Straight Chatting from the Library: Christina Lourens

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Christina Lourens will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE INTERVIEW

What is the favorite book you remember as a child?

I read extensively as a child, so I don’t think I can name one favorite book, but I loved the Enid Blyton The Famous Five series. I must have read the whole series.

What are you reading right now?

Right now I’m reading Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson. It came highly recommended by a friend, but I’ve only just started so I can’t tell you if it’s good. I like it so far.

E-Reader or print? and why?

I like either. If I buy books, I tend to buy them for my e-reader. Mainly because I live in a small house and don’t have enough space for large bookcases. When we moved into this house (from a much larger rental place) I had to get rid of one bookcase full of books, which was devastating. So now I buy ebook as my Kindle doesn’t have a limit on how many books I can store. If a book is really amazing, I will buy a physical copy so it can be in my bookcase, but that doesn’t happen very often due to space limitations.

One book at a time or multiples?

When I read, I completely immerse myself in the world of the book, so I can’t read more than one book at a time. I like to soak up the atmosphere of the book, and I often carry that with me the whole day. If I read more than one, I feel I can’t do the books justice.

When do you do most of your reading?

I used to do all my reading during my commute into London, but since the pandemic, I’ve been working from home. You’d think I have more time to read, but my kids and pets demand my attention as soon as I shut my laptop, so now I try to set aside half an hour to an hour before bedtime for reading. Which is dangerous, because if the book is really good, I lose track of time and read well into the night.

Favorite place to read?

On the couch with a cup of tea or a glass of wine in my hand and my pug sleeping next to me.

Favorite genre?

I read very widely and my favorite genre depends on my mood. I love romance and women’s fiction, but a good cozy mystery is always fun too. And I’m a big fan of P.G. Wodehouse which doesn’t fall in any of those categories.

How do you keep your books organized?

My ebooks are organized by category and then my Kindle automatically sorts them by author. My physical books are a bit more complicated. I have all my thrillers together, then my other English novels are categorized alphabetically by author. And then I also have a lot of Dutch books (as I’m Dutch) so they’re also sorted in alphabetical order except for three authors of which I have almost all their books. They all have their own shelf.

Re-reader or not?

Absolutely! There’re nothing more comforting than re-reading a beloved book. I have three or four authors whose books I regularly re-read: Terry Pratchett, P.G. Wodehouse, Olaf J. De Landell and Toon Kortooms (the last two are Dutch authors).

What would make you not finish a book?

If the story is told from too many points of view. I like getting to know the main characters really well, which is hard to do if the point of view changes a lot. I also don’t like it when the author “head hops”, meaning that they change point of view between characters in the middle of a scene. And if a book has too much gory violence, I tend to stop reading it.

READ THE BLURB

With love, betrayal and grief disrupting her perfectly peaceful life, will she fight for the happiness she deserves?

After the violent death of her husband, Rebecca Holmes is content leading a quiet life spending time with her sisters and niece. When her younger sister Hannah asks her to plan her wedding, Rebecca discovers her friends and family all think her life is empty. Determined to prove them wrong, Rebecca takes up salsa lessons where she meets the charismatic salsa teacher, Gabriel Rodriguez.

Falling in love is the last thing Rebecca wanted to do, but she is inexplicably drawn to Gabriel. Opening her heart again is terrifying, especially after what happened with her late husband. With the help of the local vicar, Rebecca starts to believe that maybe she deserves a happy ending after all.

Just when she’s decided to give her heart to Gabriel, a betrayal brings back demons from the past. Heartbroken, Rebecca closes herself off again, but when disaster strikes her family, she is forced to confront her past actions. Can there be redemption for her and can she forgive those who betrayed her?

The Calm I Seek is a heartbreaking novel about forgiveness and redemption.

READ AN EXCERPT

Someone clinked their fork against their wine glass, and it took me a few moments to realize this was done to draw our attention. A short inspection around the table showed us the culprit: Michael. We all groaned. Now was not the time to regale us with speeches.

He stood. “I’m sorry to break into your daydreams, but I wanted to say a few words.”

Hannah smiled as her cheeks reddened. What did she have to blush about?

“As you all know, I dearly love your sister Hannah. We’ve been together for two years now, and we feel as if we’re made for each other.”

What was this? A public declaration of love? I could really do without that after stuffing myself full of turkey.

“Since we’ve been together for that long, we thought we’d make it official this year. If you permit us, that is.” He bowed slightly at Laura, who looked as confused as the rest of us. When he beamed at her, she realized a reply was expected.

“Sure,” she mumbled, although I doubted she knew what she was assenting to.

“Wonderful. Then it’s decided.” Michael now beamed at Hannah. Too much beaming going on for my liking. Hannah stood up as well, and he put his arm around her. “The wedding will probably be over the summer, although we haven’t set a definite date yet.”

Wait, wedding?

“You’re getting married?” Emily hadn’t eaten that much and was clearly more with it than the rest of us.

Michael’s smile faded slightly. “Yes, that’s what I was telling you.”

“Well, congratulations.” She moved around to Hannah and hugged her.

I was still trying to get my turkey-fogged brain to accept the new reality.

“A wedding? Well, that’ll be something to look forward to.” Laura’s smile seemed a bit strained, but that could have been indigestion. She also got up and hugged Hannah.

I got to my feet too, and since Michael was closest to me, I hugged him instead. Robert followed with manly shoulder claps and vigorous handshaking.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Christina Lourens has always been passionate about writing, but life got in the way of her writing career. She’s never given up and can be found writing in the evenings and on weekends, often accompanied by her pug. When she’s not writing, Christina keeps busy at the day job (until her writing career takes off) or snuggles up on the couch with a book. She loves crocheting, but because of her busy life, crocheting projects tend to take a long time to be finished.

Christina has lived in three countries, but is currently living in the UK with her husband of 20 years, their two children, pug, canary and pheasant.

The Calm I Seek is her first novel.

Website: https://christinawritesromance.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@CK_Romance

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Calm-Seek-heartbreaking-redemption-forgiveness/dp/1838115803/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-calm-i-seek-christina-lourens/1137305176
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-calm-i-seek
Apple books: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/the-calm-i-seek/id1522365717

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