Today I’m really excited to welcome author Carrie Lofty here at Book Lovers in celebration of her newest release in her series The Christies. Carrie Lofty, after Cape Town, travels her readers at Glasgow this time and only one thing I can say about Starlight: it was magical!

Carrie stops here today with a guest post about the special relationship between father and son, because after all, Starlight is based on that very relationship. Alex, will do everything and anything within his power for his son. And don’t forget to check at the end of the post for your chance to win a copy of Starlight 🙂

I always think of U2’s “Red Hill Mining Town” when I think of STARLIGHT. It’s one of the essential songs that made up my playlist. The song opens with the phrase “from father to son.” STARLIGHT is very much a story about generations, particularly the relationship between a father and his son.

In the Christies novella “A Little More Scandal,” I introduce William Christie before he was a successful 19th century industrialist. He has a two year old son by his first (late) wife, who he rarely sees. Having come from a poor background, William doesn’t trust himself to raise a son on his own, and would rather leave the task of raising a proper citizen to his Society in-laws.

Too bad his second wife, Catrin, believes that arrangement is totally unacceptable! She becomes the step-mother who guides the hero of STARLIGHT, Alex Christie, to manhood.

History repeats itself in tragedy. Alex’s first wife also dies in childbirth, leaving him with Edmund, a son born prematurely. Only, Alex is anything but the hands-off dad his father was. Edmund is Alex’s whole world—the only connection he has left to his late wife and what he’d hoped would be a fair, happy future. When his son is threatened…well, Alex is an astronomer by training but a brawler at heart.

This burden of responsibility is passed unwillingly, unwittingly from William to Alex to Edmund, with the adults just doing their best to make sure the next generation is safe and cared for. That doesn’t mean complete agreement in how they see the world. After all, what would be the fun in that?

Alex doesn’t necessarily have his head in the clouds—not even as a astronomer!—but neither did he need to scrape himself up out of the gutters just to make something of himself. William had already done that, a generation before. In sending his son back to Scotland to earn his inheritance, William made the choice to show Alex his roots. An education is one thing, but knowing where one comes from is a huge part of what makes a family. Shared connections. Shared community. And an appreciation for what sacrifices were made before you.

So in returning to Scotland to earn his inheritance and save his son, Alex brings the three generations full circle. He brawls in a pub. He plays soccer with the locals. He has a run-in with constables. He even finds within himself the capacity for great passion, violence, and love—parts of himself he might never have known otherwise. What started out looking like cruelty on William’s part became the making of Alex, and even united Alex with a lady love of his own: Polly Gowan, another stubborn, clever woman who has it in her heart to raise a beloved step-son.

What’s next for me:

Now that RT BookReviews 4½ Star Top Pick STARLIGHT has hit the shelves, I’ll be looking forward to the release of HIS VERY OWN GIRL, a historical romance set in World War II. It’s not women’s fiction. It’s not literary fiction. It’s a genuine romance, complete with sexy times and a happy ending. Look for it September 4th as a Pocket Star digital original novel. I cannot wait to see how readers respond!

I’ll also be launching a new co-written pseudonym, Katie Porter, with my long-time friend and critique partner, Lorelie Brown. Our “Vegas Top Guns” series of contemporary erotic romances will debut from Samhain on July 31 with the release of DOUBLE DOWN, which is also a RT BookReviews 4½ Star Top Pick. Two more from the series, INSIDE BET and HOLD ‘EM, will follow in August and September. You can learn more about these and future books at our website.

So Book Lovers, what is your favorite father/son relationship from either a movie or a book? Why?

Thanks again to Book Lovers Inc. for having me!

About the Author

Carrie Lofty holds a Masters degree in history, which she puts to good use as a historical romance writer and lecturer on the craft of writing. Active within the Romance Writers of America, she also weight trains and soaks up movie trivia like a sponge. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two daughters.

Co-writing as Ellen Connor, Carrie’s RITA™ nominated NIGHTFALL, from the “Dark Age Dawning” trilogy, won RT’s Reviewers’ Choice Best Futuristic Romance of 2011.

And as Katie Porter, Carrie and her long-time friend and critique partner, Lorelie Brown, write contemporary erotic romance. Their “Vegas Top Guns” series debuts in July with DOUBLE DOWN.

Where to find Carrie

Website | Facebook |Twitter

About the Book

An esteemed astronomer, Alex Christie, the eldest and most steadfast of the Christie siblings, has never possessed his late father’s ruthless business drive. But to protect his frail infant son from his cruel father-in-law’s bid for custody, the young widower must undertake Sir William Christie’s posthumous million-dollar challenge: to make a Glasgow cotton mill profitable. At sea in an industrial world of sabotage and union agitation, Alex meets Polly Gowan, daughter of a famed union leader, who hopes to seize a mysterious saboteur without involving the police. Because a sympathetic mill master would aid her cause, Polly becomes Alex’s guide to urban Scotland. From soccer games to pub brawls, Alex sees another side of life, and feels free for the first time to reveal the man–vital and strong–behind his intellectual exterior. Polly is utterly seduced. Their ambitions, however, remain at odds: Alex vows to earn the mill bonus to save his child, while Polly fights for the needs of her people. Is there strength enough in their sparkling passion to bind them together in their quests– and in a lasting love that conquers all?

Buy the book:
Amazon | B&N | Book Depository (US) | Book Depository (UK)

 

 

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~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Carrie has generously offered a copy of her latest release, Starlight to one lucky commenter!

All you have to do is answer Carrie’s question: What is your favorite father/son relationship from either a movie or a book? Why?

(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

This giveaway is open to all!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, July 28th, 2012; we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Anna

Anna is a psychologist from Greece.You can almost always find her with a book stuck under her nose,so it's no wonder that all her friends make a joke of her.Apart from reading she dreams of the day she'll be able to travel around the world!Anna also blogs at Books to Brighten your Mood.

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