Always a Bridesmaid by Elaine Hopper (author interview)

Genre: Romance

Publication Date: March 2010

One Word Review: Good

First Line: ““Well, well…Hell finally froze over,” Troy Youngwolf drawled as he blocked Breanna’s way.”

Synopsis: Hell has finally frozen over. After nine long years, Breanna Parker has come home to be her sister's maid of honor. Just her luck that the first person she runs into is her ex-fiance, Troy Youngwolf—the man who eloped with her ex-best friend and broke her heart. Now a widowed father and sheriff of their Florida home town, sexy bad boy Troy wants another chance and won't take no for an answer. However, every time Breanna looks at Troy or his little girl, her heart breaks anew. She can hardly wait for her sister to get hitched so she can escape back to her urban family in Ft. Lauderdale. The risk is too high that Troy may discover her most closely held secret, one with the potential to destroy them both…perhaps this time forever. –The Wild Rose Press

Kathy’s Review: My only complaint…it was too short! I would have loved if the book was a little longer and we could really get to know Breanna and Troy a little better, and have a little more detail into their past relationship and what went wrong, having said that I still really enjoyed the story. In some ways it almost reminded me of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, where our leading characters were young and madly in love, and because of outside influences they are separated. After the disastrous end to their engagement, Breanna leaves town and doesn’t return until eight years later, for her sister’s wedding. She is thrown back into Troy’s company and both have to figure out their feelings and uncover some deep secrets. I thought Breanna and Troy had great chemistry together. I had started out not liking Troy, but as you start to see things from his perspective you can’t help but feel sorry for him and I ended up rooting for him by the end. I still wasn’t happy with his choices and think things could have been handled a little better. Anyway, it was a fun quick read and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a little romance.

Bookworm Rating: 3.8

Book Source: The Wild Rose Press, a huge thanks to Elaine for contacting me and sending me her book!

Author Interview

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I love to write, read, and watch movies. In short, I love stories, in particular romances. When I'm not reading or writing, I blog and Twitter, I walk, swim, and hang out with my kids. I also work full-time as a customer service manager for a charity. I also absolutely love cats. If I had to come back as anything other than a human I would be a cat. One of my books even features a talking cat. I'm also a Trekkie and Star Wars fan and I'm ex-Air Force, so I'd love to be a crewmember on a starship in some futuristic universe.

I’m always curious where an author comes up with her characters names, how did you choose Breanna and Troy?
My daughter has a friend named Breanna who's a really cute young woman. As per Troy, I always liked Troy Donahue, especially in "A Summer Place".

What is the hardest part in writing a book? Where do you get your inspiration?
I don't know which is worse - the sagging middle or edits. I used to HATE edits.

Inspiration comes from everywhere. Once my oldest child got into a lot of trouble at school - hacking into the computer and changing the Vice Principal's password to "Jack Ass". The VP was ready to chew nails and ready to kill us. I was scared but everyone else found it hilarious and I ended up plotting a story around it. Also, the school wound up hiring my child to work on their computers. I keep my ears and eyes open and I take lots of notes that I might not use on the current story, but probably will use in a future story.

What do you think of the cover? Did you play a role in choosing the cover?
I love the cover. The artist holds my highest regard. And I definitely helped in designing the cover. By that I mean I filled out a cover art request form. I let the artist know the story is set in South Florida on a ranch and should probably depict a Floridian flavor which she did by adding a palm tree or two. So far, all my publishers ask me to fill out cover art request forms for each of my book.

What three words would you use to describe Always a Bridesmaid?
Angsty. Emotional. Fun. (not necessarily in the same parts of the book)

The book is based on Breanna and Troy’s somewhat messed-up relationship, and it seems everyone likes to give them advice on what they should do. What’s the best advice you’ve received about dating or marriage? And the worst?
I think the best advice I had was to follow my heart. The second best was to stay away from DD. (Don't ask. :) )

Since I love movies almost as much as books, I often picture the book a movie while I’m reading. If Always a Bridesmaid were to be made into a movie, who would you cast as your leading characters?
Maybe Lou Diamond Philips as Troy. Breanna? Let me think. Usually I have my books cast into movies from the beginning. Can you tell I'd love to have my books made into movies? This time, I have to think about the cast. Patsy would be played by Amy Adams. Mandy Moore would probably make a good Breanna if she wore her hair long and dark brown.

Do you have a particular place to write? Do you like peace & quiet, or prefer to have music playing?
I write a lot at Borders and Barnes & Nobles. Talking disturbs me when writing. Strangely enough, singing doesn't. So I plus into my MP3 player to songs I know very well that block out other noise but doesn't get in the way of my creativity.

Who are your favorite authors? Favorite books?
I like Stephen King, Stephen White, Karen Robards, Sheryl Woods, Tawny Weber, Holly Jacobs, Merline Lovelace, Brynn Paulin...

My favorite book is "The Stand" by King.

Can you tell us about any current projects your working on?
I'm working on a sweet contemporary romance about another couple getting a second chance. The hero's young son is in dire need of a bone marrow transplant and the heroine just happens to have a perfect match - her daughter, his half-sister whom she never told the hero about after he married someone else without warning.

Where can we find you?
Elaine Hopper
Twitter: @elaine_hopper
To read an exceprt or purchase the book click here.