A Reason to Celebrate #WriterWednesday

Every so often, something special happens in my life to make me stop and reflect. I received this a few days ago, and it was one of those very special moments. Please allow me to share…

 

Dear Ms. Hartgrove,

I recently read your novel At That Moment. As I began to write my review, I found myself wanting so much to tell you directly, how much I love the story you have so eloquently written.

No story has ever captured me as much as At That Moment has. I’m held captive by each beautifully descriptive word and I never want to be released from this splendid romance.

This breathtaking romance comes to life and details every magical, heart stopping moment in full vivid display. Cara Mears has lived with the fantasy of meeting sexy heartthrob, Irish actor Dylan Madigan for over a decade. Then, like lightning in the dark, in one brilliant moment, Cara’s eyes, her hand, and her heart are held by Dylan Madigan himself. Dylan crashes from Cara’s fantasies right into her real life. You craft a truly enchanting meeting between the characters and the fairytale only continues from there. At that moment, Cara’s reality becomes more intense than her fantasies ever were… and At That Moment pulls me right along for the ride. AT THAT MOMENT IS PERFECT ROMANCE!

The ending left me right on the brink, it’s not a gut-wrenching cliff hanger, all the factual details are known but it’s clear that it isn’t the end—there’s much more to this story… and I will be waiting with bated breath for the continuing story to be revealed. There’s a new super couple who have claimed my heart. DYLAN AND CARA ARE SIMPLY AMAZING!

I’m not sure this short note really communicates how much I adore the story you’ve written. But, I do, so much. Dylan Madigan can crash into my reality—ANYTIME! And I assure you, he will. I know that I’ll be slipping back into Cara and Dylan’s world again and again.

Thank you for your perfect knack for storytelling and creating a vibrant world for readers to disappear into with your well-developed characters.

Warm regards from a very satisfied reader.
~DC

P.S. He’s mymadhandsome! 😉

 

Dear DC,

You have no idea what this means to me. I published AT THAT MOMENT almost a year ago (March 17, 2016). Since that time, I have finished writing Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 of the series, The Eyes of March. I had a stroke in October, which could have taken my life. Luckily, it didn’t, but it affected the “language” part of my brain. I thought my days of writing were over.

This encourages me, more than you could ever know, to finish the series. I hope to have the second book out soon.

Your words mean the world to me. Thank you so much.

Scarlett

AT THAT MOMENT is participating in Smashwords’ Read An Ebook Week now, through March 11. If you would like to check out Cara and Dylan’s story, you can download it for FREE during this promotion.

Find it here:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/624867

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Come On, Admit it…It’s Happened to You~

You’re sitting in a dark movie theater, and suddenly there’s a face on the screen that takes your breath away!  The sheer beauty of it makes you ache as your mind wonders, “Who is this guy?”

Come on, admit it. It’s happened to you.

You rush home and search his name on IMDB and Google, and are thrilled to find a long list of movies, TV shows, interviews, and appearances on talk shows. You devour them all as you fall in “love” with the face on the movie screen. You feel a bit silly over this obsession, but it’s something you can’t control. The more you find out about him, the more obsessed you become.

And then, one magical night, you actually meet him! Live, and in-person! That beautiful face is even more spectacular, up-close, without make-up, without a filter of any kind. He opens his mouth and speaks, and the sound of his voice, talking to YOU, turns your insides to jelly.

Let’s take it one step further. The moment you meet your movie-star crush, there is a mutual and instant connection between you, a coup de foudre…the thunderbolt. It’s real, and impossible to ignore.  You have a conversation, share a dance, and then the evening is over. It’s a moment you’ll tuck away in your heart to remember and cherish the rest of your life.

And then he calls you.

You’re torn between your desire to give in to his potent and seductive charm as he woos you, and the warning in your head that this isn’t real. Every fiber of your being tells you not to trust it. After all, in your “research” you’ve discovered that he has a long history of short but intense relationships with actresses and supermodels…an endless stream of women in and out of his bed.

What happens now?

This is the story of Cara Mears in At That Moment, a contemporary romance, Volume #1 of The Eyes of March series. Book #2 of the series, as yet unnamed, will be published in the late fall.

Amazon Review:  http://amzn.to/2aZj8rt

We’ve all been there. In the dark. The music comes up, the lights go down, and there is that face: those expressive eyes, that gorgeous hair, that wicked mouth. The face of an actor, perhaps, or sometimes just a movie star. It does not matter. It is a face that we can’t get out of our heads. It’s burned on our retinas. We are gaga for that face–and probably the rest of the poor guy, too. We hide our gaga feelings from our friends or sometimes we share. Mostly we just wait impatiently for the next film, the next time “that face” is in the dark. With us. DVDs help, but there is nothing like “that face” on a big screen. It’s a good thing we are already sitting down because “that face” always leaves us weak in the knees.

What makes Scarlett Hartgrove’s book so much darned fun is that she takes this situation and “that face” and makes them both real. What would you do if you turned around one evening and there he was, walking towards you with a lop-sided smile, extending a hand to introduce himself? Out of the blue, there are those blue eyes looking back at you, but not on the big screen this time. In life. Real life. Faint? Maybe. But Cara Mears is built of stronger stuff. Mostly.

This story is well-written and packed with loving details. The plot does not give you a moment to breathe. The characters are as real as the big screen is not. Cara is a strong woman, with a career she adores and sturdy friends who support and love her. Dylan (“that face”) is an actor committed to his craft. But he is looking for more in life. And he finds it. Then the fireworks begin! The dialogue between these two is rich and dramatic and often very funny; I did not find a false note anywhere. By the end of this first novel in the series, we are left with a cliff-hanger of the most gaga-inducing proportions, but it would not matter much if we did not care about what was going to happen next to these two!

Keep writing, Ms. Hartgrove. Keep writing!

At That Moment is available on Amazon, iTunes, and Smashwords.

Check it out!

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When Worlds Collide… #amwriting #indiebooksbeseen #contemporaryromance

Cara Mears is a control freak. A beautiful, confident, talented control freak.

At the age of 34, she has lived more life than many people twice her age. She has lost both parents and has survived a bad marriage that ended with a nasty, bitter divorce that almost destroyed her.

But Cara Mears is also a survivor.

Emerging from the devastation of the divorce, she invests her heart and soul into the creation of Happenings, an event planning business which has become very successful, and is the center of her world.  Cara runs her business the same way she lives her life: well-planned, methodical, and deliberate. Her exacting control over her life and work has restored a sense of peace and safety to her life…just the way she likes it.

Dylan Madigan is a movie star, charming, devastatingly handsome, with stunning sapphire eyes that have seduced women all around the world.

At the age of 44, he is an international celebrity, star of stage and screen, author, film director, and an incredibly accomplished actor. And Cara’s long-time movie-star crush.

Throughout his childhood and adolescence in Ireland, Dylan defied the traditional ways, railed against the rules, and to his mother’s delight and his father’s scorn, pursued a career in the arts. Now, as one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, he is at the top of his game, but still, at times, fighting conventional expectations. He lives his life publicly and full-speed-ahead, seizing every opportunity for a new, exciting experience, always in the harsh  glare of the press.

On a Saturday night in March, these two worlds collide, leaving both Cara and Dylan thunderstruck, shaken to the core from the intensity of the moment. Cara’s world is turned upside-down as they begin their seductive dance…inexplicably drawn to each other. Dylan’s bigger-than-life world threatens Cara’s quiet and anonymous existence, and holds the power to expose her most deeply held secret. Cara’s world causes Dylan to re-examine and question his plans for his future.

Their journey begins…perilous and wildly romantic…

What happens when fantasy and reality collide?

#ContemporaryRomance

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Amazon:  Kindle   and   Paperback

Barnes and Noble:  Nook Book

iTunes:  iBook

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