How do you Read a Series? by Fiona Lowe

My first series is completely out in the world! Runaway Groom, book three of the Wedding Fever series of books (Carina Press) was released last Monday. All three books are set in the fictitious but loveable town of Whitetail, Wisconsin; a small town with a big heart. A small town with a cast of characters who, over the three books have had their story told. Oh how I have loved spending time  in Whitetail and I'm a bit sad to leave it!

My long contemporary novels (99,000 words) always feature a primary and a secondary romance ... a two for one deal ;-) so I was able to give the wedding planner, the dress shop owner and the cake decorator their own HEAs!

Saved By the Bride introduces Whitetail, a town on the verge of collapse and the townsfolk who truly believe that a wedding business is going to save them. All the town people you meet in the first book have their stories told in Picture Perfect Wedding and Runaway Groom.

You know how you do something so you assume everyone else does it the same way? Well, I got a surprise with this series. When I read a series, I read it as the books are released. However, I have discovered that many of you like to wait until all of the books in the series are released so you can read them bang, bang bang. Who knew? ;-)

So for all of you who have been waiting  to do just that with Wedding Fever, now is the time!

I'd love to know how you read a series....

So what are the Wedding Fever books about?

Saved by The Bride (Bk 1)

Welcome to Whitetail, Wisconsin, future home of Weddings that WOW! 

As acting mayor, Annika will do anything to revive the economy of the town that's been her refuge ever since her art career imploded and her fiancé walked out. Even if it means crashing an engagement party to talk business with the bride's billionaire father. But the evening starts with a kiss from a gorgeous stranger—and ends with a night in jail.

Finn Callahan can't believe his sister is getting married, not after their parents' disastrous track record. And he'd rather be anywhere than working from his family's vacation home. Until he catches a leggy blonde sneaking in the window, and suddenly telecommuting for the season is very appealing.

Unable to resist their mutual attraction, Annika and Finn are soon mixing business and pleasure—just for the summer. Too bad Annika's heart missed the memo about not falling in love…

Book one of Wedding Fever.

99,000 words

Picture Perfect Wedding (Bk 2)

Erin Davis will do whatever it takes to be the photographer for high-end brides. So what if capturing the moments of people's lives means she has no time for her own. Nothing will get between her and the security she craves, not even the gorgeous farmer refusing to let her shoot in his sunflowers.

His family has always been tied to the land, but lately Luke Anderson feels more like he's chained. While he ponders his future, he still has cows to milk and no time to deal with Erin or Bridezillas in his fields. Yet there's something about the sexy city girl he can't say no to. So he says yes: just this once.

With the town in need of a photographer, Erin agrees to spend wedding season in Whitetail. The sparks flying between her and Luke quickly ignite, but just as Erin starts to picture her own happy ending, Luke takes a gamble that could risk it all…

100,000 words



Runaway Groom (Bk 3)

Amy Sagar's life is in ruins. Fired from her fast-track job and dumped by her double-crossing

boyfriend, she retreats to Whitetail, Wisconsin, to lick her wounds and regroup. Meeting an impossible, sexy Australian isn't part of her strategy for getting back on track.
Ben Armytage is running away. After being left at the altar and publicly humiliated, he's taking his vintage motorcycle on an extended road trip from Argentina to Alaska. Having his journey interrupted by a breakdown and sharing a house with a curvy, redheaded lawyer in a town obsessed with weddings was never on his itinerary.
Though being stuck in a luxury log cabin isn't really a hardship, living together with their broken hearts isn't easy. When the attraction between Amy and Ben proves unstoppable, they'll both begin rethinking their plans…

99,000 words

I hope you enjoy spending time in Whitetail and getting to know everyone :-)

Fiona Lowe is a RITA^® and R*BY award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press and in January 2015, Berkley Publishing USA>  Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. You can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Re-entering Reality by Fiona Lowe

I've just got back fro 19 days in France! C'est tres fantastique! You have to hand it to the French; they have style and, man, can they cook! From the top end restaurants in Paris to the small family-run brasseries in the provinces, the food was phenomenal. I have waddled home, sadly to my own cooking!

Re-entering real life post vacation is always a challenge. We travelled light so the bags are unpacked and the laundry is under control but my brain is still in France. Here are a few of the photos so you understand.

