An Interview with Emma Bradshaw
What word best describes true love?
Devotion.
Finish this sentence: Then I think of love, I think of how many dating disasters it often takes to get there!
Did you ever think you’d found that perfect love? What happened?
When I was nineteen, I fell head over heels in love with Adrian Summers. It turned out, though, that the only bright thing about him was his name. He was a Law student, who had a very high opinion of his intellectual abilities, and throughout our relationship, he belittled me and put me down. In some weird, twisted way I loved him, or at least I thought I loved him. With each negative word, with each abrasive comment, he chipped away at my self-esteem, and it took a great deal of strength to walk away from our relationship. After that I wasn’t too sure about the idea of finding that perfect love…
What are the ideal traits you’re looking for in a forever love?
Passion is important in a romantic relationship (of course!) However, these are the questions I’m asking about the guys I’m dating these days:
Is he kind?
Is he nice to people in lower positions in life than he is?
Is he generous?
Is he considerate?
Does he have integrity?
Is he responsible?
Is he a man of his word?
Is he honest?
Falling in love can often blind you to a man’s character and this can lead to her overlooking numerous red flags due to your strong attraction to him. But having a strong connection with a man doesn’t always equate to having a healthy relationship with a man.
What song title best describes your relationship track record: “Nothing but a Good Time,” “Turn Me Loose,” “Shot Through the Heart (You Give Love a Bad Name)”, “Money Talks/Material Girl”, “Looking for Love in All The Wrong Places”?
Definitely “Looking for Love in All The Wrong Places”!
What do you find the most appealing about a committed relationship?
In a committed relationship, a woman should feel safe with her man, and even though the early stages of a relationship can be fraught with misunderstandings and misperceptions, ultimately it’s important to feel that even if you don’t always see eye to eye with your guy, that he will always be a safe port for you.
Why are you still single?
I tend to date emotionally unavailable men who aren’t interested in committed relationships, which means that I usually end up single after a while.
What’s an absolute deal breaker in a relationship?
Any form of abuse (physical, psychological or emotional).
What was your first opinion of your romantic interest?
I thought he was an emotionally unavailable bad boy!
The Blog Affair
Alissa Baxter
Chick Lit/Contemporary
Ubuntu line from Decadent Publishing
Escape to Africa
246 pages
BLURB:
Twenty-something, white, South African Emma Bradshaw has a pattern of falling for unsuitable men and starts a blog about these so-called “serial datists”. Her search for new beginnings takes her to Cape Town, where she gets a job working for sexy author, Nick Reynolds. Romance with her boss is a no-no, but slowly, Nick works his way around her defenses. Trust him, or not, especially with her awful track record with men?
When an anonymous male reader of the blog challenges her on her ideas about the male species, Emma realises she must confront her past and find her true self before she can move forward…and love can blossom again in her future.
Buy links: Amazon US Amazon UK B&N Decadent Publishing
Excerpt:
Damn him. Damn him. Damn him. Like a bad apple, he just had to pop up in her new home. She’d left Durban to escape him, and here he was, back again, tormenting her as ever. Awful enough that memories of him were with her all the time, without him turning up in the flesh. And what flesh it was….
“You had a good time in Italy?” she inquired.
Phil nodded.
“Great. Well, I have things to do. Bye.”
“Running away, Em?”
Emma, who had starting walking toward the door, stopped in her tracks and turned around. “I’ve moved on, Phil.”
“You mean you’ve moved away. You haven’t moved on.”
“What makes you so sure?”
Phil gazed into her eyes before looking down at her mouth, and Emma swallowed hard. He always made her insides twist into knots, and the fact she couldn’t bear to be in the same room with him for even five minutes clearly showed she hadn’t moved on.
She had to put him behind her, though, and stop allowing him to upset her equilibrium to the degree he did.
But as she studied his once-loved face, she let out a tiny sigh. How did you just move on and forget someone? Especially when you’d once believed that someone was the love of your life?
She stood immobile for a long moment. Then, without a word, she turned around again and walked out of the room.
Alissa Baxter was born in South Africa, and grew up with her nose in a book on a poultry and cattle farm. After school and university, where she majored in Political Science and French, she published her first novel, The Dashing Debutante. Alissa travelled to London, England, and did an odd assortment of jobs while researching her second novel, Lord Fenmore’s Wager, which she wrote after she moved back to South Africa and settled in Durban. Alissa then relocated to Cape Town where she wrote her third novel, Send and Receive, before moving to Johannesburg, where she currently lives with her husband and two sons.
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Giveaway: Alissa is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card to 1 lucky winner!
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c7458f26/
