Shannon here: Julie Arduini shares the inspiration for her latest Contemporary Romance, Repairing Hearts. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for a Kindle copy, U. S. only. Deadline: Jan 27th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Julie:
The second book in my Surrendering Hearts small-town romance series, Repairing Hearts, has been available for over a month now and reader feedback has been amazing. The series follows the Hart sextuplets as they discover their own identity and try to find a love like their parents shared. Each book features a sextuplet, and Repairing Hearts is all about brooding Ryan.
Although a standalone, I encourage readers to start with the first book, Anchored Hearts. Ryan is first introduced there, and readers learn he’s never liked the publicity that came with being a sextuplet or the unique situation they are in. When the siblings graduated high school, he joined the Navy to get away. Now that Ryan returned to the Finger Lakes area, he bought a home overlooking Seneca Lake to again avoid being around his large family.
One problem. The property is a money pit, and Ryan doesn’t have the funds to renovate the dump.
The conflict made for a fun way for the sextuplets to celebrate turning twenty-five: a reality show. Repairing Hearts is about Ryan’s quest to make his eye-sore of a house a home. He agrees to participate in a reality show believing all his problems will be taken care of. Truth is, his problems are just beginning.
The show, Repairing Ryan’s Heart, is more of a dating show than home improvement. Although the goal is to find a project manager who will oversee renovations in a second reality show featuring the Hart sextuplets, the first show has drama, secrets, betrayal, a celebrity racecar driver host, and ladies from across the country vying for Ryan’s heart.
I had so much fun writing Repairing Hearts. I feature Christian surrender themes in my books, along with a chocolate mention. This book is about surrendering anger and pride. Ryan realizes as he learns how real these shows truly are that he holds a lot of anger from his past. As he confides in contestant BJ Wallace, she has a secret of her own. That tidbit could ruin not only the show, but the Hart family and of course, Ryan’s heart.
Repairing Hearts also gave the opportunity to check in on the other siblings. Jordyn, the oldest, has a career change. Paige, the youngest, has a temporary address that’s confused the other siblings. Readers have remarked that the Hart family feels real, and they are invested in what happens to these characters.
Next up is Evan’s story, Building Hearts. He’s always wanted to be in the spotlight, and with Building with the Hearts ready to premiere, Evan realizes he has a lot to learn about family and business.
Question for Readers: What intrigues you about Ryan’s story?
About Julie: Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to find freedom in Christ by surrendering the good, the bad, and —maybe one day—the chocolate. She’s the author of the new contemporary romance series SURRENDERING HEARTS (Anchored Hearts, Repairing Hearts, +four more.) Her other romance series is SURRENDERING TIME (Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged.) She also co-wrote a YA series with her daughter, SURRENDERING STINKIN’ THINKIN’ (You’re Beautiful, You’re Amazing, You’re Brilliant.) Her stand-alone romances include MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN and RESTORING CHRISTMAS. Julie maintains a blog at juliearduini.com and participates in the team blog Christians Read. She resides in Ohio with her husband and daughter. Learn more & connect:
About the book – Repairing Hearts:
What happens when a reality show creates a blight on sextuplet Ryan Hart’s life harsher than his dump of a home?
Ryan, the independent, brooding second oldest of the Hart sextuplets, can’t enjoy the solitude he craves when he agrees to star on a reality show. The plan is to discover a project manager to renovate his hole of a property. The show reveals that it’s more about Ryan’s dating life. Can he keep his guard up when everything around him is falling apart faster than the shingles on his roof?
BJ Wallace loves her quiet life in Wisconsin that she’s created far from her traumatic childhood. Everything changes when she learns she’s competing on Repairing Ryan’s Heart. As the show focuses more on Ryan than the house, BJ falls for him. Will she win the show and destroy Ryan with her secret, or sacrifice her heart to protect Ryan?
A small-town, reality show romance with family drama and a Christian thread of surrendering pride and anger.
Repairing Hearts Julie’s Books
Come back Jan 19th for Christina Sinisi!
Shannon,
Thank you for letting me share the story behind Repairing Hearts. I appreciate it so much.
Hey Julie, glad to have you here. The whole sextuplet thing and him being publicity shy intrigues me.
That was so fun to write. I’m now writing sextuplet #3, Evan’s story. He LOVES the limelight and that’s equally fun. Thanks again!
conflict
There’s so much conflict in this story. Thanks for stopping by!
Repairing Hearts is a great story! Poor Ryan got railroaded into the reality show, but it turned out to be a good thing for him. I’m looking forward to the next book.
I have a winner! Tina Newcom won the drawing. I appreciate Julie for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.