Return of the “Mean Girl” ~ Engaged ~ Julie Arduini ~ Giveaway

Peg here: I'm pleased to once again welcome back author Julie Arduini as she takes us behind the scenes in the writing of ENGAGED, the third and final book in the Surrendering Time Series. Julie is also offering a free copy of this book. Details below.

Return of the “Mean Girl”

ENGAGED: Surrendering the Future

Book 3, Surrendering Time Series

Trish’s Story

Trish Maxwell returns to Speculator Falls with crushed dreams, egg on her face, and the chance to make a new start with the very people and places she used to make fun of.

Trish Maxwell’s back in Speculator Falls with egg on her face and a lot of apologies to make. She left the mountain town for her dream job in New York City, only to come back unemployed. With no prospects, she works at her mom’s department store and makes amends as she finds a new passion creating window displays for Adirondack businesses. She works hard and tries to convince the people of Speculator Falls she’s changed for the better.

As Trish pitches in with community events, she meets paramedic Wayne Peterson, the one man who doesn’t seem to judge her. She even makes friends with Jenna Regan, who helps Trish when people demand to know what’s next in Trish’s life. Living in New York City has been her goal, but the more she’s around Wayne and the Adirondack area, the more she’s drawn to revising her plans. Just when Trish thinks the plan for her life’s coming together, a second chance comes her way that could give her every career goal she’s ever wanted, but threaten to tear her and Wayne apart. Can Trish surrender fears about her future and discover God’s plan for her?

 Part of the fun in writing the third book in my Surrendering Time series was making the “mean girl” from Book 1, Entrusted, the heroine of Engaged. Trish Maxwell started out as the scandal of Speculator Falls, a small mountain village in the Upstate NY Adirondack Mountains.

Trish grew up in Speculator Falls and the residents and her high school boyfriend, Ben Regan, assumed she’d get married and stay in the area. Trish couldn’t contain her longing to leave the county so rural it was labeled pioneer land, and the first opportunity she had, she left Speculator Falls for New York City. Without saying goodbye. Without handing in her job resignation at the senior center. Even during a quick visit, it was too easy for Trish to make sure the new girl in town, Jenna Anderson, realize she was the darling of Speculator Falls and Ben’s life.

Fast forward and by the time Engaged begins, Trish is back in Speculator Falls without a job. She’s living with her parents again, working part-time at the department store. New York City life wasn’t as glamorous as she thought it would be. Now that she’s back in her hometown, she has no idea what she’s going to do.

And she has to face the same people she refused to say goodbye to when she left.

I loved Engaged because it was born in conflict. Right away Trish has to face one of the senior citizens who has a long memory and is bent on making sure Trish faces consequences for leaving the senior center without a director. She has to watch all the people she rejected move on without her. When paramedic Wayne Peterson comes to her rescue, she has a second chance. He’s one person who hasn’t been affected by her selfish choices. He understands scandal and how to overcome it. He sees Trish with a bright future when everyone else is focused on her pas

There was conflict for me as well. I had to create a transformation where Trish lets go of her mean girl qualities and becomes a woman who works well with others. There were times she had progress, and yet took a step back as a defensive mechanism. Winning her neighbors, Ben, Jenna, and the senior citizens over wasn’t an easy task.

Thankfully, readers loved Trish’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Trish was the perfect character to complete the Surrendering Time series with.

Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to surrender the good, the bad, and ---maybe one day---the chocolate. She’s the author of ENTRUSTED: Surrendering the Present, ENTANGLED: Surrendering the Past, and ENGAGED: Surrendering the Future. FINDING FREEDOM THROUGH SURRENDER is her 30 day devotional using the surrender themes and characters from the series. She also shares her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. Her latest release, YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL, is a book for girls ages 10-100, written with her teenaged daughter, Hannah. Julie blogs every other Wednesday for Christians Read, and also is a blogger for Inspy Romance. She resides in Poland with her husband and two children. Learn more by visiting her at http://juliearduini.com, where she invites readers to subscribe to her monthly newsletter full of resources and giveaway opportunities.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/JulieArduini

Twitter: http://twitter.com/JulieArduini

G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JulieArduini/posts

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/JulieArduini

Instagram: http://instagram.com/JulieArduini

Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/JulieArduini

Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/JulieArduini

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Julie-Arduini/e/B00PBKDRSQ/

Monthly Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dCFG

 Engaged Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Engaged-Surrendering-Future-Time-Book-ebook/dp/B072K91W25/

The Giveaway:

What do you think of heroines who have a tarnished reputation? If you leave a comment, Julie will choose one winner to receive a copy of Engaged. US winner can choose either print or eBook. If you’re an international winner, it will be an eBook. Giveaway ends one week from today on Tuesday, August 20, at Midnight, CDT.