Chatting with Jen Turano and a Giveaway!

I am thrilled to have the amazingly talented Jen Turano on the blog today! She’s got a new release coming out TOMORROW and guys….you’re going to want to get it. Her stories always make me giggle and smile. I’m honored to have her here chatting with me today. Plus, she has graciously offered to give away a signed copy of her new release!!! How amazing it that!?

** Affiliate links used **

About the Book

A Match in the Making (The Matchmakers Book #1)
Author Jen Turano
Published by Baker Books
on February 21, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Christian / Historical, Fiction / Christian / Romance / Historical, Fiction / Romance / Historical / American
Pages: 368

Miss Gwendolyn Brinley accepted a temporary paid companion position for the Newport summer season, believing it would be a lark to spend the summer in America's most exclusive town. She suddenly finds her summer turning anything but amusing when her employer expects her to take over responsibilities as an assistant matchmaker. Tasked with the daunting prospect of attaining advantageous matches for her clients, Gwendolyn soon finds herself in the employ of Mr. Walter Townsend, the catch of the Season, but a gentleman Gwendolyn finds beyond irritating.

Walter Townsend is reluctantly in search of a wife for the sake of his unruly motherless children who cannot keep a governess for long. What he wasn't expecting was Miss Brinley, an amateur matchmaker who turns his quest for a new wife into a complete and utter debacle. Constantly besieged by society ladies on a mission to win his affection, Walter must find a way to overcome their inundating attention--and his unexpected attraction toward Gwendolyn.

The more time they spend together throughout the Newport Season, the harder it is for Gwendolyn to find Walter a wife when she realizes his perfect match might be . . . her.

Amazon | ChristianBook.com | Goodreads | Baker Book House

Interview with Jen

Hello Jen!! So Glad to have you back.It wouldn’t be a visit on the blog if I didn’t ask if you have any fun walking stories 🙂

So, funny thing happened a few weeks back on the trail – I bet you’re surprised to hear that, aren’t you? Picture this – there I was, walking Remee, the oh-so-cute, yet extremely unpredictable Cattle Dog, down the trail. Innocent enough, right? Well, Rem had, of course, pooped right after we passed a poop depository, and because she’s stubborn, she refused to turn around so I could make a deposit. No big deal. Off I went with poop bag in one hand and her leash in my other when my phone rang. It was an important call, so I had to answer it, and with the hand holding the leash because no way did I want a bag of poop close to my face, I took the call. I’m chatting away, but a mere minute later, disaster struck in the form of a cat. Rem loathes cats, seems to always want to try and eat them, so off she went, pulling me along in her wake. I’m rather used to multi-tasking, so I just kept chatting away. Everything was fine until the cat changed directions, Remee came to a stop, and her retractable leash did what it’s supposed to do – it retracted. The disaster? It sucked up a great deal of my hair.

So, there I was, slogging down the trail with a dog leash attached to my head, holding a very smelly poop bag in my other hand, while trying to convince Remee she didn’t need to chase that cat because I was in serious danger of losing half a head of hair. Needless to say, I had to end the call because I was laughing like a hyena. I did manage to deposit that stinky bag, which made things a bit easier, and after I got home, I didn’t lose all that much hair in the process of unwinding it from the retractable leash, although it was a little tricky getting that thing apart since it was attached to my head. I then got online, bought Rem a bungee leash, which she hates, but too bad because I’m not taking a chance of having my hair sucked up ever again. Stay tuned for more unlikely adventures. Rem also has a thing about foxes and I spotted one of those on the trail two days ago. I’m sure we’ll have an encounter of the concerning type soon.

Now I’m laughing like a hyena! I honestly do not know what’s more hysterical, your books or your real life! Tell us more about this new series! I can’t wait to dive into A Match in the Making!

I’ve been longing to do a matchmaker book forever, but I couldn’t decide which direction I wanted to go, hence the many years that slipped by before I began writing this series. I wanted to do something different, and how different can you get than taking a woman who was hired as a paid companion, and thrusting her into the role of assistant matchmaker, and during the Newport Summer Season, which was the most exclusive society summer scene during the Gilded Age?

Gwendolyn was a great character to write – practical and a lady who doesn’t hesitate to say exactly what’s on her mind – an unusual circumstance within the Four Hundred to be sure. She becomes friends with Miss Adelaide Duveen during her stint as an assistant matchmaker, and readers will get to learn all about Adelaide in the second series, “To Spark a Match.” Miss Camilla Pierpont is mentioned in “A Match in the Making,” but won’t make an on-page appearance until that second book, her story rounding out this series. I’m still early days into writing what is tentatively titled “To Meet Her Match,” but it’s going to have a large dollop of mystery in it, and I may be pairing Camilla up with a man who isn’t of society, and who doesn’t believe in all that nonsense in the first place – a circumstance that will cause sparks for certain because Camilla is one of the leaders of the upper crust and has been raised from the cradle to embrace the role of consummate lady. 

I’m already chomping at the bit for the rest of the series. I mean, who wouldn’t be? Have you ever had a plan for your characters, and then they kind of shake it up and make you go a different route?

This happens to me all the time, and here’s the thing – when a character balks at what I want them to do, it begins to feel like I’m trying to write through mud. I’m stubborn, though, so I’ll keep slogging through until the mud turns into cement. That’s when the delete button comes out. I then get rid of chapters, take a deep breath, have a heart-to-heart talk with whatever character is being uncooperative, we come to an agreement, (they usually win) and I get back to writing.

I mean, the characters are always right. Right? What has been your favorite series to write so far and why?

I really like the American Heiress series. The first book in that series, “Flights of Fancy” came about because I’ve always been bothered by the fact that Consuelo Vanderbilt was forced to marry a duke she didn’t love, and all because her mother wanted to acquire an aristocratic title for the family, which would elevate their society status. Since I started writing in the Gilded Age after reading a book about Alva and Consuelo, their story has always been with me, but with “Flights of Fancy” I took the story in a direction I really wish Consuelo had taken with her life – flight from a duke. She would have been much happier if she’d simply fled and married a person who wasn’t a duke, although she did divorce that man and marry a man she actually loved, so good for her. Also, the second book in that series, “Diamond in the Rough” is one of my favorite books to date – not sure why, and then, well, “Storing up Trouble” is set in Chicago, a good portion of it with Beatrix working in a department store. Since I have a deep and abiding love of department stores, it’s a given that I adore that story.

I love that series too, but then again I love all your books! Okay, last question. Tell us one secret tidbit about a book that’s coming in the future. 

“To Spark a Match” is Adelaide Duveen’s story and she might become involved with a man everyone believes is simply a gentleman who can lunch (that’s code for wealthy and doesn’t hold down a job because he doesn’t have to) but who may be so much more because he, perhaps, was once a…spy.

Oh that sounds like such a fun story!!! I can’t wait to read more about it in the future. Thank you for chatting with me today!

Thanks so much for having me, Jessica. Always fun to chat with you!!!

About the Author

Named One of the Funniest Voices in Inspirational Romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today Best-Selling Author, known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publisher Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from Romantic Times, and praise from Library Journal. When she’s not writing, she spends her time outside of Denver, CO.

Readers may find her at www.jenturano.com

https://www.facebook.com/jenturanoauthor/  

https://www.instagram.com/jenturanoauthor/

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway