Character Spotlight: Eoghan Kelly from Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3)

Meet Eoghan

First of all, it’s pronounced “Owen”. Yes, this is a bit of a mystery, but Eoghan isn’t the kind of guy to keep you guessing for long. What you see is what you get, and well, Nhu likes what she sees.

luck-of-the-irish-eoghan-kelly
I’m sorry to say that I don’t know the name of this Irish male model, but he is definitely rocking the vibe that Eoghan Kelly has in Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3).

Eoghan Kelly

Eoghan’s from Dublin, Ireland, and he’s in San Diego interning with a local aquatic organization while he completes his studies to become an environmental engineer. He’s staying with his cousin, Jack Smith until his leased beach house on Coronado Island is ready. The two were best friends when they were kids, but now, time isn’t the only barrier that’s creating a distance between them.

Nhu is unlike any woman he’s ever met, and as the two get to know each other, Eoghan finds himself falling in love with the woman who has a fierce sense of independence. As the two grow closer, an unexpected connection throws their budding romance in a tailspin.

Regardless of Nhu’s choice, Eoghan will respect it. He’s also unwilling to destroy his relationship with his cousin, Jack. Never before have his love and loyalty been challenged like this.

The song that comes to mind when I think of Eoghan is “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes. Like Eoghan, the song is upbeat and refuses to mince words. The feelings that Eoghan has for Nhu are like nothing he’s felt before, but that’s not going to stop him from enjoying them and pursuing them.

It’s been a blast writing Luck of the Irish, and there’s a heck of a lot is packed into this novella. I can’t wait for you to get to know these characters and Nhu’s Holiday Heartbeats story.

Luck of the Irish is available at your favorite online book retailer for download.

Sending Love and Light to all of you.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

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#MotivatedMonday: Live without Regret

August is Support Indie Authors Month! Download your copy of Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3) here.

I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done. -Lucille Ball

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.”
– Lucille Ball

Sending Love and Light to all of you.
Get FREE sweet romance books, including Love Games, for a limited time.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

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Love Sees No Barriers

Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3) is LIVE. Download your copy today.

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou

Sending Love and Light to all of you. August is #SupportIndieAuthors month!
Get FREE books from numerous authors for a limited time here.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

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Character Spotlight: Nhu Hoang from Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3)

Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3) is LIVE! Order your copy now.

Say Hello to Nhu

There have been a few times where someone’s asked me if I’m inspired by people I know in the characters I create. So far, I can confidently say not exactly. It only takes a spark – a sentence, scenario, or even just an image – to open the gateway into the world where one of my characters lives. After that, I feel to a certain extent, the characters reveal themselves to me, little by little. I just have to be in tune in with their stories in order to pick up their nuances. (Often easier said than done.)

While writing Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3), I’ve been introduced to three very strong characters: Nhu, Eoghan, and Jack. The more time I’ve spent with them, the more I like all of them (which is a terrible thing to do when a love triangle is involved). Their story has quickly become my favorite of the series (although Love Games still has a soft spot in my heart).

Earlier this summer, I sent an exclusive link to my mailing list subscribers with the entire first chapter of Luck of the Irish. I’m an impatient person, so I had to share some of Nhu’s awesome story before then. Likewise, I’m excited to share a quick Character Profile with you.

Vu Thi Hoang My _Nhu Hoang.png
Images of Vū Thi Hoàng My totally inspired my vision of Nhu’s persona.

Nhu Hoàng

Nhu is 26, originally from San Jose, California but moved to San Diego when she was 12. Marisol Aguilar (Love Games) is her best friend from law school. Nhu’s an only child who’s strong-willed, driven, and charismatic. Currently, she lives on the gorgeous Coronado Island working as a barista while she prepares for the California State Bar Exam for the 2nd time. She’s also setting up a freelance career as a Contract Analyst for those entering the modeling and performing arts industries.

Her boyfriend of nearly two years is Jack Smith, son of a presidential candidate. He’s kept their relationship a secret from his family the entire time, but he swears that he loves her. What will happen to their relationship when Nhu begins to recognize and own her self-worth?

Inspiration for Nhu

While writing Love Games, Nhu popped up as Mari’s best friend. As no-nonsense as she came across with Mari, I was surprised to see that she tolerated Jack’s chronic flippancy in their relationship. When looking into her character, I came across an image of model/actress Vū Thi Hoàng My. I loved how her last name was just like Nhu’s, and as time progressed, I could see a likeness in the way I envisioned Nhu’s expressions and mannerisms.

The song that STILL won’t get out of my head when I think of Nhu is Halsey’s Without Me. Honestly, it’s Nhu’s Leitmotiv and a bit of an own for Jack. Even as I write this, the intro is jammin’ away in my head. *Sigh*

In any case, I thought I’d share a little bit about one of the folks living in my head. Stay tuned for character profiles on Jack… and Eoghan. Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3), is now available. Haven’t read Love Games? It’s currently free in this sweet romance showcase for new mailing list subscribers.

Sending Love and Light to all of you.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram,  Amazon, and Facebook for more. Sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

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#MotivatedMonday Be Patient With Yourself

Get FREE books from numerous authors for a limited time here.

Be Patient With Yourself

"Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it's holy ground. There's no greater investment." -Stephen Covey.png

“Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground.
There’s no greater investment.” – Steven Covey

Sending Love and Light to all of you.
Luck of the Irish, Holiday Heartbeats #3 is LIVE. Download your copy at your favorite ebook retailer.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

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Love Is All We Need

“All you need is love.” – The Beatles

Sending Love and Light to all of you.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here. Luck of the Irish, Holiday Heartbeats #3, will be released this month. Preorder now.

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We MUST Do Better

This month is Support Independent Authors month, and while I’ve been so excited to share my latest book in my #HolidayHeartbeats novella series, I’m not going do it today. As a matter of fact, I had a fabulous post prepared to introduce you to my heroine, Nhu Hoang, but over the past weekend, life got in the way.

Or should I say the loss of life.

Trigger warning: I’m talking about current events that I’d much rather not discuss but would be remiss if I were to avoid them on this platform.

There’s no way on God’s green, glacier-melting earth that I, in good conscience, can plug the mess out of my book today when our country is facing an existential crisis. Do I sound like an alarmist? Well, if so, the rest of this post won’t sound much better.

As much as I love Escapism via books with happily ever after endings, there comes a time when we cannot afford to turn our eyes away from the shadows of the real world. There is no superhero team that will come and eradicate the rotten consequences of our own apathy. At the rate of these mass shootings in America combined with the increase in domestic terrorism, hate crimes, blatant expressions of white supremacy, and systemic misogynistic abuse, it’s only a matter of time before more of the nation will be directly affected by violence.

Seriously, when we can’t even go to Walmart, a bar, or a freaking garlic festival without fear of *death*, our nation’s wellbeing has reached an incredibly low point. I’m tired of our actual lives being politicized – the more exposure we have to hate speech and violent acts, the more we idolize & prioritize weapons, the more desensitized we become. We grow more paranoid, fearful, angry, and hedonistic. These are inevitable acts of self-preservation; it’s either that or become so ridden with anxiety that we can barely function.

My blog serves to help me find the silver lining in a world where folks tend to leave their wildest dreams behind by the time they reach adulthood. I’ve always been an unabashed dreamer, and because it’s a part of my core, I’ll never stop working to achieve those dreams. My faith in humanity is strong, and I know I’m not alone in wanting better for our nation. I also won’t stick my head in the sand when it is obvious that we are faltering.

WORDS HAVE POWER.

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Every day, I implore you to question your contribution to society. What are you doing to spread kindness in the world? Like attracts like, and the more we feed into dangerous, violent rhetoric, the more prevalent and mainstream it will become. Step out of your comfort zone and kindly acknowledge someone you see in passing. Toss a compliment to a stranger about their outfit or their smile. Give something good whenever you can, even if it’s simply donating items you’ve cleaned out of your garage. Engage in uplifting exchanges on the internet. Obviously, we must do more than this – I’m merely mentioning examples of what I consider to be basic acts of decency, yet they seem to occur less frequently.

Sure, we can be cynical and scoff at what appear to be piteously insignificant acts, but please realize that our children are watching. They are learning, and they are hurting.

How can they be expected to understand why the adults around them look and sound so angry, frustrated, and scared all of the time? Why is it cute to be snarky and disingenuous to be be polite? It’s so easy to succumb to fear, disgust, and loathing, but what we need is to act the opposite. Use those energies to benefit others in your community.

Now, more than ever, we need leaders who support the view that enough is enough. This is the kind of Pro-Life movement that we need – and it has nothing to do with a fetus.

Rant over.

Sending Love and Light to all of you.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here. Luck of the Irish, Holiday Heartbeats #3, will be released this month. Preorder now.