The Canal du Midi between Castlenaudary & Carrcassonne

Cookies & Chocolates in Montemarte

Saint Cecile Cathedrral in Albi..the Cathars Crusade

Renaissance buildings in Albi 

Chaud Chocolat in style!

I could go on (my husband took 1300 photos in 19 days) but I'll stop! As you can imagine, my mind keeps wandering back to these adventures rather than the prosaic of real life!  However, I am a person for looking forward, not backwards and November is coming. My eldest son is returning home from university/college next week and November means books are being released!

My next Harlequin medical romance is out on November 1st! This is the third book in the Gold Coast Angel's series and I

had a lot of angst as well as fun writing Bundle of Trouble. Married to his long time girlfriend and dad to baby Amber, Luke Stanley was at the top of his field as a plastic surgeon. Life was good and he never expected it to change in a heartbeat. But life can do that to you and suddenly,  Luke's adrift and it's only his daughter that is keeping him going. 

Writing about grief is emotionally draining but the flip side to it is giving people hope. Not just my characters but perhaps readers who are struggling. I hope you enjoy Luke and Chloe's story as they both learn life can give you second chances at happiness if you're open to taking the risk. Set on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queenland, Australia, it's filled with sun-drenched beaches and glorious, lush rainforests. It's available at Harlequin and all other eBook retailers.

For those of you looking for a short-story, the perfect length before turning out the light, then On The Road Again is just the thing. It's a reunion story. Can two people forgive and move beyond past hurts? Set on a 9 day cycling vacation (yes, I used the ride as inspiration) it also features a hot doc, a high-powered motor cycle and lots of fun.
You can grab it at Smashwords and Amazon and soon all other ebook retailers.

Of course I have a my Wedding Fever trilogy for fun and laughs and the occasional tears in Saved By The Bride and Picture Perfect Wedding. It's the perfect time to grab them in preparation for the final book, Runaway Groom which is out in January!

Meanwhile, anyone been to France? I'd love to hear your favourite French stories to help me ease into real life again!


Fiona Lowe is a RITA^® and R*BY award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. You can find her at herwebsite, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Writing a Trilogy by Fiona Lowe

My desk is a big mess and right now my brain is too! I'm writing the final book in my Wedding Fever trilogy, Runaway Groom and I have spread sheet failure. The first book,  Saved By The Bride , which is on sale right now was written back in 2011. Book two, Picture Perfect Wedding , I wrote in 2012 and it's been been fully edited and proofed and has gone to production but did I record every minor character's name, occupation on my spread sheet? I meant to! Sadly, I did not.  Thank goodness for the Find facility on Word, but oh, how much easier it would have been if I had been better organized.

I've loved creating Whitetail, Wisconsin and casting it. All the characters we meet on the opening pages of Saved By The Bride, end up having their stories told in the three books and each book has two significant romances in it!

If you enjoyed Stars Hollow on The Gilmore Girls, then you'll love Whitetail. It's nestled on a pristine, north woods lake and everyone has an opinion on how best to save the town from financial ruin and they're not backward in coming forward.

Writing the town meetings was lots of fun. Anyone who has served on a committee knows how hard it can be to keep a group focused on the main goal without allowing them to become bogged down in semantics. Annika, my heroine in Saved By The Bride, finds this particularly challenging. I think I channelled all my frustrations of being on a school carnival committee into some of the dialogue!

Do you have any stories about being a volunteer or being on a committee?

Here's the blurb on Saved By The Bride and just in case you missed the book trailer last month, I've popped it below.

Welcome to Whitetail, Wisconsin, future home of Weddings that WOW!

As acting mayor, Annika will do anything to revive the economy of the town that's been her refuge ever since her art career imploded and her fiancé walked out. Even if it means crashing an engagement party to talk business with the bride's billionaire father. But the evening starts with a kiss from a gorgeous stranger—and ends with a night in jail.

Finn Callahan can't believe his sister is getting married, not after their parents' disastrous track record. And he'd rather be anywhere than working from his family's vacation home. Until he catches a leggy blonde sneaking in the window, and suddenly telecommuting for the season is very appealing.

Unable to resist their mutual attraction, Annika and Finn are soon mixing business and pleasure—just for the summer. Too bad Annika's heart missed the memo about not falling in love…

Book one of Wedding Fever.

99,000 words

Read Reviews here!

;

Saved By the Bride is available from Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Carina Press, Kobo  iBooks, and all other eBook retailers.

Fiona Lowe is a RITA^® and R*BY award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. You can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads where she'd love you to say, "HI".

Still on Island Time

I'm late! So sorry about that. I'm blaming it on island time. I've spent a week in Fiji and time there is very flexible and relaxed and I didn't have to know the date or the time....just the directions to the hammock.

Spending a week out of the normal routine is so important in our busy lives. We shut out the real world- no news, no phone, no internet. It was fabulous, however re-entry to the world isn't without stress.

I was so relaxed my brain emptied. Passwords? Um, I forgot. Appointments? I forgot. As for what my characters were doing when I left them in my manuscript, well, I have totally forgotten. I'm having to re-read what I've written to get back into the story.

But time waits for no man once you've left Fiji. I have a big ten days coming up. My eldest son is turning 18...a big deal in Australia as that is the age one can legally drive, drink and vote. I am also packing for my trip to the USA. YAY!


 I'm so excited to be a RITA nominee with my contemporary romance, Boomerang Bride and to be  attending the Romance Writers of America's conference in Anaheim. I will be signing at the Literacy Book Signing on Wednesday July 25th at table 200.


If you're coming, 
please do call 
by. I will have Tim Tams (world's best chocolate biscuits) and some cute Australian give-aways (Bribe, Bribe) ;-)

I'll be signing Boomerang Bride and my recent Harlequin Medical Romance, Letting Go with Dr Rodriguez. If you love a sexy polo player than Marco is for you ;-)


While I was in Fji, I was fortunate to be able to visit the Nadi Library and talk with the staff and teachers from local schools. I did a book signing and they made me this most amazing Lei. How lucky was I?

Where have you been on vacation where you had a total relax?

Fiona Lowe is an award-winning, multi-published author with Harlequin and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or in the mid-west of the USA, they feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she's not writing stories, she's a weekend wife, mother of two 'ginger' teenage boys, guardian of 80 rose bushes and often found collapsed on the couch with wine. A current RITA & RuBY nominee, you can find her at her website, facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Family Traditions

My youngest son turned 13 recently. He's a teen! This is a good thing; really, it is ;-) and it's a milestone that needs acknowledging because he's entering a new phase of his life.

I'm big on celebrating significant events. Both my boys had 'naming' celebrations when they were born and every birthday is celebrated but this one, like 18 and 21, needs a bit more fanfare. I call them the 'rite of passage' birthdays. I'm also big on celebrating the little things and inventing little traditions that frame our lives. Like family games night and squish-on-the-couch movie night.

Our tradition for turning 13 is a meal at a silver-service restaurant- you know the type...no kids menu :-) We chose a restaurant in the country, nestled between a vineyard and an olive grove and where the art of the grounds and inside the restaurant is as amazing as the food. This suited Boy Wonder down to the ground as he's got a great eye art and he's especially loves buildings. He got a total kick out of the new wine-tasting building. Isn't it awesome? A building built on it's side, complete with stumps sticking out:-) 

Sculpture abounds and everywhere you turn you see something new that your gaze missed the first time; like the wire sculpture next to the water tank of the man fishing, complete with a fish on his hook and a glass of wine in his hand. Humor and whimsy is everywhere and after a three course lunch we enjoyed wandering around the gardens and walking off the food:-)

I guess because family traditions are important to me, it's why they often end up in my books. In Boomerang Bride, I gave tradition a bit of a wicked twist because in life, not all traditions are necessarily good!  Matilda grew up in a family where the tradition/belief was that the Geoffrey women travelled across the world for love. This ended up getting her in a bit of hot water and it's why the book opens with Matilda in small town Wisconsin, wearing a wedding dress, holding a cake, but missing a groom.

Do you have family traditions? Good ones, bad ones? I'm all ears.

Fiona Lowe writes stories set in small towns with big hearts. Whether they're set in small town USA or outback Australia, the one thing they have in common is a happy ever after that will make you sigh. For all the goss on her latest releases, and where to find her on the 'net, check out her website. Boomerang Bride and Career Girl in the Country are out now.