Guest Post with Author Brooke Moss

Today I would like to welcome author Brooke Moss. Brooke is currently on tour celebrating her upcoming release of The Carny and has stopped by to chat. Before I give the floor over to Brooke, lets get to know her some.

Brooke Moss is the name, contemporary romance, fantasy YA, and women's fiction are the game.

Brooke writes complex, character-driven stories about kismet, reunited lovers, first love, and the kind of romance that we should all have the chance at finding. She prefers her stories laced with some humor just for fun, and enough drama to keep her readers flipping the pages, and begging for more!

When Brooke isn't spinning tales, she spends her time drawing/cartooning, reading two books a week (ask her who her faves are), watching movies then comparing them to books, and, of course, wrangling four kids, one hubby she lovingly refers to as her "nerd", and attempting to conquer the Mount Everest of laundry that is the bane of her existence.

Places to find Brooke:

| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | 

Touchy, Touchy Subject

By Brooke Moss

Hi Dani! Thanks for hosting me here on the “Ramblings From This Chick” blog today, and for taking the time to listen to the ramblings of this chick. I’m so excited to be promoting my latest release, The Carny (coming July 7th from InkSpell Publishing). This book is especially close to my heart for a number of reasons.

First, it is set in the fishing town of Astoria, Oregon, which is located on the northwestern tip of Oregon state, right at the mouth of the Columbia River and the Pacific ocean. I actually lived just across the river in Washington state and attended college in Astoria about a million years ago, and it remains one of my favorite small towns in America.

Second, I am really proud of the content in The Carny. When I set out to write this book, it all stemmed from a dream I’d had about a handsome Carny following me around a carnival. (Which, in itself, is a contradiction—I mean, most Carny’s are a bit…er…creepy.) But once I started writing Charlotte and Vincent’s story, the characters insisted that I make them an interracial couple. I adore it when my characters insist on certain details that I, as the author, didn’t plan on. And tackling the touchy, touchy subject of racism in a romance novel seemed a bit heavy. But, Charlotte and Vin insisted…and it was my responsibility to carry out their wishes.

When I say that I touched on the subject of racism in The Carny, I should to make it clear that this book is still definitely a light, pleasant summer read. There is humor and lots or self-deprecation from Charlotte, and the cast of characters is very fun and relatable. (As an author, I consider the sub-characters and sub-plots to be every bit as important.) I just touched on that underlying intolerance that we all experience, or witness, from time to time.

You see, as a country we’ve evolved tremendously over the decades since the days of extreme racial intolerance. Not to say that prejudice like that no longer exists, because unfortunately it does. But there are still individuals who, though they have people in their lives that are different races, still make off-color jokes, or marvel when two people of different races fall in love. This is simply proof that many American’s still need exposure to other ethnicities. Because tolerance only comes with time and experience. This is the struggle that Vin (a Native American) and Charlotte (a Caucasian) face when they fall in love.

I hope that I’ve not only pleased all of my readers with another fun, romantic summer read, but also that I’ve brought a little bit of awareness to a touchy, touchy subject. We, as American’s, have come so far…and if reading my book brings a few of us even further in the pursuit of tolerance, I will consider writing this book time well spent.

I would love to hear what all of my readers think of Vin and Charlotte’s love story, and what they think of my contemporary romance that features a touchy, touchy subject. =)


At a town fair on the coast of Oregon, handsome Native American carny, Vincent Youngblood, bestows an unforgettable kiss on shy, awkward teenager, Charlotte Davenport. Then he disappears without another word, leaving her baffled and enamored.

Ten years later, Charlotte is still living in the small fishing town of Astoria, while being trained to--reluctantly--take over for her philandering hotelier father when he retires. After all, who else will do it? Her two perfect sisters are busy being married to their flawless husbands and having cookie cutter children, while Charlotte remains single, childless, and every bit as mousy as she was a decade ago.

As Charlotte struggles to climb out from underneath her judgmental parents thumb, the carnival rolls back into town, and Charlotte finds herself face to face with Vin again. He's back to run his father's carnival, walking away from a promising career in medicine he started in Chicago. Will her biased and judgmental family accept her relationship with a man who is not only a Native American, but works as a carny for a living? And what unsavory secrets bind the well-educated and seemingly superlative Vin to that ramshackle carnival?

After all, you can’t judge a carny by its cover.

Places to Purchase:

| Amazon | Barnes & Noble | InkSpell Publishing |