the like. My Gifts are seldom lavish (I’m not a man of significant means) but they’re always thoughtful. Put forth some good effort into whatever your project is, and I’ll tell you I’m proud of you or that you look great or that you did an awesome job.

Because I’m a doting father. Two kids adopted from Russia and two from scratch, and each of the four owns my entire heart. From at least equal-time diaper changing to essentially exclusive bedtime reading or lullaby-ing to answering nearly all the night-time service calls (“Papa, I feel sick.” seems always to have been followed by a splashy demonstration.), I’ve been an active and loving father. Parenthood is going to feature in an upcoming installment. It’s the hardest work of all, and it can certainly create conflict to challenge even the most robust romance.

Because I crack wise. Mary Rose, the irrepressible production assistant in both Love. Local. Latebreaking. and Traffick Report, is a genuine smart-ass. She’s bawdy, she teases her friends lovingly, and she encourages them to find their way through humor. She’s my soul sister.

Rather than swiping right, I’m hoping this is enough for you to feel comfortable with my novel proposition: Spend a few hours with me, and I hope you’ll fall in love.

If you do decide to enjoy my company, or if you’re looking for a little more comfort before you take the plunge, please contact me at: hlaurencelareau.com; FB: @HLLareau; Amazon: amazon.com/author/hlaurencelareau




About the Author

H. Laurence Lareau fell in love with romances the first time Pride and Prejudice came home from the library with him. Since that high school summer, he has earned an English degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, worked as a television and print journalist, built a career in law, and has remained a Jane Austen junkie through it all.

The Newsroom Romance series draws from his careers, his voracious reading, and his curiosity about the tensions between real life and real love.

Real life now is dramatically different from the real life of Austen’s times—privileged women no longer choose between eligible members of the landed gentry, nor are they imperiled by the sexist mysteries of the entailed fee simple estate in land.

Modern women with the privileges of education rather than birth now embark upon careers that can satisfy many personal and material dreams. Seemingly inevitably, though, careers fall short of the promise that they’ll fulfill women as people.

Strong, modern women have defined Lareau’s professional and personal lives, and strong women fully occupy center stage in their own newsroom romance stories. Their high-profile journalism and legal careers matter deeply to them and to the people they serve.

Then love comes walking in. These book boyfriends don’t have kilts or billions or pirate ships, though. Their career goals meet and often clash with their romantic counterparts, requiring both the men and women to make hard choices about what happily ever after should look like and how to achieve it.

When he isn’t writing, practicing law, or raising children, he’s working on martial arts and music.




Giveaway
H. Laurence Lareau will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No comments:

Post a Comment