Blissfully Sweet Event with Jody Holford

Jody Holford lives in British Columbia with her family. She's a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell, Nora Roberts, Carly Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Sophia Kinsella, and Emily Giffen. She's unintentionally funny and rarely on time for anything. She writes multiple genres but her favourite is romance.

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I am so excited to be sharing More than Friends with readers. This is my first book with Entangled and the fact that my first event is titled Blissfully Sweet could not be more perfect. 

When I read, I want to find characters and moments that make my heart sigh. Moments that I read over and over again because the sensation they cause in your chest fills you with hope or memories. When I write, I want to share those moments. I want to create them and give them to readers. 

In More than Friends, there is a bitter-sweetness to Owen’s request. His favor means that Gabby will get all of the things she’s been secretly wanting for so long: to be closer to him, to kiss him, and demonstrate a familiarity with him that only two people in a relationship could. But it’s hard on her for several reasons. One being, nothing is pretend for her and another being it’s just an act for him. Or is it? 

One of the hardest things for me to learn as a writer, because I fear these moments as a reader, is that the sweetness of a story is magnified if the characters fall. In Owen and Gabby, I didn’t want them to lose what they had as friends. But I had to risk it…they had to risk it. In doing so, they found a sweetness neither of them expected or could have imagined. 

It’s that sweetness that pulls the reader back, keeps them afloat while the characters struggle to find out who they are and aren’t with each other. And without each other. I have a long list of books whose characters I continuously return to when I need happy moments. If I’m in a bad mood or feeling down, I know exactly where to go in all of my favorite books to find those moments. Some of them, I have ingrained in my memory. By far, one of my favorites, one of the ones I hold most dear, is in Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. It’s when Levi and Cath are talking and she says, “I know you like me.” He replies, “You know I love you.” 

As a reader, my heart melted into a warm, gooey pile of love. As a writer, I thought, “that” is what I want others to feel when they read my words. It’s not a long, grand declaration he gives her, but just the truth. Plain and simple. And sweet. So incredibly sweet. 

My desire, as a writer, is to give readers those simple moments of pleasure. Of happiness. I want readers to remember a line here or there that, in their own dark moments, pulls them back and reminds them there is so much good in the world. It’s there. Even if we need to find it in romance books.

There can never be too much sweetness in books or in dessert. I am happy to test this theory in both areas. I’m giving away an ecopy ARC of More than Friends if you’d like to read the sweet story of Gabby and Owen. The winner will also get a very brief, sneak peek at Wyatt and Shay. 

Owen Burnett planned on a quiet, easygoing Christmas, hanging out with his best friend and neighbor, Gabby Michaelson. So when his mom pressures him to come home for the holidays, he tells a little white lie…that he’s spending the holidays with his new girlfriend. But when his family shows up unexpectedly, Owen pulls the best friend card and asks Gabby to play his fake girlfriend.

Gabby’s been hopelessly in love with her best friend Owen for what feels like forever, but playing his "fake" girlfriend when the entire boisterous Burnett clan visits is easier said than done. The more she tries to deny the attraction between them, the more obvious their chemistry becomes. But even though she's not the only one feeling it, putting their friendship on the line is a risk she can’t take.

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N |

Up For Grabs:

• 1 eARC of More Than Friends

To Enter: 

• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter giveaway.

**Don't forget to enter the grand prize giveaway!

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Jody Holford for sponsoring this giveaway.

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