Please welcome today’s guest author Genie Gabriel to the blog. Genie is here to share her novel Chasing the Legacy. Genie will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour and a $10 Powell’s Bookstore GC to one commenter at every stop. Leave your comment here for your chance to win, then check out the rest of the tour stops and leave a comment there to increase your chances of winning.
Cover Blurb From Chasing the Legacy
A jaded reporter with a penchant for flashy shoes stumbles onto an explosive story when a beast-man blows up her hometown. She hides her own secrets as she digs for a truth hidden deep in the past of this small mining town. When she turns to a soft-spoken bomb tech for help, they uncover evidence that could shatter lives and defuse their budding love.
An Excerpt From Chasing the Legacy
“There you are.” Grady approached the car. “We were starting to worry about you.”
“How’s Beth?”
“She and Collin went home to rest. I’ve never seen my big brother smile so much. Where did you find the dog?”
“Actually, she found me. The restaurant owner said she’s a stray. So I thought I’d just–you know…”
“Take her home with you.”
The admiration and respect in Grady’s eyes looped and swirled in Layla’s belly like a roller coaster. “Well, she’s not so big, so she can’t eat much, right?”
“Right. That’s what we told Tallie every time we brought home a stray.”
Their smiles met and held for a long moment.
“Say, do you mind giving me a ride back to Halo?” Grady asked. “I told the others to go on home…”
Layla laughed as lightness filled her heart. Had she ever been as guileless as this man? She didn’t know how someone who had been through as much as Grady surely had been could still look for the best in people. But her heart lightened when he turned that gaze on her.
“Just watch out for my dog–she might drool all over you.”
Layla gathered Grady’s laughter in her heart and held it close, letting it drift over her body like the sun on a summer’s day. If only for the next few hours, she vowed to let joy into her life in the form of Grady O’Shea.
About Genie Gabriel
For years I’ve been fascinated by the puzzle of why some people collapse under life’s traumas and others emerge triumphantly stronger. These triumphs of the human spirit over the ugliest of adversities became the basis for my stories. Yet my dramatic stories have always contained touches of humor, and sometimes I have great fun writing romantic comedy novellas. However, in all my stories, my passion for writing romance is an outlet for the powerful messages that people can overcome great difficulties, and true love can turn life’s heartaches into happily ever after.
Sounds like another book to add to my wish list. Congratulations, Wilma, on winning it.
I’m late to the party, but had a great time reading through the comments.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
AND THE WINNER IS: WILMA F!
Wilma, if you will contact me at I will send your gift card. Thanks to all who commented and to Laurie for hosting me. This has been a fun day!
Sorry! My e-mail didn’t show up…it’s genene (at) genenevalleau (dot) com.
A “jaded reporter with flashy shoes”…I hope we get to hear more about the shoes. Sometimes, I watch these TV shoes and I wonder how these working women (lawyers, doctors, cops, etc.) manage to work all day (and often do a lot of running) in stiletto heels?? I’m a librarian and I definitely wear “sensible shoes.”
Shoes are very special to my heroine, Layla, and come in handy in some situations.
Personally, my back insisted I become a “sensible shoes person” many years ago. Guess the pain isn’t so intense in the pages of a book!
Thanks for stopping by!
I loved the excerpt and I really enjoy reading about people who love dogs. I know this is a mystery, but I feel that it will all come out okay. People who love dogs are special.
Hi, Momjane! I was trying to limit the number of pets in this series because there are so many people to keep track of. But dogs and other pets just seem to magically appear in my stories, like they do in real life.
Thanks for stopping by!
Sounds exciting–congratulations on the release!
eai(at)stanfordalumni(dot)org
Hi, Elizabeth! Thank you for the kind words and congrats. I appreciate you stopping by!
Hope you have a great tour for a great book.
Hi, Chris! Thank you for stopping by. I so much appreciate your support and your kind words.
Genie, Sounds like another great read! I have the first two on my kindle but have been busy judging contests and haven’t had time to get to them. They’ll make good reading this winter when I’m not so busy. Congratulations on working this series out and giving us all something fun to read.
