Guest Post with Author Hope Tarr and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome author Hope Tarr to RFTC. Hope is celebrating the release of her book Operation Cinderella and has stopped by to chat. Please give Hope a warm welcome.

Hope Tarr is the award-winning author of twenty historical and contemporary romances including OPERATION CINDERELLA, the launch to her new “Suddenly Cinderella” series of contemporary fairytale-themed romances. Hope is also a co-founder and current principal of Lady Jane’s Salon™, New York City’s first and so far only monthly romance fiction reading series now with satellites in four other U.S. cities.

Places to find Hope:

| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter |

Bright Lights, Big City

By Hope Tarr

As I write this guest post, we are on Day #4 post-Sandy, many of us in Lower Manhattan still without power and yet desperately grateful to have fared as well as we have in the aftermath of a storm that took so much from so many. Last night as I made the homeward trek from the neon brilliance of Times Square to the eerie darkness delimiting much that is east of Madison Avenue, I thought about sense of place and how it figures in our fiction.

What, beyond the ubiquitous bright lights and singular skyline, makes New York…well, New York?

To me what sets New York apart from other big cities, more so than any feature of its physical landscape, is its pervasive promise of possibility. That promise of possibility is what drew me to move here five years ago and what keeps me here today—even in the midst of jockeying for electrical outlets at a Starbucks twenty blocks away. It’s also what draws my OPERATION CINDERELLA heroine, Macie Graham, to leave her small Midwestern town for The Big Apple. Five years later, as the Features Editor of On Top Magazine, the hottest, hippest women’s magazine to hit since Jane, Macie has it all—or at least she’d like to think so. Sure her relationship with her boyfriend is more off than on. Sure all the Chelsea clubs have started to seem the same, but at least she’s not still stuck in Heavenly, Indiana. That’s something…or is it?

When conservative media pundit, Ross Mannon, targets On Top in retaliation for Macie’s article advocating teen birth control—“Forget the Fairytale, Teen Sex is Fact, Not Fiction”—Macie is out for blood. Like the Big Bad Wolf, she scents a story, a behind-the-scenes expose on the sexy Texan that promises to be as juicy as a rare cooked steak.

Going undercover as Ross’s live-in housekeeper, Macie must make a Cinderella transformation in reverse. Giving up her Goth Girl persona for that of the sweet, old-fashioned girl she has vowed to leave buried in her past is even harder than she imagined. Hardest of all, she must leave New York for Washington, DC from where Ross currently broadcasts his news program. Only a pair of vintage Saks Fifth Avenue red shoes, a gift from two fairy god friends and reputed to have been worn by a famous silver screen era Hollywood actress, connects her to her “true” self.

I really hope readers enjoy OPERATION CINDERELLA as well as the other books in the series, all set in U.S. cities where I have lived or visited at length. Next up is A SUDDENLY CINDERELLA CHRISTMAS CAROL, a “Flirt” novella releasing later this November and also set in New York. Macie’s Scrooge-like boss, Starr, receives a surprise gift on Christmas Eve: a pair of vintage Saks red slippers from her fallen out friend. Trying on the shoes may just give Starr a turn at Christmas Happily Ever After with sexy Art Director, Matt Landry—assuming she’ll take the plunge and change her attitude on both Happily Ever After and the holiday.

But there’s more…

In Book #2, PROJECT CINDERELLA (February 2013), Ross’s ex, famous fashion photographer Francesca St. James gets considerably more than she bargained for when she leaves New York for Los Angeles to join the cast of a newly launched reality TV show as a fashion coach. “Project Cinderella” aims to remake fashion frogs into styling Cinderella princes and princesses. Contestant Gregory Knickerbocker is a geek with a heart of gold, easily the program’s “least likely to succeed” as a finalist. Fortunately Francesca loves nothing more than a challenge and serving as Greg’s “fashion fairy godmother” promises to be that and then some. Can a pair of vintage Saks Fifth Avenue red slippers help her look beyond Greg’s center-parted hair and ubiquitous gray hoodies to the Prince Charming that lies beneath?

Lastly, it’s back to Washington, DC with the series finale: THE CINDERELLA CAPER (tentative title, June/July 2013). Plus-size personal chef, Stefanie Stephanopolis is one of DC’s most sought after personal chefs. Cooking gourmet in-home meals for couples is her specialty—only Stef is eating her meals solo. Convinced by her diet-obsessed stepmother and stepsisters that she’s fat, Stef hides her pretty face beneath glasses and messy bangs and her sexy curves beneath baggy sweaters and “mom” jeans. Accepting an exclusive two-month contract to cook for visiting Greek tycoon, Nicholai, catapults Stef far beyond her kitchen—and her comfort zone. Can the surprise arrival of a pair of vintage red shoes help her to see the princess-perfect vision that Nick does?

Manhattan magazine editor Macie Graham always gets her story—and she’ll do anything to uncover the dirt on famous radio personality Ross Mannon. After he smears her article on his show, nearly costing Macie her job, she devises a plan to masquerade as a modern-day Cinderella and get her revenge on the infuriating Texan.

All Ross wants is a woman with old-fashioned values to be his housekeeper and role model for his troubled teenage daughter. When the perfect woman shows up, Ross is relieved—until he finds himself drawn to his gorgeous, red-stiletto-wearing new employee. “Martha Jane” is opinionated and sexy, and Ross is intrigued…and more than a little turned on.

Macie thought Operation Cinderella was foolproof, but Ross, with his rugged good looks and southern charm, proves to be as perfect behind-the-scenes as he does in public. But when she finally uncovers a secret that could destroy Ross's reputation, she faces losing her job or losing the fairy-tale ending she didn't even know she wanted.

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

1 lucky commenter will win a eBook copy of Operation Cinderella

To Enter:

• Please leave a comment answering the question: Do you have a favorite Cinderella themed book? 
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

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