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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to welcome RJ Scott here today to talk about her latest release, One Night, and happy ever after endings. RJ Scott is giving away a $10 Amazon or ARe gift card as part of her book tour. To enter to win, simply leave a comment about how you feel about HEA or HFN endings and your email address in the body of the comment. Contest ends 5/24.
Welcome, RJ:
Happy Ever After by RJ Scott
Anyone that reads an RJ Scott book is guaranteed a Happy Ever After. In my mind every single couple I have written is a couple that will be together forever.
Unrealistic maybe, but life is too hard not to have a fictional HEA.
That brings me to the original version of One Night, in which the last paragraph had the two guys saying *Let’s talk*. In my writer’s he
ad, off they went into the sunset with their HEA, but what I failed to do was convince the readers of that fact. The book still sold but the feedback was that people were disappointed. One of the few positive things about *breaking up* with my old publisher was that I got to re-write the ending to One Night. I added an entire new chapter and gave my readers what I hope is a practical and reasonable HEA.
The same thing happened with Joseph and Dale in Sanctuary 2. One is an active SEAL, the other worked for Sanctuary. I gave them what I thought was a perfect HEA, in as much as they told each other how they felt and Joseph promised to come home to Dale whenever he could. Again it wasn’t enough. That prompted me to write Sanctuary 7, World’s Collide, as a way of giving Joseph and Dale their HEA. I think it worked out okay.
What do you think about a HFN book? Do you prefer a HEA? Did you read the original One Night, then the new version? Which did you prefer? Were you a reader who wanted more Joseph/Dale?
Contest:
Win a $10 Amazon or All Romance voucher for commenting below with your ideas about HEA or HFN, or just leave your email! Contest ends 5/24, 17:00 GMT
RJ X
Liam Wade is facing the biggest change in his life since marrying his best friend, Janelle, and adopting her daughter. Janelle has long since passed on, losing the battle to live a few days after her daughter is born, leaving Liam a father, in need of finding a mother for his daughter Emma. He’s rich, successful, and Leigh is the perfect, approved, wife for him. Before he settles down to give his daughter the best family he can, he wants one week away, to think. Just to make sure that he can leave half of himself hidden and marry without love, because Liam has one big problem in all of this — he’s gay.
Micah Adamson is the owner of a vineyard in Rochester NY, and has yet to find the partner he knows is out there for him. he believes in love and wants forever, and one day he knows he will find his ‘forever’ man. He attends a wine festival in Santa Monica, seven nights in a beautiful hotel on the beach
Micah wants to show that love between two men includes affection, understanding, and can be forever. Will he make Liam see sense?
Excerpt:
The guy looked flustered for a few seconds. “Earlier…you…my camera… It was you, wasn’t it? On the beach?”“Yeah, yeah, sorry, I was miles away. You’re welcome, no worries.” Blond guy thrust out his hand, the glint of a silver-colored watch on his wrist.
“Liam Wade.”
“Micah Adamson.”
“Can I get you a drink, Mr. Adamson, to say thank you?”
Micah frowned. Mr. Adamson sounded so formal. He decided his guess about this guy—this Liam—working in business wasn’t far off if he went round calling people mister.
“Call me Micah.”
“Okay, Micah. I would offer to actually buy you a drink, but they seem to be giving it away tonight.” He gestured to the layout of all the wines and frowned. “There is a bar here somewhere that probably has beer. I don’t know about you”—he lowered his voice—“but this wine is all a bit too formal for me, not really into it. I really need a beer.”
Micah nearly choked on his last strawberry, coughing and trying to get control of his breathing.
“It’s a welcome party for a small wine convention,” he finally managed to push out.
“Oh, so that explains all the wine snobs sniffing their glasses.” Liam nodded wisely, as if he had suddenly discovered the whole reason for being. Micah couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He was torn between being affronted at Liam’s humor and agreeing with the absurdity of what some of these winery reps did in the name of knowing wine.