Hi, Paty! I’ve been watching your progress on your work in progress–sounds like we’re both on the same production schedule of several thousand words a day.
Thanks for taking time out to stop by and say hi, as well as offer kind words!
This sounds like a great read, I’d love to win it.
Hi, Wilma! With the $10 gift card that will be this week’s prize, you can buy this book and one or two others.
So glad you stopped by!
It sounds like Chasing the Legacy might be built on the framework of Beauty and the Beast. I got that from the line in the blurb about a beast man blowing up the town. Is the story a take-off on Beauty and the Beast?
As you may know, we were talking about fairytale inspired books just a few days ago here on the blog. As you may also know, Beauty and the Beast is my personal favorite fairytale.
Do you have a favorite fairytale? Have any of your other books been based on a classic fairytale? If so, which ones?
Hi, Laurie! CHASING THE LEGACY isn’t based on Beauty and the Beast. This beast-man has slid very far away from hero status–hope this doesn’t tarnish your love of Beauty and the Beast.
However, an encounter with the heroine near the end of this book does show the beast-man in my story isn’t all bad.
Guess I don’t have a favorite fairy tale since I had to think about that. I don’t consciously base my stories on fairy tales, though a happy ending is a must!
However, the structure of a fairy tale is a wonderfully simple way to develop the bare bones of a story, (I’ve done in a workshop on this topic).
Thanks for hosting me today!
Hi Genie,
No that your beast man has slid far from the character of the original beast in Beauty and the Beast doesn’t tarnish my love of Beauty and the Beast at all. The magic of that story is still that someone can see through the ugly to see the person and love them in spite of the ugly. I will ALWAYS like that about the original Beauty and the Beast and will probably always be moved by it in stories whether they are an exact take off on the original Beauty and the Beast or not.
Yes, happy endings are definitely a must. It’s also about the way the happy ending comes to be. The heroines in the classic fairytales seem to always be cursed with something beyond their control…wicked stepmother…etc. But they are bright and cheerful to those around them in spite of it. They are well liked by everyone except the evil step-mother or other villain. They seem worthy of the eventual happy ever after. I think maybe that’s what hooked us on fairytales as kids.
It was interesting discussing fairytale type movies with my niece who is 7 when she was here a couple of weeks ago.
In describing a fairytale type movie she wanted to see (I can’t remember the title at the moment.) She described it as the character having really mean parents who left her alone to fend for herself. They left her in the car, they didn’t cook for her, they didn’t take her to school, etc.
My niece went on to explain that the little girl grew up to be a nice little girl in spite of it all. She met a teacher who liked her and adopted her, hence she got her happy ending.
My niece LOVES this movie…she watched it a couple of times while she was here…she knows what happens at each point in the story. She’s definitely hooked.
In listening to her talk about it, it’s clear that there are three parts that make it work for her. 1.) The girl faces adversity. Her parents ARE AWFUL! 2.) She is a nice little girl in spite of how bad her parents are…and in spite of the fact that she has some powers that come into play when she is angry. 3.) The girl gets her happy ending.
I think these things are part of a lot of romances as well.
I agree the structure of a fairytale is a great way to develop a bare bones story.
You’re welcome. It is my pleasure to host you.
I hope you’re having a fun time visiting with us.
Kids are amazing! And actually one of the reasons I write what I do.
I worked in social services for about twenty years–not on the front lines in a branch office but in the communications office where I heard amazing stories about kids in foster care.
These kids went through horrific experiences but turned into top athletes, valedictorians, spokespeople for other kids in the same situations, and just good people.
These stories inspired my stories–people who emerge from trauma and make their own happy endings. I never get tired of this!
Guess I love fairy tales too–including the real life ones!
(And, yes, I’m having fun chatting!)
Chasing the Legacy is book 4 in the Legacy Series. Can you tell us a bit about the earlier books in the series. Do we need to read the books in order? In other words, will book 4 make sense to someone picking it up without having read the other 3?
LOL! Not sure I can tell “a bit” about the earlier books–I tend to ramble on and on when I talk about my Halo Legacy Series. I’ll try to streamline my babble.
