Guest Blog and Giveaway: Make Me a Match (Soul Mate Tree Series) by Mackenzie Lucas

GENRE: Fantasy

One randomly drawn commenter will receive a $50 Amazon/BN GC so make sure to enter.

Where Do Ideas Come From 

Non-writers ask me all the time, where do you get your ideas from? Amazon sends me a Box-Of-Fresh-Ideas-A-Week. Like clockwork. Snort. Just kidding. Seriously, ideas come from everywhere if you’re a writer or creative type. I could be from headlines in a newspaper or the local news. A random bit of conversation overheard on the subway or at the table next to me at my favorite Thai restaurant. Sometimes, an idea forms out of an unfinished story or a snippet of someone’s life journey and I ask myself, … what if? What if it hadn’t happened quite that way. What if x happened instead? And then I’m off to the races. Or, yet other times, I watch a movie or see a television show and it doesn’t end the way I’d like. That, too, will send me down the story path to develop a brand new tale with characters known only to me traveling a similar, yet wholly different path. Other times, story ideas come from brainstorming sessions with my writing friends. During these magical times, I’m usually stuck. I’ve developed an idea and my back is to the wall. I can’t see my way out to a happy ending. No how. No way. That’s when a friend, who thinks totally differently than I do, says what if your heroine did this? Or what if this problem arose from that consequence? Hot, damn. Then all of a sudden, what I thought was a concrete wall behind me opens up to a brand new vista and again the story is on its way to an exciting new conclusion. So, there’s no one good place to get ideas. They come from life, from living. It’s the beauty and the curse of being a writer. And I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world.

BLURB:

Widower Mark Cage is rusty at relationships. He owns the micro-brewery that supplies

the restaurant and bar at St. Augustine's premiere spa resort, Essence, with its award

winning local craft beer. And he’s been focused on building his business and raising

his teenage daughter ever since his wife died ten years ago. Nothing else.

When he runs into a sweet kindergarten teacher who is vacationing in St. Augustine

and staying at Essence everything changes. A sudden, inexplicable encounter with a mystical tree

known for its legend of bringing lovers together, convinces Mark the schoolteacher is

his destined match. However, his encounters are disastrous.

His only hope of persuading the woman he wants to even consider a date with him is

working with Essence’s on-site relationship guru, Athena Sullivan. A reknowned relationship coach, Athena is the opposite of everything Mark wants in a woman. She’s feisty,

independent, and challenges him at every turn. Sparks fly between the two from their

first meeting and flare into a blazing inferno as Athena helps him navigate the dating scene.

After a series of too-perfect, mis-queued dates, Mark realizes maybe the woman of his

dreams is not a sweet schoolteacher after all. Maybe she’s a feisty, independent, sexy relationship coach who stands up to him and is everything he’s always wanted or needed in a woman.

If he opens himself up to true love, he might just find second chances at love are possible and that his perfect soul mate is closer than he thinks.

EXCERPT

Two days later Jamie came bounding into his office at Ancient City Brewery. “Hey, Daddy-o.”

“Uh oh. She wants something,” Mark commented to no one in particular as he pushed away the stack of invoices in front of him. Running a brewery was work he didn’t usually mind. Today, though, his focus was shot. “What do you need now, dollface?”

“Nope. I don’t want anything. I’ve got something for you. It’s a surprise.” She waved a folder in his face.

He went to grab for it and she snatched it back. “Hold on. Not so fast.”

Mark settled back into his chair and laced his hands behind his head, prepared to wait for the reveal. “Okay, so what’s this all about?”

“Weeeeeeeell. It’s good for you, but you’re not gonna like it.”

“Sounds like what I used to tell you about eating your Brussel sprouts and broccoli.”

“Eww.” Her face comically contorted. “You don’t need to get nasty.”

Amazing. The girl still hated broccoli and Brussel sprouts to this day.

“It’s in no way as bad as Brussel sprouts.” She blessed him with one of her brightest smiles. He was in so much trouble.

“This is going to be bad.” He groaned. “Out with it. What is it? College is ten grand more? You want to go to school in the Grand Caymans?”

“Can I? Is that a possibility?”

“Ah, no, not even a chance. You’ve been accepted into the University of Virginia. That’s where you’re going.”

She pretended to pout for a few moments, then smiled. “Okay. Charlottesville it is, then. Sooooo. Ready for your surprise?”

“Girl, you better share before you burst.”

She studied him warily. “All right. So. Here’s the deal. I bought something . . .”

“This never ends well for a man.” Mark sighed and pulled at his ear. “How much did you spend?”

“For me, what is a mini-fortune.”

Mark groaned. “How much?”

“A thousand dollars.”

His front chair legs slammed to the concrete floor. “You what?”

“Now, listen. It’s a good cause.” Her face started to get red. “And, well, I spent my own money.”

“Jamie, what money?”

“I work part-time.”

“Yes, and you were saving your money for school. Books and such.”

“Right.” Her gaze skittered away. “I’ll get by. Most of the books are online anyway these days.”

“What did you spend the money on?”

“I told you, I spent it on you.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Mackenzie Lucas is an avid reader of genre fiction. She writes contemporary and paranormal romance, and listens to an eclectic mix of music. She loves a good story, whether it’s an erotic short, a full-length romance novel, or the narrative slice-of-life found in country music. In any story, emotional integrity and authenticity are most important to her as well as a big dose of romping hot sexual tension. She enjoys smart-mouthed, sexy heroines, hunky alpha heroes who know how to take care of their women, and plot twists that surprise her, but most of all, she just wants to experience the satisfying emotional arc of a character falling in love and finding what he or she needs most in life.

Mac is a small-town country girl with a world-traveler’s heart. She grew up in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and she’s lived in Dublin, Ireland, within spitting distance of New York City in Long Island, and now in the Washington, D.C. area. She obtained her undergraduate degree in English Literature from Dickinson College and received her M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She’s currently an author for Soul Mate Publishing and is represented by Otis and Mackintosh Literary Agency.

With Mackenzie Lucas—whether you’re reading her light paranormal romance or her small-town-based contemporary romance—you’ll always find a heart-warming love story about connectedness, community, and emotional authenticity. And, no, it doesn’t hurt that all her heroes are panty-melting gorgeous alphas and all their sexy, sensually aware heroines know how to stand up to them, give no quarter, and love them just as they are.

Watch for new titles by Mackenzie Lucas.

http://www.mackenzielucas.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MackenzieLucasFanPage

https://twitter.com/MacLucas_writer

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6915570.Mackenzie_Lucas

https://www.amazon.com/Make-Match-Soul-Mate-Tree-ebook/dp/B06XRHYDDV/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

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