Aloha to Shannon Richard and UNDENIABLE

I'm in a "Top Five" mood this week ... you'll know why on Saturday!   Today I welcome back my fellow Floridian, Shannon  Richard, as she celebrates the release of UNDENIABLE, A Country Roads Novel:

THEIR LOVE WAS UNDENIABLE

Grace King knows two things for certain: she loves working at her grandmother's café and she loves the hunky town sheriff. She always has. As she bakes him sweet treats, Grace fantasizes about helping him work up an appetite all night long. But whenever she thinks she's finally getting somewhere, he whips out some excuse to escape. Growing up, he never looked twice at her. Now Grace won't rest until she has Jax's undivided attention.

Jaxson Anderson can't deny that his best friend's kid sister is the sexiest woman in Mirabelle, Florida. Unwilling to burden Grace with his painful past, Jax keeps the sassy blonde at arm's length. Yet one heated kiss crumbles all of his carefully built defenses. But when a town secret surfaces, threatening to destroy everything they believe in, can the man who defended Grace from bullies as a child protect her now?

I pulled from Shannon's bio (link) ...

She’s still waiting for her Southern, scruffy Mr. Darcy, and in the meantime writes love stories to indulge her overactive imagination.   Oh, and she’s a pretty big fan of the whimsy.

... for today's guest post ... what "newsworthy" men might fit the bill for a "Southern, scruffy Mr. Darcy"?   Welcome, Shannon!

This is a tough one because there are so many beautiful men. Hard decisions must be made in life. I guess I’ll just have to suffer through it, but what a way to suffer. So in keeping with the question I’m only going to name Southern men (which is lucky for me because it narrows the hunting grounds).

1.) Kip Moore – He’s a country music artist and the first song I heard by him was “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck” (which inspired a very fun/sexy scene in Undeniable). I promptly became obsessed with that song and then I heard “Hey Pretty Girl” and it quickly became love. A lot of Undeniable was inspired by this song.

2.) Eric Church – He’s also a country music artist. He had me at the song “Smoke A Little Smoke” but I really fell in love with him over “Springsteen”. This song hugely inspired Shep and Hannah’s story, which I’m currently working on. Whenever I picture Shep (who has a lot of Chris Hemsworth in him) he has some Eric Church tendencies to him.

3.) Justin Timberlake – Ohhhhhhhh, he’s just so nice to look at. And he’s actually pretty darn funny. He’s cracked me up more times than I can count on SNL and then I loved his character in Friends With Benefits.

4.) Ian Somerhalder – There was this WB show from 2000 called Young Americans and this was my first encounter with Ian (yup, we go that far back that I’m on a first name basis with him). I loved him then and then I loved him as Boone on Lost. And I’ve spent many an episode of Vampire Diaries just staring at him in wonder. His eyes…there are just no words.

5.) Chace Crawford – Okay, so the first time I ever saw Chace Crawford act was in What to Expect When You’re Expecting. It was love at first sight.

Whimsy in Hawaii 

Shannon gives us a bonus five - what are your top five "whimsy" movies and/or TV shows?

1.) Peter Pan – I remember watching this movie for weeks straight when I was little. It’s my all time favorite Disney movie (and my favorite ride at Disney World). I think this is one of the reasons I have such an obsession with London (and all things British).

2.) Finding Neverland – This movie breaks my heart but I love it so much. I’m a pretty big fan of Johnny Depp and I’ve loved Kate Winslet since Titanic (she’s one of my favorite actresses), and as it’s based on the life of J.M. Barrie, the writer of Peter Pan, it only seems right.

3.) Pushing Daisies – Okay, so a very, very dark moment (so I might be over exaggerating a little) was when Pushing Daisies was cancelled. Ned the Pie Maker (Lee Pace…oh, is he ever handsome) is just so wonderful and he loves Charlotte (a.k.a. Chuck) so much. And the show was narrated by Jim Dale (who also narrated the Harry Potter audio books which I’m not ashamed to say I listen too regularly).

4.) Penelope – I noticed James McAvoy the first time I watched The Chronicles of Narnia and saw him as Mr. Tumnus (I know he was a hairy centaur, but he was just so darn endearing). And then I saw him sans costume and I fell in love. So the fact that he is the love interest in Penelope (which is just full of whimsy) made me love him even more. He falls in love with Penelope (Christina Ricci’s character) despite the fact that she isn’t what society considers beautiful. He thinks she’s beautiful anyway. It’s just a really sweet story.

5.) Wicked – I just really loved this take on The Wizard of Oz. The music was phenomenal, the acting was superb, and the story is just so much fun.

A little bit wicked in Hawaii ....

Mahalo, Shannon, for joining us today at SOS Aloha!   I am giving away an ecopy of UNDENIABLE to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about your nomination for "Southern Mr. Darcy" ... or your favorite "whimsy" story.

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, October 5, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 6.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

To learn more about Shannon and her books, check out her website at shannonrichard.net.