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About the Book

Book title: Crazy about Alaska

Author: Shannon L. Brown

Release date: June 30, 2017

Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance

Can she trust love?

Holly has her eye on a handsome state trooper. Not on her boring, oh-so-serious, former professor, Adam.

Having her toes curl when she’s near Adam must be ignored.

Holly just wants a great dad for her twin girls. She’s going to find one, write a novel to fulfill her dreams, and create a happy life.

Falling in love isn’t part of her plan.

About the Author

Writing books that are fun and touch your heart

Even though Shannon L. Brown always loved to read, she didn’t plan to be a writer. She earned two degrees from the University of Alaska, one in journalism/public communications, but didn’t become a journalist.

Years passed. Shannon felt pulled into a writing life, testing her wings with a novel and moving on to articles. Shannon is now an award-winning journalist who has sold hundreds of articles to local, national, and regional publications.

Shannon was born and raised in Alaska so she enjoyed writing the books in the Alaska Dream Romance series. “The Feather Chase” was her first published book and began the Crime-Solving Cousins Mystery series. The eight-to-twelve-year-olds in your life will enjoy this contemporary twist on a Nancy Drew-type mystery.

Shannon lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her professor husband and adorable calico cat.

Guest Post from Shannon Brown

Open Doors

When a character opens the door and steps from her world into mine, writing about her is easier. Holly Harris in Crazy About Alaska is a real estate agent, and I was once one. I’ve driven clients around and shown them houses only to have them go a different direction. My husband and I bought a new house a few years ago, so I have tales to tell from that experience too. (Readers may think the purple shower is made up. Think again.) I chose to bring a college professor into her life as a love interest. I’m married to one.

Some of myself always finds its way into a story. Sometimes, it’s just something I might like to do. Holly’s sister Jemma rehabs furniture in Falling for Alaska, book one in the series. The idea for her business came while I was watching HGTV’s Flea Market Flip. Taking trash and making it beautiful sounds like something I’d like to try. Jemma also dislikes coffee and drinks tea. (Here I am again.) But she is not exactly me. She’s cooking challenged, and I’m a good cook.

Does the story become about the author when she inserts herself into it? Reality is only a fun fraction of the book. Holly has two men vying for her affections. That never happened. (It might have been fun if it had!) She also has five-year-old twins. I never experienced that.

By far the most challenging of the sisters in the series was Bree in book two, Loving Alaska. She’s a doctor, and my knowledge of the medical profession comes from sitting on the exam table, not from doing the exam. I spoke with doctors I knew and brought her to life. But Bree isn’t all made up either. She despises being in nature, especially camping. I’ve camped on a frozen river, beside a lake after canoeing or boating in, and many more places, but I’m with Bree and hotels are greatly preferred. There I am in the story again.

Reading the books I’ve written helps you know who I am. I’m a woman with a big imagination who enjoys bringing stories to life. Oh, and that slightly sarcastic sense of humor you may notice with Jemma and Holly? That might be from me as well.

My Thoughts:

Starting out, I really enjoyed this book. It immediately drew me in and I had to laugh at the shenanigans Holly finds herself pulling within the very first few pages. I liked the humor and the back and forth banter between characters. I enjoyed getting to know Adam’s character better as the book progressed and, for the most part, I really liked his character. I liked the sisters and the dynamic among the three of them.

Spoiler Alert: The following paragraphs may contain what some perceive to be spoilers. I tried to not reveal much, but as it was something big that stuck out to me about the book, I felt I needed to mention it.

I enjoyed Holly’s character at first, but I did become very frustrated with her and some of her choices as the book progressed. One of the things that contributed to my frustration with her is the trope or theme that is often used where one or both members of the potential couple have secrets that they don’t tell each other, sometimes purposefully and sometimes because they simply don’t make it a priority to talk things through. This is something that I, more often than not, find to be a hindrance to me really enjoying a book. I know how important honest communication is in a relationship, and it’s just one of those things that gets to me when characters in books I read choose not to do that. I know that not everyone will feel that way, but I do and that’s why I struggled with part of the book.

In this particular book, both of the main characters have a secret they haven’t told the other. Holly’s was a big deal kind of secret and it really bothered me that she would purposefully choose to keep it a secret. Her reasoning for keeping it a secret didn’t make much sense to me either and, quite honestly, made her come across as immature to me. Up until all of that began to be revealed, I had really liked her character, but then I lost a little respect for her when she made the decision to continue to try to keep the secret. When her secret is revealed, not because she chose to reveal it, but because she was in a situation where it was unavoidably made known, I did appreciate Adam’s reaction to it. He was cautious, as he should be given such big news, and needed some time to digest it, but he was kind and I believe handled the situation for the most part with grace. Whereas when Adam’s secret is revealed (which he had planned to tell her), Holly overreacts and runs off, not bothering to listen or talk about it with him. It all just made her character seem a bit childish which was not the way I had first perceived her as the book started. Thankfully, there are some people in her life to talk to her and help her see her overreaction.

Again, I did enjoy the humor and the somewhat sarcastic banter between characters in the book and most of the characters where enjoyable as well. Take a look at some of the other blog stops (listed below) for other readers’ thoughts on Crazy About Alaska.

Blog Stops

July 20: Eat, Read, Teach, Blog
July 20: Book Reviews From an Avid Reader
July 21: A Baker’s Perspective
July 21: Reading Is My SuperPower
July 22: Artistic Nobody
July 22: Just Commonly
July 23: Live.Love.Read.
July 23: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations
July 24: Carpe Diem
July 24: autism mom
July 25: Redeemed Hope Dweller
July 25: Baker Kella
July 26: A Rup Life
July 26: Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses
July 27: Karen Sue Hadley
July 27: Quiet Quilter
July 28: Pause for Tales
July 28: Have A Wonderful Day
July 29: Remembrancy
July 29: Cafinated Reads
July 30: Zerina Blossom’s Books
July 31: History, Mystery & Faith
August 1: Kat’s Corner Books
August 1: For the Love of Books
August 2: Avid Reader Book Reviews
August 2: Ashley’s Bookshelf

Giveaway

To celebrate this tour, Shannon Brown is giving away a grand prize of a book lovers gift basket – a basket filled with book-related things!! Click the gift bag below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!