Good Choice Reading: Blog Tour Interview & Giveaway: Head Over Heels for the Boss by Susan Meier!

Head Over Heels for the Boss by Susan Meier

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publication: September 14th, 2015 by Entangled Publishing

Fantasizing about the boss is one thing. Falling in love with him is quite another…

Isabelle Cooper's in big, big trouble. Her flower shop? Well, it was just bought by the man she’s had a crush on forever. Her new boss, Devon Donovan, is a tall glass of melt-in-your-mouth hotness. The problem? Devon is definitely not interested in love. No ifs, ands, or buds about it.

Devon knows Isabelle has been crushing on him since college, but buying her business shouldn’t be a problem. Not only is she his employee, but as the eldest Donovan brother, he’s too busy protecting the family fortune for romance. But tomboy “Izzy” is all grown up now. And he’s finding it impossible to resist her, no matter how hard he tries...

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About the Author

Susan Meier is the author of over 60 books for Harlequin and Silhouette, Entangled Indulgence, Red Hot Bliss and Bliss and one of Guideposts' Grace Chapel Inn series books, THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS. In 2013 she lived one of her career-long dreams. Her book, THE TYCOON’S SECRET DAUGHER was a finalist for RWA’s highest honor, the Rita. The same year NANNY FOR THE MILLIONAIRE’S TWINS was a National Reader’s Choice finalist and won the Book Buyer’s Best Award.

Susan is married with three children and is one of eleven children, which is why love and family are always part of her stories.

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Interview

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your latest/upcoming release.

I’m Susan Meier, an avid romance reader, who in the days before e-readers read so much that she couldn’t afford enough books! LOL I had always wanted to write and that desire sort of collided with not having anything to read. After some encouragement from my husband I decided I’d write in the spare time that I had between books. At first, my stories were a mess. Not realizing that challenge is the spice of a great story, I made everybody too happy. But that was sort of fun to read. LOL Then I got serious and what resulted was a very fun career.

Isabelle Cooper’s story, HEAD OVER HEELS FOR THE BOSS, is the most recent installment in my fun career and I had a blast with this book, if only because Devon, her hero, was such a guy. Love had to hit him over the head before he realized he was in. But revisiting the town of Harmony Hills for three books was just so much fun. We had gossips and good guys. There was a pub, a diner, a feud over the grocery store, a church ladies group that popped up everywhere, and Isabelle Cooper, florist, who always seemed to be everywhere too. Her book seemed like the perfect ending to the trilogy…until Barbara Beth caught the bouquet at the end of Isabelle’s book. LOL Now, I’m thinking…Hum. Looks like Barbara Beth is at least going to have to get a short story! LOL

2. Do you read reviews of your books? What do you do when you read a not-so-nice one?

I don’t seek out reviews to read. Sometimes I stumble on them. And – I’m wincing – I never mind a bad review (well, not much! LOL) because I believe there’s an audience for every story and I want the correct audience to find mine. Remember the Keith Urban song that has the line God blessed the broken road that brought me straight to you? Just as all the wrong women he dated were northern stars that brought him to the right woman, I think bad reviews (if written properly) can steer the audience in the right direction. I always hope to get more good reviews so that my true readers aren’t scared off! And so far I’ve been lucky that way.

3. How did you come up with the idea of Head Over Heels for the Boss?

The book title actually popped into my head before the story did. That was a good thing since I wasn’t entirely sure how I would get the town florist and the town rich guy together long enough to fall in love.

4. What was your inspiration for the book?

On the surface, the inspiration for this book seems kind of ho-hum. There were three Donovan Brothers so it was time for Devon to meet his match. What makes the story interesting is that I had a heroine all picked out and my editor emailed and said, “We’ve been talking and we think Isabelle should be the heroine.” And I said, “Isabelle Cooper? The florist?”

“Yes. She gave Devon a funny look when she pinned on his flower at Cade’s wedding and we think she has a crush on him.”

I went back and read the passage and I was amazed that they were right. I might have been trying to push Devon off on another character but Isabelle wanted him!

It was that one little spark of the unexpected that shot the book off in a fun direction and I never looked back. Thank goodness the editors noticed! LOL

5. If you could switch places with any of your characters, who would it be? Why?

This is a hard question for me because when I write a book, I create wonderful heroes. They always have traits that make me fall in love with them. So I could switch places with the heroine of just about any one of my books and be giddy with happiness. But there’s something about Isabelle Cooper’s intelligence that tips her over into being the person I’d love to be…with a guy I wouldn’t mind being mine. LOL

Having said that, I should probably admit that while I was writing Cade’s book, CHASING THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, I probably would have said Piper O’Riley, his heroine, because she wasn’t just beautiful, she was strong. And when I was writing HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE, I probably would have wanted to be Ellie McDermott because she was extremely good at her job (sought after) and simply loved people. At the end of HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE, she doesn’t just get the guy. She gets a boatload of friends, and a pretty perfect life.

I think when I write a book, I don’t just give my heroine a good hero; I give her some other great things like family, or friends, intelligence, grit, patience, compassion…So there’s always something about every character that makes me want to be HER. LOL

6. Did you set yourself some strict rules while writing?

Yes. Unfortunately, I’m a planner and I get cranky when things I plan don’t go as I think they should. LOL But the truth is, to get the best possible story for my readers I need to have some guidelines. I have all kinds of wonderful systems that help me to get to the heart of a story, to create strong characters, and to pull it all together in such a way that it’s fun or funny or tugs on readers’ heart strings.

I do this because I love a great story. Not just a good story. A great one. I believe readers deserve nothing less than our best. And my best takes time and effort. I’m at the computer every day at eight. I work for hours. I never accept “good enough” because good enough isn’t great. And readers deserve great!

I also believe you will find this work ethic in MOST romance writers. J We’re a very dedicated group of writers.

This is or That

Cat or Dog? Oh, Cat. My cat, Sophia Maria Lolita Conchita Chiquita Banana has her own Facebook page.

Ice cream or Sorbet? Yum. Ice cream.

Snow or rain? I love summer rain but nothing beats the first snowfall of the season. There’s also a kind of winter storm that is calm and peaceful. Snow falls heavy and wet. Everything is still and silent, and the snow falls. Unfortunately when you wake up the next morning you can have 18 inches of the goofy stuff that you have to shovel before you can get out of your driveway! LOL

Twitter or Facebook? Facebook. It’s easier to follow conversations there.

Actual book or eReader? I mix them up. Sometimes I just want to have a book in my hands. Other times I love the convenience of ebooks. Especially when I’m traveling!

Spring or Summer? Summer…I love a good summer! Especially a summer vacation at the beach.

Fall or winter? I love fall. Most of the best things have happened to me in the fall.