Book Blog Tour

Author Interview

About the Author

Mary is a retired educator. She graduated from Florida State University and Nova Southeastern University. She worked at the primary, middle, and high school levels. She served as adjunct faculty at the community college and university levels. Throughout her career, she motivated students to follow their dreams and “Make an A every day!”.

When she retired, she focused on her personal goal of writing. Since she lacked culinary skills, Mary created a cookbook designed for people who don’t know how to cook. After its publication, she tackled her next goal. The Wildflowers of Madison County is her first novel. The sweet romance story is the first in the Madison County series.

It’s Q & A Time!

#1 What is your book about?

Two individuals meet as they travel on a train to The Bradford Inn in Vermont for Christmas. Liz Bradford uses an alias as a safety precaution. Neither she nor Maxwell Harvelle have been lucky in the love department. Their parents want grandchildren.

What a Christmas Kerfuffle is a comedy of errors that begins as soon as Liz and Max arrive. Max discovers his ex is also staying at the inn for the holidays. A wanna-be detective works at the resort and overhears a conversation that leads him to believe a murder at the inn is planned. One mistake leads to another until Max discovers his sweet “Sarah” is not who she claims to be. Her real name is Liz Bradford, part owner of the inn. The families pull together to help their children find the love Liz and Max deserve. This book is the second in the Madison County Series, which focuses on love and second chances in a rural community where the wildflowers grow.

#2 What inspired you to write your book?

Every Christmas I watch The Christmas Story. The idea for the story came after watching the movie. My hope is that readers will read it every year to give them a laugh.

#3 If you have a business related to the book, tell us about it.

I am a retired educator. Now, my business is writing books. I prefer sweet romantic comedies. I like to read uplifting novels.

#4 What is a typical day like for you?

I volunteer for my church by creating the Monday Memo each week. I keep the members informed of reminders of activities and special prayer requests. I try to write at least three hours a day. I enroll in online writing classes every week. My hobby is photography and I’m constantly developing new culinary skills.

#5 What do you most enjoy about what you do?

I love the creative process. I have notebooks in every room and in my car. When I think of a great story idea, I write it immediately.

I love all of Julie Garwood’s novels. She is a brilliant writer. She has much humor in her novels. When she died this summer, America lost a great romance writer.

I’m five feet tall and coached high school basketball for two years. I have taught at the elementary, middle school, high school, community college, and university levels. My friends were shocked I wrote my first novel. They didn’t think I could be quiet that long. I call myself, the Sweetest Seminole in the South. (FSU)

I hope to write at least three more novels in the Madison County Series. I want to write the stories of five friends (Fab 5) who travel together and have hilarious adventures. Also, there’s a nonfiction book in my head. As long as readers enjoy my work, I will write.

Book Review

Pages: 177
Genre: Romantic Comedy | Romance Novel | Women’s Fiction
Warnings: None

Book Summary

(From Author)

Liz Bradford learned caution the hard way. Having been burnt once in love’s game, the successful businesswoman isn’t interested in playing again. Brave and independent, Liz is also well aware of the dangers offered to a woman traveling alone through the modern world. So, when she meets a handsome stranger on the train home, she’s perfectly willing to talk and even flirt… under a name that isn’t her own.

Max Harvelle’s first marriage soured him on the entire institution, but it didn’t turn him into a monk. Meeting the beautiful and intriguing “Sarah” on the train soon has him reconsidering his anti-woman sentiments. The thought of spending more time with her makes the obligatory family Christmas at the Bradford Inn – a place with painful memories for him – look almost promising.

But when conniving exes, meddling mothers and a seriously misguided bellhop turned wanna-be detective intrude on the budding relationship, can the romance survive the comedy of errors that follows? From mistaken identities and greedy former love interests to false murder accusations and interfering, grandbaby-fever-driven moms, Max and Liz will have to fight hard, face their fears, and overcome their past pain to find each other and the love they both deserve.

Rating

3/5

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My Thoughts

This story is quite a chaotic romance novel with the potential of being great. The storyline is a sweet romance and is easy to follow. However, the author does change the POV so quickly that I sometimes felt like I got a little whiplash. Even though I really wanted to love this story, I struggled through it. I was interested though, to know what would happen with all the characters, so I kept reading.

Some parts surprised me. I struggled to relate to Max’s mom and sister and Liz’s mom as their actions were insane! That whole wedding thing was just unreal! The other characters were okay but the antagonists did their job well at being the ‘bad guys’. I have to admit that Max was a bit of a pain. He acted like a child because Liz didn’t tell him everything about herself on their first or second date.

This was a clean romance with no swear words or using God’s Name which gave it massive brownie points. This book is part of a three-book series and is book two in the Madison County Series. The ending was very sweet and gave all the romantic feels.

If you love sweet and simple romances, then you will probably enjoy this book. Thank you to the author and Travelling Pages for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review and being part of their blog tour.

Book Links:

Amazon
Goodreads

Author Links:

Mary Buchanan Author
Facebook
Goodreads Author

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