The Gambler's Brother

Welcome Jillian! Many thanks to Shaunna for inviting me over to her blog today to chat about my new release, The Gambler's Brother. I love the fact that the authors at Desert Breeze Publishing are so supportive of each other. That's so cool.


We all lead busy lives, but I'm glad to do this for you. Tell me/us about the book. the cover is Wow! My new release is a historical novel based in 1946. It's the second in a series of three books but don't let that scare you. It's a full and complete story and reading the first one isn't necessary for the story line in this one.

That is good to hear. So often we have to read all the books in order in the series to know what is going on. I admire the author that ties the series together without making the reader do just that.

I'm a huge fan of 20th century history as there is so much fodder for the imagination with all the changes that occurred in the world during those 100 years. Really, think about it. We went from horse drawn carriages to horseless carriages and even as far as the moon. Think about the people born in 1900 and all the massive changes that they lived through. It's absolutely amazing and jaw dropping.

I can still see my grandmother shaking her head as she watch Walter Cronkite report on Armstong walking on the moon. Now all three of those parties are deceased.

For this novel, I focused on the aftermath of World War II and the movement of the brides who married American servicemen serving overseas. It's so romantic (and scary) to think about these women and how they changed their whole lives to marry a man from a foreign place. How wonderfully brave they all were to have survived the war and then, just when things may have gotten back to normal, to uproot themselves in the name of love.

Quite the adventurous generation! Can you share your book blurb with us?

Blurb:  Beaumont McSwain, a former RAF pilot wounded in combat is now the legal officer onboard the Queen Mary. He's haunted by a tragic mission gone awry and wants to return to America and to a life of peace and quiet. Zoe Langlois, a former member of the French Resistance, wants to get to America and find what's left of her family after the Nazi's reign of terror. She boards the Queen Mary under a false identity as a war bride. Along the way, several of the brides are killed and Zoe's odds of survival are decreasing by the day. She and Bo are attracted to each other, but his secret as well as hers threaten their potential for happiness.

Nice! Now I want more-- an excerpt maybe?
Of course
EXCERPT

Bo reached over and shut it gently for him and turned to walk away. He took several steps toward the elevator to go up to the bridge. Two women stopped his progress.

The one with curly hair put her hand on his arm. "I'm Filomena Andrews and this is Zoe Crawford. We need to talk to someone in charge."

"That's not me." He jerked his head back toward the purser's window. "Check with Nate over there if you have problems with your quarters. I have to get to the bridge."

"It's not problems with our quarters and if you're going to the bridge, you must be someone important since they run the ship from there, right?" Mena asked.

Bo nodded once. "They do run the ship from there, but I'm just an errand boy." He waved the papers in his hand. "I have to go. Sorry, ladies."

"I wonder that they'd choose someone like you as an errand boy--" Zoe said as he stepped away.

"What? A gimp? How rude of you to point that out, madam," Bo snapped at her.

Zoe looked him up and down. She sneered. "What I was referring to, sir, was your obvious rank. I can see it by the stripes on your sleeve. You're a group captain in the Royal Air Force, correct? It seems to me that you're the sensitive one. I feel sorry for you going through life expecting the worst of people. What a sad existence."

Bo stared at her. "I don't have a sad existence. I don't think the worst of everyone. I--"

Zoe cut him off. "You've made it clear how you feel about people, Group Captain." She turned to her friend. "Come, Mena, let's take the man up on his advice and talk to this Nate person. It's clear that this errand boy has other things to keep him busy."

She pivoted on her heel and stalked over to the purser's window. Her friend followed her as Bo gaped in shock. What an impossibly arrogant woman. French, of course. Even being invaded and conquered, they still hold that attitude of superiority. I feel for the poor bugger that married her.

Okay, so now that I/we have to have more, where do we go?

Buy link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-356/Gambler's-Inheritance-Book-Two-cln-/Detail.bok

Tell us more about yourself. Jillian Chantal is the pen name of a lawyer in Pensacola, Florida. She decided she needed to work under a pen name when she was sitting in a room full of staid male lawyers. Jillian has always been a storyteller and written for fun. When she was in the fifth grade, she wrote a story about Mr. Pepper who fell in love with Miss Salt. He went to medical school and became Dr. Pepper. This story got rave reviews and was even copied by the teacher and distributed to the younger kids' classes. The bug to be published someday had bitten Jillian.

Jillian put off her dream to be published as she went to college and law school. She was too busy to dedicate the time to writing due to the interference of the practice of law and raising children. Once her children got older, she started back with the dream of being published.

Thanks for coming by. You can contact Jillian at: www.jillianchantal.com
Twitter @jillianchantal
Facebook: Jillianchantal