Title: Standing By
(#2 of A Knight's Tale)
Author: Claudia Burgoa
Genre: NA, Contemporary Romance
Amazon
Goodreads
Mitch Knight
1. Loves a good challenge
2. Never turns his back on a dare
3. Loves to create nicknames
4. Nobody cooks better than him
5. Doesn’t believe in love
When Parker Welsh sells Mitch Knight his organic restaurant, Willows, he not only gives Mitch ownership; but everything entangled with it. Including the annoying pastry chef who supplies the muffins and cupcakes.
Hayley Roth-Welsh
1. Loves To-Do Lists and Five-Year Plans
2. Has her dream job of baking sweets
3. Always tries to make others happy
4. Never seems to succeed with her family
5. Is still a virgin, waiting for love
Hayley played by her mother’s rules for the first eighteen years of her life, instead of heading to college as her family expected, she rebelled and opened a bakery, Pieces of Heaven. Her family expects her to fail and head back to school and their wish may come true once Parker sells his restaurant to the handsome, arrogant Mitchel Knight. It’s either join forces with him or lose her dream.
Excerpt . . .
I doubt we’re going to make it to the wedding rehearsal. The flight arrived on time at the airport, however; we stayed on the runway for over an hour and by the time we got our baggage and picked up the rental car, it was six thirty-nine, cutting it close for a seven o’clock start time.
Now we're on the highway rushing to the chapel, the GPS continuing to alert us of exceeding the speed limit.
“You're going to get a ticket.” I chant.
“I won't.” Mitch growls. “We sound and act like an old married couple. We don't have sex and we fight about my driving. Life can't get any better. I swear, I'm going to renew my flying license,” he says for the third time. “There's no fucking way we're taking a commercial flight ever again. Now stop complaining about the ticket and busy yourself with something else.”
“Like enjoying the landscape at a hundred miles per hour,” my remark gets a shushing sound.
Can anyone blame me? He's been in a foul mood all day. If only he had listened. In the morning, I told him to stay in bed because he arrived home around midnight from work but he refused. He wanted to run by the crew he assigned from his restaurants that will work tomorrow at the bakery. The traffic to get to JKF didn't help either... I told him to take the subway, but he refused—it's against his principals. Damn we sound like an old married couple.
“You need to mellow down or that mood will ruin the event.”
Where’s my funny guy?
“I tried to get some sleep during the flight but instead what did I get?”
“The poor woman tried to soothe the baby,” I weakly try to defend the woman who kept giving the pacifier to her baby for five hours. “Feed the child,” I wanted to say. However, now I had to deal with my own man-child. “After we eat I promise we'll go to bed.”
“Sex still off the table?” He asks with that seductive voice that makes my entire body vibrate, his new mantra is asking every time he feels the need.
Stay strong, Hayley.
“Always, Muffin boy." I squeeze his hand. It hasn't been that hard to deal with him after a week. For the most part, he's been easy going and tries to lighten the atmosphere when things are tense. I appreciate this every time my parents show at the shop. "But I'll let you cuddle with me, as long as you keep that thing tamed.”
Q&A with Claudia
I have this obsession about the different types of OCD, and as I’ve research about it, I found out several ways some of this perfectionists take the edge away. Hayley is a perfectionist that tries to make lists and followed them to the T. As my character came to life, I realized she’d be the perfect match for Mitchel Knight. The spontaneous, challenge lover, teaser of the Knight Brothers.
Where do you find your inspiration?
By observing my surroundings, the everyday life.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Follow an order, my mind thinks faster than my fingers can type… I have to make sure that I don’t scramble the words while writing a sentence, scramble scenes while writing the chapters and scramble the chapters as I write the whole.
What are your current projects?
Where do I start…?
At the moment I have a couple of MS on the works.
•One is a contemporary romance with a hint of 80’s, famous parents and lots of secrets involved. My plan is to release at the end of this year.
•The third book of A Knight’s Tale… Liam’s story, his love interest… there’s a hint on Standing By ;) Planning on releasing it early 2015.
Also, I have the outline for a New Adult book with a different genre…
•Nix Terra. A sci-fi book which should made its appearance early 2015 too.
There are a few others swirling around my head, like a spin-off Standing by—The Welsh family saga?
Tell us about your first book. What would readers find different about the first one and your most recent published work?
First and most, Where Life Takes You is in one word, Drama, while Standing By has a fun, light hearted touch to it. I also want to think that the readers will find a degree of maturity on my writing from WLTY to Standing By. A growth so to speak.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Definitely, always remember that everyone struggles in one way or another, and that even the most put together person can be a total mess on the inside.
Does music play any type of role in your writing?
It’s a huge part of my first drafts I like to listen mostly to Alternative-Indie music. Upbeat with angsty lyrics my favorite.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life?
Not really… *mommy issues * she coughs.
I guess a few scenes, a few behaviors from my characters have a few similarities with real life. After all, the Knight family is based on my favorite aunt and her awesome family.
What books have influenced your life most?
The Alchemist, By Paulo Coelho
Are there any new authors that have grasp your interest?
There are so many… a few that are new to me but have been around for awhile.
Katie Oliver, Kennedy Ryan, Sarah Boucher, Jaycee Ford… so many :)
About the Author . . .
She now lives in Colorado working as a CFO for a small IT company, managing her household filled with three confused dogs, said nerd husband, two daughters wrought with fandoms and a son who thinks he’s the boss of the house. To survive she works continually to find purpose for the voices flitting through her head, plus she consumes high quantities of chocolate to keep the last threads of sanity intact.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads