THE BRIDAL SQUAD (Enchanted Bridal #2) by Samantha Chase-Review, Interview & Giveaway

THE BRIDAL SQUAD
Enchanted Bridal #2
by Samantha Chase
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance
Release Date: May 10, 2017

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

About the book: Release Date May 10, 2017

Click HERE for more details about Samantha Chase and the Enchanted Bridal series

The Friday Night Brides are back! And this time, it’s their first season running the business! It was one thing to just model in a weekly fashion show, it’s quite another to be the ones calling the shots and making future brides’ dreams come true. Their first client has them wondering if they’re really prepared for their new roles!

The Bride: Julianne is big on fitness, small on patience. And planning her wedding is grating on her every last nerve. As a Zumba instructor, she loves the freedom to create and choreograph her routines and help others achieve their goals, but having to stand back and let others choreograph her big day has her wanting to hip-hop toward eloping!

The Matron of Honor: As the only married member of the bridal party, Natalie considers herself the aficionado on all-things weddings. And even though her time in the spotlight is over, that doesn’t mean she isn’t full of ideas on how her best friend’s wedding should look and feel and be! And it doesn’t take long for her to realize that maybe it’s not so much that she’s wanting to help as it is that she’s afraid of her own honeymoon ending.

The Bride’s Sister: Nothing screams unwanted relationship advice than when your younger sister gets married before you. It’s not that Harper doesn’t want to get married, after three failed engagements she really does! But finding the right man to walk down the aisle with is proving harder than she thought. And it gets even harder when constantly being compared to the perfect couple!

The Reluctant Bridesmaid: There is nothing Kayla wants more than to see one of her best friend’s get married…if only the whole process wasn’t so exhausting! Travel and adventure and being on the go fuels her. Having to stay in one place for an extended period of time while wearing taffeta? Not so much. Her job tends to take her away on a moment’s notice and this is one time she may have to pass up the trip of a lifetime in the name of friendship.

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REVIEW:  THE BRIDAL SQUAD is the second installment in Samantha Chase’s contemporary, adult ENCHANTED BRIDAL romance series. Like the first book Friday Night Brides, THE BRIDAL SQUAD focuses on four women-Julianne, Natalie, Harper and Kayla-four friends whose personal lives implode as they make preparations for Julianne’s wedding.

Told from several third person points of view THE BRIDAL SQUAD follows the four friends as they traverse a minefield of relationship hiccups and disasters-misunderstandings, new love, fear of commitment, meddling mothers, and being taken for granted. While Julianne makes plans for her upcoming nuptials, everyone’s life begins to spiral out of control until the bride-to-be announces she was done with it all.

THE BRIDAL SQUAD looks at four women whose personal struggles are not unlike the reality of relationships and love but for each their battles loom larger through a lack of communication, issues of trust, secrets and the sheer exhaustion of their friend’s impending wedding.

Samantha Chase writes a heartwarming, realistic and poignant story of romance, and love, heartbreak and pain, perception and emotional withdrawal for four women who love hard, and work hard for love. Julianne battles for control of her wedding; Harper can never measure up to her mother’s ideals; Kayla receives an ultimatum; and Natalie realizes she may had made the biggest mistake of her life. THE BRIDAL SQUAD is an enjoyable, animated and lighthearted look at life. The premise is playful and energetic, and the characters are vivacious and passionate.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book 1-FRIDAY NIGHT BRIDES

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

CATCHING UP with Samantha Chase

TRC: Hi Samantha and welcome back to The Reading Café.

Congratulations on the release of THE BRIDAL SQUAD-the second installment in your Enchanted Bridal Series.

For anyone new to Samantha Chase, please tell us something about yourself?

Follow: Goodreads / Twitter / Website / Facebook

Samantha: Thanks for having me back! I write contemporary romance – some call it sweet, but I like to just mention that most of the sexy stuff happens behind closed doors!

 

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Samantha: I started reading romances in the 7th grade when my science lab partner introduced me to Harlequin romances. I was instantly hooked. I always knew that I loved writing stories, but it wasn’t until I got serious about reading romances that I knew that’s what I wanted to write. Sandra Brown was a huge influence on me wanting to do it.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your stories?

Samantha: There are so many amazing authors out there that it’s hard to stand out and find readers! I am fortunate in that I am a full-time writer so I can set my own schedule and really write the books that I want to, but finding and keeping an audience is a constant challenge.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about THE BRIDAL SQUAD and Enchanted Bridal Series?

Samantha: There was never really going to be a series! Whew…it’s good to finally admit that! I had originally published THE WEDDING SEASON as a standalone. FRIDAY NIGHT BRIDES was a story that I always wanted to write because growing up, I knew a family who owned a bridal shop and they did those fashion shows and I was always intrigued by them. As I started to plan it, I was talking to a friend about it and she mentioned using some of the characters from WEDDING SEASON and I thought “Why not?” So we sort of considered that the prequel. Readers seemed to really enjoy FRIDAY NIGHT BRIDES and I knew I could totally do more with the girls from that story but bring them back in supporting roles.

I wrote THE BRIDAL SQUAD in a very short amount of time. I won’t say how short, but trust me, it was! And the interesting thing was that I didn’t really know what I wanted these girls to be dealing with. I knew the dynamic that I wanted but this story was truly a by-the-seat-of-my-pants event. As the story progressed, I have to admit that even I was surprised at where some of the stories went but in the end, I felt like these were women who I would want to be friends with and the response from readers has confirmed that they would as well!

TRC: Are any of the characters based in reality?

Samantha: The character of Angie is based on a friend of mine. I mean like solidly based on her personality, not the life situation that the character in the book finds herself in. But most of my characters end up being a combination of people that I’ve known in my life.

TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the story line direction? Characters?

Samantha: While I’m physically writing, the only sound I usually hear is my dog snoring or I put on a Sounds of the Ocean CD. However, almost all of my books have at least one song that has either inspired a particular scene or even the entire book. I tend to turn to music when I have writers block and that’s how I’ll find that perfect song to help me out.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

Samantha: That writing is easy. I get so upset when people get flippant about what I do and then say “Oh maybe I’ll write a book!” It’s not easy. And it doesn’t get any easier. Each book takes more hours that I think it will and it means that I sit at my desk for fourteen hours a day or I don’t go out of my house for days on end.

TRC: What is something that few, if any people, know about you?

Samantha: I’m actually kind of an introvert. Online I don’t seem that way, but most times if given the choice, I will gladly stay home with my husband and son and just hang out and watch TV.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Samantha: I am currently working on two books. The first is a new book in my Montgomery Brothers series. No title yet and I’m about 40K into it. And the other is book three in the Preston’s Mill series that I am co-writing with Noelle Adams called Complicating.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food – Steak

Favorite Dessert – chocolate milkshake

Favorite TV Show – Modern Family

Last Movie You Saw – Beauty and the Beast

Dark or Milk Chocolate – Dark

Secret Celebrity Crush – Jeffery Dean Morgan

Last Vacation Destination – San Diego

Do you have any pets? – Yes! My sassy pug Maylene

Last book you read – An ARC of GOING IN DEEP by Carly Phillips. And I LOVED it!!

TRC: Thank you Samantha for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on your new release

Samantha and her publicist are offering an ecopy of THE BRIDAL SQUAD to THREE (3) commenters at The Reading Cafe.

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8. Giveaway runs from May 12-16, 2017