Kathryn R. Biel's practical romance...plus a book giveaway

We're glad to have Kathryn R. Biel back at CLC today to help us close out our Romance month. Her latest novel, Queen of Hearts, published last week. It's part of her New Beginnings series. Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone, but they are fun to read together. She has an e-book of Made for Me,  the first novel in the series, to give away!


Telling stories of resilient women, Kathryn R. Biel hails from Upstate New York where her most important role is being mom and wife to an incredibly understanding family who don't mind fetching coffee and living in a dusty house. In addition to being Chief Home Officer and Director of Child Development of the Biel household, she works as a school-based physical therapist. She attended Boston University and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from The Sage Colleges. After years of writing countless letters of medical necessity for wheelchairs, finding increasingly creative ways to encourage insurance companies to fund her client's needs, and writing entertaining annual Christmas letters, she decided to take a shot at writing the kind of novel that she likes to read. Kathryn is the author of eleven women's fiction, romantic comedy, contemporary romance, and chick lit works, including Live for This and Once in a Lifetime. Visit Kathryn at her website and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Synopsis:
And then they lived happily ever after...

That's how all the fairy tales end, right? And certainly Maryn Medrovovich's life is a fairy tale. It was love at first sight between her and Crown Prince Stephan. He didn't care that she was a commoner, working multiple jobs to make ends meet after her father left the family in dire straits. He only knew he loved her and wanted to make her a princess.

But that's where the fairy tale ends and real life begins. Being a member of the royal family isn't everything it's cracked up to be, especially when your father-in-law, the king, only has interest in your ability to produce an heir. The mounting pressure to maintain a royal image and perform her royal duties become too much as Maryn realizes Stephan is not the white knight she once thought him to be.

Seeking solace in her childhood home, Maryn's path again crosses with that of George Panagogus, her childhood best friend and first love. He really is a good guy. Too bad she shattered and stomped on his heart all those years ago. It's time for Maryn to step up and start being her own hero. Will she finally get her storybook ending? (Courtesy of Amazon.)

As much as I love romance (obviously), I’m also somewhat a pragmatist. While I’d love for my husband to shower me with sparkly jewelry, I’d probably rather use the money to refinish the basement or to be able to get takeout instead of the more cost-effective cooking dinner after a long day’s work.

Most romantic gesture that happened to you:
My husband (we’ve been together almost 18 years now), is NOT a romantic. NOT AT ALL. I find the romance in the little things he does, like making me coffee and bringing it to me (unsolicited) or by doing things around the house without me asking. It’s nice to come home from a weekend away to a clean house.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word "romance"?: 
The first thing I think about is books! I love a good romance novel, one that gives all the feels!

Favorite celebrity couple:
Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky. I mean, look at them. I hope they’re relationship is as perfect as it seems. At least in my fantasy world it is.

Favorite marriage proposal that you witnessed (okay if it's your own): 
The only one I’ve ever witnessed was my own. My husband put a lot of thought into it (and he’s not a planner). He proposed to me in a park, under the tree where we’d kissed on our first date. Got down on one knee and everything. We were both crying. However, in true rom-com fashion, just minutes before he’d intended to propose, while waiting in line, I put my hand on his chest and felt the ring box in his coat. He’s not a great liar (another plus), so I sort of had a clue it was coming. Otherwise, I’d have been totally blindsided. We’d also been eating chocolate, so when he finally stopped to propose, he had chocolate on his teeth. But that’s so us. We’re not super romantic, and when we try, we usually end up laughing. Humor is very attractive to me, so it all worked for us.

Most memorable date: 
Gosh, it’s hard to remember specific dates. There was one date that we went on after we were married with two kids. We’d gotten tickets to see an afternoon performance of Spamalot. He took off work and we snuck out, enjoying the frigid January day to ourselves. It sticks out in my mind because it was the only light spot in a terrible week in which we have a very sick baby, my grandmother had pneumonia, and our son was diagnosed with autism. That date was an oasis in a very bad week.

Best movie or TV show kiss: 
I’ve got to go old school on this and say Rhett and Scarlett in Gone with the Wind when he tells her she should be kissed and often and by someone who knows how.

Thanks to Kathryn for visiting with us and for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends February 5th at midnight EST.