Ana introduces Angela Smith, today's Friday Friend

Thank you for having me on your blog today! My book, Fatal Snag, is the second in a standalone series I call my Slopeside Series. The first, Burn on the Western Slope, is available in ebook and print version. I recently submitted my third and hope for a contract soon.

I had such fun writing this series! I fell in love with the characters and had a hard time letting them go. Fatal Snag features Chayton Chambers, brother to Garret who is the hero in Burn on the Western Slope. Chayton is a dynamic character who tried to butt in on Garret’s story and I knew he deserved his own. It also features Naomi, another character in Burn who became friends with Chayton but left without saying goodbye. Things don’t start out well for them when she comes back to help her cousin plan her wedding. Chayton feels animosity toward her because he has abandonment issues he doesn’t admit to, and Naomi is an obsessive-compulsive fashion consultant who needs her roots to have stable ground.

My series is set in the fictional town of Tanyon, Montana. Why did I create a fictional town when truth is so much better? Well, many authors create fictional towns for different reasons. Sometimes an author has a certain place in mind that either doesn’t exist, or doesn’t exist in the way the author needs it to exist. And it is fiction, after all. Sometimes an author knows of a town they really like, but they might not want to use it for libel purposes. And sometimes, an author just wants to use her imagination. And that’s exactly what I did with Tanyon, Montana. I had this idea of a town in my mind, and Tanyon fit perfectly.

Burn on the Western Slope is set in the winter and Fatal Snag is set during the early autumn months. I love reading books where the setting is almost a character, and I had a blast making the setting just as much part of the story as the actual characters are!

This three-book series took me five years to write, mostly because I let my career as a criminal litigation paralegal get in the way and partly because I never knew when it was ready to end and never thought it was perfect enough. Although I still work fulltime in the same field and there are days that writing is the last thing I feel like doing, I honestly know now I will never let anything get in the way of my writing again.

As a writer, it’s hard to know when something is ready and even when a story is printed, a writer can always see ways it could have been made better. I never see perfection in my story but sometimes you just have to realize it’s time to hit The End on your manuscript, and mean it that time!

Thanks again for inviting me to talk about me and my books! I’ll leave with you a blurb and excerpt for my newest release, Fatal Snag.

Blurb:

Hollywood fashion consultant Naomi Fisher is happy to use her obsessive-compulsive planning to assist with her cousin's wedding, but her history with the sexy and sullen Chayton Chambers, the groom’s brother, terrifies her. When the groom is kidnapped at his own wedding, Chayton and Naomi rush to find an important relic to satisfy the ransom before her cousin becomes a widow before a bride. Naomi trades garters for guns as survival, and love becomes a deadly game impossible to resist.

Information about the book:

Title: Fatal Snag

Author: Angela Smith

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Crimson Romance

Release Date: 17 March 2014

Buy Links:

Crimson Romance: http://goo.gl/84nFbt

Amazon:  http://ASIN.cc/sPcNqL

Barnes and Noble: http://www.bn.com/s/9781440580628

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781440580628

Excerpt:

Surprise flashed through his brain, but he narrowed his eyes before it had a chance to erupt on his face. He edged closer. In her heels, her nose usually touched his chin, but now the top of her head came under his chin. Her breath curled around his cheek, exerting an agitated pull on his hormones that left him shaky and hesitant. He camouflaged that hesitation with cockiness and confidence.

She inched her nose higher. He leaned down to look at her, his face a fingerbreadth from hers. “Maybe that’s your problem,” he grumbled. “Maybe you can’t get over the fact that I never tried to kiss you.”

He closed in on her, pinning her against the wall as he settled his hands on the wall near her head. She couldn’t move with him so near and he made a point to trap her.

He remained that way for several seconds, staring into blue eyes of defiance as they breathed in each other’s breath. His pulse hinged precariously close to plunging overboard and disrupting his steady poise, but for now he held on.

Then he kissed her. Hard. Briefly. Fervidly. Heat traversed from his toes, agitating his shaky thighs and roosting in his loins only to explode behind his eyes.

She deepened the kiss, a slight brush of her tongue against his. He held on another brief moment then dropped his hands and backed away before his point became futile. Swiping a hand across his mouth, he pinned her with a hard gaze. “Is that better?”

“I’m not here to ask your forgiveness.”

About the Author:

During her senior year in high school, Angela Smith was dubbed most likely to write a novel, and that has been her dream ever since her mother read Brer Rabbit to her and her sister so often that they were able to recite it back to each other before actually learning to read. She’s always enjoyed stories about the adventure of love, and getting involved in the legal field developed her love of suspense. A certified paralegal, work gives her perfect fodder for her romantic suspense stories. When not caring for her small farm or spending time with her husband of two decades, she enjoys crafting, reading, and dreaming of the places she’ll visit one day.

Angela Smith LOVES talking to readers. You can contact her in the following ways:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAngelaSmith

Twitter – https://twitter.com/angelaswriter

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7173505.Angela_Smith

Website – http://www.loveisamystery.com

Email – angela@loveisamystery.com