Author Spotlight: Welcome Back, Janine Amesta!

I’ve really enjoyed fellow Tule author Janine Amesta’s Love Is In the Air series. Going up in a hot air balloon is on my bucket list, along with another trip to France, and parasailing. I’m so pleased to have Janine here today with the third book in the series–The Love Feud, which released March 26 and is available wherever you get your ebooks.

Janine Amesta has loved reading kissing stories most of her life. She currently resides in Oregon with her husband and their pets, Hitchcock and Pippin. She studied screenwriting in college and her banter is influenced by the screwball romantic comedies of the 1930’s. She’s always on the lookout for the perfect line.

Website | Facebook | Instagram |Bluesky

~*~*~*~

In deciding to write the romance series, Love is in the Air, about three sisters who try to keep their dead dad’s hot air balloon business afloat, I thought I was setting myself up for success. I did set myself up, but not in the way that I thought. In making one of the sisters somewhat of a villain in the first book, Love at First Flight, I suddenly found myself with the challenge of now making this same character a heroine in her own book, The Love Feud. I couldn’t help saying to myself, “Wow, Janine, you really put yourself into that corner with that decision.”

I had to put a lot of thought into how I could turn someone a lot of readers hated into someone who you could not only have empathy for but also actively root for their happy ending. Fortunately, this wasn’t something I am unfamiliar with. I will admit that I do love writing a character that needs to be redeemed. But I find characters, who are clearly imperfect and in need of second chances, are fun to write in general. Hailey Moreno in The Love Feud is no exception.

Her story is nothing but second chances, both for her and for the hero as well. Hailey and Ryland, the son of her father’s rival in the hot air balloon business, had a secret Romeo and Juliet-type relationship years ago. When her father dies, so does their connection. Now in the present, Hailey is tasked with putting together a local hot air balloon festival and night glow event. She finds herself having to connect with her ex, the man she’s never forgiven after his father tried to buy her father’s balloon. In order to keep her distance, she proposes a social media scheme where they fake hate each other, playing up the family feud in order to draw eyes in their direction. Of course, both of them get way more than either one of them was expecting, especially when fake hate allows them to work through past and present issues.

In choosing this type of story, not only was it more fun for me as a writer, but it also allowed me to lean into Hailey’s unique personality. I could instead create insight into why she behaves the way that she does and how she realizes how her behavior frequently leads to consequences she doesn’t always like. It allows the character to grow, mature, and develop in an interesting way that I hope makes her empathetic. I, myself, am a lot older than Hailey’s twenty-six years and yet can still relate to the age when I didn’t always make the best decisions and was, yes, a bit of a brat.

If writing The Love Feud has taught me anything, it’s that even the brats can be redeemed, and they could still be lovable in their own way. She knows her ex-boyfriend, Ryland, sees her for all her faults, and he still likes her anyway. And this feels like true love.

Giveaway! Janine has a free e-book copy of The Love Feud for one lucky commenter. Just let her know in the comments below if you’ve ever been up in a hot air balloon and did you love it or hate it?

The Love Feud

It’s all part of the marketing game—fake hate—unless she falls for her ex again….

Hailey Moreno has many regrets about letting her family down since her father’s death. But breaking up with her secret boyfriend years ago after his father underhandedly tried to buy her family’s hot-air balloon business, isn’t one. The Selene family is her enemy until she’s charged with creating a Central Oregon hot-air balloon festival. Now she needs her ex’s cooperation and perhaps more.

Ryland Selene always had it bad for Hailey. She’s the one who got away. When she reaches out with an opportunity, Ryland knows he should be cautious but he jumps in, determined to win a second chance with Hailey.

When Ryland proposes planning the festival together, Hailey’s reluctant. Then she hits on what sounds like a fun scheme. Create a fake family feud for social media buzz. Too bad Ryland can’t follow a script…and neither can her heart. But all the pretend drama allows them to be vulnerable and connect in a way they didn’t before. Can faux hate turn to real love?

Amazon | B&N Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Amazon Print