Spotlight -- Deirdre Riordan Hall
Deirdre Riordan Hall is the author of the new adult contemporary novel, To the Sea.
Deirdre studied at George Washington University. She enjoys writing, reading, surfing, and yoga. One of the best things about those activities is they're all done barefoot. Although she loves shoes, she doesn't like to wear them.
Deirdre writes upper young adult and new adult fiction. She spends her days with her family, at the custom-made desk her husband crafted—writing (what else?) or seaside, pretending she's a mermaid.
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Excerpt from "To the Sea"
“I’d like a coffee, just milk please.”
“And one of these babies,” Jamie said pointing to the gooey plate of giant cinnamon buns.
He stretched his arms overhead while they waited for the order, revealing the toned line of his waist and abs. She practically drooled and not over the melted glaze drizzle on the cinnamon confection.
Kira, her body exhausted from being in the waves, welcomed the chair Jamie pulled out at a vacant table. When he joined her, the sleeves of his t-shirt hugging his upper arms and the eager expression on his lips, caused something primal and long dormant or never quite conscious to begin with, to awaken within her.
“So Kira, what brings you here, this time of year? We usually get the beach babes in the summer months.” He said the words as if they were the most normal thing in the world. Like beach babes were the same as kittens or apples.
Kira wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t feel the same connection to Jamie as she did to Ian, she felt like she could be herself with the latter. Both were intense. But with Jamie, it was different; there was attraction, but the kind that left her tongue-tied. She wasn’t sure he’d understand her vague explanation.
“I wanted to try something new, I guess.”
“You came to the right place. I just got back from Costa Rica. The swell was up so I flew down there for a couple. It was really going off. You have to do it while you can, yanno? You just never know when the waves will be flat or when your number might be up.”
“Too true.”
Jamie pulled a chunk off the cinnamon roll. “Delicious. Have a bite.”
Kira took a length of the coiled roll. He smiled flirtatiously at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he sipped his coffee.
“You know they say cinnamon is an aphrodisiac.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Kira said candidly.
“You’ve got something, there,” he reached over and wiped a crumb off her lip then licked his finger. A hot flame ignited within her. She pressed her lips together in the place he’d just touched, and she felt a deep longing sizzling inside her.
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Follow Your Bliss Series
To The Sea
Fresh out of college and newly married, twenty-something Kira plans the perfect future with a house in the suburbs, ski getaways, and fancy dinners. When her husband Jeremy dies in a car accident, loss casts her adrift, but her heart cracks wide open when she uncovers the secrets he left behind.
Despite her dislike for the ocean with the whipping wind and itchy sand, Kira seeks solace in salt: tears, sweat, and the sea, helping her move beyond the myth of perfection, and guiding her toward the truth of who she really is.
She takes surf lessons to overcome her fear of the water and her well of grief. In the local surf scene, she meets sultry Jamie, with a hot Australian accent. He’s eager to spend time with her, but mostly between the sheets. Then there’s soulful Ian, her surf instructor, who helps her get on her feet and ride the waves.
During a transformative trip to South Africa on surfari, she learns the best way to be loved, yet when she returns to the shores of New England, grief continues to haunt her. She must let go, but how? Torn between the tides, Kira discovers strength and courage, navigates loss, lust, and love, taking readers along for the plunge.
Surfaced
By eighteen, Jamie Burke was a pro surfer capturing the hearts of surf fans everywhere.
By twenty, he broke just as many hearts trading his prowess on the waves for sultry nights spent between the sheets.
By twenty-two, he lamented losing the woman who changed him. Then he disappeared.
When Jamie surfaces in his hometown in Australia, he discovers his high school sweetheart has moved on, but that doesn’t stop him from believing that she’s the one. He’ll do whatever is necessary to win her back, even compete in a surf-off against tough Mik Tanaka, aka Tank.
Awash on the shore, Jamie also finds pieces of his broken family—a father who took off, his disappointed mother, and a brother who has a secret—it’s up to him to help put them back together. As he reunites with familiar faces, rallying around him, he might just have to redefine what family means.
