10.24.2020 AUTUMN SKIES By Denise Hunter

Facing the past is easier if you don’t have to face it alone.
The Bluebell Inn is turning a profit, and it’s time for the Bennett siblings to sell it and move on. Only Grace has plans to stay in the small lake town of Bluebell, North Carolina, where she hopes her growing outfitters business will save her from the loneliness of her siblings’ departure and the persistent sense of unworthiness in her life.

A gunshot wound resurrects the past for Secret Service agent Wyatt Jennings, and a mandatory leave of absence lands him in Bluebell. There he must come to grips with the tragedy that altered his life fourteen years ago.

When Wyatt books a room at the Bluebell Inn, sparks fly between him and Grace. She volunteers to be his mountain guide, and he soon opens up to her, drawn to her strength and sense of humor. But both are reticent to talk about the survivor’s guilt they each carry, and when their pasts finally collide, their budding romance might not survive the truth.

From the bestselling author of The Convenient Groom and A December Bride (now beloved Hallmark Original movies) comes the third and final novel in the Bluebell Inn series.


REVIEW:


I am a huge fan of the Bluebell Inn Romance Series and of course reading this third book is like visiting old friends - the Bennet siblings’ stories from book 1 and 2 all had a little bit of romance, mystery and small town drama and excitement - all with a feel good happy ending.

Their beautiful home turned into a gorgeous B & B by the lake on the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina is blustering with activity and guests, and is now running well and turning a profit. Molly and Levi are looking to sell and move on. However, Grace stays on to run her outfitting business.

In this installment, we read about Grace Bennett the young, spunky, and cynical about matters of love sibling, fall head over heels with Wyatt, a guest at the Inn. Wyatt is a secret service agent who is on a leave of absence after taking a bullet. Your heart will flutter as jaded Wyatt falls head over heels over Grace who comes into his life just when he needed it the most.

I just love Denise Hunter’s stories they always leave you feeling great and hopeful - always an engaging story I enjoy!




AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:








Denise Hunter is the award-winning author of more than 35 novels, three of which have been adapted into Hallmark movies.

Denise writes heartwarming, small-town romances, peopled with layered characters who have real-life issues. Her readers enjoy the vicarious thrill of falling in love and the promise of a happily-ever-after sigh as they savor the final pages of her books.

In 1996, Denise began her first novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her books contain a strong romantic element, and her husband says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

Denise and her husband live in Indiana, where they raised three sons, and are currently enjoying an empty nest.







Q & A with author Denise Hunter

How did you research the setting for the Bluebell Inn series?

I always go to the location where the book is going to be set. This brings the setting alive to me, so I can bring it to life for my readers. Although Bluebell is a fictional town, it’s based on the real-life town of Lake Lure, North Carolina. The Bluebell Inn is based on The Esmeralda Inn, which is situated near Lake Lure in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The owners kindly sat down with me and answered all my questions about running an inn. I love when readers say the Bluebell Inn is almost like its own character in the series. It definitely has a history and secrets of its own. Those who’ve followed along in the series have solved the mystery of a lost love letter and found a precious heirloom necklace. And while the hero in Autumn Skies comes to the Bluebell Inn looking for something a little less tangible, it is certainly of no less value.




What will readers of your previous novels find to love about Autumn Skies and the Bluebell Inn series?

The Bluebell Inn series features the Bennett siblings who, when their parents die, undertake the mission to fulfill their parents’ dream: turning their historic home into an inn. The sense of loss the characters are facing and the common goal they’re working toward draw the Bennetts together. This gives the reader a sense of belonging that is characteristic of my novels. I also believe my readers will find comfort and hope in the small-town setting of Bluebell, NC. Though this is my first series set around a lake, the town has the same sense of community my readers have come to expect in my books. And of course, there’s a swoony love story in each of the Bluebell Inn novels. I aim to have the reader flipping through pages to see how each couple overcomes their obstacles, and I hope she finishes each book with a happily-ever-after sigh.




Readers love your loveable, relatable characters. Who are the main characters for Autumn Skies and how did you create them?

As the story opens, Grace Bennett is plugging away at her new outfitters business while scrambling to help her siblings run the family business—the Bluebell Inn. Grace is young and spunky with a dry sense of humor, and she’s a little cynical where love is concerned—until Wyatt Jennings checks into the Bluebell Inn. The chemistry between these two is off the charts. Sometimes that just happens on the page as I’m writing. I’m not sure who’s in control! But I hope readers love watching Grace fall head over heels for Wyatt—and vice verse—as much as I did.

Wyatt Jennings is a troubled Secret Service agent who’s forced to take a leave of absence after taking a bullet in the line of duty. I’ve wanted to write about a Secret Service agent since 2016. My husband and I were at a hotel in Virginia Beach in preparation for my appearance on the 700 Club when we heard a politician was going to be speaking at the hotel that night. While we were in the lobby, a whole crew of Secret Service agents entered the hotel—suits, sunglasses, the whole nine yards. I’m pretty sure they were moving in slow motion. I definitely heard “Bad to the Bone” playing in the background. That’s where the idea for Autumn Skies truly originated. I immediately envisioned a male lead with a past so traumatic that it inspired him rise to the heroic position of Secret Service agent. Wyatt is seasoned, worldly, and a little jaded, and he views Grace Bennett as a breath of fresh air.