First of all, it’s my intent to write the books of this series so they do NOT have to be read in order. Overall, the Halo Legacy Series is a small town family saga about eight adopted siblings and their widowed mother. Their dad was a heroic cop with a strong sense of justice who was gunned down on duty. The adopted siblings have a strong drive to “be like Bernie.” Over the course of the nine books of the Halo Legacy Series, the siblings will discover the truth about their dad’s death.
In writing the books, I’ve tried to strike a balance of including enough information to let readers know who is who and what their relationship is without doing the dreaded “info dump” that puts people to sleep. The siblings are very bonded as a family, but they also have very different personalities.
Each book features a different sibling, their personal challenges, finding romance, and perhaps reconnecting with members of their birth families. So there are many opportunities for unique stories and surprises. And did I mention I like to toss in action scenes like exploding towns to keep the siblings from getting bored.
Probably more information than you wanted, but as I said…
Exactly the perfect amount of information. It sounds like a great series. It sounds like a fun set-up with the mystery about the dad’s death. so would you say the series is romantic suspense? The hero and heroine in each story is in danger? Or is it more mystery laced where the hero and heroine aren’t in danger as much as they are working to solve the mystery of the dad’s death?
I’ve struggled to label this series. Because the characters have such distinct personalities, the tone of each book is different.
The first book, PICTURE PERFECT LEGACY, is definitely a romance. The heroine isn’t so much in danger but she puts herself on the line for others and this results in some action scenes. At this point in the series, she is striving to live up to the legacy of her heroic father. The hints that something wasn’t as it seemed about his death comes in later books.
In LEGACY OF ANGELS–the second book–the heroine is definitely in danger from the beast-man. He’s attacked her before and is coming back to finish the job. The hero is a deeply spiritual man who gives up his priest’s collar to stay true to his own sense of integrity. He’s also a black belt in martial arts who faces demons of his own as he battles bad guys and helps people who are struggling with their lives. So help me with a label for that story.
The third book brings more clues the dad’s death wasn’t an accident and danger is still stalking this family. Definitely a romance between opposites–a police sniper and a sweet small town woman who are caught up in a whirlwind romance and end up sorting out their conflicting expectations after they are married.
My current release, CHASING THE LEGACY, offers many clues about the mystery, most of which won’t be resolved until later books. The heroine does face danger–most of the time because she’s on the trail of the mystery. She is quite resourceful but finally realizes she can make more progress by teaming up with the bomb tech hero.
So there’s mystery, danger, action, romance and more all wrapped around a close-knit family who faces traumas head-on. I’ve been trying to come up with a “label” that covers all this!
Good morning Genie. I’m here in the Midwest. I’m a bit of a night owl too. I don’t have any doggies to cuddle with but I have a houseful of cats. I had all three of the back of the house group in bed with me this morning. The purring woke me.
I’m looking forward to chatting with you today.
Let me get fully awake and I will be back with some questions.
Hey, Laurie! I very much understand “fully awake.” That’s why I said I probably wouldn’t surface until noonish.
Very cool to wake up to purring. My “herd” is good about letting me sleep in, but once I move, they make sure I know it’s time to get up. One of them has even pulled the blankets off me on occasion.
Too funny, the dog pulling the blankets off of you to get you out of bed.
I posted a funny video on my personal Facebook page of a cat getting it’s owner out of bed. You can find the link to my personal page on the post immediately before this one.
It’s a funny video. I’m VERY glad my kitties do not know this trick.
My cats are forbidden from watching naughty cat videos on You Tube and My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet. They DO NOT need to get ANY ideas!
Sorry, got side-tracked on Facebook.
But finally watched the cat unique alarm clock video. Clever cat!
Thank you for hosting Genie today.
You’re very welcome. It’s my pleasure.
I’m looking forward to chatting with her today.
Good morning, all! I’m a West Coast night owl and like to cuddle late with my doggies in the mornings. So don’t be surprised if it’s almost noon before I resurface to answer comments. I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone!