Solhaven Forevers Series
Get a behind-the-scenes all-access pass to Liz Martinson's Solhaven Forevers Series!
***Synopsis***
The series is based in the fictitious town of Solhaven.
Each book, while being a standalone, links through the place and also the first main characters, who appear briefly in all the books.
Each book looks at two people and how they move from their meet-cute to becoming lovers.
What is the sub-genre and trope? Did your characters lead you to this genre or
was that decided before the story began?
They are all contemporary romance.
Love by Sunset is opposites attract.
Love by Moonlight is second chance love.
Love by Sunrise is secret royalty.
Are you more character or plot driven?
Character driven
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep them separated in your mind? Do you have a story/vision board above your workspace?
I have messy notes!
I know from previous interviews that characters take on a life of their own. Were any of the characters in this series determined to take their own direction instead of where you initially wanted them to go?
Not this time, although it can happen with me when I’m writing. This time, I had specific characters with specific problems and it was more a case of working through them and they generally behaved. Not always, but generally!
Are any of the male POVs based on anyone you know?
Guilty as charged – I take a lot of characteristics from my husband!
Are any of the female POVs based on anyone you know?
Mmm, more difficult. They’re strong-minded which is a bit like myself and I suppose some of the characteristics are my own, but I’ve also taken bits from other people I know, too!
Was there any one character/scene that was harder to write about than the other?
I always worry about bedroom scenes and the need to make them meaningful and tender, so I spend a lot of time working through those.
What is your favorite book in the series?
Hard one – they all have merits and I can’t make up my mind. I really can’t!
I know that we aren’t supposed to have “favorites” as far as our children, but seriously, who’s your favorite character and why?
I rather like the laid-back hero in Love by Sunset who pops in and out of the subsequent books. Maybe I like his super-relaxed attitude to life while underneath he’s more shrewd than he lets on.
But… I like all my main characters, having created them, lived with them and let them change my mind sometimes!
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did you decide on their dynamics?
Oh, so hard! Again, each couple has their own merits and to choose between them is too difficult.
In Love by Sunrise the main couple are complete opposites in their approach to life and it was fun to make them both change a little, each influenced by the other.
In Love by Moonlight he’s all angst and misery and she’s full of sunlight and happiness and I wanted her to bring him into her happy place and soothe away his fear of falling in love again.
In Love by Sunset he’s fighting duty and she’s fighting demons so when I put them together, he leads her back to being confident and she shows him the way forwards, so they both have to help each other through.
How do you get inside these characters’ heads to find their perfect HEA?
With help from my amazing editor Whitney Jones!
But also trying to put myself into their position with their thought processes, then tweak until I had them where I wanted them to be. And an HEA is of course inevitable so I found ways of overcoming problems to make sure it happened.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for you? Why?
I love, in every book, the final coming together and realisation they are truly in love and their triumph at overcoming the odds, so all three endings are memorable.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than others?
Maybe Book 2 – Love by Moonlight? He’s been so hurt by his ex and he feels all women are the same.
I didn’t want him coming across as too rude or surly. I needed to show his mistrust and disinclination to fall for the heroine but also the goodness deep inside.
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
Six months, including going through developmental and line edits.
How did you come up with the title for your book and series?
I actually had different titles as I was working on them, but my publishers wanted them linking more as a series and they came up with the current titles.
If you met these characters in real life would you get along?
Oh, yes, I think so.
Series question – Did you know in advance that you were going to write this as a series or did one of the characters in book one demand their own story?
I knew it would be series but I wasn’t sure at the start who the couples in books 2 and 3 would be. Nor did I know the hero of Love by Sunset maintains a small presence in books 2 and 3 – and in book 2 is a sympathetic listener and sounding board for the grumpy hero.
If your book/series were made into a movie, which actors do you see as playing your characters?
Love by Sunset - Johnny Flynn is Jake, and Lucy Hale is Emily.
Love by Moonlight – Henry Cavill is Daniel and Amy Adams is Claire.
Love by Sunrise - Tom Hiddleston is Anton and Crystal Reed is Lizzie
Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect next? Whether a new book and series or a sequel to an existing series? Can you share a small tease?
