AFTER THE RED CARPET
Patricia Leavy
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
For fans of Tessa Bailey and Hannah Grace, After the Red Carpet is a feel-good, contemporary celebrity romance about what happens after the fairy-tale beginning as two lovers work toward their own true meaning of “happily ever after.”
After legendary Hollywood star Finn Forrester proposed to philosopher Ella Sinclair on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, the couple captivated the press and public with their real-life fairy tale. Now they vow to prioritize their romance and live an adventure of their own making. Ella moves into Finn’s Beverly Hills mansion and must adjust to his world. Finn, secretly afraid of losing Ella, is determined to make everything perfect for his betrothed. Meanwhile, Ella wants nothing more than to retain her own identity as they build their new life together. All the while, she is writing a philosophical treatise on love, exploring the question: when we love so deeply, where do we end and where does the other begin?
In this highly anticipated follow-up to The Location Shoot, will Ella and Finn finally live the life they’ve dreamed of? See how their epic romance unfolds, after the red carpet.
Excerpt
Finn and Ella strolled down the long red carpet at the famed Royal Albert Hall, arm in arm behind the rest of the Celebration team.
“Somehow I’ve never been here before,” Finn said.
“Well, you’re in for a treat. It’s extraordinary inside. Concerts here are wonderful.”
“I’ll have to get us tickets sometime.”
“Funny story about how this place came to be. Prince Albert wanted to create a hall to celebrate the arts and sciences, to bring culture to the people. He died before it was completed, and Queen Victoria insisted it should be named after him. They even wove the letter A into the stairway railings. Then of course she had that obscenely pricey, gold memorial statue created outside, across the road from the hall. She spent the rest of her life wearing black, to show her deep mourning.”
“She must have really loved him.”
Ella shrugged.
“What?” Finn asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure she did love him, in her own way, but perhaps it would have meant more to simply realize his vision. He wanted this place to be about the arts, not about him. Love isn’t about gold statues or opulence. The grandest gesture is seeing someone for who they are and honoring what’s important to them.”
A Word With the Author
1. Did you always want to be an author?
Yes. I’ve loved creative writing since I was a little girl. My mother recently found some of my first stories, which I also illustrated and bound with old wallpaper and glue to make them look like books. On the back of one, it says I was only six years old. Despite dreaming about being an author for my entire life, I wasn’t brave enough when I was young to pursue it. I didn’t know if I could handle a life full of rejection and critique. Being an artist is tough. So, I took a different career path, became a sociology professor, and found myself writing books anyway, starting with nonfiction. Eventually, I wrote my debut novel and soon thereafter quit my tenured teaching gig and became a full-time author.
2. Tell us about the publication of your first book.
It was a crushing disappointment. It was an edited, nonfiction book I worked on with a colleague. It wasn’t a great process and one day the book showed up at my door with a cover I had never seen. It was dreadful. However, publishing my first novel nearly a decade later was a much better experience. It was scary but exhilarating. Readers were pretty kind to me. My publisher was small and indie. I loved working with them despite the challenges. After that book, I knew I being a novelist was my true calling.
3. Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?
I personally know too many authors to pick a favorite in public. A few authors on my current to-be-read stack include Colleen Hoover, Emily Henry, Sarahlyn Bruck, and Jude Berman.
4. What's the best part of being an author? The worst?
Writing every day is the best. I love writing more than anything in the world. There’s nothing better than getting lost in a story world you’re creating. Sometimes I can’t believe how fortunate I am to be able to do this every day. The worst part is the inevitable critique. When you share your art, it’s like sharing a piece of your soul. It’s painful when people don’t respond positively, even though that’s their right, and of course not every book is for every reader. To deal with it, I think it’s critically important to develop a relationship with your books that’s not dependent on anything external, positive or negative.
5. What are you working on now?
My novel Shooting Stars Above is the first book in a romance series I’ve written called The Celestial Bodies Romances. It will be out in March 2025 and we’ll be releasing a new book in that series each spring. For fans of After the Red Carpet, Ella and Finn’s story continues in a final book coming out in September 2025 but we’re keeping the title under wraps for now. One tidbit, it takes place decades after The Location Shoot and After the Red Carpet.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than forty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Her last novel, The Location Shoot, was featured on Ms. Career Girl‘s “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and was the 2023 Firebird Book Awards 1st Place Winner in 4 categories: Contemporary Novel, Pop Culture Fiction, Romance and Summer Beach Read. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Patricia lives in Maine. In addition to writing, she enjoys art, reading, and travel.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/After-Red-Carpet-Patricia-Leavy-ebook/dp/B0D3FJGP55/ref=sr_1_2
Website: https://patricialeavy.com/
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Patricia Leavy will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
Thank you so much for featuring this book and author today.
ReplyDeleteThis looks really interesting. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThe cover looks great.
ReplyDeleteHow do you decide what stories are worth telling?
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing read!
ReplyDeleteLove the bold cover design
ReplyDeleteHow many books are you planning on having in this series?
ReplyDeleteHappy 2025 filled with peace. ✌🤞
ReplyDeleteHow did you decide on the cover design?
ReplyDelete