Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Shelley Shepard Gray & Edgewater Road

I am so delighted today to welcome one of my favorite authors – and one of my favorite people for that matter – to the blog! Please join me in welcoming Shelley Shepard Gray as we chat about her new romance, Edgewater Road!

Shelley Shepard Gray is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of numerous romantic fiction series and mystery novels, including the Seasons of Sugarcreek series, the Sisters of the Heart series, the Families of Honor series, and others. She is the recipient of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award. She has written more than eighty novels, translated into multiple languages. You can find more information at shelleyshepardgray.com.

You can also connect with Shelley on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

EDGEWATER ROAD by Shelley Shepard Gray
SERIES: The Rumors in Ross County #1
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Blackstone Publishing
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2022
PAGES: 289

The first in a new series from New York Times bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray, Edgewater Road invites us into a world of family mysteries, small-town secrets, and perhaps a little romance along the way.

When Jennifer Smiley’s grandmother, Ginny, leaves her an old farmhouse on Edgewater Road in seemingly quiet Ross County, Ohio, Jennifer can’t pass up the opportunity for a new beginning. Almost immediately she meets a group of men who generously help her move in. When she realizes that they work for Lincoln Bennett, her next-door neighbor, she’s intrigued. Lincoln is gorgeous and has dark, lapis-blue eyes she could get lost in … but he doesn’t seem all that friendly. She’s torn between getting to know him and sticking with the solitude she knows so well. Maybe she could let down some of those walls she’s built around her emotions?

Lincoln Bennett likes to keep his head down and get his work done. He’s been to prison and he knows that a lot of folks don’t take kindly to a man with that kind of history. Plus, he’s busy helping other ex-cons get back on their feet. But when he meets Jennifer, he can’t help but feel an instant attraction. Will she be able to look past his unsavory history? Will she be able to accept the men he’s working so hard to help?

While Jennifer gets to know Lincoln and his friends, she also begins to unravel her grandmother’s story, putting together the pieces from scraps of memories and things she finds in her new home. She soon discovers that Ginny Smiley harbored some dark secrets on Edgewater Road—and that those secrets include both Lincoln and her own absent father. Is learning the truth worth the heartache it could bring?

As the weeks pass and she and Lincoln become closer, Jennifer learns there is a lot to uncover in Ross County—wonderful friendships, darling towns … and more than one secret that might be better left buried.

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Hi dear Shelley! Welcome to the blog!

Q: Who is your favorite book character from childhood?

Shelley: I love your bookish questions! It was hard to pick just one to answer, but here you go: One of my favorite book characters from childhood was Nancy Drew. I loved everything about Nancy-including that she always had great hair. 

Carrie: I adored Nancy Drew, too. Still do. I wanted to BE Nancy Drew… Ok, still do, if I’m being honest haha

Q: Which books are “on your nightstand”?

Shelley: I joined Book of the Month Club two years ago to push my reading a bit. So, I’ve got quite a pile from them! The Maid by Nita Prose, A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight, Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (I’ve already read this but couldn’t resist a new hardcover edition), The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata (this is on my kindle), and Death with a Double Edge by Anne Perry. (she’s my preorder go-to author) LOL, I read a lot and I read multiple books at the same time. I also, unfortunately, leave them all over the house. (I have the same problem with my shoes)

Carrie: I tried BOTM Club once but never got any books i loved BUT the ones you mentioned are ones I would have picked, too, so maybe I need to give it another try haha

Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever Googled while researching a book?

Shelley: For Edgewater Road, I Googled all kinds of things about visiting local prisons, so that was rather new. I’m actually a huge fan of blogs and people writing about their jobs. I’ve read blogs from cancer survivors, postal workers, retail employees, and once I spent a whole day reading about ways to make moonshine.

Carrie: I bet all of the research is really fascinating! We are thankful you share it with us in your books 🙂

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

Shelley: I wrote and rewrote Edgewater Road several times. During the third round, I still wasn’t happy with all the secondary characters so I added Wayne, an Amish teenager. That isn’t exactly hidden, but since I don’t consider EDGEWATER ROAD to be an Amish book, it’s definitely something that I think is kind of fun. Now I don’t think the book would be the same without it.

Along those lines…I’m a huge fan of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and I seem to always have my characters either making them or eating them.

Carrie: yes, you always make me hungry for those when I’m reading your books haha. And I loved Wayne – and what we learn about Seth through the addition of Wayne, too. Seth so intrigued me and I really really hope we get his story too!

Q: What is one of your favorite quotes from Edgewater Road & why do you love it?

Shelley: ‘You accepted me as I was, even though I was nothing you ever hoped for.’  I loved this quote because I thought it proved that my hero was actually a hero even though he didn’t seem like it at first. I wrote the scene where this conversation takes place long before I finished the book. I think that’s why it meant so much to me. It gave me hope that these characters really did have a story worth telling. I hope readers will feel the same way!

Carrie: that is such an amazing quote – and Lincoln & Jennifer definitely have a story worth telling!

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.

Shelley: I’ll be celebrating the release of two books in August! The first is COMING HOME from Berkley/Jove. It’s the first book in the Woodland Park Firefighter series that I’m writing for them. It’s a reunion romance featuring a swoony ex-army soldier turned paramedic and firefighter and his former high school girlfriend. The second novel coming out is with the Love Inspired Cold Case series. It’s titled Amish Jane Doe and features a detective returning to Berlin, Ohio to investigate the mysterious murder of an Amish girl.

Shelley Shepard Gray is offering a signed, print copy of Edgewater Road to one of my readers! (US 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 Edgewater Road by Shelley Shepard Gray?