Smart & Savvy with Stephanie: Blog Tour Q&A and Giveaway - Once In A Life Time by Jill Shalvis

So excited to be a part of the blog tour for Jill Shalvis' Once In A Lifetime. We've got a Q&A, excerpt and giveaway for you.

Q&A with Jill Shalvis

Ben’s a bit lost at the beginning of the book, unsure of what he wants to do with his life. Did you always have his story—and how it would end—in mind?

I did. Every once in awhile, I really enjoy torturing a hero to the end. :)

Your main character Aubrey is remodeling her aunt’s bookstore so it can be a haven for other booklovers as it was for her when she was younger. Did you have a special place growing up (or do you have one now?) where you love to read?

I always had a soft spot for bookstores. And libraries. They were my special hideaway haven. I really went back and forth on using a bookstore in today’s day and age, but in the end, I wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite places on earth. :)

What scene did you have the most fun writing?

Oh I have quite a few from this book! When Aubrey throws her drink in Ben’s face, when she runs and hides out in an AA meeting and makes friends with the pastor, when Ben figures out she’s writing a list of people she’s wronged and he wonders that it’s not a lot longer than it is, when Aubrey gets a little tipsy and throws rocks at Ben’s window like a scene right out of the Say Anything movie …

What’s the most interesting way you got around a plot problem?

I wrote myself into a corner in Once In A Lifetime, twice. I wrote XX happens here and it will be brilliant and funny. And then I accidentally left that in when I sent it to my editor. I’m sure she wasn’t as amused as I was.

What can your fans look forward to next in the Lucky Harbor series?

Next up is a Lucky Harbor trilogy for this coming summer and fall, It’s In His Kiss, He’s So Fine, and Once In A Million, the stories of the three sexy hot guys who run Lucky Harbor Charters.

SOMETIMES WRONG IS OH-SO-RIGHT

After a wrenching loss, Ben McDaniel tried to escape his grief by working in dangerous, war-torn places like Africa and the Middle East. Now he's back in his hometown and face-to-face with Aubrey Wellington, the hot-as-hell woman who is trouble with a capital T. Family and friends insist she's not the one to ease his pain, but Aubrey sparks an intense desire that gives Ben hope for the future.

Determined to right the wrongs of her past, Aubrey is working hard to make amends. But by far, the toughest challenge to her plan is sexy, brooding Ben - even though he has absolutely no idea what she's done . . .

Can this unlikely couple defy the odds and win over the little town of Lucky Harbor?

Aubrey got a look at the man she’d inadvertently drenched and stopped breathing. Oh, God. Had she really thought her day couldn’t get any worse? Why would she tempt fate by even thinking that? Because of course things had gotten worse. They always did.

Ben McDaniel slowly stood up from his barstool, dripping vodka from his hair, eyelashes, nose… He was six feet plus of hard muscles and brute strength on a body that didn’t carry a single extra ounce of fat on him. For the past five years, he’d been in and out of a variety of Third World countries designing and building water systems with the Army Corp of Engineers. His last venture had been for the Department of Defense in Iraq, which Aubrey only knew because Lucky Harbor’s Facebook page was good as gospel.

He swiped his face with his arm, deceptively chill and laid-back.

In truth, he was about as badass as they came.

Aubrey should know, she’d seen him in action. But she managed to meet his gaze. Cool, casual even. One had to be with Ben, the man could spot a weakness a mile away. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Are you?”

She felt herself flush. He’d always seemed to see right through her. And she was pretty sure he’d never cared for her. He had good reason for that, she reminded herself. He just didn’t know the half of it. “Yes, I am sorry,” she said. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was surprised she could hear herself speak. “Are you okay?”

He ran his fingers through a sexy disorder of sun-streaked brown hair. His eyes were the same color, light milk chocolate marbled with gold caramel. It was hard to make such a warm-colored gaze seem hard, but Ben managed it with no effort at all. “Need to work on your aim,” he said.

I love Jill Shalvis. I love her books. I love her Lucky Harbor series and all the yummy heroes, especially Sawyer Thompson from Head Over Heels (Book 3 in the series). Then I met Ben McDaniel. He's definitely giving Sawyer a run for his money as my favorite Lucky Harbor hero. Once In A Lifetime is such a great read! Aubrey is a feisty character with a tough exterior, but underneath she is vulnerable and battling her own insecurities and trying to make up for actions in her childhood. She calls to Ben on a level that he is determined to ignore because of the loss in his past. Throw in two adorably precocious redheads, some sexy fun and Ms. Shalvis gives us a story that I couldn't put down. I look forward to my next visit to Lucky Harbor!

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.