I’m revising a book at the moment which is enemies to lovers.
I have a sequel planned for one of my currently published novels (Ullandale) and I’ve written a historical which Wild Rose Press have asked me to do some work on.
I’d like to write another series – maybe based in a Yorkshire village.
From Love by Takeover, the book under revision:
“Adam was Richard Blake?
What the hell was going on?
He spoke coldly, without turning around. ‘Thank you for coming to see me, Ms Drayton. I shouldn’t take up too much of your time.’
‘I hardly had any choice,’ Jude said, her voice dry, as the shock washed through her, leaving her body icy-cold and shaking with dismay.
The man at the window froze. Then, slowly, he withdrew his hands from his pockets and turned.
‘You?’ In his eyes she saw equal shock, and, as she’d feared, disappointment and a flash of anger, before his expression became masked. Only his clenched fists betrayed his agitation.
‘Quite,’ Jude responded, recovering some of her equilibrium. ‘You?’
She held her body tight against its continued trembling, hoping the pounding of her heart wouldn’t be audible in the silent room.
‘What the hell are you doing here? I asked to see Ms Drayton, not her PA. Ms Drayton… she must be older, surely? Much older?’ There was a note of panic in his voice.
A multitude of feelings swept across his face, which Jude tried to read. Anger. Horror. Dismay. It seemed he did indeed hate the idea of Jude, but the fact she’d been Anna the day before yesterday also meant something. Not much, but something.
However, Jude doubted it would do her much good. ‘Sorry to disappoint in the matter of age, but I’m not Ms Drayton’s PA. I’m Jude Drayton herself.’
‘Then on Saturday, you deliberately misled me?’
‘I think, on Saturday, I was not the only one to be misleading… Adam?’
She saw his face colour as he accepted the truth of her acerbic comment. ‘Adam is my middle name.’
‘Well, well, well, what a coincidence… Anna is my middle name too.’ She walked over to a chair and sat down, her cool tone belying her inner turmoil. ‘We’d agreed not to discuss Aurora Technology on Saturday. I was happy to escape for a day, as I think you were too. Equally guilty, perhaps?’
Connect with Liz:
Emily is all business from the top of her well-groomed head to her painted toe-nails, until she sees sexy surfer Jake, with the wild hair and a body to die for.
Their connection is immediate, and neither can deny the searing attraction that crackles between them. But Emily doesn’t do short-term flings, and Jake never commits to anything longer than a weekend.
And what about the inconvenient fact his café is in the crosshairs of Emily’s business deal, the very reason that she’s in Solhaven?
As the relationship progresses, Jake’s refusal to commit to long-term wavers, while Emily fears she’s fallen in love, and hurt is rapidly heading her way.
A shocking betrayal by his ex-wife sends artist Daniel to Solhaven for some much-needed peace and solitude, and a place where he can paint without distractions. He’s done with love, done with relationships. Done with women.
Claire, the new gardener at the hotel, isn’t looking for love, but when love finds her, she can’t let it go. Daniel might be surly, and rejects help at every turn, but she sees something different. She knows his pain is deeper than his anger and she wants to soothe it.
Daniel might feel attracted to the sunny Claire, but can he ever learn to trust again?
And can Claire give him the space he needs to heal?
Or will each one’s headstrong determination crush the first tender buds of love?
Unable to effect the changes he feels his country needs, Prince Maximilian leaves Mondorra to live the useful life he craves. But he cannot forget the haunted eyes of a ballerina he once met at a palace reception. Now working as a gardener at the Haven House Hotel, and calling himself Anton, he is astonished to see this very woman walking up the hotel’s stairs.
Lizzie has also never forgotten her encounter with the “sad man,” as she’s always called him. She is struggling to reclaim her former glory as a principal dancer after leaving her abusive partner, and this outreach program in rural Wales seems the very way forward. But what is the sad man doing here? And why won’t he tell her who he is?
The peaceful surroundings of the hotel lead them on the first tentative steps to love, but Anton’s secrets and the shadow of Lizzie’s former lover loom over them. When the truth is revealed, will Lizzie be able to make the leap, or will the swan princess refuse the crown of Mondorra forever?
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