BEACON OF LOVE by Allie Boniface ~ Excerpt, Guest Post & Giveaway

Tour Schedule

Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, and absolutely devoted to its local legends.

Enter Sophie Smithwaite, feisty travel show host, in town to film an episode about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. But digging into the story of a tragic murder-suicide and love gone wrong reveals startling connections to Sophie’s own past. When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history.

Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa-Lucas Oakes does it all–except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her.

But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets…and their own.

“Wise ass.” Sophie backed into the street before he could grab her. “I’ll see you later!” she called. “I think Lon said something about meeting tomorrow morning and--hey!” She squawked off the last word as Lucas lifted her off the ground and onto his shoulder.

As if she was a bag of flour.

Or a damsel in distress.

Or his damn cavewoman.

About a hundred thoughts raced through her mind, and it took all she had to keep them from coming out in biting words.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” he asked as he carried her back to his truck, parked in front of the bar. He wasn’t panting, not out of breath in the least, as if she weighed close to nothing. “If anything happened to you, Lon would kill me.” With one hand he opened the passenger side door. Only then did he lower her to a seat inside the truck. His hands slid down her arms and settled her hips into place.

Oh yum. All her scathing thoughts of thirty seconds earlier vanished. She shifted on the leather. There was room for him on this side of the cab, she was almost positive. If not, she’d make room. In about two seconds.

Purchase through:  Amazon

Hi everyone, and thanks especially to Kim for having me here today! I was asked to talk a little bit about Sophie and Lucas – their character traits, what they look like, where they came from – and while I adore talking about my characters, today I thought I'd turn over the blog post to them.

Sophie: It's about time. You know I love telling stories.

Lucas: Telling them, or digging them up?

Sophie: Both, silly. But in this case, what do readers want to know?

Allie: Well, to start with, what you guys look like.

Sophie: I'll start with the obvious. Lucas is twice as tall as I am.

Lucas: Hey! Am not.

Sophie: Sorry. I'll clarify. He's six seven, and I'm five four.

Allie: Was that a problem?

Lucas: Nah. She doesn't weigh much. Easy to pick up.

Sophie: Which, by the way, you manage to do a lot in this story.

Lucas: Only because you're always getting yourself into situations where you need a hand. The beach – twice. That night on Main Street when you decided to storm out of the bar and run into traffic. And then again out at –

Sophie (rolls eyes): He's exaggerating. But did I mention he likes to rescue people?

Allie: Well, I don't know if there's anything wrong with that. I gave him biceps like small tree trunks and a heart big enough for everyone in the town of Lindsey Point.

Sophie: Which is population thirteen hundred or so.

Allie: Yes, and that means everyone knows what an awesome guy Lucas is. If they need a handyman, or an EMT, or a Santa down at the Episcopal Church, he's their man.

Sophie (winds her arm through Lucas's): He's my man.

Allie: Can we talk about first impressions for a minute? What you both thought when you met the other?

Lucas: I thought she was hot. Cute bod, crazy curly hair...

Sophie: You thought I was a lunatic.

Lucas: Okay, that too. Listen, you were walking around in the middle of a thunderstorm in whatever-kind-of designer shoes. With a live power line down on the road. Not too bright.

Sophie: I was doing my job. Investigating.

Allie: And? What did you think of Lucas the first time you met him?

Sophie: Honestly? That he was drop-dead gorgeous. Look at all that dark hair! And those eyes! Even when he was scowling at me and telling me to get back in the car, I was wondering what it would be like to kiss him. When he stopped by the bed and breakfast later that night, I was a goner.

Lucas: Really? I didn't know that.

Sophie: Of course not, silly. A girl has to play hard to get.

Lucas: Yeah, well that lasted until about the next morning, when you stalked me in the diner and begged me to be your cameraman.

Sophie: 'Begged' might be a little dramatic. But you agreed, didn't you?

Lucas: A-yep.

Allie: Can I ask for a minute about Sarah? Lucas's best friend? I know that was hard to deal with. I didn't even put her into the story until the second draft. But I decided it was a part of Lucas's history that had to be told.

Sophie: She's still part of his life. Not in the traditional way, of course. But there's a great picture of the two of them back in high school, on an amusement park ride. It's hanging on the wall in our living room.

Lucas: It was an end-of-school trip, after sophomore year. I won her a purple snake. Huge, too, which was kind of stupid, since I ended up carrying it the rest of the day.

Allie: Sophie was really the one who helped you get over Sarah, wasn't she?

Lucas (nodding): The first one. The only one.

Allie: All right you two, thanks for being here today and helping me out! I think you've given just enough of a tease about this book that readers will want to know more.

Sophie: I hope so! It's a great story.

Lucas: It is, isn't it?

Allie: Readers, you can find out all about Sophie and Lucas – and the predicaments they find themselves in on the way to their happy ending – by picking up Beacon of Love today!

Allie Boniface is a small-town girl at heart who's traveled around the world and still finds that the magic and the mystery of small towns make them the best places to fall in love and find adventure. From the New England coast to Rocky Mountain hotels to tiny European bars, she's found more character and plot inspirations than she could ever count. Currently, she's lucky enough to live in New York's beautiful Hudson Valley with her own "Hometown Hero," a guy who can fix, build, drive, and grill anything and is the epitome of the strong and silent type.

When she isn't writing love stories, Allie is a full-time high school English teacher who gets a kick out of helping her teenagers negotiate the ups and downs of writing along with the ups and downs of life (because, really, she's still trying to do the same thing!). And while she'll continue to travel far and wide, Allie knows there's really nothing like coming back to the place where the people who have known you forever welcome you home with open arms.

Connect with Allie Boniface:

Website  | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Allie will be awarding a $10 Amazon OR B&N Gift Card AND an e-copy of any title of her backlist (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.  Be sure to stop by and comment at all of her stops.  Hey, wouldn’t it SUCK if you were chosen to be the winner and we couldn’t reach you?  Don’t forget to leave your email address with your comment.