#AuthorInterview #NewRelease: “His Feisty Firewheel” by Kara O’Neal

Today, Kara O’Neal is visiting to talk all about her new book. Let’s get started!

What kind of research did you do for His Feisty Firewheel? Did you travel, use the Internet, speak with experts on a topic, etc? 

I spent a lot of time reading about department stores in the early 1900s. I discovered that some of them were quite impressive. They had all sorts of things like tea rooms, telephone exchanges, and theaters. You might be surprised to know that department stores employed more women than men. I wanted Laura, my heroine, to seek a profession, and the 1900s department store has always fascinated me.

That sounds like a fascinating job in an equally compelling time period. Do any of your characters take over and write the book themselves? Who?

Yes. Laura definitely ran the show. As she should, because she is his feisty firewheel!

Haha! What do you prefer: ebook, print, or audiobook? Why?

I definitely prefer print. The feel of a book, even the smell, make me feel like I’m home.

Same here. How long have you been writing? When did you decide to become an author?

I’ve been writing for twenty-five years now. I’ve been published for 12. I decided to become an author because I had so many ideas for stories. I had to get them down on paper. One of my college professors encouraged me to become an author. I had to write a lot in college, not stories, but analysis of human development. It stunned me when one of my professors told me I had a talent for writing.

I’m glad you’re publishing your work. We all need a little inspiration in our lives. What’s your favorite quote and why?

My favorite is from the bible. “Fear not.” That one simple quote can absolutely calms me, gives me strength, and tons of hope.

Simple and to the point. Love it! What is your favorite book? Favorite author?

My favorite author is Jane Austen, and my favorite book is Pride and Prejudice.

That’s a great book. My favorite adaption is the ’90s BBC version. Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

Lately, I’ve been putting puzzles together. I can’t even tell you how relaxing it is!

Wonderful! Thank you for stopping by!

Blurb:

Austin, Texas, 1908

Laura Davenport has done the unthinkable and fallen in love. With Owen Wagner. Her childhood champion. But he thinks of her as a sister and is trying to get her married off to one of his friends.

Owen Wagner has lost his heart. And that’s something he can’t handle. He’s got to convince Laura that it’s time to make decisions about her future, or he’s going to do something stupid and reckless. Like kiss her. Or propose to her.

But danger lurks. And before Owen can take a breath, he’s on the verge of losing everything that’s ever meant anything to him. Can he save his feisty firewheel before it’s too late?

Excerpt

“What did you mean giving me this?” Laura declared, holding up the firewheel he’d tucked behind her ear earlier.

Owen’s heart was racing. His blood was pumping. The only way out of this was to fight with her. “I meant it as encouragement,” he ground out as desire burned through him.

She set her jaw in that stubborn way of hers and lowered her arm. “Encouragement?”

He nodded sharply.

Her cheeks reddened as if she wanted to rail at him.

Please, God, let her take my head off.

She shifted from foot to foot as the silence thickened. She stared him down. “I don’t believe you,” she finally said.

He gave as nonchalant a shrug as he could manage. “It’s the truth.”

She took a challenging step forward.

He curled his hands into fists. Don’t touch her. Don’t touch her. Don’t touch her.

“It can’t be,” she argued, fire smoldering in her sapphire eyes. “This is a gesture of affection. Of caring.”

Of love, she wanted to say. He could hear it.

He shrugged again. “Of course, I care for you. You’re like a sister to me.”

The fire in her gaze leapt and turned into an inferno. She flung the flower to the carpet. “Sister! I’m a sister? That’s all?”

He clamped his mouth shut as her pain began to whip his flesh. He was hurting her. He’d never wanted to hurt her.

“That can’t be all. After all these years. After everything we’ve been to each other.”

Tears were spilling over her cheeks, making his heart rip open and bleed. His breath came harder and faster.

“You’ve been my champion, and I’ve been your helper! You defended me repeatedly, with your fists even, and I sat constant at your bedside when you were sick and no one could cure you! And you say I’m nothing more than a sister to you?” She was shaking from the force of her pain. “How dare you! How can you be so cold? How can you torment me this way? You truly wanted me to marry someone else? You would’ve walked me down the aisle to another man? Handed me over? Let him—”

In one great leap, he was in front of her, yanking her into his arms, destroyed by the picture she was creating.

He slammed his mouth onto hers, taking what he knew in his bones belonged to him.

Buy link(s):  https://books2read.com/u/meRKdZ

Bio:

Kara O’Neal is an award-winning author of over thirty historical romances. Humor, family, love, and romance take center stage in her novels, and her characters have been touted as “real, complex, and down-to-earth”. Her books are available in print and ebook.

When not writing, she’s a teacher, but she’s always a mother to three talented children, and the wife of a man quite worthy of being called “hero”.

Telling stories is her passion, and she does so with memorable characters and unique plots certain to keep you reading late into the night!

Website: www.karaoneal.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/KaraONeal84/

X: https://twitter.com/KaraONealAuthor

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kara-o-neal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveandletters7/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7278350.Kara_O_Neal