When Jules meets Roman Verona at an exclusive Vegas party, she doesn’t suspect the bad blood that runs so deep between Roman and her boyfriend, Ty, until the two men have it out in front of her. Even worse, Jules finds out that Ty has never loved her. She storms away, only to have her ex’s sworn enemy offer her a ride into town... as well as a shocking proposal.A nice girl wouldn’t even consider making her ex jealous with a sham marriage, so why does she chance it with Roman?
Acting the role of devoted husband, Roman soon becomes fascinated with more than Jules’s sweet smile and poetic soul. As her band’s fame grows in Vegas so do his feelings for her and what started out as revenge against his miserable cousin turns into something deeper.
But bad boys don’t settle down. So why does Roman risk everything to win Jules’ heart?
All bets are off in this modern and sleek tale of star-crossed love!
Stephanie Fowers loves bringing stories to life, and depending on her latest madcap ideas will do it through written word, song, and/ or film.
She absolutely adores Bollywood and bonnet movies; i.e., Jane Austen.
Presently, she lives in Salt Lake where she's living the life of the starving artist.
She absolutely adores Bollywood and bonnet movies; i.e., Jane Austen.
Presently, she lives in Salt Lake where she's living the life of the starving artist.
5 Out of 5 Stars
I wasn't sure if I would like this book as I am kind of worn out with Contemporary Romance right now. However I really enjoyed it, so much so that I got another one of her books to read.
The story in and of itself isn't full of surprises, the Drama was minimal (thank goodness, I hate excessive drama) and the plot was fairly predictable. Yet with that I found this to be the perfect book to read during a rainy afternoon. It was a very fast read and the writing was enjoyable and pulled you into the story. There wasn't swearing, sex, or anything else like that. It was a completely clean read even to the point there was minimal kissing. But it was still a great easy to read romance.
Author Interview With Stephanie Fowers
1 - Tell us about your writing - What genre do you prefer to write? What books, stories, other publications that you've written are your personal favorites? Anything new coming up?
I started out writing fantasy, of all things. I turned to writing romance while I was at college because dating was sooo MUCH stranger than fantasy! I've written everything from screenplays, articles for magazines, epic historicals, dystopian, and romance, lots and lots of romance. I write romantic comedy, romantic suspense, romantic mystery and just plain romantic romance. "Roman and Jules" is a simple romance. I based it off Romeo and Juliet... with the ending I've always wanted for the story.
2 - What about you as a person? What do you do to relax? Favorite movies or tv shows? Hobbies?
I love to hike and exercise and just recently have taken up dogwalking my friend's two hulking labradoodles. They've forced me to run lately, and they've even "encouraged" me to take up trail running. Of course, that's caused more than my share of owies, but I sincerely enjoy it and I'm willing to chance the risk for the fun experience of breathing in good mountain air. I love bingewatching documentaries, and the Bachelor is fascinating because of all that dating psychology going on--I swear some of those girls have stockholm syndrome. I feel like a lot of what I watch is used for research. I just finished writing a fireman book and everything I watched HAD to have a fireman in it. I'm looking forward to broadening my horizons now! My guilty pleasure is scary movies, but I think it's because there is just so much emotion and characterization going on. Nothing gets me more attached to a character than rooting for them to stay alive.
3 - What gets your creative juices going? Do you write to a music, and do you want to share your playlist?
I have plenty of playlists on Spotify. I make one for each book I write. Some are more in depth than others, but you can follow me on spotify to see what I listen to. Here's my playlist for Roman and Jules: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4p41uOiM45dTbfobLIge4k?si=2RuzqxzEQoG9xgW1NG2nMA. It's like a 7 hour playlist so be prepared! And yes, I DEFINITELY listen to music when I write. Sometimes it will be the playlist that I've put together for my book, and then at other times, if I need to concentrate a little harder, it will be music with no words like classical or ambient forest noises or something.
4 - "All writers must have cats, especially if they write fantasy or speculative fiction." Do you have a stand on this one? Any cute pictures of your kitty or other pet?
I WISH I had a pet! Everyone in my family is allergic, especially my mother who lives with us. She's got some respiratory problems BUT, I do cheat sometimes since I'm not allergic to dogs. Like I said, I walk my friend's dogs on a regular basis and just recently another friend who has a labradoodle too (go figure!) just asked me to help her deliver her puppies. And so I did! That was a week ago--it was a long labor. The first stage of labor is 24 hours, which we had NO idea would be so long. As soon as it started happening at 5 o'clock in the morning, my friend called me over. I drove over and that was a long day of trying to make the momma comfortable and watching reality TV (I felt like a guy watching the football game while his wife was in labor). The noise disturbed the momma and once we figured that out, my friend and I shared her wireless earphones that she got for Christmas. It was magical. Night came and still there were no babies. So my friend took the couch near the momma and I took the couch downstairs.