Jamie spent years chasing a dream all over the world and doesn’t expect the waves to carry him right back to where he started. Only he can claim the treasures his return home by the sea offers: love, family, and truth. But as he fights temptation, sinks to the depths of despair, and struggles to open up, his biggest adventure will be dropping anchor.
***
This fresh follow-up novella, for the new adult novel To the Sea, takes readers back to the beach with Kira’s hot fling, Jamie. Book Two in the Follow your Bliss Series, Surfaced can be read after To the Sea or as a stand-alone, quick beach read filled with romance, surfing, and transformation.
By twenty, he broke just as many hearts trading his prowess on the waves for sultry nights spent between the sheets.
By twenty-two, he lamented losing the woman who changed him. Then he disappeared.
When Jamie surfaces in his hometown in Australia, he discovers his high school sweetheart has moved on, but that doesn’t stop him from believing that she’s the one. He’ll do whatever is necessary to win her back, even compete in a surf-off against tough Mik Tanaka, aka Tank.
Awash on the shore, Jamie also finds pieces of his broken family—a father who took off, his disappointed mother, and a brother who has a secret—it’s up to him to help put them back together. As he reunites with familiar faces, rallying around him, he might just have to redefine what family means.
Jamie spent years chasing a dream all over the world and doesn’t expect the waves to carry him right back to where he started. Only he can claim the treasures his return home by the sea offers: love, family, and truth. But as he fights temptation, sinks to the depths of despair, and struggles to open up, his biggest adventure will be dropping anchor.
***
This fresh follow-up novella, for the new adult novel To the Sea, takes readers back to the beach with Kira’s hot fling, Jamie. Book Two in the Follow your Bliss Series, Surfaced can be read after To the Sea or as a stand-alone, quick beach read filled with romance, surfing, and transformation.
In The Desert
Twenty-year-old fiery film student Brighton Holmes knows exactly what she wants: an epic adventure on the open road in her late father’s 1969 Chevelle, alone. Her quest is to visit all fifty states and find a place to call home.
When a family friend asks for a favor, UK rocker in recovery, Alex Stihl, joins her on the road trip, stirring up trouble; the last thing she needs. It doesn’t help that he has a mob of fans and a crazy ex-girlfriend tailing his every move.
Brighton and Alex clash as they cruise out of New York, she grows resigned in the rolling hills of Amish country, and he crashes hard in a hotel on the edge of the Smoky Mountains. While Brighton seeks a place to wash her mind of the past, Alex dodges reminders of heartbreak.
They both try to escape everything they have in common: heartache, loss, and confusion about what’s next. But the magic of New Orleans unites Brighton and Alex as they fight desperately for the other until the desert leads them to discover exactly what they’re resisting and missing.
When they reach the Oregon coast, Brighton uncovers her musical talent, bringing them closer together and helping her reconcile losing her father. But the trip comes to an end when they arrive in Los Angeles. Real life intervenes, splitting them apart; she moves into her new off-campus apartment and he has to return to his band.
After the semester begins, Brighton tries to shake her mind loose from Alex, but the memory of his sexy voice, rainy day eyes, and the miles they shared lingers like a song stuck in her head. Six months later, when his band returns to Los Angeles for a concert, the compass of her heart finally leads her home.
In the Desert, book three in the Follow your Bliss Series, can be read chronologically, or as a stand-alone story filled with adventure, anarchy, music, letting go, and love.
When a family friend asks for a favor, UK rocker in recovery, Alex Stihl, joins her on the road trip, stirring up trouble; the last thing she needs. It doesn’t help that he has a mob of fans and a crazy ex-girlfriend tailing his every move.
Brighton and Alex clash as they cruise out of New York, she grows resigned in the rolling hills of Amish country, and he crashes hard in a hotel on the edge of the Smoky Mountains. While Brighton seeks a place to wash her mind of the past, Alex dodges reminders of heartbreak.
They both try to escape everything they have in common: heartache, loss, and confusion about what’s next. But the magic of New Orleans unites Brighton and Alex as they fight desperately for the other until the desert leads them to discover exactly what they’re resisting and missing.
