Bookish Randomz: Unexpected Rewards: Jane McGarry Interview

Olivia Davenport is looking forward to her future. After all, Prince Liam has professed his love and King William has promised her a reward for her role on a recent mission. She fully expects to continue her knightly training while enjoying a blossoming romance with her Prince. The King, however, has other ideas, appointing her as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Helen.
Thrust into unfamiliar territory and left to fend against the malicious women of court, Olivia feels awkward and confused. With the help of her new friend, Kat, and her sister, Anne, she tries to find her footing among the courtiers, their protocol, and the added complication of Jocelyn Crawford, a lady who has her eyes set on becoming Liam’s bride.
When, a disturbing prophecy puts the safety of the King in question, fear spreads through kingdom. Intrigue abounds at the palace with an enigmatic witch and a strict Friar at the center of the controversy. Olivia must use her training and instincts to unravel what is truly going on in order to protect the King. Through it all, she questions if she will ever be able to fit into Liam’s life and if, in the end, their love can prevail.

- Goodreads Synopsis

Jane is definitely one of my favourite authors out there, her first book Not Every Girl blew me away when I first read it. This year, I had the pleasure of not only reviewing Unexpected Rewards but I got to interview Jane once again for the sequel!

Before we start with the interview, I would just like to tell you to check these books out. The first book is available as an ebook as well as paperback and the second book is available as an ebook!

Let's get on with the interview! Although you shouldn't read this if you don't wanna read mild spoilers.

When I originally had the idea for Not Every Girl, I realized it was too long to be just one book so I broke it into parts. This one more or less mirrors the original idea though a few of the characters developed in ways I had not planned.

This is a hard one to answer because I have the characters pictured so vividly in my head and they really don’t match any celebrity in particular. But, I would say, a young Keira Knightley and a young Orlando Bloom.

Really I just tried to put myself in Olivia’s shoes. If she had gone to the palace and fit right in, I don’t think that would have been true to the character. So it really was a matter of drawing on both the personal and collective experience of being thrust into an uncomfortable situation.

No, believe it or not, I STILL haven’t seen it. Sadly, in a house with all boys, my Disney Princess experience is somewhat stunted.

The same challenge I always face – lack of writing time. Some days I wondered if I would ever be able to finish, the process was so slow. The worst days were when I actually had time to write, but the ideas were not flowing. Thankfully, in the end, it all came together.

That’s a good question because the wedding Olivia would want and the wedding Olivia would be expected to have are probably quite different scenarios. In the end, I think she would understand that it was really an event for the whole kingdom, but she would try to keep it as down to earth as possible.

Puck really found his place in Unexpected Rewards. I see him doing the job he loves and then going home to his wife and kids, which I think is what a nice guy like Puck deserves.

No, there is one more installment for this series which will bring everything full circle. Hopefully this wraps it up nicely for the readers.

I certainly hope so. I have several works in progress at the moment so hopefully at least one of them ends up evolving into a finished book!

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Once again, I would like to thank Jane for letting me interview her. Hopefully this won't be the last we will be seeing of your work! However, we do have another book to look forward to and I know I'm excited!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jane McGarry

Reading was always a big part of my life. Creating my own stories developed out of this love. Finally, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel and that was when Not Every Girl was conceived.

I live in New Jersey with my husband, two sons and an extremely spoiled cat. When I am not running around with my family or writing, I can be found curled up with a good book and said cat.

Happy reading!