I am so excited today to welcome author Allie Pleiter to the blog to chat about her new book Winning Back Her Heart – plus an exclusive video greeting from the author just for the Reading Is My SuperPower community!
An avid knitter, coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four novels at a time. The bestselling author of over fifty books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-year career with over 1.5 million books sold. In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers. Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com to learn more.
You can connect with Allie on her website, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.
WINNING BACK HER HEART
SERIES: Wander Canyon #2
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Love Inspired
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2020
PAGES: 224
Pretending to be in love…or building a new future?
Nothing wrong with helping out an old friend…
But she’s so much more to him.
When his ex-girlfriend returns home and hires him to overhaul her family’s general store, contractor Bo Carter’s determined to keep an emotional distance. But to convince her old boss she’s home for good, Toni Redding needs another favor—a pretend romance. As Bo starts to fall for her all over again, might their fake love lead to a real second chance?
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Before we get into my hard-hitting investigative questions (haha!), I have a delightful treat for y’all. Check out this exclusive video greeting for YOU from Allie Pleiter!
Hi Allie! Welcome to the blog! I’ve got my mug of hot chocolate with me while we chat today 🙂
Allie: Dogs. Our new puppy Paisley—a 1.5 year old Lhasapoo rescue we just got in December—is one of the joys of my life. I’ve had dogs most of my life, but for several years I had two cats, so I’m not feline adverse by any means. My daughter has a dog and my son has a cat—and I’m very fond of both.
Carrie: aww puppies are just the best, aren’t they?
Allie: This isn’t even a question—I am known far and wide for my passionate love of coffee.
Carrie: I never would have guessed 😉
Allie: Neither. I have never been a soda person. Bubbles just aren’t my thing. Hot, hot coffee is my thing. Always. Even if it’s 95 degrees out.
Carrie: Oh i wish i didn’t like soda! But alas…
Allie: I grew up on the water in Connecticut on Long Island Sound. Even though Lake Michigan is quite large, no tides and no seashells keep it from feeding my seaside self. I don’t get back to the water near enough anymore.
Carrie: ooo what a great place to grow up!
Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?
Allie: I’d choose flying. I often have dreams that I am flying. But given that I hate rollercoasters and big fast drops, it’s probably best that I’m “grounded.”
Carrie: haha! probably so 🙂
Q: Other than the Bible, what are five of your most cherished books?
Allie: I’m very widespread in my reading, so they might not be the five you expect:
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon – characterization, imagination, and flat-out fabulous storytelling
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern—hands down the most inventive and pull-you-in-deep book I’ve read in a long time. By the way, her second, The Starless Sea, came out recently and is just as good.
- My So-Called Love Life—this is probably cheating because this one is mine, but this book is near and dear to my heart in so many ways. It’s the book I’d grab out of my house in a fire.
- My signed copy of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that bears the signatures of all the cast members from the production I directed in college.
- As You Wish by Cary Elwes—a memoir of the making of The Princess Bride, one of my all-time favorite movies
Carrie: The rest of these are still on my TBR list but I LOVED As You Wish – and I even loved the audiobook even though I’m usually not a fan. But Cary Elwes’ voice can make everything delightful 😀
Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever Googled while researching a book?
Allie: Oh, there have been tons of really odd ones! What’s the most expensive espresso machine made? How high is a trapeze? What’s the longest recorded hair on an angora bunny? How long does it take for a carousel to hit operating speed? The oddest in recent memory was researching how long you could take your hand off the steering mechanism of a helicopter and still fly safely (I wanted my pilot hero to slip the ring on her finger while proposing mid-air). The answer? You can’t. “Hands on the wheel” at all times in a helicopter!
Carrie: What a way to ruin a perfectly delightful proposal scene, Google! lol
Q: Which of your main characters in Winning Back Her Heart is most like you?
Allie: Toni. Like her, I left home to prove myself to the world. Unlike her, though, I never did go back to Connecticut. But her “tackle it” attitude and determination are qualities I like in myself. But like Toni, I can also easily dig myself in too deep too fast.
Carrie: I can totally relate to that last line, but otherwise I’m a homebody!
Q: Which character was the most difficult to write?
Allie: Faye. Villains are harder to write than you’d think, because the can’t be two-dimensional or we don’t believe them. I had to give her difficult nature a bit of a soft underbelly, and that’s always a tricky balance to achieve.
Carrie: i bet it is!
Q: What is one of your favorite quotes from Winning Back Her Heart & why do you love it?
Allie: “The inches between them felt enormous and then again so easily crossed. As if they’d stepped back onto a path they should have never wandered from. Proof again that God’s grace could always exceed a soul’s mistakes.” I love this quote because it is the essence of the whole book. And something I firmly believe. We’re so very talented at messing up our lives, but nothing is ever out of the reach of God’s grace to fix.
Carrie: that’s beautifully said – and amen!
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.
Allie: We’ll visit Wander Canyon again in November for His Christmas Wish. Jake from this story gets his own happy ending in that book!
Carrie: YAY for more visits to Wander Canyon!
Allie Pleiter is offering TWO of my readers an ebook copy of Winning Back Her Heart! (Open internationally. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.
What about you? What interests you most about Winning Back Her Heart and/or my Q&A with Allie Pleiter?
Thanks for the chance to win!
thanks, Amelia!
I like the bond between the characters, sounds neat. Cheers.
Isn’t “As You Wish” a great book? And, yes, CE makes the audiobook even better. He even does fair imitations of people when he’s recalling conversations with them, and I love that there are comments made by the other involved in the movie. It’s just great fun, especially for Princess Bride lovers.
P. S. I never knew he was actually knocked out in that scene where he’s captured. O.o
yes! i love the cameos too 😀
I liked the synopsis. It sounds like a wonderful book. Thank you for sharing.
thanks, Diana!
Sounds interesting, nice interview!
I’ve enjoyed this story <3
I love pretend romance stories! Thanks for the chance to win.