I don't think my friend got ANY sleep. She kept walking through the living room where I was sleeping to take the momma outside who kept barking at her because she thought she needed to "use the facilities" outside. So finally I woke up and told my friend to go to her room and try to get some sleep. She gratefully headed to bed, and I turned around and saw the momma was missing. She was back outside! I somehow convinced her to come back into the house and she tried to take the couch where I was supposed to be sleeping. When I tried to get her back into her whelping box, she growled at me. Not knowing what to do, I counted to five like I would to my nieces and nephews and she jumped off and got into her whelping box, but she was shaking so bad and I felt horrible. I thought, "Oh no! It must be cold outside!" So I threw a blanket around the dog and kneaded her shoulders trying to get her warm again. And then she started to bear down and I was thinking, "Oh dear! She's in labor." But my friend had been so tired that I didn't dare wake her up. There was a lot of consulting my phone to figure out what was normal. I was at the point where I was thinking that maybe we should just give up and take her to the vet, and as I was doing so, I heard a tiny baby sound and looked and the first puppy had come into this world. I ran to get my friend, and there was a lot of consulting our phones after that to see if it was normal for the momma to lick the baby so flat (it was), and then after that, how to help the baby to eat. Not soon after, the second (and last) one was born (the ultrasound had only shown two in the litter) and the whole process of licking and getting the baby to eat started again! Anyway, it was quite the adventure! If I could have any pet in the world, it would be one of these puppies!
*I attached the pic of me and the puppies and my niece and nephew*
5 - What organizations do you recommend for those wanting to become writers? Any advice you'd like to share about writing?
I've been a part of storymakers for years! http://ldstorymakersconference.com/ They hold a writing conference every year that I think is so educational. It's a great way to hone your craft, learn about marking, and network with other authors. It's really important to connect with other authors in the business--both to mentor and to be mentored and back and forth. I helped mentor an author who in turn mentored me years later, so I'm serious when I say that what goes around, comes around. Don't ever be stingy about helping other authors. Sometimes you might be tempted to think of them as competition, but no! It doesn't work that way at all. Authors can only write so much and readers always want to find a good book, so we authors recommend each other to our readers all the time. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it's smart too. Everyone has some sort of experience or connection that you don't have.
As for advice about writing--there are a few things that I'd like to share. First of all, treat it like you would any goal or profession. Use the techniques that work best for you--like checklists, breaking down the goal into manageable chunks, making deadlines, setting aside specific times, accountability partners, rewards, alarms, breaks, planning sessions, etc. Another thing you should do is to throw away your inner editor while you're writing your rough draft. If you want what you write to be perfect then you will be tempted to not write anything at all. Just remember that everyone's rough draft looks horrible. Just accept that and get something down on paper. You can fix it later. Get lost in the writing flow and find ways to enjoy the work. Remember what drew you to writing in the first place and revisit that often. In order for me to get really into the writing flow, I need to set alarms. After awhile, I'll be super into the project and I won't need that help. And finally, keep a writing journal. Write in it every time you get distracted, lose hope, feel frustrated, etc. That way you can start to see patterns in your writing. I've recently found out that it's normal for me to be distracted by EVERY LITTLE thing when I first start the rough draft of a project, and that about midway I start to feel hopeless like no one will ever like it. I feel panic every time I get my edits back because I feel overwhelmed and I try to postpone working on them. This is helpful for me to know because I'm not surprised every time. I can start saying things in my writing journal, like, "This is normal. Don't worry, you were afraid it was a horrible book and then people liked it, etc".I can try to work out why I'm stuck in certain parts in my story and even problem solve my ways out of those situations. I find it super helpful!
And FINALLY, if you're someone who likes to write, I want to remind you that there was a reason you wanted to write. You might do it for the joy of it, because it's a great outlet and it makes you feel good; you're creative and you love to build worlds and stories and characters; maybe you like bringing meaning to the world and exploring different themes; it could be something else. Whatever the reason, don't let anything or anyone take that away from you--bad reviews, financial problems, time constraints, fears, disorganization, stress or difficulties. Find ways to get around those things. Don't give up because at one point you thought this thing you cared about was really important, and spoiler alert--it still is!
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