New Release: Meant to Be (Four Irish Brothers Winery, #2) Nan Reinhardt and Meet the Author

Irish guy? Yes, please.

Meant to Be (Four Irish Brothers Winery, #2) Nan Reinhardt released Thursday in the Adult, Contemporary, Romance genre.

Can a near-tragedy help two best friends realize they’re meant to be so much more? Best friends since grade school, high-powered Chicago attorney, Sean Flaherty, and small-town mayor Megan Mackenzie have always shared a special bond. When Sean is shot by a client’s angry ex, Megan rushes to his side, terrified she’s about to lose her long-time confidant.

Upon his return to River’s Edge to recuperate, Sean discovers that his feelings for his pal have taken an undeniable turn for the romantic. While Megan struggles with an unfamiliar longing for Sean, she worries that he may be mistaking a safe place to land for love.

Can Sean help her realize that they are truly meant to be so much more than friends?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46147235-meant-to-be

Purchase:

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/meant-to-be-nan-reinhardt/1132053861

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/meant-to-be/id1465309420?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/meant-to-be-77

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=QW2dDwAAQBAJ

Dear Lord, what was the matter with him?

Suddenly, it struck her like a thunderbolt why he wasn’t moving, why his hands were covering… oh, holy… Heat rose from her neck to her cheeks, but she couldn’t make herself look away from him, from his lap.

He raised one dark brow when he caught her staring, lifted his hands, looked down, and then back up at her with rueful smile. “Aye, and who knew, after all these years, you could have this kind of effect on me, Meggy Mackenzie.” The Irish lilt that always came out when he was particularly stressed turned the words into a caress.

For a brief second, she willed the floor to open up so she could fall into a deep dark hole and the whole nightmare evening would be over. “Sean, I-I… I’m…” Chagrined, she couldn’t seem to form an intelligent sentence. She simply stood there gaping at him, her hands sticky from the wine soaked into her sweater and her face hot with embarrassment. Her lips trembled and she blinked furiously to keep from completing her humiliation by bursting into tears.

Sean umphed himself up from the settee, got his balance with his cane, and with the other hand, swept the mess from her fingers and carried it to the kitchen sink. Dumping it all into one side, he yanked the magazine out and dropped it into the trash can beside the bar. He flipped the faucet on, letting cold water run over her sweater and the coasters as he washed his hands. “Meg, come here.” He crooked his finger at her.

His grin was the old Sean—the one who could charm her into doing his math homework because even though Sean Flaherty was the star of the debate team, he sucked at sophomore algebra. Hesitating, she finally crossed to the kitchen and put her hands under the cold water to rinse off the wine, staring in disgust at what she’d done to her new sweater.

AUTHOR BIO: Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today-bestselling author of romantic fiction for women in their prime. Yeah, women still fall in love and have sex, even after 45! Imagine! She is a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, and a grandmother. Nan has been a copyeditor and proofreader for over 25 years, and currently works on romantic fiction titles for a variety of clients, including Avon Books, St. Martin’s Press, Kensington Books, and Entangled Publishing, as well as for many indie authors.

Although she loves her life as an editor, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. Her latest novel, Meant to Be, Book 2 in the Four Irish Brothers Winery series from Tule Publishing releases on July 18, 2019. A Small Town Christmas,which is the first book in the Four Irish Brothers Winery series from Tule Publishing, is available now, and she is currently hard at work on Book 3.

Visit Nan’s website at www.nanreinhardt.com, where you’ll find links to all her books as well as blogs about writing, being a Baby Boomer, and aging gracefully…mostly. Nan also blogs every sixth Wednesday at Word Wranglers, sharing the spotlight with five other romance authors and is a frequent contributor the RWA Contemporary Romance blog, and she contributes to the Romance University blog where she writes as Editor Nan.

Q&A with Nan Reinhardt, author of Meant to Be

Questions compliments of USA-Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty

Tell us about one of those defining, aha moments when, as a writer, you were in the place you needed to be.

