Guest Post (and a Giveaway!): Pepper Basham & A Match For Emma

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour & Giveaway for A Match for Emma by Pepper Basham –  hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

Title: A Match for Emma
Author: Pepper Basham
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: November 21, 2019

Emma Mitchell may enjoy sprinkling romance into the lives of others, but her own plans involve a single first-class ticket to culinary school in Europe.

When her best friend, Jon Noble, suddenly moves back to Ransom, Emma’s fairly certain her life can’t get any better…until her matchmaking schemes nosedive, her culinary future falls flat, and a life-long friendship begins to teeter on the brink of something unexpected.

With a little inspiration from Jane Austen’s classic and a touch of Blue Ridge charm, will Jon and Emma discover that what they need the most may be the last thing they’re trying to find?

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Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor with southern Appalachian flair. Both her historical and contemporary novels have garnered recognition in the Grace Awards, Inspys, and ACFW Carol Awards. Her historical romance, The Thorn Healer, was a finalist in the 2018 RT Awards. Her most recent historical romance, My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge, showcases her Appalachian heritage and family history, as well as her love for humor and family.

She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist to about fifty more, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. Her upcoming release, A Match for Emma, is the third book in her popular Mitchell’s Crossroads series.

Pepper loves getting to know readers and other authors through social media. You may also learn more about her on her website!

CONNECT WITH PEPPER: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

musical inspiration for
A Match For Emma by Pepper Basham

I love music, but I can find it distracting when writing sometimes. There are days when I want music to flow quietly behind my writing and days that I can’t handle it, but my BIGGEST time I use music in story-inspiration is when I’m daydreaming about the books. I’ll put on songs that make me think of my characters and my story, and start visualizing upcoming scenes.

So…that’s what we have here in this short list of songs. Each held a little inspiration into the “mental movie” of my story-daydreaming process. Have you heard of any of them?

This book has been SUCH fun to just enjoy the process of good banter and great friendship, so the my usual ‘go to’ love song lists weren’t going to fit as closely as some others. I knew from the very beginning TWO songs that fit this story THE BEST, but then my list began to grow.

The first one that stumbled into this story was You’ve Got a Friend In Me (from Toy Story I) performed by Randy Newman. Why, you may ask? It’s perfect for the ‘feel’ and ‘heart’ of the friendship between Jon and Emma…plus, every time I hear it I visualize them during the babysitting scene in the book. (When you read it, you’ll understand ?)

Another song that just FITS Emma’s personality and this fun story (in my head, anyway) is Doesn’t Get Better Than This by Joy Williams. If I could pick a song that kind of sums up the romance/friendship of this novel, this song would be it! It has a fun ‘bubblegum’ type sound to it and talks about how it doesn’t get better than loving you – even with all the ups and downs that happen in life. (I picture Emma walking down Main Street Ransom with a bounce in her step and big grin on her face. I also picture her and Jon dancing on the front porch).

For the spiritual theme of A Match for Emma, the song The God Who Stays by Matthew West really hits at the heart of Emma’s transformation. It just seemed to fit her realization, plus it’s such an encouraging song about God’s unconditional love.

Another fun song that reminds me of Jon and Emma beginning to ‘see’ each other as more than just friends is Colbie Caillat’s Fallin’ For You. It hits at all those awkward, weird, “what do I do with this” kind of feelings that are happening as two people begin to notice each other in a romantic way ?

I’m going to end with a lesser known song that is just powerful to the heart of this story…and I think any love story. It’s called Grow As We Go by Ben Platt. It fits with A Match for Emma because it talks about how two people can grow together, they don’t have to be alone to become who they’re meant to be. If you listen to this one, don’t do the music video first, just so you can hear the words. The music video gets a little weird (IMO) at times, but Ben Platt has a fabulous voice and the words are lovely in this song.

Of course, I listen to all sorts of other songs, but these are some that particularly apply to my new release, A Match for Emma. I LOVE this story of friends-to-more AND of the beauty of humility and a teachable heart.

Have you heard of any of these songs? Do you have a recommendation for a song that would really fit a Friends-To-More Trope?

What a great playlist, Pepper!! thank you so much for sharing it with us! A song that I think of when I read this fabulous friends-to-more story is When Did You Fall by Chris Rice. So fun! Check out her tour of Ransom, too!

(1) winner will receive a Paris cube decorative tote, paperback copy of Jane Austen’s Emma, paperback copy of A Match for Emma (or another one of the Mitchell’s Crossroads books, if preferred), a ‘love’ ornament, a mug that reads “You’re my cup of tea”, and Misty Mountain handcrafted soap (made locally) – the scent is Mountain Berries!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule shown below. Giveaway will begin at midnight November 19, 2019 and last through 11:59 PM EST on November 26, 2019. Open internationally except where prohibited by law or logistics. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

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Have you heard of any of these songs that inspired Pepper Basham as she wrote A Match for Emma? Do you have a recommendation for a song that would really fit a Friends-To-More Trope?