Micah didn’t need all the dramatic sniffing and tasting and use of incredibly meaningless long words. He knew wine; he knew grapes; he wanted to share that with others. That was enough.
“I’m a snob,” he blurted out, cursing inwardly at the what the hell did I just say? moment. To his credit, Liam said nothing, which left Micah enough time to correct his statement. “I mean I own a winery. My family owns a winery, near Rochester, a vineyard and a winery, Seneca Blue.”
Liam looked at him, then down at the glass in his hand, pulling his lower lip between his teeth as if in deep thought.
“They have vineyards in New York State?” Liam asked, completely open and honest in his curiosity. Micah smiled. Now that was a question he could handle.
“The Finger Lakes region. We have snow, rain, and storms rolling in from Lake Ontario like you wouldn’t believe, but you can also find some of the sweetest, most perfect harvests you could imagine.”
“Wow,” Liam murmured in response, and Micah narrowed his eyes. Was that a genuine wow or an oh shit stop talking wow? Micah had received both in his twenty-nine years.
“Seriously, I imagine New York as this gloomy grayness. Just another Seattle, I guess.”
Clearly that had been an interested wow.
Book Details:
2nd edition
Published June 6th 2013 by Love Lane Books (first published July 8th 2011)
charactersLiam Wade, Micah Anderson
settingSanta Monica, California (United States)
Rochester, New York (United States)
This title was previously available with Silver Publishing. It has been re-edited and approximately 1,800 words added as an epilogue.
Buy Link at Love Lane Press, ARe, Amazon
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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to welcome RJ Scott here today to talk about her latest release, One Night, and happy ever after endings. RJ Scott is giving away a $10 Amazon or ARe gift card as part of her book tour. To enter to win, simply leave a comment about how you feel about HEA or HFN endings and your email address in the body of the comment. Contest ends….
Welcome, RJ:
Happy Ever After by RJ Scott
Anyone that reads an RJ Scott book is guaranteed a Happy Ever After. In my mind every single couple I have written is a couple that will be together forever.
Unrealistic maybe, but life is too hard not to have a fictional HEA.
That brings me to the original version of One Night, in which the last paragraph had the two guys saying *Let’s talk*. In my writer’s he
ad, off they went into the sunset with their HEA, but what I failed to do was convince the readers of that fact. The book still sold but the feedback was that people were disappointed. One of the few positive things about *breaking up* with my old publisher was that I got to re-write the ending to One Night. I added an entire new chapter and gave my readers what I hope is a practical and reasonable HEA.
The same thing happened with Joseph and Dale in Sanctuary 2. One is an active SEAL, the other worked for Sanctuary. I gave them what I thought was a perfect HEA, in as much as they told each other how they felt and Joseph promised to come home to Dale whenever he could. Again it wasn’t enough. That prompted me to write Sanctuary 7, World’s Collide, as a way of giving Joseph and Dale their HEA. I think it worked out okay.
What do you think about a HFN book? Do you prefer a HEA? Did you read the original One Night, then the new version? Which did you prefer? Were you a reader who wanted more Joseph/Dale?
Contest:
Win a $10 Amazon or All Romance voucher for commenting below with your ideas about HEA or HFN, or just leave your email address in the body of the comment!
RJ X
One Night
Liam Wade is facing the biggest change in his life since marrying his best friend, Janelle, and adopting her daughter. Janelle has long since passed on, losing the battle to live a few days after her daughter is born, leaving Liam a father, in need of finding a mother for his daughter Emma. He’s rich, successful, and Leigh is the perfect, approved, wife for him. Before he settles down to give his daughter the best family he can, he wants one week away, to think. Just to make sure that he can leave half of himself hidden and marry without love, because Liam has one big problem in all of this — he’s gay.
Micah Adamson is the owner of a vineyard in Rochester NY, and has yet to find the partner he knows is out there for him. he believes in love and wants forever, and one day he knows he will find his ‘forever’ man. He attends a wine festival in Santa Monica, seven nights in a beautiful hotel on the beach
Micah wants to show that love between two men includes affection, understanding, and can be forever. Will he make Liam see sense?
