Playing for Love at Deep Haven by Katy Regnery: Book Review, Q&A and Giveaway

Katy Regnery is one of my favorite authors for a lot of reasons. She is super interactive with her audience, which is a delight for readers and Fans of her writing. When I decided to start this blog, I knew my 1^st review had to be of 1 of her books. I chose this book because we had a Read along [26/10- 2/11] for it on Katy’s Facebook group. With a dedicated event page, we discussed, swooned and fell in love with the characters and here is what I thought about it.

Book Details:

Title: Playing for Love at Deep Haven [PLADH]
Author: Katy Regnery
Year Published: January 8, 2014
Publisher: Katy Regnery; Yup she is a self published author & a fabulous one at that.
Format reviewed: eBook
Rating: 5 stars

Book Brief:
How would you feel or to be more accurate react, if you got a second chance at being with your First Love and a possibility of happily ever after. PLADH is one such story.
Zachariah and Violet fall in love at college but do not end up together. A decade later a lot has changed, Violet is a struggling writer and Zachariah is tired of his song writing gigs. Trying to catch a break from life they both end up in the same vacation house, needless to say they are surprised to see each other. Fate or sheer chance may have reunited them, but the rest is in their hands. What will they do with this chance?

My Thoughts:
The story has an ageless vibe to it & can happen to anyone of us. I loved that this story didn’t make life and love sound casual or easy. The characters go through emotions like vulnerability, doubt, trust issues, overwhelming love & lust, just like you and me would. The story shows that making a future with your love is no child’s play. It’s takes a lot of effort and emotional strength besides love for each other to make a future together. If you love someone and are loved back, that’s just the beginning. Making a life together is where your actual work begins and in the process you will learn a lot about yourself as well as the other person. On the way there will be hurdles, negative emotions, frustrations; there will also be a lot of love and high wire emotions running around. Overcoming these hurdles and negativity while holding on to precious love is a dance and it takes 2 to tango. Love is what makes you give someone a chance and move mountains for them, if you meet that someone make sure you do your 100% to make it happen.

The dynamic between Zachariah & Violet is intense; it left me emotionally exhausted and drained for a while. I was #TeamZachariah all the way as he had strong faith in his love. He accepted his mistakes, put up one hell of a fight to correct them even when Violet was unsure and not trusting.

Read this sweet, intense story and you will look at relationships a bit differently. If you are a rock music fan, you will love the music references; also, there is dreamy poetry in there. If you are ready to meet Zachariah and Violet, Visit Katy’s website and get to know her, her books and their buying links & other bookish fun things.

Writing: The writing was beautiful and Katy is such a talented writer. Every book of hers that I’ve read made me feel like I was a part of it; which makes reading her books fun & necessary for me. I have 8/20+ published books, I plan to get the rest too; that’s how much of a fan of her writing I am.

When I read the book & we discussed it on our Facebook group, I had a few Qs for Katy. She kindly agreed to answer them and generous as ever she has an eCopy of this book to Giveaway, details further below.

Q & A

Q. Any particular song that was stuck in your mind while writing PLADH
A. I actually had a pretty extensive playlist and it included a lot of the songs in the book: Riptide by Vance Joy, I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons, My, My Love by Joshua Radin and Stubborn Love by The Lumineers. When I wrote about Zach, I listened to Santeria by Sublime quite a bit to channel his character. And of course I listened to the acoustic guitar versions of “Clair de Lune” (Debussy) and Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens. The short answer is that there really wasn’t one song; I listened to a plethora of music as I wrote this book.

Q. Are you rock music fan, if so, do you have a favorite band?
A. I like some rock, but my favorite music genre is – like Violet – Folk. I love older folk troubadours like Joan Baez, John Denver and Bob Dylan. Their music is really lyric, you know? They chose beautiful words and melodies so their music isn’t just noise to my ears. Its poetry set to melody.

Q. Do you write poetry otherwise or you especially wrote for this story?
A. Hmm Good question. I have written poetry in the past, but not a lot. Certainly not enough to make a collection; that said I do like writing it occasionally. I especially like writing rhyming poetry which is likely looked-down upon in the poetry world the same way that romance is looked-down upon in the literary world. What can I say? I write for the masses. Not everyone is after a Pulitzer.

Q. What makes it worth for you to stick to writing, in spite of the hair pulling, frustrating, kill me already moments?
A. To be honest, I don’t have a ton of such moments. I have some tough deadlines from time to time, but that’s a writer’s life. I love writing. I love it so much. I’d probably still write stories even if no one ever read them, because I find it monumentally satisfying to write a romantic story from beginning to end. The true joy, however, is sharing that story and having it resonate for others. Having a reader tell me that a story touched their heart or changed their life! That puts gas in my tank for months.

Q. From all the stories you have ever written, is there a character which has impacted you in real life?
A. When I set out to write Asher Lee from The Vixen and the Vet, I didn’t realize how much of an impact he would have on my life. I didn’t know very much about wounded veterans–how they are treated in society, how they cope, the extensive surgeries they undergo to repair the damage. I didn’t start writing The Vixen and the Vet as a fundraiser. Halfway through the book, I felt this desperate need to give back in some small way, so I decided to give 50% of my gross profits to UCLA Operation Mend. I quickly decided to make all of my modern fairy tales fundraisers, and that has been incredibly rewarding. So, Yes, Asher Lee impacted my life in a very real way.

Giveaway: An eCopy of Playing for Love at Deep Haven

Giveaway will run for 2 weeks [4 – 17 November] 1 entry per person.

Steps to enter

1. Join Katy’s Facebook group – Katy’s Ladies
2. Follow @KatyRegnery and @bhaartic on Twitter
3. Leave a comment here with your favorite Katy book; if you haven’t read her books name your all time favorite book.
Lastly, don’t forget to mention your Facebook and twitter names in the comments to verify entries.

If you are planning to follow now and Un-follow after the giveaway ends; Please do not bother to enter. Genuine entries appreciated. Random name will be chosen from the entries.

Winner will be announced 18/11 on Katy’s Facebook group and tagged on Twitter. 48 hours to claim the prize or another winner will be chosen.

A heartfelt Thank you to Katy and all the ladies on our Facebook group. My 1^st blog post is extra special because of all of you.

Reviewed by Bharti
Do leave a comment to share your thoughts/feedback on my review and the book.

 

 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin