After the Red Carpet

For fans of Tessa Bailey and Hannah Grace, After the Red Carpet is a feel-good, contemporary celebrity romance about what happens after the fairy-tale beginning as two lovers work toward their own true meaning of “happily ever after.”

After legendary Hollywood star Finn Forrester proposed to philosopher Ella Sinclair on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, the couple captivated the press and public with their real-life fairy tale...

 Now they vow to prioritize their romance and live an adventure of their own making. Ella moves into Finn’s Beverly Hills mansion and must adjust to his world. Finn, secretly afraid of losing Ella, is determined to make everything perfect for his betrothed. Meanwhile, Ella wants nothing more than to retain her own identity as they build their new life together. All the while, she is writing a philosophical treatise on love, exploring the question: when we love so deeply, where do we end and where does the other begin? 

In this highly anticipated follow-up to The Location Shoot, will Ella and Finn finally live the life they’ve dreamed of? See how their epic romance unfolds, after the red carpet.

read an excerpt...

Finn and Ella strolled down the long red carpet at the famed Royal Albert Hall, arm in arm behind the rest of the Celebration team.

“Somehow I’ve never been here before,” Finn said.

“Well, you’re in for a treat. It’s extraordinary inside. Concerts here are wonderful.”

“I’ll have to get us tickets sometime.”

“Funny story about how this place came to be. Prince Albert wanted to create a hall to celebrate the arts and sciences, to bring culture to the people. He died before it was completed, and Queen Victoria insisted it should be named after him. They even wove the letter A into the stairway railings. Then of course she had that obscenely pricey, gold memorial statue created outside, across the road from the hall. She spent the rest of her life wearing black, to show her deep mourning.”

“She must have really loved him.”

Ella shrugged.

“What?” Finn asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure she did love him, in her own way, but perhaps it would have meant more to simply realize his vision. He wanted this place to be about the arts, not about him. Love isn’t about gold statues or opulence. The grandest gesture is seeing someone for who they are and honoring what’s important to them.”

READ AN INTERVIEW BELOW

about Patricia Leavy...

Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than forty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Her last novel, The Location Shoot, was featured on Ms. Career Girl‘s “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and was the 2023 Firebird Book Awards 1st Place Winner in 4 categories: Contemporary Novel, Pop Culture Fiction, Romance and Summer Beach Read. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Patricia lives in Maine. In addition to writing, she enjoys art, reading, and travel.

 

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/After-Red-Carpet-Patricia-Leavy-ebook/dp/B0D3FJGP55/ref=sr_1_2

Website: https://patricialeavy.com/

more "personal stuff" about Patricia Leavy...

Does this book have a special meaning to you? What made you want to write it?

After the Red Carpet is a sequel to my novel, The Location Shoot. In that novel, Hollywood movie star Finn Forrester and free-spirited philosopher Ella Sinclair meet on the set of a film in Sweden. They fall madly in love and the book ends with a proposal on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. I loved writing that novel so much and wanted to see what happened next. How will their fairy tale unfold? Will their dreams come true? How will Ella retain her identity in Finn’s Hollywood world? What will their love story look like as the months and years pass? What will they learn about love and partnership? These are the questions that inspired me.

 

Where do you get your storylines from?

Inspiration never happens the same way twice which is why I’m still so in love with writing. Sometimes I’ll watch a movie, and a different story starts to play in my mind. I’ll tune out the story I’m seeing and let the new story unfold in my mind. Other times I’ll hear a song or see a painting, and it will spur my imagination. Sometimes there’s a current event or hot topic that I’m interested in and that leads to a novel. I usually get the characters first and they lead me to the story.

 

Was this book easier or more difficult to write than others?  Why?

I knew Ella and Finn so well already and had spent lots of time fantasizing about how their love story would continue so this book was easy and a pure joy to write.

 

Do you only write in one genre?

I write both nonfiction and fiction. I have a PhD in sociology and a career as an author in that field, specifically writing about arts research. I love that part of my life, but nothing brings me more joy than writing fiction. Over the years I’ve written women’s fiction and literary fiction; however, about five years ago I started writing romance novels. I think that’s what I was always meant to do. That’s my focus these days.

 

Give us a picture of where you write, where you compose these words…is it Starbucks, a den, a garden…we want to know your inner sanctum?

 I’m super lucky. I have a beautiful office on the second floor of my home. It’s on the far end of my house so it feels private. I have parquet wood floors, an antique writing desk, a computer desk, and other spots to curl up and read. There’s a balcony that faces the yard, surrounded by trees. I have a table and chairs on the balcony, but truth be told, I never work outside. I’m too afraid of the bugs and other critters in Maine! I do escape to my favorite Parisian-style café a few times a week to write and indulge on macarons.

And finally, of course…was there any specific event or circumstance that made you want to be a writer?

I’ve loved creative writing since I was a little kid. My mother recently found some of my earliest stories. I wrote, illustrated, and titled them and bound them with old wallpaper so they would look like books. I have one that on the back says I was six years old.

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