Excerpt:
The guy looked flustered for a few seconds. “Earlier…you…my camera… It was you, wasn’t it? On the beach?”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry, I was miles away. You’re welcome, no worries.” Blond guy thrust out his hand, the glint of a silver-colored watch on his wrist.
“Liam Wade.”
“Micah Adamson.”
“Can I get you a drink, Mr. Adamson, to say thank you?”
Micah frowned. Mr. Adamson sounded so formal. He decided his guess about this guy—this Liam—working in business wasn’t far off if he went round calling people mister.
“Call me Micah.”
“Okay, Micah. I would offer to actually buy you a drink, but they seem to be giving it away tonight.” He gestured to the layout of all the wines and frowned. “There is a bar here somewhere that probably has beer. I don’t know about you”—he lowered his voice—“but this wine is all a bit too formal for me, not really into it. I really need a beer.”
Micah nearly choked on his last strawberry, coughing and trying to get control of his breathing.
“It’s a welcome party for a small wine convention,” he finally managed to push out.
“Oh, so that explains all the wine snobs sniffing their glasses.” Liam nodded wisely, as if he had suddenly discovered the whole reason for being. Micah couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He was torn between being affronted at Liam’s humor and agreeing with the absurdity of what some of these winery reps did in the name of knowing wine.
Micah didn’t need all the dramatic sniffing and tasting and use of incredibly meaningless long words. He knew wine; he knew grapes; he wanted to share that with others. That was enough.
“I’m a snob,” he blurted out, cursing inwardly at the what the hell did I just say? moment. To his credit, Liam said nothing, which left Micah enough time to correct his statement. “I mean I own a winery. My family owns a winery, near Rochester, a vineyard and a winery, Seneca Blue.”
Liam looked at him, then down at the glass in his hand, pulling his lower lip between his teeth as if in deep thought.
“They have vineyards in New York State?” Liam asked, completely open and honest in his curiosity. Micah smiled. Now that was a question he could handle.
“The Finger Lakes region. We have snow, rain, and storms rolling in from Lake Ontario like you wouldn’t believe, but you can also find some of the sweetest, most perfect harvests you could imagine.”
“Wow,” Liam murmured in response, and Micah narrowed his eyes. Was that a genuine wow or an oh shit stop talking wow? Micah had received both in his twenty-nine years.
“Seriously, I imagine New York as this gloomy grayness. Just another Seattle, I guess.”
Clearly that had been an interested wow.
Book Details:
2nd edition
Published June 6th 2013 by Love Lane Books (first published July 8th 2011)
charactersLiam Wade, Micah Anderson
settingSanta Monica, California (United States)
Rochester, New York (United States)
This title was previously available with Silver Publishing. It has been re-edited and approximately 1,800 words added as an epilogue.
Buy Link at Love Lane Press, ARe, Amazon
You can find RJ Scott at:
Thanks for the blog and giveaway! I prefer HEA, but you hit it on the head when you wrote, “…practical and reasonable HEA.” If the HEA is too implausible it feels like pandering to me. And, there are those special books where an HFN or even no happy ending is OK because that is what was right for the story. But, for me, they need to be great otherwise to be worth the pain. 🙂
jlf827 {at} icloud {dot} com
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I haven’t read either of those books (yet), but I must say HEAs and HFNs both make me pretty happy. If it is an HFN, I tend to imagine sunsets anyway!
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I’m happy as long as a book at least has a good HFN, but I prefer an HEA. Books are an escape from the world so they don’t have to “real”. doucook@yahoo.com
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My first thought was to say that I always need a HEA. That this is one of the reasons I love to read fiction. Because in this fictional world I get the stuff that doesn’t happen in real life… the stuff of fairy tales. How love “should be”. Including the happily ever after…
But really it’s not true. It depends on the book and the subject matter. If the MCs are very young, I would much rather be left with a HFN. I find it hard to truly believe a HEA if the MCs are 16-20 years of age – unless there are some extraordinary circumstances involved…
No HEA is touchy. Sometimes it is the right thing for the story, but it is depressing to read – we get so much of it in real life – I don’t really need it in my litterature. But if it must be that way, then I need the book to at least end on a note of hope in some shape or form.
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Oops forgot email: anna@goerlitz.dk
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I haven’t read these books. R.J. Scott is still a new author for me. I LOVE HEAs but they have to make sense in the story. I think one of the worst things is to read a story, then get to the end feeling like I’m going to get a HFN and suddenly there’s a HEA. Too rushed and I’m disappointed that the author felt the need to throw it in at the last minute. I’d much rather see a HFN instead of the rushed HEA thrown in. Like Ashley said, I will imagine a HEA anyway in my mind. 🙂
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I am ok with HFN but really like HEA (even the implausible ones! 🙂 . The only thing I don’t enjoy is an incomplete story, split into multiple pieces.
I enjoyed the excerpt, looking out for thisone.
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Forgot my email
MHupp20032003(at)yahoo(dot)com
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I guess I am a romantic at heart since I love the escape of a HEA.
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I like a good HEA since it is all about the escape and I am a romantic at heart
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I do like a HEA – reading is escapism so thats what we want to get! Sometimes it is OK for the story to be with a hopeful future, if the story line means that a full lown HEA at thatpoint would be too OTT
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I love HEA, but if it’s a series then HFN will suffice, but the series needs to end in HEA. I haven’t read the first edition of One Night with it’s HFN ending. Glad it was revised.
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oops forgot- penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com
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I also prefer the HEA over the HFN. I love knowing that there is that possibility of forever for the characters that you came to care for while reading their story. It’s nice to be able to wish for that in real life.
aegger.echo @ yahoo .com
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I read to escape so for me hfn or hea is almost a must. There is enough bad in the real world, I don’t need more in the books I read. Gotta love it when the guy gets the girl or the guy gets the guy or even when the girl gets the guy and the other guy (personal fav).
jessicalranallo@gmail.com
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I love both HEA and HFN. Like comment above I read to be entertained and reality dose not have to play a part. The only time I don’t like them in books is if I know there is going to be another book and hope it will have a HEA or HFN.
l33tl12@gmail.com
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I like both kinds as long as the ending is happy! Thanks for the giveaway, m8231m@aol
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I normally prefer HEA but HRN for unrealistic HEA. In my opinion with NRN where is always better chance to get a sequal for the story and I don’t hate anything more than getting a feeling that the story end before it’s time.. elsikoho@yahoo.com
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I’m a diehard HEA fan – I don’t like any other ending really because I get invested in the characters. scarlettruin@gmail.com
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I LOVE HEA stories. I actually dont read books if they dont have one. I cant help it, I get really invested in the characters and if they dont live happily at the end it upsets me.
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I like to have a happy ever after if it fits the story, but I have read stories where a HEA or even a HFN doesn’t fit but the author tried to force it to be. they just didn’t work.
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oops! rojoroaors@yahoo.com
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i have to be satisfied with the end, which is a pretty ubiquitous statement for nearly every reader. for a hea to work, it has to feel natural, that this really could happen. first loves and teenage puppy love *can* survive, but it’s not the norm, so that makes me instantly skeptical in most cases. sometimes characters have to bend to far to for a hea to work.
that said, hfn aren’t as satisfying. they aren’t bad, and if it fits the novel, it’s the necessary choice. i’d rather have that then something that fractures the story’s physics.
the stories that stay with me are the really well done heas. the characters are tested, sacrifices are made, and while they may be beaten up at the end, they’re together because that’s their truth.
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I love HEAs. I don’t read many books that don’t have it.
aligroen@yahoo.com
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I like HEAs but I think I like HFNs more because sometimes they feel more realistic.
gidgetohm@aol.com
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I like a HEA because you get a finished story. I wanted more of Dale and Joseph because I felt there story wasn’t finished.
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