Author Interview: Christina Sinisi

We are pleased to welcome contemporary Christian romance author Christina Sinisi back on our blog with her newest release, Sweet Summer!

Welcome, Christina, and Congratulations on your new release! Tell us a little about Sweet Summer.

Shelby Marano is the youngest of three sisters and was always Daddy’s baby girl—until her father was murdered. Ever since, she’s been running from anyone or anything that could truly hurt her. Instead, she seeks calculated thrills that leave her exhilarated, but when she’s caught outside during a summer storm, she quickly realizes not all adventures are within her control.

Tyler Burgess offers her both refuge from the rain and a safe place to land. Time spent with Tyler proves him to be much more than just a nerd in a history museum, but what she finds out about him is a deal breaker for her. As Shelby’s perfect little world is threatened by family health issues and an unknown stalker, she learns the hard lesson that no one can hide from the dangers of life. Can Shelby let her sisters, Tyler, and even more importantly, God, show her in one Sweet Summer, that love is worth taking the risk?

Is this book part of a series, or a stand-alone?

This book is the sequel to Christmas Confusion, which is one of my Christmas novellas through Anaiah but can also be read alone.

Tell us a little about yourself.

A member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, I write stories about families, both the broken and blessed. My works include a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest and the American Title IV Contest in which I appeared in the top ten in the Romantic Times magazine. My published books include Christmas Confusion and Sweet Summer, the first two books in the Summer Creek Series, as well as the Christmas On Ocracoke and the upcoming Why They Call it Falling. By day, I’m a psychology professor and live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with my husband, two grown children and Hemingway cat, Chessie.

How did you hear about Anaiah Press?

This is one of my favorite stories! In 2019, I’d suffered several losses in a row—my father’s death, loss of an election for a position on a national board, and a demotion at my job (which has since been reversed). I was struggling. In June, I was just looking at the ACFW email loop and saw a call for Christmas novellas due at the end of the month. I sat my bottom in the chair and wrote a novella in 3 and a half weeks, and I was blessed to be offered a contract.

How did you get the idea for your book?

The Christmas novella I wrote so fast is titled Christmas Confusion. It’s set here in the Charleston, South Carolina area and centers around the oldest of three sisters. I actually wrote that story so fast I didn’t get to send it to my mentor until after the publisher already had it in hand. When I did send it to my mentor (Eloisa James), she said she couldn’t wait to read the other sisters’ stories. I took her advice and got to writing. Sweet Summer is the youngest sister, Shelby’s, story.

Tell us why we’ll love Sweet Summer.

Shelby was a mystery at the end of the last book, but now the reader gets to know this young woman who uses adventure as a way to salve her hidden wound. And then there’s Tyler, a supposedly “safe” history nerd who takes care of his Alzheimer’s-ridden mother. I love the story of a good man who is a hero in his own right.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences?

I always use bits and pieces of real life. The heroine looks like one of my students, even though she’s an entirely different person. My son and I visited Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island and learned all about Edgar Allan Poe’s time on the island—even though I couldn’t mention the real author’s name. I love visiting the beach on the Isle of Palms and so on. Charleston is beautiful and so rich with history.

Are you working on anything new? Tease us a little bit!

I just finished a sequel to Christmas on Ocracoke and have begun a story set in the Blue Ridge mountains where I grew up. The third book in the Summer Creek series, the middle sister, Emma’s story, Why They Call It Falling is set to publish next year!

Where can readers find you online?

Website/Blog: https://www.christinasinisi.com/ Please sign up here for my newsletter!

Twitter: @ChristinaSinisi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Christina-Sinisi-Author-

Instagram: @csinisi123

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/csinisi/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/101218889-christina-sinisi

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/christina-sinisi

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Ocracoke-Christina-Sinisi/dp/1954189028/