Guest Author: Carlene Love Flores

Hello and welcome author Carlene Love Flores whose book SIDEWALK FLOWER recently released from Evernight Publishing.

AR: Tell me about this story? 
CLF: In Sidewalk Flower, a jaded young woman sets out on an intense road trip home to deal with her past when she is asked to allow a relative stranger to tag along.

But, she’s seen too many good guys succumb to the harsh realities of her supposed privileged life in the music business and intends on keeping her distance.

When she picks up Lucky, the southern gentleman cousin of her selfish best friend, she has absolutely no idea of how to accept a perfectly good person with good intentions. Home has never looked so good, or felt so far away.

 AR: Who is your heroine and what are some of the conflicts she faces?

CLF: Trista Hart is the heroine of the story. She’s the personal assistant to her best friend, Jaxon and his band, Sin Pointe. But when Jaxon lets her down and cancels on a trip they were to take together to deal with her past, she is forced to question the blind loyalty and devotion she has to the guys. When Jaxon’s quick fix is to saddle her with his cousin for the trip, she’s torn between wanting to take her anger for Jaxon out on Lucky and fighting the immediate attraction to him. When Lucky falls for her too and wants to become part of her world, she worries that he’ll only be hurt if she invites him in. After all, she was kind of hoping he might be her escape from life with the band. Trista’s got great instincts, she just has a bad habit of not listening to them.     

AR: Who is the hero and what conflicts does he face?

CLF: Lucky Mason is the hero of the story. He’s a simple, humble man from Tennessee who lives on his father’s land and works at the family woodworking business. He’s looking to expand his horizons so when his cousin Jaxon invites him for a visit to California via a ride with Trista Hart, Jaxon’s assistant, Lucky can’t believe his luck. She’s gorgeous and a firecracker. But when he accompanies her to her childhood home, he sees how badly his cousin has let her down by not coming on this trip and his main priority becomes to do better by her. Unfortunately, it becomes clear she’s not too thrilled he’s tagging along, even though she’s into him on some level. Once they make it to California, Lucky realizes just how deep Trista is in with the band and how impossible it’s going to be for him to compete with rock stars. He’s got to figure out quickly if a girl who has seen the worst of people can accept the goodness he’s offering her and then decide just how much of her current lifestyle he’s willing to put up with while she comes around.

 AR: Where did you get the idea for this story or series? Who or what was your inspiration? 

CLF: What I love about this story is that it came to me over many, many years. I had been thinking of Trista for as long as I can remember, probably since I was in my twenties. She was always there with me, even before I ever thought of writing my stories down. Then about six years ago, I had the great fortune to take an in-depth backstage tour with the security manager for one of my favorite bands. Seeing how very down to earth and normal the entire crew was really left an impression on me and I sort of knew that Trista belonged in a world like that. But I could never find a hero strong enough to deal with the darker parts of her life. I would write her a hero here and there but she didn’t like any of them. Then a couple years later, I was watching a popular singing competition show and there was one contestant who was constantly told how he lacked everything one needed to be successful in the business and he impressed me because he stood up there and took their criticism, stuck to his guns, did his thing, and ended up being very successful. It was then that I knew Trista’s hero would have to be just like that. Tough but humble. And very patient. ;) 

AR: As a reader, what kind of books do you like to read?

CLF: The books I enjoy reading are the ones that have that dark, intense quality to them. I love a happy ending, but I feel closer to stories where the characters have to sacrifice and fight for it. Some of my favorite books are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series.    

BUY SIDEWALK FLOWER

Contact Carlene:

Website & Blog: http://carlenelove.com/

Group Blog: http://waterworldmermaids.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/cloveflores  or @cloveflores

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/carlene.l.flores  or Carlene Love Flores