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#MotivatedMonday: Trust, Let Go & See What Happens

Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3) will be released this Thursday, August 8th. Order your copy now. The first chapter is available for free on Wattpad. Read it here.

You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens. - Mandy Hale

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.” – Mandy Hale

Sending Love and Light to all of you.
Luck of the Irish, Holiday Heartbeats #3, will be released this Thursday. Preorder now.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

Atina Atwood, AuthorLeave a comment

“Let Those We Love Be Perfectly Themselves.”

The month of August is #SupportIndieAuthors month. The first chapter of Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3) is available on Wattpad. Read it here.

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find it them.” – Thomas Merton.png

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves,
and not to twist them to fit our own image.
Otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find it them.”
– Thomas Merton

Sending Love and Light to all of you.
Luck of the Irish, Holiday Heartbeats#3, is now available for preorder.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

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#AtinaReads The Art of Falling in Love by Haleigh Wenger

Go to Your Local Library! (A Random Appeal)

While the summer heatwave is getting the best of us, I’m catching up with some fantastic books. I love encouraging my toddler to read, and although we admittedly have a pretty impressive library of well-loved books, it’s also important to me that we go to our local library at least once every two weeks.

It’s my understanding that each time you visit your local library and check out a book or participate in activities, this leads to more funding or opportunities for that particular branch (ask your librarian for specifics). Requesting books can increase the number of available copies, or they can even help put new authors on your shelves (insert dainty *ahem* here). In any case, showing love to your local libraries is one small, yet impactful way to strengthen your community. Yay, libraries!

The Art of Falling in Love by Haleigh Wenger

Our little family participated in the Summer Reading Challenge, where each person read either 30 books or for 30 hours within a certain period of time in exchange for two free passes to the National History Museum and additional swag. It’s a 100% win-win situation. The last book I read to complete the summer challenge was Haleigh Wenger’s The Art of Falling In Love, where I had the honor and privilege of being an Advance Reader.

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The Art of Falling in Love by Haleigh Wenger.

At this point, you should know that #AtinaReads “sweet” romance. This YA book goes beyond that by incorporating social commentary as well.
It’s hard enough falling in love – imagine navigating those treacherous waters while being homeless:

Seventeen-year-old Claire Haynes always spends summer vacation at her family’s beach house in Florida, sketching and dreaming of art school with her biggest fan–her Opa. But when Opa dies right before summer break, all Claire has left besides her memories is a sand-sculpting contest application with her name on it and the lingering question of why Opa filled it out in the first place. Claire has never even made a decent sandcastle, but she reluctantly turns in the entry forms, hoping the contest will help her navigate the grieving process by honoring one of Opa’s last wishes.

When she meets Foster, a teenage boy with a talent for turning recyclables into abstract sculptures, the two join forces to win the contest and salvage the Summer of Art. They spend the humid summer days shoveling sand, devouring ice cream, and exploring Florida’s art scene. Just like Opa, Foster understands Claire and her overwhelming need to create, but he has a secret that threatens to ruin everything: he’s homeless and hiding from an abusive brother who would have him believe family trumps all.

When Claire’s parents find out about Foster’s homelessness, they offer him a home along with their hearts. But even picture-perfect families like Claire’s can harbor an ugly side, especially in the aftermath of Opa’s death. When someone close to Claire spills Foster’s secret, they’re both forced to choose between love and familial obligation. If Claire can’t break through long-held beliefs and prove family is more than shared DNA, she could permanently lose Foster and a chance at the sand contest to honor Opa.

– The Art of Falling in Love, back cover exerpt

Far too often, trends in Romance focus on “The Billionaire” this and that. Kudos to Haleigh Wenger for providing us readers with a hero who forces the reader to explore the novel with both heart and conscious. I especially appreciated her vivid, descriptive writing, empathetic character development, and a great story that didn’t shy away from uncomfortable subjects – juvenile homelessness, sibling rivalry/betrayal, and coping with life after a devastating event. (On a personal note, it was also wonderful to reconnect with familiar areas in Florida.)

Preorder The Art of Falling in Love and take this book with you on a day at the beach for an even more awesome experience. You’ll swear that Claire and Foster are somewhere nearby!

Sending Love and Light to all of you.
Luck of the Irish, Holiday Heartbeats #3, is now available for preorder.

The first chapter of Luck of the Irish (Holiday Heartbeats #3) is available for free on Wattpad. Read it here.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.

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