Author Interview: Marquita Valentine on her novel "Third Time's a Charm" - Holland Springs Series #2

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Self-published author Marquita Valentine is with Ravishing Romances today. She's the first ever author to be featured on our site twice and we couldn't be more thrilled.

Thank you for being on Ravishing Romances, Marquita!

Oh wow! That’s so awesome. Thank you so much for having me again! 

Q:  Third Time’s a Charm starts with the hero and heroine madly in lust with each other. It makes their chemistry much more intense. Did you intentionally set them up for this in the first book Twice Tempted or did it just happen? 

A: Actually the entire book kinda just happened. LOL! I had absolutely no intention of writing Sasha and Rose’s story, but Katharine Ashe, my beta reader and fabulously talented author who writes Regency set romances for Avon, emailed me and asked, “So you’re writing Sasha and Rose next, right?” My response: “Sure am.” ACK! However, their lust for one another was purely organic. I had to restrain them at times. ;) 


Q:  Though hero Sasha and heroine Rose have sexual tension…Rose hates him. A lot and often. Her distrust of Sasha creates much of their relationship conflict. Was it hard to write a wounded and guarded heroine? 

A: I’d be lying if I said any book was easy to write. It’s not. But the more I learned about Rose, the more she came across as the traditionally tortured hero. Quiet, reserved...basically the opposite of Sasha. And Sasha didn’t exactly help things. One minute he’s offering to help her out, then next he’s back to plotting against her. So the hardest part of writing Rose was showing the reader why she would ever take a chance on Sasha. 


Q:  Nipple rings. Sasha has them. Details! 

A: HEE!! I love piercings on heroes. There just aren’t enough of them. ;) I loved the thought of him having them, because it’s so unexpected yet sexy as all get out. Especially the shower scene and of course Rose loves them...it’s a source of smexytime fun. 


Q:  Is Rose a witch? Third Time’s a Charm hints at it and though some things are explained, others are left to readers’ imagination… 

A: Honestly, Rose is in fact...well, it’s up to the readers to decide if she is or isn’t a witch. I purposefully answered some things about her “powers” and left others wide open. But I will say that Practical Magic (the movie not the book) was an inspiration for the Holland Sisters. So... 


Q:  Third Time’s a Charm is part of the Holland Springs series. Holland Springs is the small town where the series is based, but their is an actual spring that plays a prominent role in the stories. Can you talk about that? 

A: Great question. Where I’m from it seemed as though every town or county had a local legend it was known for, like Blackbeard. Some of the legends, like the infamous pirate, are rather bloody and gruesome. I wanted one that was known for something rather lovely and sweet. That most people didn’t believe in anymore but still wanted the experience ends up happening with a lot of legends and traditions. Heck, even Rose doesn’t know the entire story concerning the spring OR her family’s reputation. 


Q: The next novel in your series is a novella titled His Christmas Wish and tells the story of war hero Joaquin Morales and his estranged wife Sage Caswell. Sage is introduced in Third Time’s a Charm, being kind to mistreated Rose. What’s Sage’s motivation for this? 

A: Sage is actually a nice person and one that has benefited from the Hollands’ love advice...even if it didn’t turn out so well. Besides, not everyone in town is mean or rude to the Holland women. Yet Sage does have a motive behind her very nice gesture. She wanted Rose’s advice concerning a man Sage has fallen in love with through letters. The man in question, a 1st LT in the ARMY, is deployed in Afghanistan and she’s never met him in person. Or so Sage thinks. By the way, the Holland women are always right when they match up couples. Hence Sage and Joaquin’s novella. 


Q: Can you give us an excerpt from Third Time’s a Charm? 

A: I’d love to! This is an excerpt that hasn’t been shared anywhere before and it’s one of my favorite scenes from the book. 

He lifted it to her mouth. “Open.” 

“You’re going to feed me?” 

He gave her a crooked grin. “Sharing food is something that family does in Masvingo.” 

“I don’t know.” She squirmed in her chair. Somehow the act of him feeding her seemed very intimate, something lovers did for one another. 

“It’s not poison, Rose.” He dipped the ball of sazda, then drew air circles with it. “One bite, love.” 

Feeling slightly silly, she barely opened her mouth. 

“Wider.” 

Sighing, she widened it and Sasha’s green eyes glinted.“Not that wide—I don’t want to actually watch you chew it.” 

Jerking back, she began to clamp her lips together, but he popped it in before they closed. Flavor exploded in her mouth and she moaned in appreciation. 

“What every man most likes to hear when a woman has her mouth full of his…cooking.” Sasha waggled his eyebrows as she chewed. 

She giggled. “More please.” 

He fed her another bite. “That particular phrase a close second.” 

“Stop, I’ll choke.” Somehow she managed to swallow and he fed her yet another bite. 

“Third.” 

“Now I get to feed you,” she said, pinching off a bite-sized portion of the thick tortilla, rolling it in her hand, then dipping it in the meat stew. He grinned as she held it up to his mouth. His lips parted and she pushed the sazda inside. 

“Delicious,” he said, after chewing and swallowing it down. 

Then they fed each other. Sasha purposefully nipping at her fingers when it was her turn. She couldn’t stop giggling. 

“Quit biting me.” 

“But I like the extra flavor,” he said with a teasing smile. “One last bite then dessert, yes?” 

“Yes.” She began to part her lips, but the heat of his gaze stopped her. “What?” 

“Close your eyes this time,” he gently ordered, his voice husky. 

Her lashes fluttered down, but she quickly opened her eyes again to find him leaning closer. So close that she could count the freckles on his nose. Forget counting them, she wanted to kiss each one. 

Thank you for having me again, Musing Sallie.  I had a great time answering your questions!   

Marquita's answering your questions in the comment section!

Someone please ask her about that trunk incident.

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MARQUITA VALENTINE writes small town romances that are anything but small. Lisa Kleypas, Carly Phillips and Rachel Gibson are her favorite contemporary authors. Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man -- and if that doesn't work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children. 

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