Blog Tour & Giveaway | Wild One | Jessica Whitman
It's with great pleasure that I welcome to the Blog today, Jessica Whitman, author of the recently released Wild One.
In order to write these novels, Jessica teamed up with the face of Ralph Lauren, world-famous polo player Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Figueras, to bring to life a romantic trilogy set in the glamorous world of international polo.
'Nacho' Figueras is the captain and co-owner of the award-winning Black Watch polo team. The ‘David Beckham of polo’, he has featured on Oprah, 60 Minutes and Gossip Girl, and was voted the second most handsome man in the world by Vanity Fair. Nacho lives in America and Argentina with his wife and their four children.
Before I leave you to enjoy the rest of this post though, I have just a few words to say.
Blog Tours take a lot of planning and book bloggers, who like everyone else lead mostly normal lives with full-time jobs and families to care for, voluntarily give up their personal time to bring you information about new books, authors and opportunities to enter giveaways.
For these reasons, it's always appreciated when readers like you take the time to visit our blogs and provide your support for what we do. It would therefore be fantastic if you could visit the stop before me, Firebird Feathers and the one after me, Talking Books Blog and show that support.
And, because my not so faithful Calendar forgot to remind me about my spot on the tour (and I'm now 3 days late in posting), I'll add the link to Sam Still Reading's post (which went live on 10 September) here.
Remember that publishers, authors and reviewers all have a role to play in bringing something of value to you - that wonderful world of reading!
Here's a full list of all the stops on the tour:
A huge thank you to Jessica for providing this post and Allen and Unwin for hosting the tour and giveaway.
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Here is my deepest, darkest secret, dear friends – until embarking on the Polo Season series I had never actually ridden a horse.
I know. Believe me, I know. It’s ridiculous. I signed up to three books about polo and horses and the glories of riding – before ever embarking on my first lesson (something I have since corrected with a surprising amount of pleasure).
But before you dismiss me completely for the impostor I just admitted myself to be – just know that even though I have never actually ridden, I was not unfamiliar with horses. I had actually spent hours and hours with horses. I grew up around horses and, in fact, I am around horses all the frigging time.
Because, you see, when my daughter was four years old, she was having some trouble separating from me at pre-school. And when I say trouble, I mean that I was actually forced to sit in the hallway outside her classroom door for the entire day – day after day - or she simply wouldn’t be able to attend school. And so I did. Because, after all, I could still write, even sitting on the hallway floor, and because one does what one must for one’s kid.
But just because I did it, didn’t mean that I wasn’t constantly thinking of ways to not do it. And one day, while driving up the hill to my house, I passed a beautiful farm with a hand painted sign advertising “Riding Lessons”. My daughter, like many little girls, was absolutely horse crazy. And I was excited to think that, just maybe, I had hit upon the perfect equine bribe.
The first time I saw my daughter on a horse, I wept. For many reasons, (which I will not get into right now) my daughter deeply struggled with her confidence, and though I knew she loved horses in theory, I had no idea what she would do when she was actually presented with one. But it turned out to be one of those heart-stopping moments when you see someone find the thing that they were simply meant to do. She climbed up on that little white pony, and sat tall in the saddle and grinned like her most secret wish had just come true. It was that obvious that she was finally where she was meant to be.
So when my agent called to pitch me the idea about working with Nacho on the polo series, I did not hesitate. I know horses. And I love horses. And I will be eternally grateful for the little pony that finally gave my daughter her confidence back, and got me off that miniature chair outside her pre-school door.
About the Book
In the irresistible tradition of Jilly Cooper, Wild One is the second addictively readable novel in the glamorous, scandalous, romance-filled Polo Season series.
When Katherine 'Kat' Parker wrote and directed a blockbuster movie she became Hollywood's 'It Girl' overnight - until with one flop she wasn't. Now Kat is back living in Florida trying to find the inspiration to write what she hopes will be her comeback screenplay.
Despite being an exceptionally talented polo player, Sebastian Del Campo has never shared his famous family's intense passion for the sport. He has, however, excelled at other polo-related activities - like partying hard and having liaisons with beautiful women.
When Sebastian meets Kat he finds her down-to-earth attitude refreshing. Keen to get to know her better, he regales Kat with stories of his trailblazing grandmother, Victoria, who was a pioneering polo player.
Kat's imagination is fired by Victoria's story and she realises she'd make a great subject for a screenplay. Seb agrees and the pair head to Hollywood to seek out funding for a film that could make or break both their careers - and their growing feelings for each other . . .
Wild One is a fun, sexy and entertaining novel about taking a risk to follow your passions in life - and love.
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Imprint: Arena
Pub Date: September 2016
Page Extent: 320
RRP: $29.99
Wild One is available for purchase at the following links:
You can discover more about Allen and Unwin through social media and their blog which can be found at these links:
Giveaway
As part of this tour, my host, Allen and Unwin, has generously provided two copies of Wild One to give away. In order to enter all you need to do is leave a comment below.
Kindly note that this giveaway is open to Australian residents ONLY and you will be required to email me at marcia@bookmusterdownunder.com.au in order to provide your name and street address.
The giveaway closes at midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Friday, 16 September and winners will be contacted via email on Saturday, 17 September.
Two winners will be selected at random and announced here on the Blog (which feeds through to both my Facebook Page and Twitter handle).
Disclaimer: I reserve the right to re-draw if the winners do not contact me within 24 hours of them being notified.
My daughter wasn't thrilled about the separation either. Thank you for sharing. Yes, we do what we must.
ReplyDeleteI would have wept too. For all the right reasons.
Looking forward to reading WILD ONE, and the rest of the series.
Absolutely loved High Season and Alejandro. Would love to win a copy of Wild One
ReplyDelete