Art-Crossed Love Synopsis:
Can love be more than a four-letter word?
Lissa Blanc is a painter on a mission. She filters the world through a lens of color, line, and form and hides her ambition behind a delicate smirk that lets her critics believe life comes easy. To her, art isn’t what she sees. It’s what she feels. Few know that behind the glitz of a prodigious upbringing, she’s driven to emerge from the shadow of painful memories that insist she’ll never be a renowned talent in her own right.
Cole Rathlen is a photographer on the mend. A crippling grief has stifled his once-rising career and compromised his creative instincts. Knowing he can’t stagnate forever, he seeks a twisted absolution in the form of a woman whose paintings give life to the emotions he won’t let himself imagine, let alone feel.
When the two partner for a prestigious project that will pull them from the mountains of Colorado to the palaces of India, Lissa quickly realizes that more than diverging ideals hinder their search for success and salvation. Was Cole’s life upended by a tragic but unavoidable choice or something more sinister? While Lissa can’t delve into the mystery but not the man, Cole can’t resist a tenacious soul that refuses to leave him chained. As the truth closes in on a project finally sprouting wings, will Lissa sacrifice her chance at success to set Cole free? Or will Cole shrug the chains of lingering regrets to prove that those who love the most, love again.
Libby Rice Bio:
Before becoming a writer, Libby was first a mechanical engineer in the data acquisition industry (voltmeter anyone?). Preferring writing to technical design, Libby headed to law school and eventually practiced patent law for several enterprising years (patent application covering a voltmeter anyone?). Finally realizing that technology just wasn’t her bag, she traded the voltmeters for alpha heroes and the women who love them.
Today, Libby writes contemporary romances from the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where she lives with her husband, a bona fide rocket scientist (he stuck with the voltmeters!). When not writing, Libby loves good food, even better wine, and traveling the world in search of the next great story.
Libby loves hearing from readers! Join the fun at www.libbyrice.com, where you can sign up for Libby’s new-release e-newsletter, or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram.
Buy Links:
Art-Crossed Love:
Love Me Later:
Links:
Is there a message in your novel that you want
readers to grasp?
No matter how difficult or
insurmountable a person’s past, everyone deserves a second chance at love.
Was there an Author who inspired you to write?
So many! I read across
several romance genres and have found several of those talented women
inspiring. As a kid, though, I fell in love with Judith McNaught’s sweeping,
emotional historicals. If I couldn’t be one of her heroines, I wanted to be
her!
How did you come up with the characters in your
books?
With ART-CROSSED LOVE, I
started with the fact that I wanted to write two artists working with different
artistic mediums. Then I conserved the setting and how the back stories I had
in mind would shape each character. Lissa and Cole were born.
What are your current projects?
I’m currently working on
the third installment in my Second Chances series, LOVE DRUNK. Readers following the series will be getting
Trevor Rathlen’s story!
Do you see writing as a career?
Definitely. As a
recovering lawyer, I view writing as a way to not only pay the bills, but be
happy doing it.
Do you ever picture yourself and one of your
heroines? If so, which one?
I’m probably closest to
Scarlet Leore from my debut novel, LOVE ME LATER. Scarlet is a blonde lawyer.
Other than that, we’re very different (at least in my mind), but my readers
tell me they detect similarities!
Do you have a favorite heroine/hero from one of
your books? If so, who?
So far Lissa Blanc from
ART-CROSSED LOVE has been my favorite character to write. Lissa is a
take-no-prisoners jokester with a way of staying positive despite challenging
circumstances. She’s beautiful, but also smart, hilarious, and talented, just
the kind of woman I’d like to have over for cocktails.
What kind of research do you do for your books?
The books in my Second
Chances series have needed a couple different layers of research. First, each
has an overarching theme that has required some leg work in order to master the
details (mergers & acquisitions details in Love Me Later, artistic details
in Art-Crossed Love, wine counterfeiting for Love Drunk). Second, each book
includes a unique travel element. My books only feature places I’ve visited,
and I have to say, that kind of research is almost more fun that writing the
book itself! LOVE ME LATER features NYC and Copenhagen. ART-CROSSED LOVE
features northern Colorado and northern India. LOVE DRUNK will take readers to
Hungary.
What is the hardest part of writing your book?
Crafting realistic, yet compelling, characters. Getting a
scorching attraction down right isn’t easy either.
If you could say
anything to your readers what would it be?
Thanks for reading!
What is your favorite
Genre and why?
Though I write contemporary romance, I love to read
paranormal romance. My guess is that the heroes can be alpha++++ in paranormal
without seeming ridiculous, and I do love me some alpha man!
Do you prefer to
write alone or do you like to collaborate with other authors?
I regularly brainstorm with other authors. But I’m a loner
when it comes to the actual writing—no coffee shops, no malls, no parks. I
don’t even listen to music. Just me, my desk, and silence.
Do you ever get
writer’s block? If so, how do you get through it?
I kind of feel like all of my books have been written
through a perpetual state of writer’s block. Coming up with exactly what I want
to say is a long, arduous process. I enjoy the results once finished, but
getting to the finish line is serious business.
When you are reading
a book, who is your favorite author?
This is a hard question! I love so many! If forced to choose
just one, I’m going to say Kresley Cole. Because she’s a badass.
Do you come up with
the cover or does someone else do it?
I come up with ideas or themes and then work with my
wonderful cover artist to make the visions come to life. I rebranded the Second
Chances series before the release of ART-CROSSED LOVE to go for an edgier,
sexier look that I think matches the underlying story.
If you could change
anything in your writing what would that be?
The writing gods would give me the gift of speed! I write
slowly, and my greatest hope is that I start to gain speed with each book.
What book if any
would you want to be made into a movie?
ART-CROSSED LOVE. Because it’s about art and India, two very
visual concepts that I believe could easily jump from the pages into film.
Who would you want to
play the hero/heroine?
Cole Rathlen would, in my world, be played by Chris
Hemsworth. Because… CHRIS HEMSWORTH. Jennifer Lawrence would play Lissa Blanc.
She’s got the sass to pull it off.
Everyone uses
computers, tablets, phones and no one uses handwritten form or typewriters,
what do you prefer to use?
These days I can barely read my own penmanship. Alas, I use
a computer.
Is there a ritual you
do everything before you begin your book?
So far every book has had a different start. I do start each
day the same before writing: eat breakfast, surf the web (bad, Libby!), check
in on social media, read the news, then write.
What do you do when
you finish your book and turn it in to the editor?
Drink champagne! And then start revving up for the next one.
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