Tour of Marsden, NY with Author Jayne, Denker + Giveaway

When it comes to love, she's a professional skeptic. Is it too late for a career change?

If there's one thing Georgiana Down is an expert in, it's bad relationships. That's what inspired her blog, Down on Love, where she gives snarky advice--usually along the lines of "dump him." In fact, George is abstaining from men all together. At least that's the plan--until she makes a trip back to her tiny hometown in the Catskills, where meddling is an art form. . .

George loves helping out with her new baby niece, but she's counting the days until she returns to Boston. Then she runs into Casey Bowen, her high school crush. The boy she once loved is now a handsome grown man--and suddenly George needs a little advice of her own. She's in the right place, because when she drunk posts on her blog, everyone in Marsden has something to say about George and Casey. It's like high school all over again--but maybe this time she'll get things right. 

It’s where everyone knows your business—and remembers everything you’d rather forget. But somehow the little Catskills town of Marsden draws the most unlikely people back home, turns their lives every which way, and helps them finally figure out what—and who—they want most…
As a celebrity photographer’s assistant, Celia Marshall is used to seeing all kinds of weird antics. But subbing as the model in irrepressible movie star Niall Crenshaw’s latest endorsement ad—while wearing his silk boxers, no less—is definitely not in her job description. Neither is falling for him, especially since he’s dating his latest co-star. To complicate things further, Celia is returning to Marsden to keep an eye on her eccentric grandmother—and Niall is driving her there, then staying to judge a talent contest…

Soon Celia is pulled in a dozen different directions, trying to get her grandmother to act her age, placating her frantic former boss who’s organizing the contest—and attempting to stay away from funny, sexy Niall. Celia’s always been level headed, but suddenly she’s wishing she could get reckless right along with him. Has the time come for sensible Celia to cut loose?

Jayne Denker divides her time between working hard to bring the funny in her romantic comedies and raising a young son who's way too clever for his own good. She lives in a small village in western New York that is in no way, shape, or form related to the small village in her Marsden novels Down on Love and Picture This. When she's not hard at work on another novel, the social media addict can usually be found frittering away startling amounts of time on Facebook (Jayne Denker Author) and Twitter (@JDenkerAuthor). She’d like to say she updates her Web site, http://jaynedenker.com, quite often, but most of the time when it crosses her mind, she shouts “Can’t you see I’m writing?!” and puts it off till another day.

(Blog) Tour of Marsden, Day 4

Get Your Pumpkins and Indian Corn Here! And Enter to Win a Couple of Books!

A double treat today, Marsden tourists! The (blog) tour of Marsden, NY, is going to make a stop at a pumpkin patch! We hit the road three days ago and made some wonderful stops along the way (see the full list of stops at my blog, http://jaynedenker.com). Today we hit the beloved autumn tourist mainstay: the pumpkin patch. Plus, when we’re done at the farm and waddling away with gourds of all colors and sizes, hopped up on cider donuts and pumpkin cookies, you can enter to win a digital copy of Down on Love AND Picture This! Better than a bagful of Halloween candy! (Well, almost.)

Why a pumpkin patch? Because they’re a blast! And one plays a prominent part in Down on Love. Hero Casey Bowen gives up his high-flying career in international finance because he misses his hometown. His parents bought a farm when Casey was a teenager, but as “city folk,” they might have had the ambition, but not the wherewithal to make a go of it. Casey buys the place from his parents, which allows them to retire to Florida, and he changes it from a traditional farm into an “agritainment” business.

Yeah, the word was new to me too. I found out about agritainment (which is exactly what it sounds like—agriculture + entertainment) when I interviewed one of the owners of a pumpkin farm near where I live, when I was conducting research for this story. One of the things I enjoy most about being an author is sitting down and talking with all sorts of people, finding out about their lives and livelihoods, to make sure the details in my books are accurate. I’ve picked the brains of interior designers, scriptwriters, photographers, Alzheimer’s specialists, police officers...and pumpkin farm owners.

The family-owned business near me goes all out from September through December, first selling pumpkins and then Christmas trees, and I just love the place so much, it was fun to use it as the model for Casey’s farm. He and his friends who work for him mention not just the pumpkin patch, but the hay bale mountain, the playground equipment, the petting zoo, the food and drink, and the “punkin’ chunkin’” station, which totally exists—you use really large slingshots to fling small pumpkins great distances and try to hit targets (like a full-size junker van or a toy boat) out in the field.

I couldn’t possibly make any of that stuff up, although I did add a bit: Because Marsden is, at heart, an artists’ enclave, Casey turns one of the barns on the property into an art gallery. In addition, he turns the monster Gothic house on the property into an “inn and conference center.” Yes, he’s very ambitious, and he’s got the know-how to make it all happen. All that and he’s a hottie to boot—no wonder George fell for him all over again, after being stupid about him in high school.

Bowen Farms plays a prominent role not only in Down on Love, but also in book 2 of my Marsden series, Picture This. And you can win digital copies of both, whatever e-format you like! Just comment on this entry and you’ll be in the running (U.S. only, please)!

If you don’t feel like waiting till you’ve found out if you’re the winner of this two-book prize, you can always pick up Down on Love, on sale for only 99 cents (!) for the entire month of October. Picture This isn’t much more, just $3 and change at any e-retailer.

Thanks for coming along to the pumpkin patch! Hope you had was fun!

Next stop, tomorrow (Friday, October 17): my buddy and fellow author Kathryn Biel’s blog! Be sure to drop in—I may be swearing a lot, for reasons that will become clear tomorrow.

Comment below to enter to win e-book copies of DOWN ON LOVE and PICTURE THIS.