Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Betsy St. Amant & Tacos for Two

I am delighted to welcome author Betsy St Amant to the blog today to chat about her new romance, Tacos for Two!

Betsy St Amant is the author of more than fifteen inspirational romances, including The Key to Love (2020) and Tacos for Two (Oct. 2021), and is a frequent contributor to iBelieve.com. She lives in north Louisiana with her husband, two daughters, a collection of Austen novels, and an impressive stash of pickle-flavored Pringles. When she’s not composing her next book or trying to prove unicorns are real, Betsy can usually be found somewhere in the vicinity of a white chocolate mocha—no whip. Learn more at www.betsystamant.com.

TACOS FOR TWO
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Revell
RELEASE DATE: October 12, 2021
PAGES: 364

Rory Perez, a food truck owner who can’t cook, is struggling to keep the business she inherited from her aunt out of the red–and an upcoming contest during Modest’s annual food truck festival seems the best way to do it. The prize money could finally give her a solid financial footing and keep her cousin with special needs paid up at her beloved assisted living home. Then maybe Rory will have enough time to meet the man she’s been talking to via an anonymous online dating site.

Jude Strong is tired of being a puppet at his manipulative father’s law firm, and the food truck festival seems like the perfect opportunity to dive into his passion for cooking and finally call his life his own. But if he loses the contest, he’s back at the law firm for good. Failure is not an option.

Complications arise when Rory’s chef gets mono and she realizes she has to cook after all. Then Jude discovers that his stiffest competition is the same woman he’s been falling for online the past month.

Will these unlikely chefs sacrifice it all for the sake of love? Or will there only ever be tacos for one?

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Hi Betsy! Welcome to the blog!

Betsy: Winter! I love leggings, oversized sweaters, feeling cozy, tall boots, sweaters, and the seasonal menu at Starbucks. Bring it on!

Carrie: yes please!! I’m so ready for winter!

Betsy: Dogs. We have a mini-Schnauzer named Cooper, whom I have dubbed my “fur-toddler”. He’s quirky, snuggly, suspiciously human-like, and perhaps one of the very best things God ever created.

Carrie: I’ve known and loved a few dogs like that too 🙂

Betsy: If you spend about six seconds with me, you’ll know the answer is coffee! We have a coffee bar here at home with about six different ways to make coffee (iced, cold-brew, pour-over, giant percolator, K-Cup, espresso, etc.) I also am a regular at Starbucks. Coffee is magical bean juice that fuels my day!

Carrie: that is an impressive-sounding home coffee bar!

Betsy: Over, and everyone who does otherwise is basically a monster.

Carrie: LOL duly noted 😛

Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Betsy: I’m somewhat of a neat freak. This has been a lifelong power of mine. When I was a younger teenager, my dad would glance about the house if someone was on their way over, and say “hey, go do your thing”. I would then proceed to blitz around and clean up, mostly via stacking, organizing, straightening, etc. It’s amazing how much better a cluttered counter can look simply by squaring up edges and making straight lines. (Follow me for more life hacks on manipulating last-minute company! Haha)

Carrie: hahaha i love that

Q: When you walk into a bookstore, where do you head first?

Betsy: I usually go straight to the Christian fiction section, to visit my dear friends and also to see if the store is carrying any of my novels! But sometimes, I get side-tracked by the adorable display of lovely stationery and witty-phrased coffee thermoses and floral binder clips that demand my attention on the way (*swoon*).

Carrie: I go friend-visiting at the bookstore too 🙂 And it seems we would get distracted by the same things were we shopping together (and how fun would that be!)

Q: If I sneaked a peek in your purse right now (which I would never do, I promise!), what would it tell me about you?

Betsy: It would tell you (via ibuprofen) that I have constant neck tension from my poor writing posture, that I have a mild obsession with Pilot G2 black pens, that I’m always prepared for a nail emergency, that I’m the “Gum Mom” at church, that I’m ready to take notes at any given minute via multi-colored sticky pads, that I’m mildly germophobic (who isn’t these days?) that I never carry cash, that I love those magnetic book clip bookmarks, and that I have two kids (via the assortment of miscellaneous hair ties, bobby pins, and candy wrappers that inevitably get stuffed into the abyss!)

Carrie: lol i love this answer

Q: Which of your main characters in Tacos for Two is most like you?

Betsy: I’m truly a mash-up of Jude and Rory. Like Jude, I’m driven when I have a task before me, and failure becomes a non-option. I will obsess over the details and turn into a perfectionist, because I feel the weight of why it all matters and see my goal ever before me. But also, like Rory, I tend to sacrifice myself for the sake of what is needed, to a detriment—and can sometimes let bitterness grow in that type of reluctant soil. Like Jude AND Rory, I love the movie You’ve Got Mail and will watch it at any given opportunity. And unlike Jude and Rory, I despise jogging for exercise (and if you see me doing so, you should run too because there is most likely a clown nearby.)

Carrie: girl, same. Same. (Are you sure we weren’t separated at birth? lol)

Q: Some authors like to hide little things in their stories. Is there anything you have hidden in Tacos for Two? 

Betsy: Well, it’s not really hidden, but there’s SO MUCH happening with You’ve Got Mail. Fans of the movie will love the references, the banter, the online flirting. Think You’ve Got Mail with a modern dating app upgrade! Also, please note—I keep tagging Tom Hanks on Twitter every time I post about Tacos for Two. It’s my current life goal to get him to retweet or click “like”. (Hey, go big or go home!)

Carrie: this makes me deliriously happy 🙂

Q: What is something God taught you while you wrote Tacos for Two?

Betsy: Honestly, the Lord taught me how to let go with this one. It was the second book in my current contract, so the temptation to obsess over all the things I couldn’t control was incredibly high (namely, reviews and book sales on the first novel in my contract, The Key to Love).

It was hard to move forward in writing a new story when the urge to look backward was so strong (that’ll preach!). I’m still learning, but there’s a newfound freedom and enjoyment with the process for Tacos for Two that I was missing with The Key to Love. Now I’m just going to have fun and not try to control what I can’t control! (y’all pray, though *side-eyes*)

Carrie: oh goodness, that WILL preach!

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.

Betsy: I have a group project currently in the works for a rom-com novella set coming out next spring. The details are still hush-hush while we finalize all the specifics and get cover art together for the big reveal, but it’s going to be incredibly fun and quirky!

I’m excited to team up alongside several other known romance authors to put this boxset together. Stay tuned via my newsletter, Facebook, and my author website for more info!

Carrie: eep! YAY!

Revell is offering a print copy of Tacos for Two by Betsy St Amant to one of my readers! (US/CAN only. 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.

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What about you? What makes you want to read Tacos for Two by Betsy St Amant?