Tuesday, February 13, 2024

We are ready for Cara Bastone...plus a book giveaway

Credit: Maggie Ambrosino-Sands
Today we are excited to welcome Cara Bastone and celebrate the publication of her debut novel, Ready or Not. It sounds like a really interesting story and the cover is gorgeous! Thanks to The Dial Press, we have TWO copies for some lucky readers!

Cara Bastone is a full-time writer who lives and writes in Brooklyn with her husband, sons, and an almost-goldendoodle. Her goal with her work is to find the swoon in ordinary love stories. She's been a fan of the romance genre since she found a grocery bag filled with her grandmother's old Harlequin Romances when she was in high school. She's a fangirl for pretzel sticks, long walks through Prospect Park, and love stories featuring men who aren't hobbled by their own masculinity.

Cara is a bestselling Audible Original author. Her Audible Original rom-com novellas Call Me Maybe and Sweet Talk, were both Top 10 Audible bestsellers, with approximately 80K listens and 10K glowing reviews each. Call Me Maybe was also a 2021 Audie Award finalist for Best Romance.

Visit Cara online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram


Synopsis:
A surprise pregnancy leads to even more life-changing revelations in this heartfelt, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance of found family and unexpected love.

Eve Hatch is pretty content with her life. Her apartment in Brooklyn is cozy and close to her childhood best friend Willa, but far from her midwestern, traditional family who never really understood her. While her job is only dream-adjacent, she’s hoping her passion and hard work will soon help her land a more glamorous role. And sure, her most recent romantic history has consisted of not one but two disappointing men named Derek. At least she always knows what to expect…until she finds herself expecting after an uncharacteristic one-night stand.

The unplanned pregnancy cracks open all the relationships in her life. Eve's loyal friendship with Willa is feeling off, right when she needs her most. And it’s Willa’s steadfast older brother, Shep, who steps up to help. He has always been friendly, but now he’s checking in, ordering her surprise lunches, listening to all her complaints, and is… suddenly kinda hot? Then there’s the baby's father, who is supportive but conflicted. Before long, Eve is rethinking everything she thought she knew about herself and her world.

Over the course of nine months, as Eve struggles to figure out the next right step in her expanding reality, she begins to realize that family and love, in all forms, can sneak up on you when you least expect it.

“With loads of humor, loveable characters, and a first kiss that will leave you flushed and breathless, Ready or Not is a delightfully romantic story that celebrates modern love and the excitement of the unexpected. Readers will adore Cara Bastone's joyful, swoony novel!” 
–Amy Poeppel, author of The Sweet Spot

“A wholehearted meditation on all kinds of love, this novel is pure joy.”
–Annabel Monaghan, national bestselling author of Same Time Next Summer

“Bastone delivers on this truly heartwarming, funny, and real story. Come for the dog bar, stay for the special, slow-burn rom-com.” 
–Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author

In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like for you?
One sentence?! It was such a combination of launching this book into the world and launching my children into the world at the same time. One sentence! Okay, here we go, extra points if I can make it rhyme:
 
Up to write at 5 AM, changing diapers, skip the gym, edit during all the naps, kid’s first steps with first draft on my lap, cutting chapters, cutting title, transcendent result, pop a midol, spit-shine it all, what’s done simply sparkles, couldn’t have done it without the whole team, Dial’s gifted me a heartful.
 
How is Eve similar to or different from you?
Eve and I both use humor as a tool to excavate our experiences. Also, I think we’re both pretty generous in our understanding of why other people are the way they are. BUT it takes her a long time to realize she’s in love. For me, once my husband and I started dating, I was like That one. I want that one.
 
If Ready or Not were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
Actually, the voice actor who did the audio book is a stage/screen actor as well, her name is Alex Finke and she so embodied Eve that I kind of can’t picture anyone else? But for Shep…. Oh, this is hard. I might have said Nicholas Braun from Succession, but I recently saw a trailer where he creeped me out so I can't unknow that now. I also love Ebon Moss Bachrach from The Bear but he's such a grump! Good thing I'm not a casting director....
 
What is the last book you read that you would recommend?

Can I do two? I have to do two. I loved The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich and Wild Life by Opal Wei.
 
What is something new you did recently (aside from publishing a book)?
I’ve been taking drawing classes! Figure drawing. I thought, as a romance writer who writes full description sex scenes that very little could shock me or make me feel prudish. But I found it very difficult not to giggle at the first d*** I had to draw with a colored pencil. ☺
 
If your life were a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it? 

Oh, Sally Field, for sure. She’s inimitable and somehow brimming with both sincerity and wry charm!
 
Tell us about a memorable Valentine's Day card or gift you received.
Recently I went back through a box of old letters and I found a series of Valentine’s Day cards from my mom. They were from the years when I was young and single in NYC and, though I didn’t realize it at the time, she sent them because she didn’t want me to experience a Valentine’s Day where no one told me they loved me. Just seeing her cheery handwriting brought a tear to my eye and reminded me that the holiday, in its best form, can celebrate more than just romantic love. 

Thanks to Cara for chatting with us and to The Dial Press 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

Giveaway ends February 18th at midnight EST.

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Listen to this book on Speechify!

18 comments:

Tina B said...

Sounds like a great read! Thanks for the chance to win a copy!!

Shawna G said...

The death of my father. Thank you so much forthe chance!

Jess R said...

I wasn't quite ready for my children to grow up...you think you are when they are small, but then all the sudden they are adults.

Suburban prep said...

There are a few events in life that have been sudden, and I was not expecting them --the death of each of my parents and then the letting go from one of my jobs.

Rita Wray said...

The death of my parents.

traveler said...

I still mourn and grieve my mother.

diannekc said...

When I bought my new car.

Mary C said...

Death of my younger brother.

Lisa D said...

Being diagnosed with diabetes and then having to deal with it day in, day out with no end in sight.

LV said...

First my husband was killed in Afghanistan then I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.

Michael Law said...

Falling In love

bn100 said...

not sure

Mary Preston said...

My mother dying.

Mary Patricia Bird said...

My father passing away suddenly and unexpectedly.

aramoon3770 said...

The passing away of my 4 year old daughter through drowning accident.

yellowlabs said...

Getting Celiac's disease. Never expected that in my adult life.

Nancy P said...

Death of my mom.

Toni Laliberte said...

My mother's passing...