When they reach the Oregon coast, Brighton uncovers her musical talent, bringing them closer together and helping her reconcile losing her father. But the trip comes to an end when they arrive in Los Angeles. Real life intervenes, splitting them apart; she moves into her new off-campus apartment and he has to return to his band.
After the semester begins, Brighton tries to shake her mind loose from Alex, but the memory of his sexy voice, rainy day eyes, and the miles they shared lingers like a song stuck in her head. Six months later, when his band returns to Los Angeles for a concert, the compass of her heart finally leads her home.
In the Desert, book three in the Follow your Bliss Series, can be read chronologically, or as a stand-alone story filled with adventure, anarchy, music, letting go, and love.
Mirrored
Alex Stihl, notorious rocker, known for food fights, guitar wars, and riots, found love on the road with wild-child Brighton Holmes, eventually calming his alcohol-infused mayhem.
At the end of his band’s summer tour, he wants nothing more than to spend a few quiet weeks by the sea with his guitar and his girl.
When he discovers her reluctance to visit is because her mom faces a health crisis, his attention turns to his own mother who split when he was born, leaving him cracked with insecurity and anger.
After Brighton relents and books a ticket to the UK, Alex gives her a tour of the London her late father knew, splintering her old grief. Their trip to see his grave brings relief, and a week spent in Alex’s hometown in Scotland, draws out mischief.
All the while, paparazzi harass them, culminating in a frenzied night when Alex says goodbye to his dying mother, an impromptu performance at a rock club, and band-member Finn revealing he’s taken up with Alex’s crazy ex-girlfriend, and then quits the band.
When Brighton discovers film, photos, and articles intended to grind up Alex’s reputation in the industry fame machine, chaos ensues on the damp streets of Glasgow. If he can tear himself from the madness, his biggest hit will include a sunset in the sand and a duet with his girl.
This follow-up novella for the contemporary romance, In the Desert, brings readers back to Brighton and Alex’s rock-and-roll world. Book Four in the Follow your Bliss Series, Mirrored can be read after In the Desert, or as a stand-alone, short story filled with love, music, betrayal, and forgiveness.
Alex Stihl, notorious rocker, known for food fights, guitar wars, and riots, found love on the road with wild-child Brighton Holmes, eventually calming his alcohol-infused mayhem.
At the end of his band’s summer tour, he wants nothing more than to spend a few quiet weeks by the sea with his guitar and his girl.
When he discovers her reluctance to visit is because her mom faces a health crisis, his attention turns to his own mother who split when he was born, leaving him cracked with insecurity and anger.
After Brighton relents and books a ticket to the UK, Alex gives her a tour of the London her late father knew, splintering her old grief. Their trip to see his grave brings relief, and a week spent in Alex’s hometown in Scotland, draws out mischief.
All the while, paparazzi harass them, culminating in a frenzied night when Alex says goodbye to his dying mother, an impromptu performance at a rock club, and band-member Finn revealing he’s taken up with Alex’s crazy ex-girlfriend, and then quits the band.
When Brighton discovers film, photos, and articles intended to grind up Alex’s reputation in the industry fame machine, chaos ensues on the damp streets of Glasgow. If he can tear himself from the madness, his biggest hit will include a sunset in the sand and a duet with his girl.
This follow-up novella for the contemporary romance, In the Desert, brings readers back to Brighton and Alex’s rock-and-roll world. Book Four in the Follow your Bliss Series, Mirrored can be read after In the Desert, or as a stand-alone, short story filled with love, music, betrayal, and forgiveness.
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As promised, each spotlight will have a giveaway attached to it!
This giveaway has *1* huge prize pack of a tote bag, a trucker hat, a necklace, and bookmark swag!, *1* Necklace and button prize, and *2* Ebook sets(US Only) of To the Sea and Surfaced!
I have included pictures down below for you to see what you can win!!
As promised, each spotlight will have a giveaway attached to it!
This giveaway has *1* huge prize pack of a tote bag, a trucker hat, a necklace, and bookmark swag!, *1* Necklace and button prize, and *2* Ebook sets(US Only) of To the Sea and Surfaced!
I have included pictures down below for you to see what you can win!!
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