Wish You Were Here / giveaway / Q&A with Beth Vogt

BTitle: WISH YOU WERE HERE
Author: Beth K. Vogt
Publisher: Howard Books
May 2012
ISBN: 978-1451659863
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary romance

Allison Denman is getting married in five days, to Seth Rayner, an up-and-coming architect in his father’s firm. But when Seth’s brother, Daniel, comes to help Allison move some boxes, they accidentally kiss. And suddenly, Allison comes face-to-face with the fact that she’s marrying the wrong guy—for all the wrong reasons.

Allison isn’t sure how to tell Seth, so in true run-away-bride fashion, she waits until their in front of the church, with all the gathered family and friends, then she turns and runs, stealing her best friend’s car, and a mountain cabin, she goes into hiding while she tries to figure out what to do next.

Seth isn’t exactly willing to let her go, and Daniel is torn…help his brother win back his high school sweetheart, or admit that he broke a major man-code and fell in love with his brother’s ex-fiancée? And what are they to do when Allison wants nothing to do with either of them?

WISH YOU WERE HERE is an absolutely wonderful contemporary romance (whoooo hooo! One of my two favorite genres.) and it is stellar. I couldn’t help but fall in love with Allison and Daniel both and wondered when they would both finally stop dancing around the issue and address it head on.

If you are looking for a wonderful contemporary romance, then WISH YOU WERE HERE is a book to consider. Discussion questions and an interview with the author are included at the end of the book. $14.99. 320 pages.

About Beth:


Beth K. Vogt provides her readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God's lavish grace. She's a non-fiction author and editor who said she'd never write fiction. She's the wife of an Air Force physician (now in solo practice) who said she'd never marry a doctor-or anyone in the military. She's a mom of four who said she'd never have kids. Beth has discovered that God's best often waits behind the doors marked "Never." She writes contemporary romance because she believes there's more to happily ever after than the fairy tales tell us. Beth earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and met her husband Rob when he knocked her down at a karate studio. They've been married for 31 years. They have four children, ranging in ages from 28, 25, 23 and - thanks to a funny thing happening on their way to the empty nest-a 10-year-old. The Vogt Team, which now includes a "daughter-in-love" and "son-in-love," enjoys hiking and camping in Colorado. Read more about Beth at her website:http://bethvogt.com

Link to buy the book: http://ow.ly/aQTEk
Blog Tour Schedule
http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13480251

Celebrate with Beth by entering her Wish You Were Here Giveaway!


One "happy" winner will receive:
A brand new iPad with Wi-Fi (The must-have, do-everything gadget!)
Wish You Were Here by Beth Vogt (Swoon worthy.)
$15 iTunes Gift Card (Music, books, apps, & more.)
Hurry, the giveaway ends on 6/4/12. The winner will be announced 6/6/12 on Beth's Website!

Just click one of the icons on the sidebar to enter. Tell your friends about Beth's giveaway on FACEBOOKor TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

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An interview with Beth K. Vogt, Author of Wish You Were Here

When Allison Denman kisses her fiancé’s brother just days before her wedding, she’s not sure which is the mistake—the kiss or the wedding. It won’t be easy, but Allison is determined to find out. In her debut novel Wish You Were Here, Beth K. Vogt provides readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God’s lavish grace.

Vogt has had experience with her plans and God’s plans not lining up as expected. She is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction, but God had other plans for her. She decided to begin writing contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily ever after than the fairy tales tell us.


Q: You said you would never write a novel. What changed your mind?

I hit a season of burnout as a nonfiction writer and editor. I told my husband I was not going to write – ever, ever, ever again. He came home to find me at my computer and asked, “What are you doing?” When I confessed I was writing, he asked what happened to my never-going-to-write-again vow. I told him that I was having fun writing fiction and, that since no one would ever see what I was writing, this didn’t count. That “just for fun” story became Wish You Were Here, my debut novel.

Q: How did the story come to you?

The catalyst for Wish You Were Here was a fiction assignment from the Christian Writers Guild Apprentice course. I took Jerry B. Jenkins’ Guild course to scrape all the rust off my writing ability when I was trying to get back on the writing road after motherhood detoured me for a few years. For the assignment I had to write one scene from three different points of view (POVs.) I’d written a wedding scene from the view of the bride, the best man, and the wedding photographer. The story is the answer to the questions: How did the bride get here and what happens next?

Q: In the story Allison’s father considered her to be a mistake. In what way?

Ah… that’s all part of the story. Did Allison’s father really think she was a mistake? Or did he think he’d made a mistake? Sometimes our perceptions of a situation can be mistaken.

Q: How do things that others say about us, especially our parents, impact us in a way that affects us the rest of our lives.

Scripture tells us that words can either kill or give life (Proverbs 18:21.) Parents represent a person’s first idea of “home” or “safety” – and it’s from our family we first develop an idea of who we are. So the words our parents speak to us are so, so crucial to our development. As parents, we have the powerful ability to speak a blessing over our child – and yet, sometimes we tragically miss that opportunity.

Q: No one is perfect, but do you believe there is such thing as someone “perfect for me”?
The greater challenge is: Am I willing to learn how to love someone in such a way that I become perfect for them – despite my imperfections? My husband and I have been married over 30 years. We are not the same people we were when we said “I do.” But the changes we’ve made – the way we’ve submitted to one another and forgiven one another, the way my husband has loved me sacrificially, the way I’ve tried to respect and love him no matter what – all this has made us perfect for one another.