Guest Author: Idabelle Aylor and Folded Corners

I belong to several online author groups, and a few months ago someone in the Writing Gals Critique Group suggested that we form smaller, more manageable groups organized by genre. I quickly agreed, and I joined the Sweet Critique Group along with six other sweet romance authors. When one member announced she was ready to release, I offered to read and review. Her story, featuring a participant in a reality show much like The Bachelor,  was a fun read, and I asked her if she’d come and share her path to writing the book. She was kind enough to agree, so I’ll turn the blog over to debut author Idabelle Aylor!

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First, thank you so much for featuring my sweet romance book, Folded Corners. It’s the first in my stand alone series, Blue Collar. I feel very honored to have this opportunity to share my work with you.

This book was fun to write and I’ve been asked how I came up with the idea to write about a bachelor reality TV show. It’s kind of funny, really. I’ve never known anyone to have gone on a reality TV show (That I’m aware of, anyway! Ha, ha!), but when shows like The Bachelor and Survivor came out, I’d watch a few episodes and I would always think, ‘They should really do this or that.’ So, I just made up my own show! Adding extra things like the unique cooking challenge and having to convince the producers they were in love, made it that much more fun to write. Coming up with a reason why someone, especially Riggin, would even go on the show in the first place was fun to explore, too.

The game show aspect of Folded Corners really gave the book the little quirkiness I was going for, as the rest of the series follows June’s grandkids who also find themselves in silly/quirky situations.

I find it’s fun to write about the silliness life can bring our way sometimes and how people can/might/do react to those situations. I think the ability to laugh at ourselves and with others is so important. In days filled with chaos and worry, I hope people find humor in these books about ordinary hard-working people, and leave with a light heart.

Blurb for Folded Corners: Sofey’s had nothing but bad luck in the love department, so she has given up hope of finding her dream man. Why would she need a perfect guy, anyway? She has an amazing job, great friendships, a faithful cat, and the beloved books at Folded Corners to keep her busy.

Riggin might have a great smile and love cats, but he is anything but perfect. Having been betrayed, he distrusts women and thinks romance can only be found in novels. And, since he doesn’t plan to marry for love, he might as well do it to win the grand prize on a popular reality tv show.
After an unusual introduction, both Riggin and Sofey question their damaged feelings about the opposite gender. But will the pair be gutsy enough to fall for each other?

Folded Corners is the first in the stand-alone sweet contemporary romance Blue Collar series where quirky characters, unique situations and love abound.

You can purchase Folded Corners at Amazon as an ebook and in paperback.
You can find Idabelle on Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub, and Amazon.

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My thoughts: This is Idabelle’s debut novel and the first in a planned series featuring an eccentric senior citizen named June and the people in her life. June’s neighbor Sofey has had a lot of sour luck in the romance department and has resigned herself to the single life. She’s busy delivering meals to seniors. In the evenings she watches tv with June, or watches movies with her cat Rob Roy, but on Wednesdays she goes to a local bookstore called Folded Corners. She finds a kindred soul in Riggin, a minor celebrity who had appeared on a dating show similar to The Bachelor. She feels safe knowing he’s not going to be more than a friend, since he’s married – she watched his wedding on the show. Riggin feels a connection with Sofey, but has to stay married to Rita for one year in order to win a million dollars. But he needs to decide if getting that money is worth losing out on the love of his life.