Shannon here: Romantic Suspense author, Jodie Bailey shares insight into her real life romance plus a chance to win her Sept release, Breach of Trust. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated Aug 8 – 11 to enter the drawing. Deadline: Aug 20th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Jodie:
- What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done for your spouse?
Okay, this may sound weird, but this is how we are. My husband was deployed and I wanted to do something fun for his birthday. That’s kind of hard when he’s half a world away. There was this song (“Another Postcard”) we used to sing in the car about a guy getting anonymous chimpanzee postcards in the mail, and he’d listen to it overseas for a laugh when he needed one. So… I enlisted everyone we knew to send him a monkey card for his birthday. I thought he’d get 10 or 20. Nope. I totally underestimated our family and friends. He got hundreds of these crazy monkey cards. The mail guys hated him. But he loved it. To this day, he says it’s one of the greatest things I ever did for him. It made him smile at a time he needed it most.
- Where is the most romantic place you and your spouse have ever been?
Before he deployed the second time, we took the Harley up into the Adirondack Mountains for four days. All we did was wander around, riding winding back roads and stopping at little out of the way places to eat or to explore. We didn’t have an agenda or a plan, not even our GPS. We went old school. I had a map I’d use to direct him from the back of the bike and we’d just turn here or turn there… Best trip ever!
- Do you and your spouse have a favorite song?
Alison Krauss’s “When You Say Nothing at All.” It’s an older one, but that’s my husband. He told me when I first met him that he was this song, and he is. One of our best memories together was (finally), around our 19th anniversary, getting to see Alison Krauss in concert and hearing her sing that song live.
- What’s the most romantic present your spouse ever bought for you?
I just asked him this question to see what he’d say, and he gave me a duh look and said, “Your engagement ring.” That’s probably true. He was in the military, and back then, they paid you in advance for food before you went to a temporary duty station. He was about to leave for a temporary assignment, and he got his money the day before he left. He took that money and bought my engagement ring and proposed the night before he left. For that entire assignment, he lived on tuna and cream of mushroom soup because he’d spent all of his money on my ring. It’s priceless to me because of that.
- What simple gesture does your spouse do that melts you every time?
My husband has a Harley, and one of our favorite things is to go rambling on the bike. On a long day on the road, he’ll put the bike on cruise control and rest his elbow on my knee. I don’t know why, but that gets me every time. Probably because I know I’m the only one he’d ever do that with.
- How soon after meeting your spouse did you know he was the one?
Our first real date. We’d met through a mutual friend on a Friday night. On Saturday, our friend asked me to come hang out and, when I did, my (future) husband was there. He asked me out and we wound up sitting in a Waffle House talking at 3:00 in the morning. I looked up at him across the table and thought, “Oh my goodness. I’m going to marry this guy.” According to him, he knew it at the exact same moment. We were engaged four months later.
About Jodie: Jodie Bailey writes novels about freedom and the heroes who fight for it. Her novels include 2014 RT Reviewers’ Choice Award Winner Crossfire, from Love Inspired Suspense, as well as 2015 Selah winner for Contemporary Romance, Quilted by Christmas, from Abingdon Press. Her devotions have appeared in Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home and Sweet Freedom with a Slice of Peach Cobbler. She is convinced a camping trip to the beach with her family, a good cup of coffee, and a great book can cure all ills. Jodie lives in North Carolina with her husband, her daughter, and two dogs.
About the book – Breach of Trust:
LETHAL REUNION
Meghan McGuire’s ready to put her military career behind her and start her dream job helping troubled children—until a man from her past reappears. Tate Walker is supposed to be dead. But now he’s standing on her doorstep, telling her she’s in danger. Tate never thought he’d see Meghan again…and certainly not as the target of the hacker he’s trying to bust. With both of their lives in danger, they have to work together to hunt down the criminal. But when Tate learns about the past Meghan’s been hiding, he’s not sure if she’s still the woman he once loved. Or if he can trust her with his survival—and his heart.
Breach of Trust is the third book in a series that started with Smokescreen and continued with Compromised Identity.
Question for Readers: Is there anyone in your family who have served in the military? When and what branch?
This was a sweet interview. 🙂
My grandfathers both served in the military as did my great uncle. No one has made a career out of it in my family.
3 of my uncles served in WW2 in army and my cousin was in Korea&desert storm in navy. my dad and brother and several cousins have served in different branches of service
Thank you, Jessica! And Jessica and Shelia, thank both of your families for their service. I tell people all the time when it comes to WWI and WWII and Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm… the families had it hard. There was no email then. No satellite phones. Snail mail if you were lucky, and it could take forever. Where our guys were, there was no email and no phones, but at least the mail only took about a week. I truly admire those who went through with so much less communication than we have today.
I had an uncle who served in Vietnam. My husband’s dad and stepdad both served in Vietnam in the Air Force. I also have two brother in laws – one in the Air Force and one in the Marines.
My grandfather was in WWII in the Army and my dad was in the Marines in Korea.
I have a winner! Jessica won the drawing. I appreciate Jodie for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.