Spend an entire week alone in a private villa with a man I just met on an airport layover? Crazy? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. There was something about Cillian that drew me in from the moment he took the bar stool next to mine. That layover was nothing short of fate, and the fact we each have a plus one to two different weddings, seems like Serendipity. But what happens when the week ends, can we each go back to our separate lives on opposite coasts?
Lisa Chalmers
Give us the one to two sentence tagline for your book.
Only one thing could explain their meeting – Serendipity.
What surprised you the most while writing this book?
Cillian, he really kind of shifted from who he was at the start of the book. He and Jade both take a chance on something they’d really never do otherwise.
Why did you pick the setting you used for your book?
It was the perfect place to go away to a destination wedding, it offered privacy and time away in the private villa Cillian booked, but close enough to the restaurants, bars and main resort to be bumping into the other characters.
What is the sexiest trait of your hero(s)?
I love how he looks after Jade, especially when she has the hangover.
What is your favorite scene/moment in your book?
The getting to know each other scenes early on when they’re out on the deck. They have some great lines back and forth.
What scene did you have to cut but wish could have been included?
There was a scene between Jade and Cillian on her swing at the island that I cut early on.
Tropes get a bad name, but they’re often the biggest draw for readers. What tropes do you love to write and read?
Friends to lovers. Brother’s best friend. Rock stars. Second chance romances. All of those are fun to write.
What are your favorite genres/sub-genres to write in? Are there any you love to read but cannot write in?
I love contemporary and paranormal. I love to read historical, but I don’t think I could write them.
Which do you love to write best: dialogue, setting, action, love scenes, or other?
Dialogue. Sometimes it surprises me what the characters say.
Which do you hate to write: dialogue, setting, action, love scenes, or other?
Setting always gives me the hardest time. I can see the scene while I’m writing but I tend to forget to put everything on the page so I end up layering things in later.
Excerpt from Serendipity
What I was about to say was crazy.
I knew it wholeheartedly.
But I had the idea, and I had to run with it.
Ever since I saw her…and that idiot Frat Boy about to put his arm around her chair and who knows what, I’d decided to rush into the seat beside her. The look I gave him could have likely killed.
Her blue eyes gazed back at me inquisitively. She was toying with the edge of the piece of paper balanced on top of her phone in her hand.
This was crazy.
I’d never done anything like this in my life.
Never would do anything like this in my life…
But…
I took a deep breath. It was now or never, and my heart was beginning to hammer away in my chest like it never had before. We wouldn’t have long before we’d need to join them, but I needed Jade to answer me while I still had nerve. And time. What if she got on that plane and I never had the chance to talk to her again? It could happen. And knowing my life and my luck, it would happen.
Fate would get its kicks putting us together and tearing us apart.
The words spilled out of me as people around us headed towards the gate.
“I have an offer…” I took a deep breath, trying to get the courage to say the words. This was the most unlike me thing I’d ever done in my life, but here we were. “So, the wedding I’m travelling for is on Saturday, too. Seven in the evening with the reception on the beach after. Candles. The works. Long story, I have a plus one.”
Jade’s eyes widened, and I was pretty sure she gasped.
“Me, too.”
Then she giggled because I groaned and she realized how hard I was working to get this out. I’d never done anything like this, take chances.
The only chances I took were business-related, chances where I was sure I had a good idea of the outcome.
But this one seemed safe.
A week.
And if it didn’t work out, so what?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
She had a safety net. And so did I.
“Go to the wedding with me. I’ll go to your wedding with you.”
Lisa Chalmers has always loved a good story.
When she’s not in front of her keyboard, she loves listening to music, watching paranormal TV shows, old movies, and bingeing her latest favorite series online.
Ellen Mint Books 