Guest Post (and a Giveaway!): Tara Randel & Her Surprise Hometown Match

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Her Surprise Hometown Match by Tara Randel, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I’m delighted to have Tara on the blog today to talk about what reading & writing means to her!

HER SURPRISE HOMETOWN MATCH by Tara Randel
SERIES: The Golden Matchmakers Club #4
GENRE: Contemporary Romance (Clean & Wholesome)
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Heartwarming
RELEASE DATE: February 21, 2023
PAGES: 265

Can she be honest…

With the rodeo cowboy?

Juliette Bishop is living a lie. And she won’t let any man get close enough to discover she’s not the hero Golden residents imagine. But rebellious former rodeo cowboy Ty Pendergrass slips under her radar…and straight into her heart. No stranger to the struggles of shedding a reputation, the daring trick rider could be her perfect match. If she has the courage to come clean with him and her hometown!

USA TODAY Bestselling Author

From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging.

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Other Books in this Series

What Reading and Writing Mean to Me

by Tara Randel, author of Her Surprise Hometown Match

I’m one of those people who grew up reading. I can’t recall when the love started, or the first book I read. But I do remember going to the library in the small town where I grew up and thinking I’d been transported to heaven.

The scent of the paper, the whispers around me, trying to decide on which books to take home without exceeding the limit. To this day, I feel right at home in a library. A true happy place.

And while I love to read any genre, it wasn’t until a friend introduced me to romance novels that I found my place. People might think these books are all the same, but like I told my daughters when they were growing up, it’s all about the journey. How do we get from Point A to Point B and not be a hot mess? The emotions make me cry, laugh, and root for the couple when it looks like all odds are stacked against them.

So, it didn’t come as a surprise when I decided to write a book. To be fair, a co-worker suggested we try writing a book together. I was all in, even though I didn’t have a clue where to start. But I studied the market and then the craft. My friend dropped out, but I was hooked. I was determined to sell a book and honestly, was surprised when I did. I kept at it, collected the rejection slips, kept working on a manuscript and one day…an editor was interested.

As you can imagine, I was thrilled. I even enjoyed the revisions. (Still do to this day.) But after the book was published and I sent in another manuscript, I couldn’t help wondering, could I do it again? Was the first book a fluke? When I got the call from the editor telling me they wanted to buy the second book, I fell to my knees. To me, that meant I was truly a writer. And after that, I never looked back.

I’ve been fortunate to work for a few different publishers. Her Surprise Hometown Match is a Harlequin Heartwarming book. I love this wholesome romance line, which allows me to focus on the emotions of falling in love. It also gives me room to write not only about the couple, but the important people in their lives. As a reader, I love small town romances, so to create my own settings is so much fun, along with the storylines and characters that put my active imagination to use.

I think that being an avid reader from such an early age helped me to believe I could create my own stories, my own worlds and the people who inhabit them. I was lost is so many beautiful stories, I wanted to come up with my own. Now, when I read a book, I not only get caught up in it, but I appreciate all the time and effort that goes into writing a book.

My husband always laughs and asks me, how can you be on the computer all day working on your story, then read a book before going to sleep at night? It’s an easy answer, really. I love books far too much to not read as many as I can in my lifetime. By now, I’ve lost track of how many books I’ve read, but I feel like I’m just picking up my stride. I’ll continue reading, and writing, for as long as I can, enjoying every second along the way.

Tara Randel is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. Family values, a bit of mystery and, of course, love and romance, are her favorite themes, because she believes love is the greatest gift of all. She writes for multiple genres, including romance, mystery and Women’s fiction.

Connect with Tara by visiting tararandel.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

Other Featured Books by Tara Randel

(1) winner will receive an autographed copy of His Small Town Dream as well as Stealing Her Best Friend’s Heart, a bookmark, and a $25 Amazon gift card!

(1) additional winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight March 6, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 13, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

This giveaway is hosted by JustRead Tours, not RimSP
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

What about you? What makes you want to read Her Surprise Hometown Match by Tara Randel?