Guest Author and Contest with author Toni Aleo.............

Today I would like to welcome author Toni Aleo, she just released her first ever book this fall, a super sexy and absolutely fantastic sports themed romance called TAKING SHOTS, this one you just have to check out!!     I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read and review her book, which you can read all about HERE. I hope you enjoy this interview and the review,  but I have decided since I love this book so much I just want everyone to read it, so tomorrow I am picking a winner for one copy via Amazon! So leave a message for Toni and I will pick a winner from those who comment.                               

1. If someone were writing a story about Toni Aleo what would your blurb say? Toni Aleo is a twenty eight year old mother of two, married to her high school sweetheart. From a military family, Toni was born in Germany and was raised in Clarksville, TN, where she still lives today. She is a hopeless romantic, she loves love stories and being able to write them fills her with all the happiness in the world. She loves music, reading, photography, and being a mother. She is country to the core, she says ain’t, and drinks sweet tea. She is an intense Predators hockey fan and will tell anyone that Shea Weber is probably the best hockey player known to man. She tends to talk a lot and ramble about things she is passionate about.

2. Can you tell us a little about your newest release TAKING SHOTS that isn't in the blurb? Taking Shots is my baby. It took me seven months to write it and I just love Elli and Shea. It is about a woman that had been through so much heartache and the heartache doesn’t seem to end until she meets that one person, that takes her breath away. Shea is the perfect man with all kinds of imperfections. He complements Elli; he makes her a better person as she does for him. They are better together and when they are apart you feel the pain as if you were going through it with them. You beg for Elli to stop being so insecure and stupid. To just love Shea, not to listen to her family, but to just love.

3. What was your inspiration behind the creation of TAKING SHOTS?
Hehe, well…I have admitted to being a BIG hockey fan. I basically went to EVERY playoff game last year and watching a certain hockey player inspired me to developed Shea Adler. I wrote regular boy meets girl kind of books before but I had never ventured into sports because I didn’t think I could do it justice. When I started Taking Shots, I actually quit because it wasn’t flowing, but then I met my favorite hockey player. I came home, opened the outline for Taking Shots and things just came out in the masses. It was nuts, and I kid you not that I would write hours at a time and I wouldn’t stop. If you were to pick out a major event in the book, I could tell you what that came from. A lot of the book is inspired by everyday things that happen to me, or how me and my husband are, or how my friends and I act. A lot of my book is personal stuff, and I love that people are connecting with it.

4. What was your favorite scene to write in TAKING SHOTS?
The ending. When Shea breaks that glass and tells Elli he loves her, my heart melts and I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Then she sings for him and he gives her the ring, OH! My heart! It was the best!

 5. Was there any one scene you were forced to leave out or regret not putting in?
No, not really. This book is long, and I love it that way because its everything I want in a book. Most romance novels are short and sweet, throw some sex in there and they are done. I wanted to give everyone the whole relationship, so they could love Elli and Shea as much as I do.

6. What can readers expect from book two, TRYING TO SCORE? Oh, you can expect some drama. Fallon and Lucas are awesome. The gist is that they dated when she was in college and broke up because Lucas cheated. Well he comes to the Assassins in Nashville, and meets up with Fallon because her wine company is the sponsor for the Assassins. Sparks fly when the two see each other for the first time again, and off starts Lucas trying to get her back because he still loves her. Fallon is so confused that sometimes she comes off as bi polar. Poor Lucas is trying so hard to convince her he is a changed man that he basically does everything to get her back, but then Lucas learns of the secret Fallon has been keeping and all hell breaks loose.
Just like with Taking Shots, you will follow the chase, their ups and downs, and will basically fall in love with these two. I’m really excited about the release of this book because my little group of readers says it’s better than Taking Shots. I hope everyone else thinks so, too.

7. What accent is sure to make you swoon? Oh goodness me, give me a Boston, Irish, or Canadian man and I am swooning something serious. WOOWEE!

8. What was the most challenging thing you’ve done in the name of research that might have been out of your comfort zone? For the third book in the series, I had to look up things that could go wrong in an abortion and seeing those images and things like that really messed with me. I am totally pro life but my character was forced to get one and I needed to know what could go wrong when she had the procedure done.

9. Please share with us something that readers would be surprised to learn about you. I have an intense hockey temper. I have been kicked out of my husband’s hockey game countless time. It’s very intense and people don’t like to go to games with me because of it. I’m pretty sure it embarrasses my husband, but thankfully, he still loves me!

10. What is the most challenging thing for you about writing a series? Keeping it good, and not repetitive. I hate books in a series that are basically the same thing just different names. I want each book in the Assassins series to be new and awesome. I want people to feel the love in each and every book. I don’t want people to say that it is all the same.

11. How can the readers stay in touch with you online? I am a social networking freak! I have a blog, Facebook page, twitter, Goodreads, and an Amazon author page. I love hearing from my readers! Here are the links:
Blog: tonialeo.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/tonialeo1
Twitter: tonilovesweber6

12. Favorites List… fill in the blank a. Favorite City

 New Orleans, I went there this past Thanksgiving and I will never forget it. I had such a blast!

 b. Favorite Romance book of all time (your go to book you can read over and over again) Oh goodness, this is a hard one because if I went classic, it would be Pride and Prejudice, but if I keep it modern it would be either Kristin Higgins: Just one of the Guys, or Julie James: Practice makes Perfect.

 c. Favorite type of hero: I love me a sexy cowboy, but my heart belongs to Hockey players. There is just something about a man skating around and knocking into other men, that just does it for me!

 d. Favorite Quote: All you need is love, love is all you need. – The Beatles.

13. If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be? What made you want to read my book?