If you mean those “oh, that’s how I’m going to write this scene!” moments, then for some weird reason they always seem to come to me when I’m driving of all things. It’s awkward because then I either have to stop in a parking lot or on the side of the road to make notes. Fortunately, I’m never without paper and pen. But if you mean, literally a place that I know is a story in itself, I’d say on my first trip to Frankfort, Michigan.

What heroine in what favorite book would you like to talk to, maybe have lunch or a glass of wine with? What would you talk about?

Unquestionably, Anne Shirley and Marilla Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have tea with them on the porch at Green Gables and talk about Prince Edward Island and writing and Avonlea? Maybe Matthew and Gilbert might join us later. Sheer heaven!

If trends and marketing weren’t things you had to consider, what book would you like to write?

A NY Times bestseller? Seriously, I think I’m writing the books I want to write at the moment. I have a women’s fiction novel and a time-travel story in me, I’m sure, but right now they’re still brewing, so until one of them comes to the top of the cycle, I’ll continue with contemporary romance.

You’re not only a bestselling author but an editor as well. Do the two jobs ever get in each other’s way?

The editor slows down the writer, I’m afraid, and that’s often discouraging because I’m driven to reread what I write and to edit as I go along. That means sometimes I lose steam in storytelling. I’m working on that.

Share a paragraph you’ve written that you particularly love—whatever the reason.

This is silly and it’s more than one paragraph, but I love the scene in Meant to Be when Sean and Megan are driving home from their disastrous double-date and he tries to explain Vinnie using an analogy from the movie Up. I loved his rationalization and her complete rejection of it.

He glanced over at Meg, who appeared focused on navigating the curvy driveway into the winery property. “Here’s the thing”—he side-eyed her as she pulled into Char’s driveway—“Vin is like… like that dog in Up.”

She switched off the car and turned to face him, her expression incredulous. “What?”

“You know the dog in that movie Up? We watched it with Ali at Christmas?” His point was valid if she would just open her mind, so he explained further. “The dog had a great ball that he was playing with—having fun, enjoying himself. Loved that ball. Then a squirrel ran by and he was completely distracted, dropped the ball, and chased the squirrel.” He grinned, hoping to get some kind of positive reaction.

She rested her elbow on the steering wheel and cupped her chin in her palm. “So, I’m the ball in this scenario?”

“Yeah.”

“And Vin is the dog?”

He nodded. She was getting it.

“And Gia is what? The squirrel?”

He threw his hands up in exultation. “Yes, exactly.”

She gazed at him for a long moment, “I’ve heard you say some really dumb stuff over the years, Sean Flaherty, but that has to be the dumbest. Stop defending him.”

I know you researched heavily for both of your series. Do you remember anything particularly surprising you learned?

I was surprised when I learned that Indiana was one of the very first places that grew wine grapes and sold wine commercially. I had no idea our state was so steeped in wine history.

Do you ever feel pressured to write something you don’t want to—by publishers, readers, or the little voice in the back of your mind?

I did when I first started writing and trying to sell romance. My agent sent me a book from another client of hers and told me to “write like this.” I tried, but it wasn’t me. That’s a big part of the reason I went indie with my Women of Willow Bay series. But Tule, my current publisher is amazing and gives me lots of freedom. I love working with them.

What’s something we don’t know about you?

I love Big Band music and the songs from the Great American Songbook. Sinatra, Crosby, Tony Bennett—they all make me swoony. I would love to learn how to dance the way they did back in the thirties and forties when that music was popular. I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t know much about today’s music or artists…I’m hopelessly stuck in the musical past.

Tell us about your favorite day in all the world, whether it’s already happened or you’re still hoping.

This is so trite I know, but my best day ever was the day my son was born. We’d waited so long and tried so hard to have him. He’s been a blessing from the first moment he took a breath.

You love traveling, right? So what’s on your bucket list for trips not yet taken?

Prince Edward Island with my bestie, Liz. We’re definitely going to do it in the next year or two. I’d love to go back to Ireland and France, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m okay with that. Liz and I do writing trips together once or twice a year and those satisfy the wanderlust.

A few short ones here just to get people acquainted:

Favorite color: