GIVEAWAY & Blog Tour: "Florida Heat" By: Jody Vitek

Welcome to the first stop 

on the "Florida Heat" Book Tour!

I am so stinkin' excited, can you tell? 

Awesome cover, amazing story, and a wonderful author. 

Scarred by her ordeal, Maggie Carlisle leaves her ex-husband’s drug life back in Texas. A man from her past seeks revenge, just as she meets and falls in love with Trent Randall.

Trent Randall, owner of a horse ranch and powerboat driver, loses focus of his life when Maggie shows up. After an accident, he wonders if she's worth the danger. However, his heart leads the way when he finds out she’s in trouble.

A word from our Author: Jodi Vitek

     Thank you so much for having me here at The Brunette Librarian and kicking off my Goddess Fish tour. My debut book, Florida Heat released in July and I couldn’t be more excited.

   You and many of my friends have asked where I get my ideas from and how I come up with these stories. Either an event happens, I hear something, read a headline, or see something. For Florida Heat, I was fortunate enough to travel with my girlfriend to Siesta Key, Florida and stay across the street from the Siesta Key public beach. It was the week prior to the Fourth of July and Sarasota was holding their offshore powerboat racing event. Here’s a link to a promotional video for the 2011 Suncoast Super Boat Festival in Sarasota, Florida. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3kORRVBolE

     Never having heard of powerboat racing, when I saw these beautiful powerful machines racing on the water I wanted to know more about them and the sport. Right away I knew I wanted to include the sport somehow in a book and began researching upon my return home. It was unfortunate I did not get up close to the boats or get to know their drivers at the time I was in Florida.

     The internet is a wonderful tool for writers. I was able to find information for offshore powerboat racing and learned that my local state, Minnesota, has their own powerboat association. Living in Minnesota for my entire life, I never knew we had racing events in and around the state. I contacted the local organization and was able to get a few questions answered, but the boats they race in are smaller and the waters they race on are different. Finding someone to talk within the offshore powerboat associate was more of challenge. Again, a few questions were answered but some remained unanswered.

     Contacting racing team owners and/or drivers proved to be unsuccessful until after a rough draft had been written. My luck changed when a team driver helped me out and told me to watch for videos coming to their team website. These videos put me into the cockpit of one of these massive machines. The adrenaline rush is amazing! Not that I would want to be race in one of these beautiful boats because I think they’re crazy. Since getting my book published, I learned from the team driver that the team had to stop racing and they sold the boat. He misses racing a great deal and plans to someday get back on the water and race again. I guess once you’ve had a taste it never goes away. He has fuel and oil running through his veins.

     The rest of the story flowed together after brainstorming with fellow writers. People around you can hold the knowledge you seek if you ask. I was fortunate enough to have several of these friends around me willing to answer my questions about horses, nursing, cuts and scars, and law enforcement.

     The setting for the book was simple with my love for Siesta Key. Who doesn’t love a beach and the ocean? Florida Heat isn’t the first book I’ve written, and like the others, I’ve written the settings loosely in locations I have visited. There is a house on the beach in Siesta Key, which I fell in love with and I had to have Maggie live in the house. Later I learned the house was a rental with two separate living units. But in my world, it’s one lavish beachfront house.

As a reader do you look for different events in book, such as offshore powerboat racing, that you’ve never heard of know little about? Do you like to read a story where the location is new to you? Are there events or settings you’re tired of authors writing about?

     Please feel free to ask any other question(s) you’d like. As a thank you for visiting me today at The Brunette Librarian, I will be giving away, to one lucky random person who leaves a comment, a small gift of scented items, which are tied to the story.

     All commenter’s from my Goddess Fish tour will also be entered into an overall commenter drawing. This gift includes a CD, again tied to the book, with scented items.

If any visitors today would like a bookmark, they can email info@jodyvitek.com with their mailing information.

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Jodi for stopping by today. 

     I really looooved "Florida Heat," especially the characters. Maggie had a really bad string of bad luck and a terrible love life. When she finally meets Trent (and can I say a BIG YUM!), you just root for them to be happy. Its wonderful to just be swept into this world and carried away by this really great (and hot) story. It sounds silly but this is simply a super fun romance to read and give you hope in the world. Love triumphs in even the most difficult of circumstances. Go Maggie!

What can you win by commenting??

Jody will be awarding a small gift of scented bath items, which are tied to the story, to a random commenter at each stop. Comment and win!

Be sure to check out the rest of the tour!

August 20:  The Brunette Librarian

August 21:  Welcome to My World of Dreams

August 22:  Enjoying the Unique Flavors of Life

August 23:  Cocktails and Books

August 24:  Love to Read Romance

August 24:  Reviews by Molly