[#Interview + #Giveaway ] Nice Girl to Love by @VioletDukeBooks ~ Reviewing in Chaos

Nice Girl To Love: The Complete Collection

by: Violet Duke

Publication: July 31, 2013

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

The • Nice • Girl n. 1. female of the species who never does anything or anyone bad: Hands-off, she’s a nice girl. 2. the woman that men take home to meet mom: Find my son a ‘nice girl to love.’ SEE ALSO: a good girl; girl scout; Abby Bartlett

This is the complete Nice Girl to Love serial romance collection, which contains: Resisting the Bad Boy (Book One), Falling for the Good Guy (Book Two), and Choosing the Right Man (Book Three).

THE ONE SHE NEVER THOUGHT SHE COULD KEEP…

Abby Bartlett is the quintessential nice girl. Between teaching, volunteering, completing her PhD, and helping her best friend raise his daughter, Abby never gets the chance to be anything but nice. That is, until the all-wrong-for-her man she’s only ever known from afar starts daring her to simply take that chance for herself. His sage advice? Try something wild and fast.  Preferably him.

An unbridled, hotshot attorney with a not-so-little black book, Connor Sullivan has earned himself quite the bad boy reputation. But in his defense, he’s a very conscientious one. He knows far too well that sometimes in life, love isn’t enough…or worse, not even a factor at all. To avoid that misery–and repel the drama–Connor has a firm ‘nothing over a month’ rule.  Who knew a nice girl would be the one to make him want to break all his rules?

THE ONE SHE NEVER HOPED SHE COULD HAVE…

Abby is well aware that everyone thinks she’s in love with her best friend Brian. He is, after all, the type of man a nice girl should be with—the polar opposite of the bad boy—the kind of guy who didn’t let his wife’s decade-long illness stop him from showering her with a lifetime of love every second until her dying day. But everyone’s wrong; she couldn’t possibly be in love with him.  Because she’s never once allowed herself that option.

It’s taken a while but Brian has finally come to terms with surviving the woman he spent half his life loving, a third of it losing. Truth is though, he wouldn’t have ‘survived’ any of it really had it not been for Abby—sweet, incredible Abby—the woman he’s never once had to picture his life without, never realized he couldn’t truly live without. Until now. Now that he’s finally able to love her the way she deserves, the way he knows she wants to be loved…by his brother.  Who’s giving him exactly one chance to speak now or forever hold his peace.

A DECISION SHE NEVER DREAMED SHE’D HAVE TO MAKE…

And now it’s up to Abby to decide between the bad boy wanting to start a life with her and the good guy fighting for the life they’ve already built.

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Interview Q&A with Violet Duke

Personal Questions

Q: Tell us something unusual about yourself.

A: I have a fairly rare brain condition that was actually one of the mystery cases on the show House.

Q: What did you do before becoming a full-time writer?

A: I was a professor of English Education at the University of Hawai‘i. Before that? Hahahaha. I’ve been a hotel tour agent, an athletic trainer (yep that photo with Shaq on my website is real), a school teacher, a legal secretary, a fiscal officer, an editor, a florist, a tuxedo salesperson, a web designer/graphic artist, and a seamstress. *beams*

Q: What’s your poison?

A: Beer and tequila. And yes, I went through extensive training in both at ASU. ;)

Q: In your bio, it says you’re from Hawai‘i. Which island do you live on? Can I come visit?

A: Born and raised! I live on the island of O‘ahu and yesss come visit me!!! One of my favorite things to do is to make friends with folks on the plane ride home and tell them all the best places to go! I love showing off my fair state so hop on over here and say hi!

Q: If you had to write a dating ad for yourself how would it read?

A: Besides, “Don’t mind my husband, he tags along everywhere?” ;) Mine would probably read: “I take my steaks rare (still mooing), my marshmallows well done (charred and on fire), my fish raw (as sashimi), and my poi without sugar (auwe!).”

Q: How would your closest friends describe you?

