Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: The Perfect Lap (Racing Hearts of Serenity #2) by Sedona Hutton

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour for The Perfect Lap by Sedona Hutton. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt for you as well as a guest post about characterization. There's also a tour wide giveaway. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more excerpts, guest posts, interviews, reviews, and more. Enjoy!

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Title: The Perfect Lap
Series: Racing Hearts in Serenity #2)
Author: Sedona Hutton
Publisher: Rocky Top Book Press
Publication Date: April 29th 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance

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His job is to drive fast. Hers is to put the brakes on him. When sparks fly, will love cross the finish line?

AJ Ryan is a publicity nightmare. After a questionable photo surfaces and his biggest sponsor threatens to pull out, the NASCAR champion admits it might be time to hit the brakes. Thankfully, his new no-nonsense image consultant knows just where to start… too bad she revs his engine so loudly he can barely think straight.

Ella Fisher’s career is a welcome distraction from her poor taste in men. Fresh off another easily avoidable heartbreak, rehabbing AJ’s career is just the diversion she needs. But when the pulse-pounding client actually listens to her advice, Ella wonders if there’s more to the man behind the hot mess.

When Ella is granted guardianship of three boisterous children under the misconception that she and AJ are a couple, AJ surprises her by going along with the charade. Before long they find themselves in a make-shift family that feels more real than pretend.

As their professional relationship takes a hard turn for the personal, a single overheard conversation could make it all go up in flames. Will Ella and AJ’s romance hit the wall, or will love take the checkered flag?

The Perfect Lap is the second standalone novel in the Racing Hearts of Serenity romance series. If you like bad boys with a heart of gold, strong women, and love stories with a new age twist, then you’ll adore Sedona Hutton’s fun, sexy tale.

Goodreads * Amazon

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EXCERPT:

“I bet you have a beautiful smile,” he drawled, then lowered his mouth to hers.

She should have pulled away—she didn’t know this man from Adam. But everything inside her protested. After gazing into each other’s eyes, she felt like she knew him intimately.

His lips were warm and tingly, his kiss pure perfection…and he drew back way too quickly. He blinked those deep blue eyes and gave her a lazy grin. “I knew it.” He rubbed the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. “Beautiful.”

That’s when she realized she was smiling.

He rose, and she gave him a quick once over, taking in the sexy stubble on his face, the taut muscles of his chest, his lean physique. As good old-fashioned lust rolled through her like a quick-moving thunderstorm, she silently bemoaned her situation. This was a hell of a time to have a newly implemented man-ban.

“Keep smiling.” Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he winked at her. “It suits you,” he added in that low, sexy drawl. Then he sauntered off.

Her breath caught as she spun around to gape at him. He’d just kissed her and now he was leaving? She contemplated calling him back, then reconsidered. She had other fish to fry.

Even so, she couldn’t stop herself from tracking his every move as he swaggered toward the party, his backside looking every bit as fine as the rest of him. Pressing a hand to her chest, she let out a slow exhale. Even though she was one-hundred percent committed to her man-ban, she could admit—at least to herself—that the sexy, charming stranger had intrigued her.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Author Sedona Hutton finds inspiration in the beautiful Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, where she lives with her husband and curly-coated retriever. In addition to writing, she’s a Reiki Master and a certified Chopra Center Meditation instructor. She enjoys reading, yoga, gardening, and experiencing the great outdoors on boats, motorcycles, and Jeeps. Sedona pens a “Peace, Love, & Joy” blog on her website.

Sedona’s debut novel, Cloud Whispers, was a Finalist in the 2018 Readers’ Favorite Contest, an Official Selection in the 2018 Summer eBook Awards for New Apple Literary, and Shortlisted for the Books Go Social Best Book of 2018.

Website * Amazon * Blog * Facebook * Goodreads * Instagram * Twitter

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GUEST POST:

Writing Tip: Deep Characterization Enables Deep POV

by Sedona Hutton

When I first started writing, I found a character worksheet on the Internet and filled it out. Heroine: Age: 24. Red hair, green eyes, lots of curves. Hero: Age: 26. Midnight hair, cobalt eyes, plenty of hard muscle. A few more details and I was ready to write my masterpiece!

I quickly learned that without significant character detail, my manuscript was plagued with inconsistencies and required continuous rework. Even worse, my characters didn’t feel real because I didn’t know them well enough to get inside their heads.

Through research, courses, and good old-fashioned trial and error, I learned the art of deep characterization.

So what is deep characterization? Deep characterization entails developing your characters inside and out. It’s getting to know your main characters as well as you know your best friend.

Deep characterization is not just a physical description nor is it answering a few easy questions. It’s a detailed assessment of your character’s personality, strengths, flaws, and wounds. It’s a comprehensive understanding of his/her childhood, family, friends, pets, phobias, memories, and so on. It’s how he/she relates to the world, how they react to stress and other emotions. It’s even about their favorite food, color, TV show, movie, and book because each of these can offer invaluable nuggets of information about your characters…that is, if you dig deep enough.

There are many ways to create deep characterization. I use deep characterization worksheets, character interviews, and the 5-Why Process. I learned most of these techniques through OIRWA courses taught by Laurie Sanders. For more information, please visit Laurie at: https://lauriesplace.net/.

5-Why Process

This easy process can be used to generate a deep understanding of your character.

Instructions: Take one aspect of your character and ask 5 questions. Sometimes you may find that you need to ask 5 more and then 5 more!

Example

Character: AJ Ryan, the hero in my newly released contemporary romance, The Perfect Lap.

What is AJ’s favorite drink? A shot of Jack Daniels.

Why is this his favorite drink? It brings back warm memories of his granddad who enjoyed an occasional shot of Jack Daniels. AJ moved in with his grandfather when he was 12.

Why did AJ move in with his grandfather? Because his mother couldn’t handle him.

Why couldn’t AJ’s mother handle him? Because AJ got into a lot of trouble, including smoking, getting bad grades, skipping school, taking a joy ride in his neighbor’s car, etc.

Why did AJ get in trouble? It was the only way he could get attention from his mother. Otherwise, she primarily focused on his younger half-brother, Sam.

You can see how this 5-Why exercise helped me dig into AJ’s background. After completing many of these, I gained a deeper understanding of AJ and what makes him tick.

Completing deep characterization before you start writing allows your story to flow from your characters. It also enables writing in a deep point of view. When I start a new story, I complete deep characterization first—even before I develop themes, plots, and outlines. When I start with deep characterization, the rest of it flows with effortless ease.

(This guest post was written by Sedona Hutton, author of romance and women’s fiction novels with new age, spiritual twists.)

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GIVEAWAY:

Sedona Hutton will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to one randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. To increase your chance of winning, visit a different stop on the tour and leave a comment on that stop each day. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway