Shannon here: Kimberly Rose Johnson shares the inspiration behind her latest Contemporary Romance, Finding Love in San Antonio, along with an excerpt. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for a copy of Brewed With Love. Deadline: May 28th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Kimberly:
More than a year ago I was contacted by my publisher to see if I would like to co-write Finding Love in San Antonio. The book was to be an adaptation of a Hallmark-like movie, and she wanted me to write the storyline for a strong secondary character. I jumped at the opportunity.
As I read the screenplay, Sandra’s story started to play out in my mind. In the original version of the screenplay Sandra came off as less than likable, and I needed to give her a reason to be the person she had been portrayed to be in the original screenplay. Thankfully, the final cut of the movie portrayed a much more likable character, so what I wrote works very well with how things turned out in the end 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed writing Sandra’s story and intertwining it into the bigger project that my co-writer, Miralee Ferrell wrote. Her job was to adapt the main screenplay to a book and then flesh out the story. There is so much more in the book than in the movie! In fact, my story is not even in the movie.
Sandra is a young woman who is trying to prove to her aunt that she can manage and make a success of her aunt’s fledging Mexican diner. She wants to prove that she is the best person for the job, except things are not going well, not only at work but in her personal life.
Sandra was raised by her grandmother and loves her dearly, but she is at her wits end with her constant meddling. Her grandmother keeps setting her up on blind dates. Bad blind dates. So bad that Sandra finally makes a deal with her grandmother. If Sandra finds a date on her own once a week for a solid month, her grandmother can never set her up on a blind date again. Well…
Here is a snippet from Love Finds You in San Antonio:
Sandra lowered the windows on her pickup and reached for the box of food. Hopefully, it would still taste good after sitting in the box for thirty minutes. She bit into a beignet and grinned. “Now this is what I call worth the trouble.”
“What’s worth the trouble?” a man asked.
She whipped her head toward the window. “Victor! You scared the daylights out of me. What are you doing here?” Victor Rodrigues owned and managed a Mexican food truck that frequented the neighborhood, though she wished he’d find a new location as it cut into their bottom line.
“I was about to ask you the same question. I thought you went to church on Sunday mornings?” His dark brows rose in question.
Fear shot through her. “Are you stalking me?”
“Hardly. We go to the same church. I usually sit in the balcony.”
That she never saw him made sense, but it was unsettling to know he saw her and she hadn’t noticed him, assuming he spoke the truth. “Why aren’t you there now?”
“Overslept and thought I’d get a jumpstart on food prep.”
“You should take Sunday’s off.” She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t give himself a day off, but she admired his work ethic.
He raised a brow. “Perhaps I should.” He tilted his head to the side. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I’m going to go to the late service today.” She waved the beignet in front of her face before taking another delectable bite.
Victor chuckled. “You must have gone to Nola. You were smart to go early. What’d you think?”
“So good, but my date was a bust.” The thought of Anthony made her blood run hot. The man was infuriating. She pushed him out of her mind and focused on Victor.
That’s as close to the meet cute as we get in this book, since the characters technically know one another already.
Giveaway
About Kimberly: Award winning author Kimberly Rose Johnson married her college sweetheart and recently moved to Montana. From a young child Kimberly has been an avid reader. That love of reading fostered a creative mind and led to her passion for writing. She especially loves romance and writes contemporary romance and romantic mystery and suspense with a heart.
Kimberly holds a degree in Behavioral Science from Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington, and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Learn more & connect:
Kimberly’s Website Kimberly’s Facebook
Kimberly’s Bookbub Kimberly’s Instagram
About the book – Finding Love in San Antonio: For TV chef Adela Romero, the lights of LA have lost their luster. The grief of her husband’s death three years ago still hangs heavy over her and her daughter, Fabi.
When Adela returns to San Antonio for a summer break with her daughter, she learns her mother-in-law’s Mexican diner is struggling. Adela wants to help, but her career is tugging her in another direction.
Local food critic David Agraponte has a history with Adela. A history he’d like to rekindle. When he interviews Adela, sparks fly—both good and bad. In Adela’s struggle to put her past behind her, she’s tentative about a new relationship, but David hopes she’ll stay at Romero’s long enough to give him a chance.
Sandra always dreamed of managing Romero’s one day, but her chances of proving herself to her aunt are slim with her famous TV-chef cousin taking all the attention. Can’t her aunt see that Adela’s just passing through on her way to her next big gig? Still, as much as she resents it, Sandra may need Adela’s help if there is going to be a Romero’s left for her to manage.
When Adela gets a TV offer that’s sure to shoot her career to the stars, her choice may hold more than just her future in the balance. Can David and Adela find a way to save Romero’s and hold onto their own dreams, or will Adela’s opportunity push them apart?
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Kimberly’s other titles?
Get your copy/copies now! Kimberly’s Books
Question for Readers: I’d love to hear about your meet cute. Think outside the box if you’d like. How did you meet your best friend, first crush, or spouse?
Come back May 20th for Aubrey Taylor!
Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Shannon.
Glad you have you here, Kimberly. I saw my husband across the campus in the 9th grade. He was the new student. I thought he was really cute and decided I’d marry him. Turned out he had a cute personality too. We dated the rest of high school and got married a year after we graduated.
What a neat meet cute.:) I love it.
I met my BFF at church when I was 5 and she was 2. Our families became friends and we saw each other all the time. My mom even watched her before school. I only kinda liked her at first, because she was an only child and spoiled rotten. When she got a little sister, at 5, we got along much better. We are still best friends to this day, even though she lives 3 hours away.
How fun. Lifetime friendships are so special!
Well, it’s a doozy, but here’s how I met my husband: I was working at Harris Teeter and was friends with his older sister, who also worked there. It was the 1970s and there were no computers to change prices. They had to be done by hand, wiping off old ink and inking on the new price. Also, back then, sanitary pads were huge. The boxes were huge. No sticky tabs on the back, they had to be worn with a sanitary belt. Ugh. So, Linda had been telling me her brother Tom was coming home from Germany in the military and she wanted me to meet him. We were changing the prices on Kotex and in walked Tom. There I was, on the floor, surrounded by big ole boxes of Kotex. Totally surrounded! He never said a word, acted like they weren’t even there. We’ve been married almost 44 years.
I was alone, having lost my wife of fifty years through death. I knew that I was one to want to spend the rest of my life solo and lonely. I had been a husband for all those years and that’s what I wanted to be again.
Patsy had lost her husband of forty three years. She too wanted to be a wife again. We did not know each other. We lived seventy miles apart.
But we were both invited to a meet-and-greet of a local widow and widowers group. I went with no expectations. My dating attempts before had been disasters. So I did not go looking for someone. I knew God would answer my prayer.
Other than introductions and general chit-chat among the attendees, neither of us gave the other much thought. But the next day a couple of things she had said struck my interest. I decided to take a chance and see if she’d be interested in going out to see a movie.
Two dates later and we knew our future was sealed. We’ve been married a little over four years now. Life and love after loss can be even sweeter than it was before.
My BFF is my twin sister. We met in the womb. She is the person who understands me and accepts me most.
I have a winner! Susan Gibson Snodgrass won the drawing. I appreciate Kimberly for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.