A: Allergic to the big city. *grin* In fact, they talk about it often. Mostly because in the second year of my PhD program in Arizona, I went off to live in a cabin in the woods. There were exactly three human beings in a ten-mile radius, no hot water, and an outhouse. It was awesome.

Q: What’s something folks would be surprised to learn about you?

A: I’d say they’d be surprised at my music choices. I’ve been a hard core country fan since high school. Lol, back then, I was like an endangered species in Hawai‘i. Aside from that, I have a long standing love of 90’s booty/club music. Seriously, I’m one of those crazy folks you see spastically dancing in their car while driving. Notice how I say that in the present tense… ^_^

Q: Name one of your guilty pleasures.

A: Jack’s two tacos for 99 cents (no judging).

Q: Do you believe in love at first sight?

A: Absolutely. I also believe in love at first talk…as was the case for me and my husband. A former student gave him my number but I refused to be normal and go on a date with him because I was frantically finishing my dissertation at the time. I even refused to meet him in person because I was certain that would distract me beyond saving. So, the stubborn man simply called me every night instead. And in the span of less than a month, we talked on the phone daily and fell hopelessly in love. We got engaged weeks after we finally met in person, and were married a few months later.

Writing/Reading Questions

Q: What are you working on right now?

A: I’m working on the spin-off of the Nice Girl to Love series. It’s a single standalone novel starring the guy that Abby doesn’t choose in the end of the trilogy. I’m head over heels in love with this story. *sigh* And fun trivia—my awesome fans came up with and voted on the heroine’s name in that book!

Q: What’s next on the horizon after the Nice Girl books?

A: My Cactus Creek series—three novels and three novellas set in the fun town of Cactus Creek (which you’ll see little mentions of in the Nice Girl books). The first book (Love, Chocolate, and Beer) will be out January 2014. I had the BEST time doing research for that book! ^_^ In fact, the entire series has involved a lot of research, which I love, and I’ve had a blast outlining the stories so far. They aren’t connected to the Nice Girl books (though I may slip in a few familiar cameos here and there), nor are they serial romances. All the next dozen nor so books I have planned are either standalone novels or novellas.

Q: Who are some of your favorite authors of all time?

A: Judith McNaught and Jude Deveraux were the two ladies who started me on this epic journey of loving all there is about romance. From there, I fell hard and fast for Elizabeth Lowell—I’ve devoured every book she’s ever written.

Q: Is it true you have a book-a-day reading addiction?

A: Yep! Depending on my writing schedule, some days it’s more like two or three books. Though I fought getting an ereader for years (I love holding print books), about two years ago, my hubby got me one and I have since seen an exponential growth in my addiction. LOL.

Q: Describe the method to your madness (in terms of writing).

A: Honestly, my process is more madness than method. My alpha controlling nature requires that I take a ton of notes and do charts and beat sheets to get my story (and brain) organized. From there though, it’s very organic…or maybe Frankensteinian is a better description. :) Often, the story will change dramatically in the final, final editing stage. Those huge changes usually come when I’m ‘in the zone.’ Since I like listening to Japanese music when I’m writing (go figure), apparently, my hubby can tell when I’m in the zone because he says I’ll be clacking away on the keyboard whilst belting out the lyrics. Don’t ask me how my brain can both write in English and sing in Japanese at the same exact time—let’s not poke the monster…I mean muse.

Q: Would you have made the same choice Abby did between the bad boy and the good guy?

A: OMG, I’m not touching that question with a ten-foot pole! (She says while nodding vigorously)

Violet Duke is a former professor of English Education who is ecstatic to now be on the other side of the page writing wickedly fun contemporary romance novels. Besides writing and feeding her book-a-day reading addiction, she can often be found tackling reno projects with her power tools and trying pretty much anything without reading the directions first, or cooking 'special edition' dishes that laugh in the face of recipes. Violet lives in Hawaii with her two cute kids and similarly adorable husband.